http://www.francethisway.com/wp/night-on-the-town/2006/11/ Living in France and daily life for a UK expat in the French blog! Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:50:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/night-on-the-town/2006/11/comment-page-1/#comment-1754 Boris Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:13:30 +0000 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/night-on-the-town/2006/11/#comment-1754 Hi Chrissie, you're right of course - I grew up in a small village in Wales and Mrs B in Yorkshire, and its all very similar. Bet you never have moules frites in Dorset though! Certainly when Parisians etc move in around here they have the same problems integrating with the local community as the English and Dutch do. Thanks for reading! Hi Chrissie, you’re right of course – I grew up in a small village in Wales and Mrs B in Yorkshire, and its all very similar. Bet you never have moules frites in Dorset though! Certainly when Parisians etc move in around here they have the same problems integrating with the local community as the English and Dutch do.
Thanks for reading!

]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/night-on-the-town/2006/11/comment-page-1/#comment-1753 Chrissie Sat, 02 Dec 2006 13:53:08 +0000 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/night-on-the-town/2006/11/#comment-1753 Hi Mr. B! Love your blog and even laugh occassionally at it. But almost everything you describe is exactly like living in rural Dorset, so you're quite wrong to assume these kinds of surreal events could only happen in France. Attend a harvest supper and it's the same collection of elderly inhabitants from the time of Thomas Hardy and the incomers from as far afield as America and even London all creating an English country life that probably never existed. Get involved in the village pantomine and be exposed to the delicate politics of village life. Bonfire night gives local farmers the opportunity for legitimate pyrotechnics. The events of New Years Eve give material for the rest of the year. Visit the village 'store' for gossip - the closeness of village life means that even if Mrs. T ran off with the thatcher during the summer, she still has to be accepted back to the village without comment (to her face, anyway) when the short days arrive - and can be assured of her usual part in the pantomine AND a particularly large attendance at her annual Christmas Eve drinks party. When three youngsters knock down Mr. H's sunflowers, it is a crime of immense significance, and everyone knows exactly who was involved. People are the same everywhere, and what you describe is a move from town to country (real country, that is, rather than the suburban counterfiet in the South East of England). But cheers, anyway, for your entertaining blog! Hi Mr. B! Love your blog and even laugh occassionally at it. But almost everything you describe is exactly like living in rural Dorset, so you’re quite wrong to assume these kinds of surreal events could only happen in France. Attend a harvest supper and it’s the same collection of elderly inhabitants from the time of Thomas Hardy and the incomers from as far afield as America and even London all creating an English country life that probably never existed. Get involved in the village pantomine and be exposed to the delicate politics of village life. Bonfire night gives local farmers the opportunity for legitimate pyrotechnics. The events of New Years Eve give material for the rest of the year. Visit the village ’store’ for gossip – the closeness of village life means that even if Mrs. T ran off with the thatcher during the summer, she still has to be accepted back to the village without comment (to her face, anyway) when the short days arrive – and can be assured of her usual part in the pantomine AND a particularly large attendance at her annual Christmas Eve drinks party. When three youngsters knock down Mr. H’s sunflowers, it is a crime of immense significance, and everyone knows exactly who was involved. People are the same everywhere, and what you describe is a move from town to country (real country, that is, rather than the suburban counterfiet in the South East of England). But cheers, anyway, for your entertaining blog!

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