wedderburn

I wrote a blog entry on July 21st citing a couple of the common pitfalls lying in wait for many a would-be expat. Some of course are mostly out of our control, others we bear considerable responsibility for. The blog was mainly about the latter... I mentioned a British couple that were in the process of moving near to us in Provence last year, and in particular the expensive mistakes made by not seeking to benefit from the experience and knowledge of neighbours-to-be. A ruined old farmhouse purchased near Vaison la Romaine, bought in the (peaceful) early spring... visited in the summer for the first time only to discover that the noise level from the constant flow of traffic through the valley, yards from the house, was unbearable. An expensive project was undertaken to erect huge earth walls to absorb sound and vibration, and renovation work then began. Last time I looked in - late last year - improvements were well under way. Little did I know that they had, since my last trip down south, committed the blunder to end all blunders!! Planning permission was for "réhabilitation". But according to locals the maître d'oeuvre 'allegedly' decided that the task of securing ancient and rather tumbledown walls was turning out to be bigger and considerably more expensive than originally estimated. The advice was to demolish and start from scratch. Which they did. Problem was - they had failed to get planning permission approved by the DDE first. No problem, you might think. Well you would be correct - on straightforward building land. But this was out in the sticks, an old farm in the midst of agricultural land. And when you completely raze a building to the ground on agricultural land, you are left with... agricultural land. A request to rebuild was rejected outright. Planning permission is simply not obtainable, in the majority of cases, on agricultural land. As things stand, unless the DDE has a sudden change of heart, this has turned out to be one of the most expensive 1.6 hectare fields in the Hexagon... [:(] (Scroll to bottom of blog for photos etc...)

On issues with local officialdom, sometimes people do bring problems upon themselves, and this does occasionally come about through a lack of respect for the way of life in your new home, sometimes seen as arrogance by the locals. I mentioned the following in my blog last week, a 100% true story from a nearby village in the Vaucluse.. "...Back in Provence amusement was tinged with more than a little disdain around the bars of a small village, when a newly installed citizen of the USA phoned the town hall to demand immediate action against the ‘menace’ that was threatening the area. The Axis of Evil, it turned out, took the form of a coalition force of cricket and cicada, which in concert were conspiring to turn the lives of the American couple into a nightmare. “Not so much as a wink of sleep in a week”, was the complaint, with the cicadae quietening down during the evening only for the crickets to take over for the night shift. When – unsurprisingly – the token August Town Hall staff failed to take any action, a recorded delivery letter, written in deadly earnest, promptly followed. The Town Hall, insisted the American, had no option but to have the entire region treated with insecticide…" No suggestion that anything remotely like this took place in the original poster's experience, of course.

Miki - oops... in a thread about sucking up to the Maire, I'm not trying to teach people how to suck eggs! [;-)][:D]. Apologies if it seemed that way. I did join this forum many moons ago under a different pseudonym that I have since forgotten, and there doesn't appear to be a list of members that I can scan through in an attempt to rediscover it - hence rejoining under a new name...

The Maire wields considerable, occasionally flexible, and indefinable powers. Not always in complete accord with the laws of the land, it may seem. No, it is not recommended to get on his/her bad side, but then conflict with any official body in one's adoptive country is likely to prove to be counterproductive, particularly in France where there's a rather special psychology at work.. If one accepts that we are guests, foreigners, who often make rather limited attempts to integrate into a French way of life, we start with a handicap whenever we tackle the authorities - even if we are in the right. I might even have said especially if we are in the right. Customer service is not a strong point in France. Complain to a shop assistant, and he/she may well take it personally, whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation. Complaints have to be worded carefully, or they will be perceived as a criticism of the individual rather than the product or service. Need advice on a particular issue? Be very careful indeed. Telephone the local tax office for some information, but accept the answers of your first correspondent at your peril. If your questions are the least bit obscure or complicated, make sure you put them to more than one person - preferably several. Why? Because the same psychology is at work. Unlike in the UK where it is hard to get answers to awkward questions, your correspondent usually passing the buck upstairs rather than risking a mistake, in France not being able to give an answer is somehow perceived to diminish the employee concerned. So the result is that you will often get your answer, however correct or incorrect it might be. Always double or treble check, especially information given over the phone. No, I'm not advocating rolling over and giving in, far from it. But outright conflicts can be avoided with a little subtle psychology from the outset, combined with knowledge of the above, how the system works, and great attention to detail. Never proceed with work such as mentioned in the original post without checking and conforming to all the procedures, and confirmation in writing from all the parties involved. Locals can, and do, occasionally get away with it - but we are étrangers... and that's another kettle of fish. Involvement in the local French community helps, by the way. Easier said than done if you are not yet fluent in French, but my experience is that voluntary contributions to the local way of life (not the purely Anglophone one) go a long way to bridging the gap between the communities.The UK and France are not that dissimilar, in one way at least. It's who you know....

No problem, you couldn't have known. For my part I apologise for the slight dig at 24 hour Trescos in the blog... [;-)]

[quote user="Tresco"]Jolly good JonD, but the thing is that you and  Possum Girl contribute here, to this thingy. you didn't just join and then say, 'look at me!'. That said, Wedderburn, you write well. It was amusing, but, you know, I've heard all those things before, HERE!  I'm not mad on people slagging brits abroad off, because no matter how long you are here, their (our) voices will always stand out above the nonsense French people are speaking. (You/we are attuned to it). God knows if you had listened to the French people at the next table, I wonder how stupid/thrilling/dim/boring their conversation was? We'll never know.[:)][/quote] You have only to ask!  I'm bilingual - I probably speak French 95% of the time. I actually rarely listen to or meet Brits, as I spend far more time involved in the local French community - schools, sports club committees etc - where there are no British interests whatsoever. We (the Brits) most certainly do not hold a monopoly on spouting nonsense, nor would I suggest such a thing. Elsewhere in my blogs I am at least as critical of the French themselves. You may have heard these things before, but going by the considerable naivety exhibited on occasion, many have not, so I believe it to be a story that does not lose in the (re-)telling. [:D] PS Tresco... I joined ages ago, completely forgotten my pseudo though. Didn't post much; as you say, we've "heard all those things before" [:P][:D]

[quote user="Jon D"]Mine certainly is, which is why I use a pseudonym and would never post a link to it. [:)][/quote] Phew, a thread-killer! Nothing wrong with a bit of drivel now and again, so here's the latest contribution on my blog [;-)] Greener Grass...

Don't want to be too cynical about this, but what odds a topic entitled " most wonderful links page in the universe" is penned by someone linked to the site in question? [;-)] Bonjour Magazine used to have a print version ... along with France Review and several other titles. All of which were the identical magazine under a different cover but aimed at different marketing sectors. They gave up and went entirely webzine back in 2002ish. Frankly I don't think much of the links pages at all. "Worldwide" links?  Seems to be mainly centered on the Dordogne. I prefer web directories with at least some quality control.

Hi - first post for me!... Have exactly the same problem over in the Vaucluse each summer. Zillions of the little beggars. One year by accident we added too much of the various cleaning products - anti-algues, chlor, etc... and had to ban use of the pool for 24 hours. But the mixture seemd to affect the surface tension of the water somehow. Literally thousands of them ended up committing suicide as a result! Drastic reduction in numbers from that point on. The wasp repellant is a waste of money as you say. One good idea above, and it definitely helps - wasp traps, plus large water containers strategically placed away from the pool to attract them elsewhere for a drink.. Another thing, if it's the same species as ours - a big proportion of our wasps have their nests under the roof tiles. It's a big job, but proved worth it in the end - equipped with mask, pro spraying equipment, and a couple of gallons of wasp killer from a local agricultural supplies shop (not the silly ultra expensive tiny containers you get from garden centres) we sprayed under virtually every tile over the whole roof. Killed millions of them, and what's more they didn't come back that year or the next to nest under the tiles. Good luck!