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Northern Rock Guernsey but you must do it before you become resident in France. Quite legal and above board too.

What do you reckon the euro is worth, not the exchange rate but in buying power? About a quid?

What comes out of this thread is that it is worth finding out how many incomers there are in an area before moving there. How to escape if there is an influx later is another matter.

Sounds as if the vendor is trying it on. See the notaire but be prepared to get a lawyer. If your paperwork is ok then it is clear that you can have your deposit back.

Sorry, two hours. Edit function not working

Three hours in English to a three year old. A heck of a lot for a child of that age. Will need careful handling if it can be done. You ever taught that age before?

Not altogether, but there may be a case for limiting the numbers in certain very sought after places as they chase out local people. This is not true of all locations though. Take some small villages in Charente Maritime. They are ghost towns outside the holiday season.

Rumzigal, the problem is I am not sure what I am anymore. Certainly not Brit I'm sure. I've been an expat so long that it is a way of life.

Yet after 50 years of Europe there are more apparently Fascist parties than ever and they get votes. In some towns they even control power. As to welcoming strangers (I use the word advisedly), surely it is only by controlling numbers that harmony can be achieved and by encouraging integration and even some assimilation. The British recipe of multiculturalism has failed so other recipes need to be tried. Thus in some communes it might be reasonable to look at controlling the numbers of incomers or second homes, especially where locals are being chased out by high property prices (eg the Lake District), or even reserving some homes for locals at prices they can afford. Come to think of it, hasnt it been tried somewhere in Brittany.

Ah Renaud, if twere only the grockles we 'ad prablems with. 'N wat a fuss they made about a bit 'o lootin' in Dorset. How 'r we poor coastal folk to live. (Was near the Chesil, hard by Portland when they hit. Course, our fire burned well that nite. She was carryin' brandy me lads. On that was a good wreck. 'N the revenue men didnt get a sniff though they chased us across Lodmoor for days.)

No, the British are not special in any way, believe me and having spent most of my life in 'foreign' parts I am over it. In fact I have a European marriage and children who are duals and bilingual. Funny, I thought I added other nationalities as well. And I do not need a lecture on movement of peoples in and around Europe thank you very much. However you do not answer my basic point which is that large numbers of incomers change a community in ways which often cause tension and resentment, and not always for the better in my opinion. Many secondhomers do not bring much to the community beyond holiday froth and the sheer number of either empty homes and incomers who can't (or can't be bothered to learn to) communicate actually renders the community a poorer place. I think too that taking people of urban origins and plonking them in the country is not that successful as they have little common culture and have much more to learn. Ideally I guess one should work and raise kids in a place to achieve greater cultural understanding - wat I 'ave dun in ze past.

This discussion was about culture, not race. As usual, one cannot have a discussion of one without the other raising its ugly head. That is the poser of PC to stifle debate I'm afraid.

Logan, I'm afraid you are wearing rose coloured spectacles a bit there. Just look round Europe and it will be difficult to find a country which is European in the sense you define it. Except perhaps Luxemboug. Take tiny Belgium for example: the north and the south hate each other, even to the extent of using shot guns a few years ago, and will probably create separate states; in Antwerp recently there was a purely racist murder. The Walloons refuse to speak or learn Flemish and look on Flemings as a form of low life. As to peopple of North African stock on Wallonia, they are treated like sh**. And what about the Roma people? We could go on, but why? We are a very long way from your ideal I'm afraid. As regards having too many Brits in an area, of course there can be too many. The crunchpoint happens when they begin to change the local culture. Most of us did not choose the melting pots of major cities to have a mixed culture, but the rather static and traditional life in rural France. The last thing we want to do is listen to the delicate accents of Essex or Brum screaming at the local shopkeeper because they have not bothered to learn the language (this is not altogether a caricature). This could equally well apply to other nationalities by the way. Close to here ( the Vendée) there is a village whose bar has been invaded by Brits who behave as they might on a Saturday night out in, shall we say, Bristol, which means much loud drunkenness. Not appreciated by the locals and culture changing too. Also unnecessary. It is not inverted snobbery at all, just a wish to live the life of our choice.

Isn't dual nationality a right under European law?

So what are most Brits in France then? I suspect they are more likely to be expats, given that most seem to return to UK in later years

Does the bait vary with the species? Worm for short n fat, fly for tall and surly, bread for bright etc?

I've always been away at this time of year so have missed them. What a treat. As you can see from the timing of this message, I am listening to them late.

What is the difference between an expat and an immigrant?

What are the birds that seem to be singing in the garden and surrounding trees all night? Anyone got any idea please?

Honfleur at one time refused to register any more house purchases if the new owners were not there most of the year (source newspaper or magazine a few years ago). Frankly I even flee the local supermarket car park if I see too many Brit number plates. Any village that turns into an empty shell except at holiday time would be quite right to object to too many second homes. And most Brits are second homers aren't they?  

Now Christine, anything to do with horns is a dangerous subject, either in my bachelor establishment or in the home of the Italians next door.

Wish I had one in my garden. Quite beautiful. Cant it stay where it is?

Can anyone please tell me what this thread is all about. I think it might be about billboards but there is so much other stuff maybe it could be chopped and started again or something.

How do you know?  

At uni he was William Wales