When French pals talk to us about UK and ask “are you moving back”… we explain that, for us, France is the prize and we hope to spend the rest of our lives enjoying/discovering it’s treasures.
They then go on to say (perhaps) they’ve visited and loved… blah blah blah… in the UK and we agree about this and that.
Sometimes we know the places they mention and can talk about some family funtime there (decades ago)… that sort of thing… and sometimes our French pals have found part of the UK we don’t know. No matter, if someone likes a place… all well and good.
However, I gently point out that there’s a vast difference between briefly visiting and actually living in any country.
For us, UK has changed so much since our time there and it’s almost as if our “other life” and all those fabulous (and some sad) times never happened, never existed… it’s quite an odd feeling really.
Which is why we are so happy and contented to stay here in France. Every day is interesting.
Of course, things change in France and we are trying to change along with 'em… and there’s still loads to discover… cheers (hic).
I’ve often found that those that slag off the UK the loudest can’t really afford to move back and therefore have no choice other than to stay in France.
If you’ve spent 20/30 years away from the country of your birth of course it will seem foreign and not how you remembered it and if you’re happy where you are why would you uproot and move back?
I don’t think of the UK as Noddyland. I don’t have any negative feelings about it at all, except for concerns about the health service in Northern Ireland and even that seems to be getting better (anecdotally at any rate).
My husband, who came to the UK from the Soviet Union, is eternally grateful to the UK for taking him in and giving him citizenship. Indeed he prefers it to France in some important respects but not in the ones that matter to us right now, which are decent weather and access to traffic-free cycling.
Am looking forward to moving to Northern Ireland one day, Just not yet!
2 of mine are alternatively in S. Wales and Eire, although one of them was at uni in Germany. The other 3 are estranged from me due to a misunderstanding with my daughter, their mother.
I have a former wife and 3 stepchildren with her and we are all on very good terms but not sure how that would be improved if I lived around the corner.
I don’t have to slag off England, and certainly not Wales or Scotland which would be more likely destinations for me being used to my lone country living which I adore here, because that last point is what makes me keen never to leave it.
I very much enjoy being in a very quiet part of the empty diagonal and I’m pretty sure this level of isolation is no longer possible in the UK and, if it is, my budget couldn’t afford it.
I think this depends on where in the UK you come from. Places where some of my family live have remained unchanged since my childhood. These are rural areas. Cities, I suspect have undergone the biggest changes.
But change isn’t necessarily bad. If things hadn’t changed, domestic violence would still be seen as acceptable, only property owners would have the vote and it would be OK to have your kids beaten at school.
Exactly. I have lived in France longer than I lived in the country of my birth so familiarity wins every time. If I sold this house tomorrow I would have enough to buy something in a region away from my origins and therefore it does not hold any attraction to do that now. Unfortunately slagging off theUK is a natural reaction when we see the mess those in charge have/still are making of a place I used to be proud of, not anymore I am afraid.
For those still living there, parts are sometimes still changing around us, and we’re asking whether this is where we want to continue to live. However I’m much more inclined to find another part that’s changed much less than to move countries.
