What a pity SF folk who return to the UK stop posting on SF. Longing to know how it turned out. The positives. The negatives etc., I am in touch with a few of the natives who have never left the shores and they say don’t come back, it’s awful…still…my country right or wrong - my mother drunk or sober …
2 Likes
I know plenty of French people who say the same thing about France.
The grass is always greener but uses the same fertiliser! Life is what you make of it and for my life, I can only see that being out of London where stupid rules are added by people who cannot think long term.
4 Likes
Hmm. Think I’m a bit bogged down in the fertiliser at the minute.
Although I did have a very good bunion operation at my local clinic yesterday. Amazing place. I think it’s the nearest I’ve come to having a “spa day”.
4 Likes
You might know it already but there’s a sub forum entitled “Moving back or to the UK” on Britishexpats.com
Mostly it’s queries about practicalities but occasionally people report back on their own experience of moving to the UK.
1 Like
Ah yes, I remember that gentleman. He wants to buy a kiwi fruit farm in New Zealand.
You have my sympathies there - had both done within two weeks of each other end of 23. Worst bit was the blocking of nerves bottom of each toe I found and screamed in agony the second time, how did you fare? Also the noise of the angle grinder doing its thing. Never want to go through that again although we are lucky now its not like when my mum had hers done in the 80’s and was in plaster for six weeks, now you get up and walk straight away.
Maybe some folks never post again because they find they have made a terrible judgement of error in going back and feel angry. A lot have to go back because of elderly parents or grandchildren they are missing out on which is normal but to just go back because they feel they should die there, is wrong in my opinion if you have made a new and enjoyable life elsewhere. Currently my siblings tell me I have done the best thing out of all of them and if they could, they would join us here as they are fed up of living below the standards they are used to especially the NHS and not being able to get a doctor or dentist appointment for months.
1 Like
Gosh. I have to say I quite enjoyed it! I felt no pain whatsoever at any point. The worst bit was the awful new-age humpback-whales-mating music they made me listen to through the earphones. After a while I just ripped them off and listened to the angle grinder instead.
3 Likes
In reply to Shiba, could be the inheritance thing too.
I had home physio three times per week for about six weeks until I could prove that driving was not a problem and those daily jabs by the nurse too although I collected quite a lot of tubes which are useful for seedlings. Shame no more heels of any sort but who cares, I can now walk without pain, get shoes that are comfy and my feet are straight and so soft from daily Neutrogena massaging I do.
I would never go back. Once a year visit for specs, a pint of proper beer and to see my daughter is enough. Our daughter visits us two or three times a year which is better than us going over there.
2 Likes
Interesting series of comments. So much depends on where you want to live, both in France and the UK. Also feelings change over time and circumstances.
3 Likes
I’ve been back to the U.K. more in the past 12 months than in the previous 12 years. It was a one off. I really don’t like the crowed feeling throughout the south. Perhaps it’s better in the north but the recent reports of antisocial parking in the Peak District make me think it’s not.
I’m also really surprised by the prices in the shops and restaurants, reading comments online I always expect to find bargain basement prices but that is really not the case. Add that to the fact that I saw that very ordinary houses in north Kent were selling for more than an historically significant château in excellent condition changed hands near here recently.
It was nice seeing my children and granddaughter but nowhere near as relaxing as when they visit here which they all do several times a year.
I’ve edited a bit….
Something that really matters about where we choose to live, especially in the twilight years, is that it be where both halves of a couple feel happy. Sometimes, earlier in life one half will bend to please the other but when time becomes precious, it had best be in a place and a way of life both love.
2 Likes
France has that too - we felt it around La Rochelle and in the south around Beziers. One of the things that we love about Cussy is the rural quietness without vast estates being developed a couple of km up the road like has happened here in Oxfordshire.
Restaurants got expensive post-covid, and that’s not going to go back. Food and clothes are still cheaper in the UK, with food around half the cost in a supermarket. There are few cheaper alternatives in the UK, but in France food can be found cheaper with local knowledge. In general costs are shuffled around, living being more in France but offset with cheaper housing as you observed.
It’s different, and one has to decide what’s more important. In about 10 years we will move out of our rural location to somewhere close to shops and doctors, before such a change becomes too difficult. It’s unlikely, but France could be a suitable location for us.
1 Like
I spend a lot of time in La Rochelle and at times the town can be busy. However once you leave the built up area the crowds and traffic disappear straight away.
I always smile at this. I live in a rural location, it’s been described as the middle of nowhere and I often visit my aunt who lives in a big town. I am much closer in distance to my nearest supermarket, petrol station, boulangerie, doctor, dentist and bank than she is and in time terms the difference is even bigger. The idea that living in a town means that you’re nearer to services isn’t always true.
4 Likes
We’re probably not going to agree on this. The first house we looked at buying was in Pampreux, about an hour from La Rochelle, and although the village was OK, the area around there felt like it was becoming what we were trying to leave behind in terms of estates and new buildings going up. When we had visited La Rochelle 30 years before the town had been great, busy in the middle but quick and easy to enter, rather than sprawling suburbs on the way in.
The centre still has the same feeling as before, but the surrounding area not at all.
Hopefully we’ll make better choices than your aunt. Where we live now has no public transport, and shops/doctor is 8 miles away. In 10 years I might no longer be able to drive, so making intelligent choices about where to live seems like a good idea, don’t you think?
1 Like