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Where in France
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gil
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 08 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
You just want to see Simon dancing don't you?


Eh ? As in sur le pont d'Avignon ?

Quercy, Cahors, etc etc ? Lot, Lot-et-Garonne....

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 08 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

gil wrote:
sean wrote:
You just want to see Simon dancing don't you?


Eh ? As in sur le pont d'Avignon ?


Yep. Sorry, it seemed funnier when I was typing.

hardworkinghippy



Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 1110
Location: Bourrou South West France
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Crikey, Simon, I thought you were very happy where you were.

Here in Bergerac, we get very hot spells and in winter cold snaps which never last long. To be honest they're very welcome because they help control pests and our animals' internal parasites.

The weather's generally mild and very comfortable and we're outside almost all year round. Gardening here is a pleasure, although we've had drought on occasions and I don't know whether or not that's a long term thing.

The "English Abroad" society that you speak of exists anywhere in France where houses and land are available. The South West is full of English!

I'm fortunate because I've a ready-made French lifestyle because Fabrice was born in the village and that makes it easier for me to fit in - although to be honest I'll always be treated as a foreigner and "lumped in" with les Anglais. Apologies to all English, my remark is in no way racist or nasty, but there are a lot of English who get up people's noses but there are also lots of newcomers who are French and have started to complain about our way of life disturbing theirs...

If you're not happy then move, but make sure that you have a good few like-minded folk around you - whether they're old French peasants who appreciate what you're up to or new age Frenchies or English or whatever. Having other people helps your energy levels in the same way that having Downsizer helps a lot of us to stick with our daft (according to other people) ideas and ideology.

People who have ideas like ours need to search out like-minded folk, I've got loads of commitmnt and tons of energy to change the world (well my bit of it anyway) but if you don't share those ideas it soon becomes a real struggle.

I've met a lot of great people through working in the agricultural college and if you can get out a bit and meet them, there are plenty of people who are proud of "slow food" and positive about décroissance (downsizing) and you won't be seen as a freak. The people we spend time with are very cosmopolitan and mostly bilingual and I find that helps me a lot to stay on an even keel.

I think that that's what you're looking for, and you'll find that where there's a lot of incomers or in a university town or if you're lucky you could find an established "green" community to become part of.

I'm not advertising, and I'm not in a hurry but we've a bit of land - about 5 acres with a "start from scratch" ruin on it for sale with outline PP, I can send you details if you like or we can help you to find something near here - but it's expensive in Dordogne and it might suit you to try Lot et Garonne or even further south.

It takes a long time to build up contacts and friends - bear that in mind (I'm sure you have) before uprooting for pastures new....

Irene x

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Irene,

I have two examples which help illustrate your point,. My parents moved to France 6 or 7 years ago but have not integrated in French society very well. They speak very little French and live in a small area which is predominently English.

My sister on the other hand, who lives relatively close by. Speaks excellent French, her partner is French and they live as the locals do and integrate well. She has taken courses at the local college, is involved with local politics and plays an active role in the community. She's still an outsider but a welcome one.

Blue Sky



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks Irene

Your post makes alot of sense to me. We intend to tour around a bit and talk to people before we decide whether to put this place on the market or not. It isn't a plan for the short term. I intend to take my time with our next move and hopefully get it right.

Blue Peter



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 10:46 am    Post subject: Re: Where in France Reply with quote
    

Contadino wrote:

Here, if you make your place in the country too urban, you'll get robbed. It's as simple as that. 2 weeks after building work finishes, you'll get robbed and they'll take everything even if it's nailed down. You put a pool in, you'll get robbed. You put up a satelite dish, you'll get robbed. You rip out a vegetable bed and put in flowers, you'll get robbed.

I couldn't condone it, but it's a great way of keeping the rural lifestyle.


Do you mean robbed by (otherwise law-abiding-ish) locals? or by the local crims?


Peter.

Contadino



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 190
Location: Puglia, Italia
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 11:28 am    Post subject: Re: Where in France Reply with quote
    

Blue Peter wrote:
Contadino wrote:

Here, if you make your place in the country too urban, you'll get robbed. It's as simple as that. 2 weeks after building work finishes, you'll get robbed and they'll take everything even if it's nailed down. You put a pool in, you'll get robbed. You put up a satelite dish, you'll get robbed. You rip out a vegetable bed and put in flowers, you'll get robbed.

I couldn't condone it, but it's a great way of keeping the rural lifestyle.


Do you mean robbed by (otherwise law-abiding-ish) locals? or by the local crims?


Peter.


I wouldn't want to speculate. It's a very thin line between 'otherwise law-abiding', 'local crims', and Mafiosi.

Blue Peter



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 11:33 am    Post subject: Re: Where in France Reply with quote
    

Contadino wrote:


I wouldn't want to speculate. It's a very thin line between 'otherwise law-abiding', 'local crims', and Mafiosi.


Oh. Does that make life, er, interesting?


Peter.

Contadino



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 190
Location: Puglia, Italia
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 2:30 pm    Post subject: Re: Where in France Reply with quote
    

Blue Peter wrote:
Oh. Does that make life, er, interesting?


We're drifting off-topic, but it's probably just more difficult for the carabinieri. IME, the mafiosi aren't that interested in the average Guseppe, and people are quite ready to step over the line to sort an issue out quickly.

dougal



Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 4:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Where in France Reply with quote
    

Contadino wrote:
... and people are quite ready to step over the line to sort an issue out quickly.


Wasn't it a few weeks before Rick Stein's Land Rover "turned up"?

Ebyss



Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 50

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 08 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

How about Brittany? Friend of mine has a house and 20 acres (plus small stable barn) for sale there.

Vanessa



Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 8324

PostPosted: Fri Feb 01, 08 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Simon, we're in the Correze, and probably have fairly similar weather to you. We only tend to have snow once a year, and it doesn't NORMALLY lie for more than a day or two (although last year it was here for a fortnight!). We get cold nights, and some cold days ... interspersed with some warmer ones. Spring comes early and is warm ... summer is normally fairly hot ... autumn long and mild.

We had the same battle as Contadino ... each time a new Brit family moved into a seemingly huge radius round us, we were told of their arrival (or of their existence, if they were already there before us); each time we said we didn't know, and weren't really interested as we wanted to learn the language - the more Brit friends we make, the less we'll have to try, and the longer it'll take to learn properly. They now seem to have accepted this, and no longer announce new arrivals

Monsieur Hulot



Joined: 07 Mar 2007
Posts: 7
Location: France
PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 08 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ebyss wrote:
How about Brittany?


He won't like it 'ere. All the farmers (not townies) are selling their stone farmhouses to the brits and parisians and building brand new white boxes for themselves.

I

Blue Sky



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France
PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 08 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It's exactly like that here too I'm afraid. Did I already mention that? I probably did.

Lloyd



Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 08 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

As I've not been in here in quite a while Simon, I'm really surprised to hear this. I had carried with me the idea that you were revelling in establishing a self reliant homestead flowing with wine and beer and eggs. My Escargots still haven't arrived by the way, did you send them by snail-mail?

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