Are feelings towards us etrangers changing?

[cooperlola]

Cassis/Geordie I take issue with your statement that the retired contribute less to the French economy!  We spend almost all of our two UK pensions on French goods and services, we pay the tax here, we spent a good few thousand euros on a house here which went to a French couple, we have spent yet more thousands on French builders etc to do the renovations.  Neither of  us is robbing any local of a job - in fact we employ them!  That's always my comeback if this subject comes up here in conversation.  When local people I talk to look at it that way most agree after a bit of thought. Yeah, they make the odd throw away remark but it's like everywhere else, pleaseant reasonable people respond in a pleasant reasonable way, no matter where they come from  The others (French, British or whatever - st*ff 'em and talk to somebody else, I say).  The most hostility I encounter towards Brits here is for those who haven't made the effort to learn even a modicum of the lingo and aren't prepared to try - and on this subject I have every sympathy with the locals.

[Cassis]

Crikey, you've been digging back through the archives - it's months since I posted that!  What I said was:

"Many Brits coming to France are

buying a holiday home which is empty for a large part of the year, or

are moving here in retirement, which does not contribute as much to the

economy as a full-time inhabitant or worker."

That wasn't by any means all I said and it's out of context, but even so I

think that a full-time worker contributes more to the economy

than a retiree.  This was by no means intended as a personal criticism of UK retirees to France, but as a simple observation of why in some areas where there is a population imbalance of this type there may be some resentment by 'locals'.  I hope to retire here soon as well!

[cooperlola]

Maybe if you give up the gite, you'll get to the race eh?  Yes, the Saga mind often takes a while to catch up on some of these topics!

[Cassis]

Don't suppose you fancy taking over the running of the B&B round about mid-June, do you? 

Have you been over to Canada yet and did you pick up on whether the English-French conflict continues in the parts Quebecois?

[Deimos]

I can image that if there is "hostility" then it is more likely to be towards holiday home owners than permanent residents. From my experience that is certainly the case in the village I used to live in in the UK (and they were British part time residents as well). As people have commented, holiday home ownership does not help a growing thriving community. whilst the owners are there on holiday they probably get very involved in the community but I would imaging many are "in residence" for a relatively small percentage of the year. Start to get a few holiday homes and parts of the community can become a bit derelict for parts of the year with houses shut-up. Certainly that has happened to some villages in Cornwall where some streets spend all but a few weeks of the year completely shut-up - all houses being holiday homes.

As others have pointed out, many of the large numbers of French in the UK are living in the UK, spending their salaries in the UK, doing their activities, everything in the UK. they are not just visiting occasionally.

Start to get too many holiday homes in an area and whilst there is enough business to keep the bakery, etc. going for a few weeks in the summer, the level of business through the year drops and it is difficult to stay in business with a few busy weeks when the holiday home owners arrive.

Anywhere you will always get a few grumpy people - UK as well as France. There was one person (mid-30's ) who used to totally ignore me to the point to being completely rude - greeting people I was talking to yet ignoring me. However, I plugged-on, always being polite, joining in, etc. and gradually he "came round" and is now friendly and no problems. The persevering has got to be harder if one is only in France of intermittent short periods.

Ian

[verviale]

Having spent all week welcoming foreign students, to our university,some 4500 of them, knowing that all the EU students will stay behind and get a job in the U.K.Although they pay for their fees, I could be very resentful of the resources they use here and get for nothing ,not having to pay anything up front like we do when we visit France.I feel the opposite I embrace their arrival, I feel proud they want to come and make use of our wonderful university education, everybody all over the world wants to come here to further their education, I have never come accross one person that resents their being here. I find it frustrating when my neighbours in France start on about the English buying all the houses up, why don,t they embrace us for wanting to share, enjoy and contribute to their lovely country, the English I have encountered in the Limousin have the upmost respect for local customs and their way of living, which is the total opposite of the two french lads which work in my sons office in London,who even travel back on eurostar to Paris for the morning to go to the dentist, how about that for integration. I am afraid sometimes you will never please the french as long as you live.In the U.K. we are very broadminded and giving, look how much the Brits give to charity compared with the rest of Europe, I just think we think in a different way and therefore find the way most French approach us, challenging.While I am on my soap box, I do wish people would stop running the U.K.down all the time, our young people must have the most oppertunities to progress in whatever they want to,there is stacks of work out there if you want to work and we have the finest health service in the world.I await a shed load of opposing posts.

[Blanche Neige]

Felicitations!

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Cassis"]Don't suppose you fancy taking over the running of the B&B round about mid-June, do you? 

Have you been over to Canada yet and did you pick up on whether the English-French conflict continues in the parts Quebecois?
[/quote]No, yes, no (didn't get to the French bit).  However, I did meet a French Canadian couple on the train who were delighted to bump into the "first person we've met on the train who speaks French".

[Cassis]

I think visitors to a certain place to our west have a similar sense of delight when they eventually meet a French speaker! [:D]

[nimportequoi]

[quote user="Cassis"]I think visitors to a certain place to our west have a similar sense of delight when they eventually meet a French speaker! [:D]
[/quote]

You aren't referring to Brittany are you Cassis?? Why, I spent the day in St Malo on Sunday and it was packed - I didn't hear one single English voice in the crowds - mostly French, a few German, but no English!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="verviale"]Having spent all week welcoming foreign

students, to our university,some 4500 of them, knowing that all the EU

students will stay behind and get a job in the U.K.[/quote]

Yes, well I suppose that they can actually speak the language of their host nation. And their handwriting is better.

I always liked to find graduate trainees who were European other than

British. I suppose I could have been accused of being unpatriotic, but

from my point of view as a manager they were just great. They could all

speak another language (obviously), there was no need to fret about

work permits, I wasn't joking about the handwriting, they could

usually  do mental arithmatic and they actually knew some things

without having always to go away and look it up.

I'm not sure I can concur with your point about the health service

either. The medical staff may be great but the management are pants.

[Cassis]

[quote user="SusanAH"]

[quote user="Cassis"]I think visitors to a certain place to our west have a similar sense of delight when they eventually meet a French speaker! [:D]

[/quote]

You aren't referring to Brittany are you Cassis?? Why, I spent the day in St Malo on Sunday and it was packed - I didn't hear one single English voice in the crowds - mostly French, a few German, but no English!

[/quote]

Nope - much closer to home!  [:D]

Sorry if I touched a nerve!

[nimportequoi]

[quote user="Cassis"][quote user="SusanAH"]

[quote user="Cassis"]I think visitors to a certain place to our west have a similar sense of delight when they eventually meet a French speaker! [:D]
[/quote]

You aren't referring to Brittany are you Cassis?? Why, I spent the day in St Malo on Sunday and it was packed - I didn't hear one single English voice in the crowds - mostly French, a few German, but no English!

[/quote]

Nope - much closer to home!  [:D]

Sorry if I touched a nerve!
[/quote]

No Cassis, not at all, you wouldn't have been far wrong if you were talking about Brittany! There are no shortage of English people here - it must have been a fluke day at St Malo on Sunday. You must have been referring to Normandy then?

[Cassis]

Begins with "D" and ends in "t".  Has "omfron" in the middle. [:D]

[Patmobile]

Here in 62, there have been some localised mutterings recently, because some foreigners (Brits and Belges) in a nearby village have led a petition against the introduction of street lights.  In another village some Brit holiday home owners tried, unsuccessfully, to get up a protest about aeoliennes (wind powered generators) planned to be erected on hills some miles away from their village.

The check out girls in the supermarkets don't seem to like the non french speaking British much either, because they never say "Bonjour" and "Au revoir", and they're impatient in the queues (so they say).

Patrick

[Georgina]

[quote user="Patmobile"]..............................
The check out girls in the supermarkets don't seem to like the non french speaking British much either, because they never say "Bonjour" and "Au revoir", and they're impatient in the queues (so they say).

Patrick
[/quote]

I was surprised when after standing in the self serve queue for 10 minutes, I let my 8 1/2 year old son do the transaction on the machine (as he is actually quicker than me) the french woman behind slammed her basket on the counter.  My son was even faster than the french person before us too.  Anyhow I laughed when she could not use the machine and got really into a worse mood. I have got used to queuing now and find it more pleasant to shop without the stress.

As regards au revoir and bonjour.  There is a French woman who you can look right in her face and say "bonjour" in our local Noz and she just ignores you.  I did it again once because I thought she had not heard me but she still ignored me.  Bizarre.

Georgina[:)] 

[Renaud]

Patmobile: 'The check out girls in the supermarkets don't seem to like the non french speaking British much either, because they never say "Bonjour" and "Au revoir"...'

Exactly how do they know who is going to be a non-french-speaking-British-person so as not to say "Bonjour" to them?

[Cassis]

Because they are the ones at the back of the queue tutting and saying 'Why don't they shut up and get on with it' when the French customer in front and checkout lad/lass start gossipping or the customer takes an age to find their cheque book. [:D]

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Cassis"]Because they are the ones at the back of the queue tutting and saying 'Why don't they shut up and get on with it' when the French customer in front and checkout lad/lass start gossipping or the customer takes an age to find their cheque book. [:D]
[/quote]You've met Mr Cooperlola, have you Geordie?[:)]

[Deimos]

I managed to "start a trend" in the supermarket the other day. Massive queues and as per normal when this happens they start to close tills. As I only had a couple of things I went to the 10 items or less till, behind people with full trolleys. - so I told them to go to another till. They did (much to my surprise); they went to another 10 items of less till but, as I'd started something they were then told by others to "move on" from there as well. Never seen that before.

Ian

[Cassis]

Blinking heck - if we try teaching them how to queue properly then they really are going to get the hump! [:D]

[SaligoBay]

Are you kidding, Cassis?   I think the French are among the best and most obedient queuers in the world!   Supermarket queues, ticket queues in stations, they stand in line like Gallic sheep and rarely a complaint is heard.   They're really very obedient.

[Cassis]

They are - but have you noticed that sometimes if people are waiting for, say, a shop to open and there are no clear signs and barriers to direct the queue, they seem to have problems deciding where the queue should begin and where they should join on - sometimes they start queueing metres away from the door or whatever and they sprout offshoots to each side which makes it a bit of a shambles.  Sometimes it's hard to spot where a queue begins and ends.  [:D]

Plus in a shop, if another till opens, make sure you've got your running shoes on!  [:D]

[Chancer]

I have often had people walk in front of me in the queue (without asking) when they only have one or two items, I think they either assume it is ok, and it is because often I invite them, or there is some unwritten rule.

However whenever it is teenagers or a teenage parent they are inevitably joined by their mates or partner with the rest of the shopping, a bit of a give an inch and they will take a mile.

It has made for some interesting arguments during which I usually only use broken French whereby they think that they can say what they wan't to me because I dont understand but I actually do!

[Iceni]

I have tried to post this already but it seems to have gone astray.

[quote user="J.R."]

........ give an inch and they will take a mile.

[/quote]

Question for Dick Smith (probably)

When/why has the above phrase been corrupted in replacing "ell" with "mile" ?

John

not