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The Riff-Raff Element said: I don't bother much with French forums these days: after 11 years here I don't really need them for information.

I never came here for information, I'd been here for almost 20 years before I found this forum and frankly, all the information was always there, pre www. All one needed to do was take the time to ask the proper authorities and neighbours and friends and whoever one had to deal with......... and for such as me, a fantastic way to improve my french. Questions, en anglais seems to defeat the object of doing things french in France. And actually once you start chatting to people the stuff one can pick up, if actually listening, is priceless. [:-))] Anyway 'my' point of view was not really that welcome by quite a lot of posters when I first came on here and that is OK.

I haven't been posting much as I have real computer problems at the moment and this computer is not so good, feels like I'm on dial up again.

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[quote user="Val_2"]Another reason I visit occassionally is to speak english as I don't speak it a great deal here now being as all my friends,neighbours and new people in my life are all french and I find myself often forgetting the english words or getting the spellings wrong as my brain works in reverse as it did previously. Some contributors are old cyber friends from years back so I also get to read what they are doing these days as well![/quote]

Nice to see you Val, I was thinking hadn't seen you for a while...I hear Morlaix is suffering badly with the floods, hope you are far enough away to be OK.
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Thanks RH. Yes, I am a good twelve miles distant from the town and on top of a hill by the coast so no flooding here apart from overflowing fosses along the roads and have you ever seen still water on a hill that wasn't flowing downwards?,very unerving I can tell you!

The town is recovering and to be honest I have only been down in the centre twice this year. My son's friend lost her car to the deep water in the Intermarché carpark where she leaves it at night next to her flat along with 129 others suffering the same fate, it was upto the windows from the overflowing rivers running back where two meet near the mairie and then against on the incoming tide in the estaury. My daughhter and her boyfriend had a terrible crossing back to Plymouth on monday and no passengers were allowed to walk about for most of the crossing nor go outside it was so rough but they made it 1.5h quicker than it should have taken,glad I don't go these days as I hate boats. I was tiddling around on the computer today and suddenly remembered this forum and wondered who was on it but I am always busy and work when I am required by my boss so time is often too precious to spend on the internet.

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I travelled Calais to Dover on monday and apart from the sea looking really bizarre, I suppose its called a troubled sea, the crossing was quite reasonable although the boat did have to approach the port of Dover at a 90° angle from the East.

The weather was fine when I left France and rubbish as soon as I hit the UK and it has remained so, lots of flooding and storm damage all around me, last weeks storm caused a major leak around my chimney taking off the wallpaper in the landing and bedroom, since 1986 I have looked at the chimney in the loft after every storm as I could see there had been leaks before, in close to 30 years all I have seen was a tiny inconclusive damp patch on the render, this storm left me in no doubts as to where the water was coming in.

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[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]I don't bother much with French forums these days: after 11 years here I don't really need them for information. [/quote]

Same here. We're just entering our 10th year; on the face of it, I should be able to offer lots of information to people who're thinking of moving here / buying a second home ... but things change over the years and my advice on fosses, entering the health system, registering UK cars and trailers etc would probably be plain wrong now despite it being right when we did stuff.

And my specialist subject never was ancient boilers. [:D]

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I come onto this forum every day and have found it invaluable, just reading all the subjects and 'taking in' the information, filing it away in my brain. Even if the subject doesn't immediately interest me, it's useful to know for the future. Originally I posted a lot, asking lots of questions, then gradually felt able to answer a few questions and pass on my own experience. I also belong to a couple of regional forums which are quite active ... they certainly serve a purpose in asking "where can I buy xxx" and problems with local services and the quirks of local prefectures.

For here I go straight to 'active topics' and rarely look at the board overview. It seems to me that the Forum sections are very clear and well laid out, you'd know where to search on a specific topic.

Perhaps, as someone said, there aren't as many newbies in France, housing market and all that.

Is there any way to check how many people are logging on and not responding? Perhaps there are many who, like me, check in regularly, read a lot but don't feel able to reply (not enough knowledge) or the subject has already been dealt with, but our 'silent' visits do count towards forum activity?

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The forum is also a reflection of life in general. In all the activities I have been active in, at the end its the same few people who get involved and stick it out. Be it clubs, parent/teacher school activities or council members, its the same faces. Never the ones with problems, or the ones who need to sort their lives out; that type is always the first to complain but the last to volunteer! The forum is evolving to reflect the needs of those that use it. Searching on the web is one thing, but getting an opinion from someone you"know" through a forum imo is better value. There is also value in having a large "net" to filter what goes on in France that may not affect the French, but will have a potentially devastating effect on ex-pats (eg health care)
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From recollection, when the Forum was at its busiest, it was because there were frequent posts from new members who were asking questions about moving and or buying property in France. However, in recent years there has been a substantive decrease in the number of foreign buyers purchasing French property, which according to stats just released was down 30 per cent in 2013. With previous decreases year on year since the peak of 2007, there are far fewer Brits purchasing French property than during the boom years of Place in the Sun.

The other French Forums I joined some years ago have seen a similar decline in posting activity, with posts from new members asking questions about buying or moving to France a rarity these days.

The reasons are not difficult to find, with concerns about the deteriorating state of the French economy which is increasingly seen as the sick man of Europe with the latest manufacturing data showing France falling behind Greece, and increased taxation and imposition of French social charges on foreign property owners renting or selling their French second homes.

For Brits, the continuing strength of the Euro does not help, although there is some hope that this year might see the Euro weaken to around 1.25, although that is still some way short of the heady days of 1.60 to the £!

Also there are reports that where there is an increase of interest in buying second homes abroad, other countries like Spain seem to be more in favour these days perhaps because better value can be found.

Last but not least we have sadly lost some of the forum stalwarts over the years either due to illness or that quite a few have returned to the UK.

Chancer, if it is of any consolation regarding the weather you are experiencing in the UK, here in the South of France it has been diabolical with torrential rain for over 24 hours non stop!
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[quote user="idun"]

Anyway 'my' point of view was not really that welcome by quite a lot of posters when I first came on here and that is OK.

[/quote]

I recall vividly. Used to annoy the hell out of me. [:P] That said, back in 2000 / 2001, what you posted (you and some others with real experience, many departed, a handful still here) was often very useful and I thank you for it.

But if someone new comes on here these days, what do they see? A half dormant forum with some categories that haven't moved for months or even years. That doesn't instil confidence.

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I remember your early posts too, Idun. I think I first joined in late 2001.

I wonder if the drop in numbers of people buying in France is reflected in sales of the company's magazines?

I used to buy Living France at one time, and they had a section reporting discussions on this forum.

For those who like nostalgia, some of the forums on here have archives going back about 10 years ( unless they've been pruned recently.)

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[quote user="NormanH"]We are "all know-alls" now [6][/quote]

With this new found knowledge and time-served P&O apprenticeships, returning to GB to compete with the influx of Poles, Bulgarians, Romanians, etc in finding suitable work within the building trade.

Can't beat a bit of competition.[:D]

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[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"][quote user="idun"]

Anyway 'my' point of view was not really that welcome by quite a lot of posters when I first came on here and that is OK.

[/quote]

I recall vividly. Used to annoy the hell out of me. [:P] That said, back in 2000 / 2001, what you posted (you and some others with real experience, many departed, a handful still here) was often very useful and I thank you for it.

But if someone new comes on here these days, what do they see? A half dormant forum with some categories that haven't moved for months or even years. That doesn't instil confidence.

[/quote]

ROFLPMP I used to annoy the hell out of lots of people and probably still do[Www]. 

Well anyone new coming here could look in the archive, me, I'm very unsuccessful with it, but others seem to do OK.

I have never felt like I was part of a clique on here, ever. Some people seem to actually know one another IRL and that is fine, but that said, I never felt excluded. Now there are cliques in my old village and they didn't want anyone to get involved with them, so this forrener simply avoided them. [:D]

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I remember those days....the days of "fluff" and "rose-tinted specs", where anyone who didn't portray France as The Promised Land was roundly chastised, and any attempt at offering a reality check was met with undisguised hostility!

Those were the days when the "UK bad-France good" mentality reigned, and I remember rather frequently being accused of having overdosed on sour grapes because (by choice) I wasn't rushing to sell up in the UK and move to France immediately.

Back then, armchair experts regaled the boards with tales of rosy-cheeked peasants and advice about how Marie(sic) was hanging out at the Marie (sic) just waiting for new arrivals from the UK to pop in with a bottle of Scotch and some shortbread, ready to introduce themselves and be welcomed into the bosom of local life: which, the received wisdom had it, was absolutely essential to smoothing the transition and would ensure one's immediate integration (usually with the addition of an extra "r") into French culture. Because, of course, even the tiniest of hamlets was awash with culture back then...

Everyone was busy with their "artisans", "fosses" and "chaudières", because they'd moved to France and needed to mark the event by demonstrating an affinity with (if not an actual mastery of) the language, so no-one could ever actually come onto a forum and ask for a builder when they needed a maçon. People extolled the virtues of "pretending to be French" (although never actually elaborated upon what this actually entailed) when faced with non-resident British holidaymakers talking loudly in L'Eclerc(sic) [That last typo still really grates on me: I can't believe anyone can drive past a supermarket on a daily basis for years and not notice the *(*&*^^ spelling].

I'm glad that some of the voices of reason from back then have stuck around for long enough to see how very right they were, and especially glad that they've been big enough to take years of flak without ever feeling the need to say "I told you so".[:D]

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Betty you are so funny, thankyou for making me laugh.

You don't really suspect anyone on here of being so mesquin as to say 'I told you so', or 'you've changed your tune'. Me, I felt a bit of relief when we got a feeling of normality on here and if I thought anything, it was 'en fin'!

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