Leaving the French countryside behind?
I should think about 99% of UK expats moving to France end up in the countryside, usually surrounded by lovely views and in beautiful period houses packed full of traditional features – rotten window frames, lead pipes, termites and so on. Not surprising since it is the space and lack of crowding that is a [...]
Settling in a French town
Well, that’s already four days that we’ve lived in the French town of Bergerac and the number of cardboard boxes surrounding us is starting to recede! Can’t say we’ve spent much time strolling along the river or around the old town quite yet though! The move itself went relatively smoothly although signing on both the [...]
How time flies when you’re an expat in France!
This week marks the 11th aniversary of leaving our jobs and lives in the UK and catching the slow boat to France to start a new life*. * It was literally a slow boat, since we took the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao which took about two days to deposit us in northern Spain. I’m [...]
Testing the French Health System
As always, I’ve been going to remarkable lengths to test out all that is best about France, and this week it was the turn of the French health system and the ‘urgences’ (A and E) at the local hospital. It wasn’t possible to just turn up with any old graze or splinter, so I went [...]
Hints for avoiding French telephone salesmen
In France it is important not to actually answer the phone when it rings because you will then spend half an hour trying to evade a pushy salesman who wants to sell you photovoltaic panels or a computer voice that wants to tell your fortune. It is much better to have an answering machine deal [...]
Five years of France This Way
Although we’ve lived in France for 10 years, it took me a long time to work out how much fun it could be sitting inside playing on the computer (I spent the first few years in France on building and renovation work) so it is this week that both France This Way and this blog [...]
History of an ancient oak tree
1562-1598 The final decades of the 16th century were a terrible time in France, with the catholics and protestants fighting for control of the country. Many bloody battles were fought across the country and many thousands of people were slaughtered.
All cars in France must carry alcohol breath tests
You are probably aware that all cars in France have to always carry a bright yellow waistcoat and a warning triangle in case of night time emergencies. But one new rule that has perhaps received less publicity than it could have done is the requirement that drivers in France are now obliged to carry an [...]
Best places in France to live?
Ok it doesn’t sound like a particularly sensible question in the middle of November with a recession setting in (again) but our website statistics show that lots of people are asking that exact question. Perhaps it is winter setting in that reminds people that they quite like the sunshine? Perhaps the recent TV programmes about [...]
Happy 10th anniversary?
It is now only a couple of weeks until the 10 year anniversary of our move to France – perhaps the decision we planned to make after two years about whether to stay in France is slightly overdue! Of course we didn’t really know what to expect out of the move – or at least [...]
Balmy summer nights in France
Living in France we tend to get so occupied in work, schools and business that we forget why we came here in the first place, so it’s nice occasionally to do something that reminds us why we are here. This week the holidaymakers were still playing happily in the pool when we set off for [...]
Let them eat cake
Our local town is pretty small, about 1500 people including those of us who live scattered in the surrounding fields. So it is slightly remarkable that in the town we have: three estate agents at least three beauticians and between four and six hairdressers two supermarkets and two diy stores three bakers and two wine [...]
Cheer up, things could be worse
Just in case there wasn’t enough in the world to be miserable about at the moment, the BMC has just released a report on depression levels around the world - and it seems that France is the most depressing country of all!
Seeking the Real France
Last week a couple of my French cycling buddies stopped by to entice me out on an ‘arduous’ ride through the countryside. Their rides are always entertaining even if the main focus isn’t always on hard exercise, so off I went. The ride had its usual little diversions to take attention away from our aching [...]
It never rains but it pours
The weather has been very odd here for the last few days, with spring rain unexpectedly turning up after three months of early summer, in the form of storms and torrential showers. Last Saturday we had 8cm of rain in less than an hour (the most I’ve ever seen) which started about an hour before [...]
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