Too Much Rose-Tinting in the magazine?

[terdancamlog]

Hello All,

been a reader for a couple of years now, and it makes a great "bog-mag"!

We're currently looking to move, but are finding it hard to settle on a specific region, and unfortunately the LivingFrance magazine is no help in that regard.

The Reason?

Everything over there is truly spiffing.

Other than the usual suspects of language and bureacracy there is scan reference made to any "cons" of one department over another.

Yes we understand that interior properties will be cheaper than coastal properties that are next to an airport or motorway link, but where are all the other real-life, day to day problems that are never mentioned?

A few examples spring to mind:

1) main toll booths on Holiday saturdays and how to avoid them.

2) the atlantic winds battering the west coast

3) that wind that blows through the Alps down to the south cost (i forget it's name)

You may think i`m an old pessimist, but i`m often left with the overall nagging feeling that the magazine isn't doing a balanced job--it's merely being a sales spotlight purely focussed on all the good things in France.

I think to arm us readers better it should also be unafraid to make, or least refer to, problems/disadvantages and negatives that come with each department, and/or general living.

For every chocolate box picture of an english couple living in rustic bliss, there must be the squalid high rise flats ring-fencing the only nearby town that has any facilities--we've certainly seen them!

What do you think?

regards

Dan

[Russethouse]

 

Welcome!

I think if you invest a few hours reading the forum and asking questions you would soon find out what you want to know.

[woolybanana]

Don't be desperate Dan, nothing like research on the ground to get a better picture.

The magazine is there for dreamers, not for the brutal reality of woodworm in the septic tank or neighbours chucking pots of poison over the fence!

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

You have to ask what the primary reason the magazine (or any magazine) is there for. The simple answer is to sell copy and make as much money as possible. To do this, nice glossy images and dreamy locations to get you to keep buying is the way it has to go.

If it filled it with negative cons all the time, they wouldn't sell many or keep its reader base.

Interesting, just realised it's in direct contrast to the press, which relies on bad news and disasters to get its sales. It's having a field day at present.

[cooperlola]

What do YOU want from France?  One man's negative is another woman's positive and vice-versa, n'est-ce pas?  Let us know your idea of a good place to live and we'll all no-doubt have a reason why the regions where we live would suit or not. 

One thing to really beware of (whether you come over here and spend a few weeks hunting around or not) is dreaming of a quiet life when you're not used to one.  I reckon one of the major reasons for people going home is being lonely and cut-off in an "idlylic" spot in the countryside.  It is not for everyone and is even more isolating if you don't speak good French when you get here.  But as R/H says, have a good look at the previous discussions on this subject (and there are loads of them).

As far as rose-tinted magazines are concerned then I reckon Richard has it bang on.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

I certainly go along with Coops' description of isolation. I was in a village of 1800 people, 100m from the village square and I still felt isolated. In contrast, I lived in a smaller town in Australia, yet never felt isolated, there was always people about.

French villages tend to be very quiet from my experience, even with larger populations. People seem to keep themselves to themselves and those volets don't help either, always being shut around 6pm or so.

[Hoddy]

I'm not quite sure what you expect from a magazine. The local county magazines around here "Leicestershire Magazine" and "Derbyshire Life" show the more attractive aspects of those counties. People buy them in the knowledge that is the case. I don't see any difference really.

In the end there is no real substitute for visiting an area and making your own mind up what suits you. As RH says look at the forum and don't be afraid to ask questions about specific areas, I'm sure advice and opinions will be freely given.

Hoddy

[Polly]

Switch your subscription to French Property News, it's much more use! OK there are rosy articles, but also hard-nosed stuff and lots of useful references.

[Jazzer]

Agree entirely.We previously lived near the coast in Wales. Saw no end of retirees being entranced in the summer, and then feeling isolated in the winter-finally returning home.I think the old suggestion of renting wherever you would like to live for at least 6 months off season is a good idea.

[Chrissie]

Not always easy to rent for 6 months or so - once we had chosen an area, we investigated and couldn't find anything that wasn't exorbitant. OK this was ten years ago and maybe things have changed.  With hindsight - we are delighted with the area and property we chose!  But it could have gone horribly wrong.

Agree it is important to sit down and figure out exactly what you think you want out of life in the next 10-15 years.  Also look at what you do NOT want in your life.  Finally write a 200-word summary description and see what we on this forum can do to help.  If nothing else it may focus your minds a bit.  Be prepared to get in the car out of season (the worse the weather the better), and tour round and stay in places to get a feel for what they are like, and how well you can communicate with the locals.

Happy hunting!

Chrissie (81) 

[Frecossais]

We bought our "cottage" in Burgundy 21 years ago now. It was a holiday home in the countryside surrounded by only French people. We loved it. We always thought we'd retire there . Then we retired. Reader, we realised it was not to be. By now we had a busy and interesting life in England, then the grandchildren came along.......... Now we have a compromise: like many other contributors to this forum, we spend the summer months chez nous in France where we find the calm and the isolation incredibly energising. We have friends, but fewer than at home in England. We virtually live outside when we are there. We join in with community projects in our nearest village. We love it, but we also love our other sometimes frantic life en famille, en ville. I think I am fantastically lucky to be able to live in these very different worlds. I am very happily retired!

Do I sound like a certain magazine here?

[woolybanana]

Well, in the days when I chugged round in the CC, I was yet again struck by the sheer richness and beauty of France and by how much is missed by these magazines.If only they would have micro features. 

But, after all, why not start off with an idealized version of France, provided everyone sees it as that.

[Iceni]

[quote user="Frecossais"]We bought our "cottage" in Burgundy 21 years ago now. It was a holiday home in the countryside surrounded by only French people. We loved it. We always thought we'd retire there . Then we retired. Reader, we realised it was not to be. By now we had a busy and interesting life in England, then the grandchildren came along..........

[/quote]

Yes I agree, France is probably too close to England.

John

[Frecossais]

Of course, France isn't the only country that British people are migrating to. Look at the TV programmes about moving to Australia. And there are many ex-pats in Spain. Are we really so gullible that we believe everything we read in magazines? Most of us have a healthy amount of cynicism and level-headedness. Yes we can get carried away by the idea that the perfect life is possible, but it will normally take us some time to actually do anything about pursuing that life - thinking time.

Some people though do act on impulse and they're not always wrong for doing it. The challenges in this case may be unknown, but most seem able to meet them. And if they don't, they recover from that too.

And yes, France is beautiful and varied and big. Must be why even nowadays, most of the French still holiday in their own country.

Returning to the magazine view, I often find that the same OTT language is used over and over in the descriptions, (if I see that word "convivial" used again, I'll tear the page out) rendering the experiences described trivial and tedious.

[idun]

I can't say that apart from the very odd article that really catches my attention, I don't actually read any magasine, just look at the recipes really and that is it.

The french holiday in their own country. Yes, and many get financial help from the CAF/Comite d'Entreprise to do just that. Quite an incentive nez pah!

And I know that some french friends shy from the idea of going abroad, for the very same reasons that some english friends do. Worried about the food and the culture. French friends worry that there are not many places where french is spoken, whereas the english ones, sort of assume and often wrongly that the whole world speaks english.

I am lucky many of my french friends travel and travel all over the world now, but they didn't when I first met them. And there are people in my old village who have only ever travelled up to an hour from there, never seen the sea, never been anywhere.

Shouldn't people be getting over idealising when they are in their teens? I did. When I used to head off to sunny climes with friends I used to cry myself to sleep on the first night of each holiday. After reading the brochure and then my imagination taking over, it would have become somewhere very very special and nigh on perfect which ofcourse on our budget it could never be. I always had good and wonderful holidays and learned that a good time can be had just about anywhere. And eventually I developed realistic expectations.

We had an interview in France for husband's job and the city we would be moving to had it's rich and poor and was just a city. It was what it was. BUT more than that, in my twenties it was an adventure! And adventures don't have to be perfect.

If the magasine rose-tints, who is it aimed at? Would anyone move after reading a few magasine articles? If so, how odd!

[terdancamlog]

Thanks for the responses all, some interesting viewpoints.

In reading them i think my point has been misinterpreted; let me explain.

As i mentioned i`ve read the magazine for a few years now, ripping out and filing the useful pages!

Indeed as one person mentioned, to emigrate based on a few months reading of the magazine would be very silly, so with this in mind, who is the magazine aimed at? My impression is that most subscribers are long time investigators of France, so selling them the rose-tint is a bit pointless...?

However, what i was really getting at was the "by department" balanced reporting. There is a section "ask the estate agent" that never covers anything negative--nobody would buy a house without asking an agent what's problematic about the area. Telling us they have a property on their books for 50 euros is just a pointless exercise, i would have information such as "the average house price compared to France is...and this is because...howvever this is offset by...but schooling is predominantly...most income relies on....it takes x amount of hours from uk...average rainfall is..." You get the idea!

Indeed, as i mentioned before, we have visited France annually for quite some time now, and have spent the last couple of years actually viewing in earnest.

However, as one person pointed out, France is vast and it is very difficult to choose one location to settle on.

We are well aware of the isolation, close-downs etc having visited different times of the year, but as i stated this is part of the overall "Frenchness" that we are aware of. and that differentiates Frech way of life to the UK. But any number of mags, rags and tv shows could tell us that.

To give an example how would you say Indre and Creuse differ from each other, or Vienne and Charente? The magazine would describe the chocolate-box goodness of course, but what about the differentiation or the issues therein?

These are huge areas to go house-hunting in, but from what we've seen from the ground there isn't a lot of difference between them (that isn't attraction based--i`m talking purely day-to day living).

If, as someone alludes too, the magazine is merely a light "shop-front" for France, i may take the advice of another forumite and change to a different "regular bog-read" :)

Oh and the reason i`m awsking is that we want to set up a low-key Activity centre for archery, fishing and woodland play, but that isn't too far from schools and communications!! :)

warmest regards

D

[EuroTrash]

D - you ask who the magazine is aimed at, but that's not really the point, don't forget that magazines don't make their money from their readers - they make money from advertisers. The more subscribers they have, the more they can charge for advertising. And advertisers aren't going to want to advertise their services alongside articles that say negative things about the very things they are trying to sell or regions they are trying to sell them in. A bit like a certain other expat forum that deletes negative posts in case they offend its advertisers.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

It's funny, I've emigrated 3 times now and not once have I used a magazine. :)

[Jazzer]

Quite. These magazines exist to whet the appetite. and for a number of people who enjoy reading articles on France. Some are dreamers and do no more about it.II don' think they are meant for those who intend making a life changing decision.