Hello all
I’ve been back in the UK for 3 weeks now so I wanted to share my thoughts on UK life after nearly 12 years in the South of France.
1 Must remember to speak English. I have so far confused a dog-walker with a cheery “Bonsoir Monsieur” and a server in the local Chip shop with a “Merci beaucoup”.
2 Drive on the left! Drive on the left! Drive on the left!
3 It’s properly cold here. Yes, I know it’s January but the wind is bitter in a way I’d forgotten.
4 Exchanging your driving licence is soooooooo easy! Admittedly, I had a UK licence in the past but all that is needed is a 2 page form and a photo. If I was French then I would need to provide ID and it would cost £43 but that is still a breeze in comparison. I should get my new UK licence within 3 weeks.
5 Registering with a GP is not as straightforward as in France. I have had to complete 2 forms, including an official NHS one, and need to supply ID and proof of address as well as my NHS number. I’m going for my initial appointment on Monday.
6 Drive on the left! That one is worth repeating!
7 Cooked food can be delivered to your door! I don’t want to get used to that.
8 The roads are in an appalling state and there is so much traffic, even on a Sunday afternoon. It makes my head spin.
9 You can go shopping on a Sunday afternoon and nothing closes for lunch, ever. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or not.
10 The air smells weird and there are no mountains.
11 The internet speed is incredible but more expensive than in France. Sky TV is also incredible with hundreds of channels and something called “multi-room” means you can watch it anywhere in the house. It’s also absurdly expensive. I would never pay £76 a month, just to watch TV.
12 All my favourite foods are here.
13 People in Essex are unbelievably ignorant about Brexit and Canvey Island is rife with racists and xenophobes. I will be happy to get away from this place.
14 I now want to be known by married name in the UK which means that I need to provide my marriage certificate to the bank, the Passport Office, the Doctors etc etc. It requires translation which is just as absurd in the UK as it is in France. A French marriage certificate is even simpler than a UK one and requires just 50 words to be translated. It’s mostly names and dates. The cost to do that in the UK is about £75, for just one certified translation. Instead, I have had it translated by a French translator and the cost, including a second certified copy and tracked postage, is just 53€. I have found something cheaper in France @anon87147852
15 Most food is considerably cheaper here, as an example a pack of 2 romain lettuces was 2€80 in Leclerc and is just 75p in Tesco. Free range eggs, organic free range chicken, most fruit & veg is significantly cheaper. The choice is also far superior to French supermarkets although that is partly due to the French habit of eating seasonally. There were cherries from Chile in the supermarket this week!!
16 The worst thing about the UK is that my darling hubby is not here I miss my old life and mon petit coin de France.
More to come…