vmax Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 It seems to me the situation with all the Brit couples we know in France is the man loves it and the woman would get on the next boat home given the chance, has anyone else found this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 In a word, no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmax Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 I think it's a family and shops thing, the male side of our friends seem to be glad to see the back of both but not the ladies, this is true for nearly every couple we know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerise Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 In several couples I know the woman is the French speaker - so perhaps the chaps just spend their lives down the bar watching the footie and drinking the cheap plonk whilst the women do all the struggling with admin etc, thus leading blokes to believe that life in France is dead easy[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 TOH has proved to be far more talented at language acquisition than I am so he's doing most of the serious stuff relating to life here - quotes from EDF / Syndicat d'Eau etc, discussing stuff with artisans and ouvriers and so on. And I'm delighted to let him. As I keep saying to him, the French only listen to men - you go boy! Allez, allez. [:D] My French is improving though so some of that is gradually devolving to me. Bummer. [:P]We're both happy. As I've expressed in another thread, I'm missing some of the challenges and satisfaction of working using my brain (how much analysis and evaluation does pointing a wall require[Www]) but as I do go back to the UK every couple of months to see my parents who're now in their 80s, I know visiting them is the only reason I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 [quote user="vmax"]It seems to me the situation with all the Brit couples we know in France is the man loves it and the woman would get on the next boat home given the chance, has anyone else found this ?[/quote]Quite the contrary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickybear Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I use an English hairdresser as it's much easier to explain what I want ( there is currently a limit to my French! ). She states categorically that it's the women who generally want to go back to the UK not the men.The women she sees in her salon ( in rural France ) mostly say they haven't enough to interest them, whilst the men are quite happy pottering about and doing very little.Something about their ability/need to multi task perhaps............Don't shoot the messenger, the Hairdresser said it, although I can say from personal experience it's true of my hubbie and I. Alarmingly, we have English neighbours who spend about 8 months a year here and have done so for quite a few years. The hubbie needed a number of operations last time they were in the UK and the wife quietly told me that although she wished him better, she was secretly glad when the treatment dragged on as it meant she didn't have to come back to France so soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 [quote user="white-van-woman"]The women she sees in her salon ( in rural France ) mostly say they haven't enough to interest them, whilst the men are quite happy pottering about and doing very little.[/quote]But we must be careful here.[:-))] Her customers cannot be a representative sample of British women in France (not that you said they were). They are representative of women in France who use a British Mobile Hairdresser. This choice may indicate a lack of confidence in the language both in conveying what they want (nooooooo, not the red spiky hair today, thank you) and a reluctance to have the washing, the conditioning, the "have you been away anywhere nice for your holidays" conversations in a High Street Salon. And we've all been there, whatever the country. So it is possible that women selecting a BMH are already predisposed to be less settled in France than those using HSSs. Or indeed, those growing their hair to waist-length for the first time since their teens as a full-blown hairdresser avoidance technique. [Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 [quote user="vmax"]It seems to me the situation with all the Brit couples we know in France is the man loves it and the woman would get on the next boat home given the chance, has anyone else found this ?[/quote]No way Pedro![:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 [quote user="white-van-woman"]I use an English hairdresser as it's much easier to explain what I want ( there is currently a limit to my French! ). She states categorically that it's the women who generally want to go back to the UK not the men.The women she sees in her salon ( in rural France ) mostly say they haven't enough to interest them, whilst the men are quite happy pottering about and doing very little.Something about their ability/need to multi task perhaps............[/quote]Why do they move here ? Sounds as if both parties were not 100% behind the idea in the first place.Johnnot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerise Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 wvw, your French will improve rapidly if you use French hairdresser as you will learn (very quickly indeed) to say that you do not want your hair orange/mulberry/beetroot/exotic pink stripes. My hairdressers are excellent at cutting (nicest hair STYLE I've had for years) but why do they constantly tell me my blonde hair is 'boring' and am I sure I wouldn't like it another (multi) colour.Perhaps that is anothe thread 'Why French hairdressers think British hair is boring'[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickybear Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 You can both be 100% behind an idea in theory, it's the practice that seems to cause the problems for some. You can't know how it will feel to 'live in France' until you 'live in France'. You can't know what you will miss until you no longer have it. With the best will in the world some ideas which seem great at the time will end up not quite right for some people. If everyone was able to know what the outcome of their new adventures would be there'd be no anticipation and excitement. The key is knowing when you've made a mistake and doing something about it. Not so easy when 'he' loves it and 'she' doesn't as appears to be the case.Anyway, I'm having a great day.....see The Lighter Side thread on Mr Potato Head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 [quote user="Cerise"]...why do they constantly tell me my blonde hair is 'boring' and am I sure I wouldn't like it another (multi) colour.[/quote] Perhaps they think you should sport a colour commensurate with your name, Cerise...[;-)] Angela (also fighting off kind offers from French salons to "just lift the colour a bit...") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serrif Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Just look at the BBC news and read an English newspaper every morning. You will then realize why you have chosen to live in France !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Doesn't work on me sorry ! But some headlines in the French local and National papers sure have me very worried !Do you read French journals and watch French TV ? And if you do, wellyou couldn't do surely, otherwise you will know of the problemsthat are here as well .........anyway bottom line, never left the UKfor anythingmuch more, than a change of lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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