Fontremy Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 I am a typical British male - a man of few words. I've been caught several times by neighbours in France when I've been on my way somewhere - they seem to have all the time in the world to chat. I guess it would be lovely to properly adjust to the pace of life, but regular short visits don't allow the time to chill out - roll on retirement! I wondered what the longest impromptu conversation anyone has had in France?FR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hegs Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 As a worker, I have the same "problem" in France... but had the same problem in the UK as well. I think is a working vs retirement difference not English v French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washy Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 When we just 'pop'out to the village shop, or go to the post office just to post a letter, we equip ourselves for a major day's outing. Bottle of water, dog bowl/lead/dog, sunglasses, hats etc. We switch off the generator, shut the goats in and lock the workshop......The reason for this? No matter how small the chore we have to do we are usually gone for half a day at least......because we meet locals who want to chat, or someone flags us down just to say 'Bonjour'. We have to drive slowly through the village wary of Kamikaze old folk waiting to jump out on us from behind bushes just to pass the time of day. We have to stop at Monsieur Tanner's allotment to check out the size of his veg.....and so the day goes by. We are retired now but this used to happen when we were merely on holiday here, now it is great to be able to have the time to stop and talk.When my husband ventures out on his own I often get a phone call from someone in the village saying they have been talking to him for about 10 minutes are were not sure if he (my husband) understood....so the converation is related back to me.I love village life here - "Another quiet day in the Corbieres!" is our favourite phrase....as we never have a quiet day, we are in a remote place but we have visitors every day and more in the hunting season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 About five hours, then the bell tolls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 About 4 hours - started off about digging a hole (for pool) then followed a tour of neighbours house, then their neighbours house not to mention numerous Pineau (local Apero)- it is lovely. However, we have learned if we want a short conversation we take the children with us and that shortens everything by at least half.Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpea Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Since we moved here full time 4 years ago, our neighbour and friend, whose hubby is out all hours farming, calls at least once a week. We can be putting the first mouthful in, or sitting watching the food cook on the barby. She will NOT take the hint! We love her dearly, but have even resorted to gagging the dog to stop him barking when we hear her front door closing!!!She will drink at least half a bottle of gin (to which we introduced her) and spend 2 - 3 hours chatting about anything and nothing. Poor love is obviously lonely, but we would like some quality time on our own, after dealing with people in our work all day long!(She even stayed when I was ill in bed once - kept waking me up by shouting upstairs!!Wouldnt change her though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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