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Why do you stay in France?


Rose

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[quote user="RumziGal"]

Durr, I have, I've got a job in England!  [:)]

Sorry if it upsets you, Dago, but life as a suburban housewife is NOT exciting, anywhere!    It's not a mad whirl of sociable meals and tales of hunting derring-do with jolly peasant farmers.  Young people go to nightclubs.  Older people work (if they can) to pay their mortgages, taxe d'hab, taxe foncière, and to buy flat-screen TVs.  It may not match your image of la France Profonde, but it's the way it is.  I live in the French equivalent of Chandler's Ford, for any of you who know that area.  [:-))]  

Now, about these sunflowers, a quick Google search would have told you that yes, sunflowers do return to their original position when it gets dark.  [;-)]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower

[/quote]

Can't see where I said that I was upset with you RG, and I really don't get the rest of your post if it was aimed at me? but then as many on here will no doubt tell you I am always mis-understanding posts, it is sometimes so difficult being stupid. Having never been a 'suburban housewife' I cannot comment on whether or not it is exciting, I am sure that there are probably lots of people around that would find your life exciting though. So if you have now taken a job in the UK does that mean that you have 'failed' in France?

best regards

[IMG]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g130/dago49/Dago3.jpg[/IMG]

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There is no way I could have lived in rural France between the ages of 25 and 50. I would have been so frustrated and yes bored. I see those years as the most exciting and productive of my life so far. I had an interesting job and a busy family life. No wonder you "younger" ones are desperate housewives. I'm just about ready now to enjoy a slower pace so can "stay in France"  quite happily. Pat.

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[quote user="Dago"]So if you have now taken a job in the UK does that mean that you have 'failed' in France?

[/quote]

Failed to find French employment paying more than the SMIC and commensurate with her experience, intelligence and capabilities, perhaps. But that sounds more like initiative than failure to me - she isn't sitting on her a*** moaning about how there isn't any work.

So by the same token, all the happy expats in France have failed in Britain? - I do so enjoy a circular discussion.

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Teamed Up.

I admit that I am naive in many things French as I have only been here a little while. One cannot research everything or know all the answers or even  all of the questions. For me I am on a voyage of discovery and I am glad that there are people like Sunday Driver and Ron etc that can answer queries when they arise.

This idea that I or others like me, know little of how France works may be true, I accept that. But I don't live in ignorant bliss, I watch only French TV, I buy a French paper and I have French friends, though I am not fluent in French and this limits my understanding of events etc however, I do have an interest in what is happening in France (more so if it affects me directly) and try to find out info from other sources, I am sure that lots of newbies do too.

Everybody has to start somewhere TU, you are fourtunate in that you have a couple of decades of French living under your belt and have formed your opinions based on your experiences. If I stay in France as long as you have, I may well think exactly the same way as you do, but chances are I won't, because everyones perspectives on a variety of subjects will always be different.

You are clearly passionate about your perception of France and I do respect your point of view.

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One good reason for being here cropped up this morning.Phoned the Doctor at 9.00

 for an appointment, seeing him at 10.15 today.

Regards.

Thats a very hackneyed old 'reason' - I can do the same and have, and I know Blanche Neige can too - it depends where you live in the UK and where you live in France too. ( Goodness we even have an NHS dentist!)

A debatable point, Pancake.   If life is "what you make it", how come all these thousands of expats failed to "make it" in Britain?

 I certainly knew people who thought a move abroad would solve their problems - they were middle aged before they realised they took their problems with them where ever they moved.

 I wonder how many people think it will be easier to make a second marriage work somewhere fresh ? Also how many find that working and being with their partner 24/7 is isn't what they thought either.

 

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Do you know, this thread is so negative, it's full of typical 'moaning brit syndrome'. Talk about failing in one country and stuff like that. It's all so negative.

There must be thousands of expats who have decided to move here for one very simple reason, a better quality of life than can be had in the UK. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close, for us anyway. No mortgage, a really nice house, land and animals, lovely neighbours and a very good social life. Not a lot of money, but we manage. Did we 'fail in the UK, no, we worked hard for everything we have, no-one has ever given us anything, we've never claimed off the state and now enjoy the fruits of our labours. That last statement must apply to hundreds if not thousands of expats who are here and enjoying the 'new' life they have made for themselves.

If you really don't like it here, the answer is simple, go back to the UK, otherwise enjoy this country, warts and all and stop whinging.

 

 

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[quote user="Will"]

[quote user="Dago"]So if you have now taken a job in the UK does that mean that you have 'failed' in France?

[/quote]

Failed to find French employment paying more than the SMIC and commensurate with her experience, intelligence and capabilities, perhaps. But that sounds more like initiative than failure to me - she isn't sitting on her a*** moaning about how there isn't any work.

So by the same token, all the happy expats in France have failed in Britain? - I do so enjoy a circular discussion.

[/quote]

Will, you are making the circular reference, I was not having a dig at RG but asked the question 'have you failed in France?' because someone had made reference to folk moving TO France after having 'failed in the UK' that is all. the original question is 'why do you stay in France?' I just wonderd why do people that find so much wrong with their lives in France choose to stay, I found life in the UK unbearable so I changed it to life in France, at the moment it seems like a good choice, in the future my view may change and I will make changes to my life based on that.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

best regards

[IMG]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g130/dago49/Dago3.jpg[/IMG]

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Bugbear - is anyone who says life ain't perfect 'whinging'.  I think the boredom that many people complain about is in fact frustration.  They are not bored in the sense they have nothing to do but may find that they are frustrated by all sorts of things.  I would have liked to have a job here, but found it impossible - not because I didn't have any skills, but because people would not even take my CV for reasons (maybe justified, but to me incomprehensible) such as 'you are too old - 47' 'You live to far away - 40 min drive' - very frustrating I can tell you..  Now I could have sat here 'whinging' but I didn't, I got the B & B going, OH got a job (well although he didn't speak French he is younger than me and a bloke) and we've got on with it.  As I said in my post, several pages and circles ago, we stay because we are MOSTLY happy.  The OP asked why anyone would be here and why they stayed and I think people have replied as honestly as they can.  We are all different people and we are not going to have the same views.

It is daft to tell anyone that life is all perfect or all bad.  The OP seems like a sensible person who can pick out what interests them.  If we were all leading perfect lives don't think too may of us would be here on this forum - we'd have better things to do.

Cheers

Maggi

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[quote user="Cerise"]

Bugbear - is anyone who says life ain't perfect 'whinging'. 

It is daft to tell anyone that life is all perfect or all bad. 

[/quote]

I didn't actually say either of those to comments and what I said was a general comment that clearly fits some people and not others. It's a case really of if the cap fits.........................................................

 

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[quote user="Teamedup"]

In your case Jon, I always thought that you 'made it', always sounded to me like you were an overpaid yuppie who became disenchanted and as they gave you lots of lucca to leave, you had a full change. People are often way off mark about me,  so if I'm way off mark , then I'm sure you'll put me right.

[/quote]

Well, apart from the yuppie bit (never wore braces and didn't work in the City you understand), it's a fair summary. Frankly.

I don't equate money with happiness. My job paid extremely well, but the other side of the equation was that I was "owned" - I went wherever and whenever my employer wanted me to go. This generally meant the seamier and more frisky corners of the world. More than once (three times, to be precise) I found myself in circumstances were I expected to die. This is not a way to earn a living when one has small children.

Obviously one needs a certain level of income to feel comfortable, and only fool would pretend otherwise in my view. We have to work very hard to make a living, but instead of catching swamp fever in some s**thole in West Africa I'm sitting bouncing my 4-month old on my knee (say "hello" to all the nice people, Felicity!), taking my shift at childcare rather than handing her over to a nanny, au pair or whatever. That is worth a lot to me.

I am not naïve. My French is very good and I am still a news junkie, so I am perfectly well aware of the sort of things that go on France at large, but I am deeply happy here. I really do not mind people being unhappy if they wish to be (and I am certainly not aiming this at you: I've indicated more than once that I have a high regard for your point of view, even if I don't always agree with it), but I resent the implication that those happy in France are somehow altogether clueless.

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[quote user="Cerise"]

  I think the boredom that many people complain about is in fact frustration. [/quote]

Yeah Cerise!!! Exactly what I wanted to say.

I keep wanting to post, but there is always someone who beats me to it. Cerise, you are the last in a long line. Rumzigal, Teamedup, Miki, Languedocgal, and probably others.

By the time I have composed a coherent answer, we are 3 pages further on, or the thread is locked. How boring!!! (I mean, frustrating!)

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Going to the Doc's quick , was of course one tiny little aspect, although where we live we have the same quick response from the Dentist.Not that I make a habit of going to either..  The only thing that amazes me in some of members replies is why they stay here, if they are so fed up with it?

Perhaps I may have answered my own question by my Google search for beach huts. I decided to knock up a hut for the grandchildren for their hols this summer so thought I'd try and get the right look. I read an advert for a BEACH HUT at Mudeford for sale £145.000. Do they do mortgages on beach huts now?

Regards. 5mins St.Malo. and all facilities

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[quote user="Gastines"]

The only thing that amazes me in some of members replies is why they stay here, if they are so fed up with it?[/quote]

Is it so amazing that people sometimes find themselves stuck somewhere, with no obvious way out that doesn't cause major upheaval and upset for others?

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I think a valid point about explaining boredom might be the age and stage you are in life. In addition and crucially your life experience to date tends to provide a certain pool of reflection providing it's been rich. That is not smugness. My daughter went to live and work in Florence. She said she had never been so bored in her entire life. Well perhaps that was predictable since she has no interest whatever in art, history or Italy. Her interests were elsewhere and could not be satisfied where she was. I think boredom, frustration call it what you will means you are in the wrong place at the wrong time in your life. France is not boring and neither is Florence, the problem I suggest is your need to stimulate other interests, not available to you at the moment for whatever reason. Boredom can be corrosive, rust never sleeps.
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Bugbear, should we talk about beautiful BMW bikes or pretty landscapes on every thread? Aren’t there threads for that?  This thread is about why people stay in France and so everything about being in France is surely relevant.  There are so many happy clappy threads on this forum, why not simply stay with those? 

RH, glad you took Gastines up on his comment about the Doctor’s  appointment. It’s the kind of nonsense that’s put out and people think the system throughout the whole country works that way. On another thread, he never replied to my request for his source on his figures for the amount of businesses created in France last year and it turned out he inflated the figures (322000 instead of 22000 of which 86% were individuals setting up alone). Perhaps it was a typing error (then say so) but how useful is that kind of misinfo to anyone thinking of moving here? 

Gastines, I am happy here, just not blind!

Cassis, I totally agree with you.

RumziGal, your experience is the same as many a French person too and as we all know, many have gone to the UK to get jobs.

TU, I wouldn’t dare post everything I hear. It keeps me amused. However, that’s not to say that I think those saying them are always 100% right.  It’s often just too close to home to dismiss. The comments made to me at this party about the rural Brits and their drinking habits just made me think that perhaps the rose tinted specs worn by a lot of Brit immigrants were aided by a more than generous helping of the Rosé stuff. [8-)].To be honest, it was not the first time I had heard it.

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[quote user="LanguedocGal2"]

Bugbear, should we talk about beautiful BMW bikes or pretty landscapes on every thread? Aren’t there threads for that?  This thread is about why people stay in France and so everything about being in France is surely relevant.  There are so many happy clappy threads on this forum, why not simply stay with those? 

[/quote]

Sorry, I thought that this thread sought all views on "Why do we stay in France". I didn't realise it was only for people who aren't happy in France.

I'll go and find a 'happy clappy' thread instead...................................[Www]

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[quote user="Bugbear"]

I'll go and find a 'happy clappy' thread instead...................................[Www]

[/quote]

You can borrow my tambourine if you like..... but you have to promise to bring it back.

I did have a bit of excitement this morning, when the dog got his tail tangled up in a thorny cut-down tree that the tree-cutters had carelessly left lying around.   Poor thing, took ages to extricate him!

The noodles I had for lunch were pretty exciting too, you get a pack of 5 packs in SuperU just now for not much money at all.   Super Yum Pork Chow thingy, you know the ones, 3 minutes and you're off on a frenzy of gastronomic delight.   I might just be really piggy and have a second pack.......

....... then it should be just about time for Bugbear to come back from his tambourine session, and he/she can have some too.  Can't say fairer than that, eh?  [:)] 

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[quote user="RumziGal"]

....... then it should be just about time for Bugbear to come back from his tambourine session, and he/she can have some too.  Can't say fairer than that, eh?  [:)] 

[/quote]

[:)][:)][:)]..........................It's Mr Tamborine Man...............................................and thank you, I was getting hungry.

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[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="LanguedocGal2"]

Bugbear, should we talk about beautiful BMW bikes or pretty landscapes on every thread? Aren’t there threads for that?  This thread is about why people stay in France and so everything about being in France is surely relevant.  There are so many happy clappy threads on this forum, why not simply stay with those? 

[/quote]

Sorry, I thought that this thread sought all views on "Why do we stay in France". I didn't realise it was only for people who aren't happy in France.

Agree but perhaps you should re-read your previous post about whingers going back to the UK and negative Brits.

I'll go and find a 'happy clappy' thread instead...................................[Www]

Think you'll be spoilt for choice[:-))]

[/quote]

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[quote user="Jon"]

I don't equate money with happiness. My job paid extremely well, but the other side of the equation was that I was "owned" - I went wherever and whenever my employer wanted me to go. This generally meant the seamier and more frisky corners of the world. More than once (three times, to be precise) I found myself in circumstances were I expected to die. This is not a way to earn a living when one has small children.

Obviously one needs a certain level of income to feel comfortable, and only fool would pretend otherwise in my view. We have to work very hard to make a living, but instead of catching swamp fever in some s**thole in West Africa  ...

[/quote]

Spooky - I could have written that myself (apart from the small children).  [:)]

Some of my former work colleagues used to regard my stays in West Africa as extended holidays [Www] - possibly because I always tried to make light of my experiences there.

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Come and join me on my threads BB!

I must say, I am a little intrigued by the statements from the "Witches of Eastwick" ([:)]) and the things they hear.  Am I correct in assuming that the "Happy Clappers" amongst us would be heartbroken if we knew what "they" really, really thought of us?

Or shouldn't I ask?[Www]

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