Gratefully accepted.
What interests me is dealing with the technicalities; the utilities, the health service etc. Did you use an agency or batter through it yourselves.
At the risk of involvement in an internecine row, I have found Brian's replies (at the risk of appearing patronising....apologies Brian) nothing but objective.
I would not want to be intrusive, but as a 'belt and braces' man, being harangued by my wife with regard to a life in France (in honesty, though, the thought of long languid afternoons......I've retired....in the sunshine in a boulvard cafe......why do they have to complicate it by speaking French....wihout being engulfed in a downpour is very appealing), I am really am keen to hear about the downside, and the experiences of those who feel that life in England is more attractive.
Freddy Stone
Hello Emile !!
1. I live near Pezenas about 50 miles from Montpellier ... I can put you in touch with a great accountant who you could meet with. As a single parent with two dependent children, she has been an invaluable advisor over the last 8 years and continues to be.
2. Regarding health care ... there isn't a two tiered system here, NHS vs Private. We all have access to the same and waiting lists are negligible. I feel the quality of care is equivalent here and in the UK, both excellent. The state pays a certain percentage depending on your status and one takes out a complementary insurance to cover the rest.
3. Weather. Very bright and sunny and definitely more reliable than England, but there is a wicked wind that does blow in the Languedoc that I would liken to that of the north Norfolk coast. I still relish sitting outside in the winter with the warm sun on my face on the days when the wind doesn't beat me to a pulp and the fact that there are seasons here.
4. For the rest, no one can tell either of you, how you will cope with the change of lifestyle, distance from family and friends: some people do and stay, others don't and leave.
I wish you an amazing adventure for as long as it lasts.
Best wishes,
Shaka
Encouraging, thank you. My French is of the 'Spanish cow variety'.
I believe the most important thing of all is to learn French. If your standard of French is O level failed in 1966 (as mine was when I arrived 5 years ago) then try and do night classes before you get here, and do as much as possible to join local (French) activities to practice and learn when you get here. Developing a good friendship with your French neighbours should also help both immersing yourself in local customs and developing the language. We've never regretted coming here. Good luck.
Yes Freddy, just click on the member's photo and on the left of the page that loads you'll see 'Send a Message'
:)
James
Carol, I really admire you for having tolerated Brian's antagonistic replies to you for so long, he, in fact, is one of the reasons why I have been a passive member up to now and found it easier to keep stumm instead of letting him have my piece of mind especially when he is going on about his German ...... Like you I have found living in France very difficult for reasons that you have pointed out. Fortunately we are only renting and have kept our properties back in UK to return to when my OH retires. I am envious that you are already able to move back I have to wait a bit longer. I will miss your many interesting comments and wish you and your husband all the best.
Absolutely. As Kwashie says leboncoin.com is invaluable. Over 30% of sales are through that site. My wife works part time as an estate agent, no good to you because it is very local to here, but one thing she has learned is that UK based agents are not a good bet, they have too many top end houses, that many sales are also in the hands of several agents and the prices are different depending on which one you look at. The reason for that, is that if an agency has had it on their books for perhaps three years they will probably have not been informed about the new/most recent price by the vendor. The most recent agent should consequently have the lowest price unless other agents are proactive. But on Kwashie's point, leboncoin probably gives you the most decent prices because they are mostly person to person sales, no commission to add, and geared to local values. Most areas have some kind of English language paper, although much of the Dordogne where we are has a blind spot without any. However, Connexion is the (www.connexionfrance.com) is the only real national one, unfortunately not really regional though.
Mes culpa, Emile, I could blame the spellcheck, but I should have checked. I’m British through and through mate, at the start of my French journey, buying in Bellac…
I have found this forum an invaluable source of ideas, and used it to shape my own. The contributor who said you should read all the past discussions was spot on. But, at the end of the day, nobody is perfectly informed. One thing I can tell you though is to choose your estate agent with care, and use leboncoin.com to do your own research into prices. And try to buy something you can move into even if part renovated. Each area has at least one English paper or magazine, reading that will give you a feel for what is available and gaps in the market.
And keep reading SFN, good luck!
My father was an occupation soldier, my mother a NAAFI managess, guess where I spent my early years?
Rossino or Puccini, don't know the quote but wonderfully light hearted. Off out with family. Have a good evening.
Brian.... I am deeply envious, not bi-lingual, but tri-lingual (German, French and English). My German of of schoolboy origin, and, under pressure, rapidly descends into gibberish (as, according to my son, does my English.. without any pressure at all).
I do like the more tuneful bits of Wagner (e.g. 'the Seigfreid Idyll' etc). You must have heard what an Italian composer said of Wagner..."he has wonderful moments, but terrible half-hours" (not verbatim,. and I can't remember the name of the Italian, I think it might have been Rossini). I do like quite a bit of Mahler.....poor man (his wife seems to have adhered to an entirely different moral code). Wagner by repute, seems to have been a thoroughly unpleasant man, and given Mahler a hard time.
The other story that amused me about Hitler (there aren't many) is that he was reputed to have liked the Viennese more popular composers (Lehar, Strauss etc) and when told by one of his sycophants that that particular composer had Jewish antecedents , he is reputed to have replied "I'll decide who is Jewish or not" (probably apocryphal). Also the pre-war Olympics and Jesse Owens.
My wife has just returned (Oh joy) and I'm taking out to dinner, 'Jockstrap and gaiters'..... off I go.
Regards
Freddy (AKA Emile, Emily, M and various things my wife calls me, with which I shan't trouble you.).
Right Freddy. Actually, being bilingual in English and German I love Wagner, have a full DVD set of the Rings. But if I sat down and analysed the lot then I would gasp in horror at the degree of racial innuendo there is those operas alone. It is the musical experience for me, but then I see Mahler's fascination (my favourite composer) in Wagner's music to the point that he as a Jew married Alma Schindler from a family close to Wagner and who shared his horrendous views on non-Germans.
The Eugenics people. Inhuman, the lot of them, all this terrible belief in the eradication of imperfection and superiority of people of purely northern European descent. When we anthropologists ever get on that subject... No please.
Now here you go, got it. I was thinking about Emile and the Detectives rather than Emily...
Merci Bien.
Catherine......(if I may).
Can I send a 'PM' ?.....I'm a bit elderly and dim (according to my 'nearest and dearest), and have been searching your website to no avail...or is it only for senior members?.
Freddy Stone
Actually Kwashie, my name is 'Emile'.....NOT bl--dy Emily........according to my son because I couldn't find a frock to fit me. He tries to 'get at me' because we called him Rupert, and would have prefered David or John.Never mind, I get at him whenever he wears a pink shirt. I have (when living in London) often had people at the door asking to speak to 'Emily Stone', much to the amusement of both my son and my wife; had a great time at a boy's school sixty odd years, ago as you can imagine. I was born in Paris just as the second world war broke out, and my parents had intended going back afterwards.I am usually called 'Freddy' or 'M' unless my wife is in a particularly bad mood.(Fairly often!!!!!). At the risk of appearing patronising, as Brian said, people who take exception to someone because of their ethnic or religious background are really not worth bothering with ( 'though, as with anything, there seem to be exceptions to the rule: Wagner, T.S.Eliot, Ezra Pound, and of course, some of those 19th./early 20th. century lunatics who believed in Eugenics... I think that was the term......I await correction from Brian!!!). As an aside, I was always amused by Hitler's remark about Mussolini: that he practiced a sort of kosher antisemitism!!!!!!.
Kwashie, I assume that, since I've not read anything from you about travails in French, that you come from a Francophone area....or were borne in France.
Regards
Emile (Freddy or M) Stone
Hi Freddy
You can PM members by clicking on their image - this will take you to their page and you then simply press the "Send Message" button on the left hand side. Et voila!
Dear Carol,
I hope that you have not, as yet, been 'removed', and I am very sorry that you would want to be.
I have found your comments heartfelt and useful and naturally borne of your experience: I have taken from Brian's "suck it and see", and from you "don't burn your bridges", both much appreciated.
Once again, if, or when, you are back (in Berkshire ?), we'd (especially my wife, for a female view) be delighted to meet or telephone.
I would do a 'p.m.' (does that invoke 'young Dave'), but haven't a clue how to.
Very kind regards to you
Freddy and Jane Stone.
Hurrah! Well worth celebrating!
Kwashie, I hope you do not think I ever vilified you, disagreed yes, but anything as awful as that is as Catharine says. Tell her who and which post quickly and let it be dealt with by her. If it is any kind of racist attack then you honestly have my hand in stamping that out. No way, do not let it happen again if you don't want to do anything now. Have a good wekend anyway, enjoy the sport!