Basically, 99% of my experiences, living here over a year, have been positive. The negatives were dealing with Urbania real estate. It was so bad, the owner (French), cancelled his contract with them. The other total negative was my visit to Annecy, earlier this month, where the clerks in Monoprix tried to rip me off X2. The 2nd time the eye rolling, huffing. She wanted to keep the extra euro, and the (last) bus l’Ete that drove by and wouldn’t stop, forcing me to either walk up the mountain or go back to hire a taxi. Lots of other problems there as well. Two of 3 shops in Yvoir tried to rip me off: one by overcharging (got away with it, unfortunately, and the 2nd by not putting all of my purchases in the bag (went back and asked for it),
The other thing I learned the hard way is that on certain SNCF routes, they use busses, not trains.
Won’t ever deal with Urbania again, or go back to Annecy again, so life is good.
@Finn, I agree totaly with what you said.
Somedays I moan about being here in Brittany and some days I love it. In the past when I lived in the UK somedays I would moan about it and some days I would not. The difference is that I moaned more in the UK than here. I am trying now to make sure that I do not make comments, written or said, when I feel down.
There are many of us who came here because we wanted to be in Brittany/France and there are many of us who came here because there was nowhere else we could afford to go where we would feel safe in our own homes or so that our children would have somewhere to live.
I recently returned to my first home (the UK) and found that just after a 2 year gap of not visiting I felt like I did not belong there anymore which really hurt me greatly - I felt out of place somewhere I call my own country. It has altered so much and the ground feeling is not good I think.
I do not feel in place here either but I did not expect to so it does not matter so much.
Here my husband can drive without feeling pressured, here my grandson can go to school and when he was bullied it was dealt with immediately, here he has extra help and here people are polite and say hello to him and us and ask how we are. Here we can attend festivals and people drink and do not become abusive. Here we feel safe, and all these things are the things I tell myself when I am feeling down or homesick, and those moments are less and less after 6 years.
This country has its problems but so does every country and I prefer the problems here to the problems which were much more personal in the UK.
Is it time for a post entitled, ‘Why I didn’t leave this network’? 
Don’t leave the site - just don’t read anything that has a moan in it!!!
I think people moan because they have arrived perhaps ill prepared and then when faced which situations they could not handle in the UK - they have to try and attempt it in a foreign place in a foreign language - no wonder they are stressed! I must say I have chosen to not read moans and this has made this site a great place to be - unlike others which are full of nothing but moans and gripes. Keep reading - but make time for your wonderful French life and wife also!!!
Not tried the creme cru Jane but will look out for it. I will report back to you all with my thoughts. 
Forgot to add, Paul, have you looked for creme cru? We can get it in Atac here in 71.
Well said Suzanne. I am sure that frustration plays a huge amount in the “moans”. Also, this is a network and we read about the problems of lots of people, not just those we encounter ourselves. It is like an episode of a tv soap, more squahed in than would really happen all at once. If you have not experienced the gallic shrug, then I can’t believe that you are really living in France. The french are pastmasters at the “not invented here” attitude, especially when it comes to food from other countries, which we brits tend to enjoy with relish.
We had to cancel our return stay just short of Calais because it was so disappointing and we just made a “run” for home.
Having said that we are glad to be back, the roads are better and not so crowded and we are going to a wonderful meal held annually by neighbours with a maison secondaire, we are the only brits.
I think the moaners would moan wherever they lived. Great post thought, gave me a chuckle.
I guess some of the moaning is because people may find it difficult to do things here that would have been second nature back in the UK so they come on the site saying how problematic it is. People generally tend to moan more than give praise anyway I find. How many of you make an effort to say how good their meal is in a restuarant compared to people who complain about things that were not good?
Personally I find many things better here than in the UK, but I also find many things worse.
On my list of pro France I can say that I find it a much safer country - seems to be less vandalism, petty crime, drunken yobs. The weather is a lot better. Health system is great. People tend to shout a lot but not likely to smack you in the face for no reason. Wine is excellent and much cheaper than the UK.
Cons. Driving is appalling in the 06 region. Standard of doctors and specialists is not very high. Food is a nightmare for me as a vegetarian. Cannot finish a sentence without a French person shouting over you. As a sports coach I find french beginners keep telling me what to do instead of listening to someone who has been there and done it.Trying to get parsnips or real cream and (in my opinion) a decent loaf of bread.
There you go. A couple of moans and also some praise.
Just to sum up are you moaning about the British moaning about living in France...OR are you moaning about reading about British moaning, therefore just adding to the dialogue. Vicious circle isn't it?
Hello all,
I would just like to add my two pennies worth.
Im British and proud not everything in Britain is doom and gloom.
And people like to moan what ever their nationality.
I am currently living in cornwall and am moving back to France next year,and I can say we have alot of problems here unemployment, second homes,houses being build on green belt areas because Apparently we need more housing!!
But it is still beautiful to me,but I want to move to France not because of the problems in Britain, but because I like a number of things the biggest is we miss France.
I love my home country always will,and changes happen whether we like it or not.
Sometimes people tend to focus on all the negatives because that is their situation.
Isn’t it nice to have freedom of speech?? Okay some might rant on a bit more, but hey, its got us all talking hasn’t it.
Hi David,
I may be late and you already stoped using this blog:) but I would like to say something. British people ( I am not british, but my husband is) are in general very very simple and do not tend to moans as do other people, trust me. I lived in UK for few years and saw how people were positive, very simple and " easy going". Moaning here in France does not mean that they are negative its just because you feel alone and you need to share your thoughts even if I actualy never read any moaning so far in this website ( I might be missing someting)
I’m moaning today, only because it’s raining again and I want it to be nice for the nice couple in my Gite, other than that, I’m happy with my lot… Secretly I like it when it’s cool and drizzly as I like to run in this weather, but that’s just me being selfish…
There is one tiny thing you have forgotten, it is engrained in the Brits to moan its part of our DNA a true Brit is only happy when they are having a good rant about something or other ,I agree that if you dont like it somewhere then you should piss off back, where they would be far better off than worse off as they would have far more things to moan about and then they could start re-dreaming about the good life over here So I would defend everyones right to moan but go do it somewhere else and to people who actually give a crap …and to finish if you dont like it dont read it …
I agree with James - I’m currently experiencing both living in the UK & France (having been in France full time for a couple of years), I can totally appreciate the great things about living in the UK and if I was living in a small village in a nice place like James I’d probably be very happy too, although I’m not sure my hubby would be happy with the daily commute which was one of the reasons we moved to France (to work from home for a lower income but happier lifestyle). There is nothing wrong with buying stuff from the UK as some things are useful in your life & you either can’t find them in France or they are much more expensive, you don’t have to buy everything French to live in France. If you like Heinz beans or Marmite why pay a fortune for it when you can import it? Its not French & they don’t tend to eat it so you’d expect it to be expensive in France. It is also perfectly acceptable to speak English to fellow English speakers but I believe you should learn French & speak French when in French company, it’s polite & the way you will integrate better. The healthcare is excellent generally (there will always be exceptions). I don’t see loads of blogs about moans, I do see postings about frustrating times which can all share & empathise with but most of the blog posts I read are positive & happy (otherwise I wouldn’t bother reading them). One of the great things about SFN is sharing our experiences good or bad to the benefit of others, little ways of dealing with problems, advice, pointers in the right direction to get things sorted for you are always appreciated. Not every day can be a happy sunny day where everything goes right, the language barrier sometimes complicates things as can cultural differences and our expectations often are too high on certain aspects of life (as we’re used to UK standards which in some areas are higher) but with help from the members & our friends around us we overcome these days & sort out our problems. Let’s not focus on all the negatives of living in either country but just appreciate that there will be good/bad aspects wherever you live & if you want help then generally SFN members are here to help and of course to share good news
People are entitled to moan, that’s just life, but I agree with you on the moaning about France all the time - there are plenty people around here that do that, but I guess when they lived elsewhere, they moaned about that too. What I can’t understand are the people who still live here, but still live like they did in UK, buy everything from UK, speak english, won’t learn or mix with any French - bizzare. Each to their own. I love it here, we mix are much as we can, although there are many Brits and it’s “normal” to speak English, but we get great health care (breast cancer) and I know I would not have received it all so quickly where we lived in the UK. We are not living any dream, we are living how we like to live and trying to keep happy, it is working so far.
Like it…I feel the same way
Have to agree with OH - Just returned from registering our youngest at the University of La Rochelle.
Everyone there was very helpful, they were super quick, efficient and friendly,
Oh, and by the way, I forked out the grand sum of 31 euros FOR AN ENTIRE YEARS’ TUITION.
Even I was reeling from the shock! - I had enough cash in my handbag to put my daughter through a world class university for an entire year.
Can’t do that in the UK.