Later Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Are you happy in France?Would you rather be somewhere else - if there were no obstacles to a move? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 a) Exstatically!!!!b) NOOOOO!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 ... well I would have expected that from you******o One for, zero against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 a. Usually. Still got to go to work. Still get bills. Still rains two minutes after the bbq is lit. Etc.b. Always fancied Italy. Certainly planning a move but will rest in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 If there were no obstacles to a move? I'd be outta here, 4 years is long enough for me ANYWHERE! I want to see China, I want to spend a (non-working) winter tucked up cosy somewhere bleak in Iceland, I want to help tribal women become self-sufficient in traditional skills, I want to stop child labour in India.In reality, we were faced with a choice between the south of France and the south of England. Financially, staying in France was a decision verging on idiocy, but it's nicer here. Mostly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]... well I would have expected that from you******o One for, zero against.[/quote]And we'd expect someone with an axe to post this in the first place!If (and only if) I was not happy here, what incetive is there for me to tell you (and eveybody else), and thereby admit to making a mistake? This sort of "poll" (or is that "troll") is pretty meaningless.If you don't want to be here, why don't you go and find or start a not-living-in-france forum, rather than pointing out to us what twits we have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 ... or maybe you could bowl me over with your support for the place so that I would have to rethink ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I have been happy here. If I hadn't thought I would have been we wouldn't have got past the first few months. I am where I am, and I live my life wherever I am. We almost moved to the Canary Islands when the kids were small, but got the timing a little wrong with regards to the job on offer and let it go and when the same job came up again, decided that it would be too complicated those few years later. I'm ready to move back to the UK now. Why, well the kids are no longer with us and we want a night life. I want to live in a proper town and it not be an expedition to go to the cinema. I want to do far more voluntary work than I can do where we live now. I want night school. I want libraries. I want regular buses and be nearish to a railway station. In fact I want to do less driving and be near the shops, walking distance will do very nicely thankyou. Apart from my one regret, I don't regret coming here at all. We did come to a very different country to most posters and live in a region that feels like another France, to the one they usually discuss, even now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]... or maybe you could bowl me over with your support for the place so that I would have to rethink ...[/quote]We are quite happy to accept that you don't want to live here.We are all entitled to our opinions, but you do seem a little "anti", judging by your earlier postings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Well why are you wasting my time with your bile. You don't have to repsond to every post on the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 NickT if you read the website, you might realise that I'm not actually saying don't move to France, I'm saying look before you leap.I think you're behaving like the thought police, jumping on any view that doesn't conform to your own. This is a forum and, if I'm not mistaken, that means it is a place for an exchange of ideas and thoughts, not just a platform for people to tow the party line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgina Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]NickT if you read the website, you might realise that I'm not actually saying don't move to France, I'm saying look before you leap. I think you're behaving like the thought police, jumping on any vi...[/quote] But you have just contradicted yourself, why would you name your site www.dontmovetofrance.org.uk then? Georgina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millymollymandy Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 France is not without its faults, but then neither is any other country.We were recently faced with the necessity of selling our house (in france) due to unemployment and a high mortgage. We could have moved anywhere within the EU. But the thought never entered our heads, France is our home, so we just relocated to another region.So YES WE ARE VERY HAPPY IN FRANCE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Hello GeorginaThe full name is don't move to France until you have done your homework. The interesting thing is, and this is just dawning on me, it's is actually very difficult to "do that homework" in any objective meaningful way and in some ways the best way to do it is to actually move there - and so I suppose in that sense I have contradicted myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 That's just sophistry. The banner says 'Moving to France? Don't...'If you don't like the place, why take part in a forum about it? I really don't see the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Nick,Later asked a perfectly good question. I was very interested in the responses, especially TU's as she has been here along time. I also was surprised by SB's too.In response to the original Post:Well we've been here getting on for 5 years and I'm a bit miserable, but am hoping that it is because winter is coming -even though we are having a glorious indien summer. I feel our village is beginning to close the shutters and become ready for those cooler winter months. It is true that when spring arrives people suddenly appear and conversly they disappear this time of year.The question we always ask ourselves is; if we don't live here (in France) where do we live - it feels a bit like the chicken and egg scenario sometimes. Maybe one day Australia, just maybe....Also the mice are raging and whilst I don't mind them, their noise of an evening is terrifyng, the cat is definitely looking full!Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teejay Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]... or maybe you could bowl me over with your support for the place so that I would have to rethink ...[/quote]Whatever any of us think of France it shouldn't be our opinions that persuade you to rethink your decision not to live in this country permanently.'Are you happy living in France?' is a very loaded question particularly as we already have in our minds a preconceived idea of where your coming from as a result of your web site.OK, it could be viewed by some as a fairly harmless question, others might say you were being disingenuous. The problem that I have with a question of this nature is that whilst I would genuinely like to reply I know that in order to be fully understood one would have to dot every i and cross every t. Today I am suffering from cabin fever due to ongoing renovation work restricting me to a small section of our house. She's not happy some would say. Quite right I'm not. I'd love to have my own personal space, my things around me and be able to work on some drawings and .....well you get my drift. ''Am I happy living in France?'' ''Yes'' ''Would I go back?'' ''No.''''Do you like where you live?'' '' Yes.''''Would you live anywhere else in France?'' ''Yes.''''Where?'' ''Ah now ##############,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(sorry cat waLked acroSS keyboard and the caps lock) Hey ho, I'm getting trivial now. Must be feeling better. A bientot,J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Later Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 TeejayYou've raised some fair and reasonable points. Is it a loaded question? I can see how all the baggage of the DMTF site would lead people to ask that question - hopefully it is so transparent that either I'm really stupid (no comments please ), or it is simply a question that is designed to get get people to say what they think about their life in France in the most basic terms ... you know along the lines of "forget about all the c**p in your life, are you happy". What I am seeing is people are happy to be in France, subject to various caveats etc etc. There must be something pretty good about the place ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teejay Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]Teejay You've raised some fair and reasonable points. Is it a loaded question? I can see how all the baggage of the DMTF site would lead people to ask that question - hopefully it is so transparen...[/quote]There must be something pretty good about the place......Space and loads of it. The country is so much bigger than the UK and more importantly you can travel across borders without that 20 odd miles of water getting in the way. Plus they say that the landscape varies every 30 kilometres and frankly I find that one of the most uplifting parts of being here. Variety. It's everywhere. At least to me at is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 The past few weeks have been a bit difficult for a variety of reasons - emergency op and long convalescence, very expensive engine failure on works van, changing and re-registering micro activity, huge cotisations, dealing with beaurocracy with abysmal French, lack of money due to some of the above, renovations taking forever due to illhealth, lack of time and money etc - and we have had several discussions regarding our future.Like SB we want to see other places and do so many other things. We feel at the moment that we have come to a standstill but, hey, this was always going to be a long project so nothing's changed. We are warm and comfortable and much better off in so many ways than many, many people. Maybe when the house is finished (can't rent it out till then) we'll go off and do VSO in some far flung place. In the meantime we are happy here and would prefer to stay rather than return to our old lives commuting, working, sleeping!!Although, I can understand people returning to the UK after their couple of years in France, I don't think we will be going back, just maybe moving on one day.Later - you had better upsticks and come see for yourself. As Teejay said, the spaces are huge compared to Britain. Yet we are no more than 20 minutes away from cinema, supermarkets, nightlife, libraries. The countryside is gorgeous - forever changing and, although it seems to rain here for the whole of November and February, the climate generally is great (no cold wind in the Charente). Now if someone could send me some draft IPA Flowers, all would be well with my world.regards.........helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 You know, it's ironic that the poster is getting a bit of flack for we've often said in the past on this Forum that we don't hear enough from people who move to France and subsequently don't like it. Personally, I loved every single second I lived there, and can't wait to move back. But I know many, many foreigners who loathed their time in the country and wouldn't even return now for vacation. But this is bound to be the case as we're all so different. I would imagine personal circumstances also have a major bearing on enjoyment levels too. What I continue to find astonishing is that so many people naturally assume they are going to love living in France and up sticks permanently based on little more than a week or two's holiday. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Yes. I and my family are extremely content here and do not see ourselves anywhere else. We chose to come here off our own backs with no help,a minute bit of knowledge and bl***y hard work to get ourselves established. We've become well known in the area and look forward one day to seeing the next anglo/french generation that we have helped to create. I've not visited the UK for over six years now because the last time I felt like a fish out of water and was homesick for France and to be honest,except for family still there,were rarely give it a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Re loaded questions.............Later, my first post ever on this board was something along the lines of Why are so many of you moving to France. The response in general was awful ......... Was I troll, a flamer.....nope, just someone who had moved to a very expensive country a long time ago and frankly hadn't got a clue about this 'must live in France syndrome'. I see France as a country with it's fair share of problems, where it is hard for many to make a living etc etc. There is crime and drugs and immigraton problems etc etc. So just like most other countries, (I have friends that live in other countries apart from the UK) AND I don't believe in Utopia. And for us and husband's decent job, like it would be anywhere, it is quite easy to have a pretty good life. And I imagine that deepest Northumbria would have as few crime problems and a fairly easy aspect to life etc as some petit patalin perdu in France and be just as scenic. Living in such a place here or in the UK has little appeal for me.The good........... well for those who's desire is to live nul part,well it is true that one can still buy, in comparison, a reasonably priced property. There is the cheap booze and mustard....... and the weather. Although, this board enlightened me as to how the Dordogne is in winter, very cold and damp, not what I had expected to hear at all. And the summers where I live in the Alps are usually too hot for me and I like us to head north for at least a few weeks during the school holidays. Brittany, Holland, Denmark or the UK usually do very nicely. Cool? that is not the expression that comes to mind. Tomorrow night I'm seeing friends I'll ask them what they would call their native land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Later asked a perfectly good question. That is a matter of opinion, especially if you try to define "good". Isn't it one of those "when did you stop beating your wife?" questions? I read it as a troll (as have others) an an opinion which, in the light of his response, would seem to be confirmed.I say "his" response, but then I can't tell can I, because they choose to obscure their identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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