The departmental anglophone Facebook page has a backdoor. So that people like me can see what’s being said without a FB identity.
Looked in a few days ago. Usual stuff. Can you find a home for an adoreable cat or dog, where can I find an English speaking butcher, baker or candlestick maker, etc. But on top of the pile was a request “by a friend for a friend” who wants to socialise with English speakers in our commune. Which made me think. Back in the day there would probably have been a simple answer. Go to the XYZ Cafe on market day 'cos that’s where all the Brits meet. But things have changed a lot in the last thirty years. Needless to say I’m not getting in touch. The reality is that there are very few English speakers here and almost all of those that are permanent residents have French speaking companions.
I wonder why? In fact in our commune when a new British couple arrived our mayor gave them our names. I met the wife for coffee and shared with her a load of contact details - doctors / vets/ dentists / good garage / etc /etc.
Certainly for us in the early days contacts with the Brits were invaluable - we were floundering and were saved on more than one occasion by people who’d lived here much longer. We don’t live in each other’s pockets, many we have not now seen for years, but a few have become close friends.
We were “adopted” as surrogate family/grandchildren by an elderly english couple over 25years ago now who were introduced to us by another english couple. That relationship flourished and many happy memories were made until ill health and the call of their family inthe UK forced them to go back as they could not have managed in France if a care home was needed or they were without a vehicle as they lived miles from the nearest shop. We kept in touch and sadly the wife died first a couple of years ago and a couple of weeks ago, her husband sadly passed. I and my children never regret getting involved with them and saw more of them than their real grandparents who also liked to visit our friends when they came for visits. Moral - life is far too short to worry about such things as getting involved with other brits, you may find it a blessing in disguise!
In ‘our’ village the councillor responsible for new arrivals is a Dutch woman who speaks excellent English and Spanish as well as French. Non/minimal Francophones are made very welcome and introduced to each other.
Just a few extra words following the replies. I don’t belong to FB. When you read via the backdoor you cannot react. Many years ago SWMBO and I responded to a very similar request. What followed was a living nightmare. Once bitten etc Several people did post positive responses; But none from our commune or the one next door. And lastly we are proud to be adopted Grandparents to a non-French couple both of whom come from a background of a broken marriage and a difficult childhood.
