tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post3688682667482734345..comments2024-01-12T00:35:16.941+01:00Comments on French Leave: 'O wad some Power...the fly in the webhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-46319029478371988852009-06-27T00:55:19.570+02:002009-06-27T00:55:19.570+02:00Zuleme, it gets my goat that people are encouraged...Zuleme, it gets my goat that people are encouraged to come to France by magazines, estate agents and TV hype without any any of these vultures caring a damn how people will get on once they have swallowed their money. I did not and have not found anything to read which would fully prepare one for the different mindset anyone from ...I was about to say an Anglo Saxon background, how French of me...but better perhaps to say a common law country will encounter here.<br />The problem is that you need to immerse yourself in French language background stuff to get a grip on how it works, and, if like me, your French was less than adequate before arriving, then you are in the dark.<br />You will find some super people, but they won't be the people you are paying to do anything for you, and watch out for the exploitative expats who capitalise on your relative innocence and a common language. <br />At the end of every day of your visit, have a drink and ask yourself<br />'Is whatever I have been shown today for me..is it too good to be true...how do the finances work out?'<br />Then have another drink.<br />I'm not the Pope, not even when I write ex cathedra in my blog, so I'm far from infallible, but if you ever want to run anything past me, feel free.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-90563217437433639042009-06-26T22:30:52.034+02:002009-06-26T22:30:52.034+02:00Just found your blog and very much enjoy your skew...Just found your blog and very much enjoy your skewering of the French Dream, especially since I am prone to it!<br />We are visiting the end of August into September, hopefully as everyone else heads back to work and school.Sharyn Ekberghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11987304898246173619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-90025456271258277252009-06-26T21:48:54.910+02:002009-06-26T21:48:54.910+02:00French Fancy, I have to say that most of the expat...French Fancy, I have to say that most of the expats round here are so busy trying to be more French than the French that they succeed...apart from the small matter of speaking the language.....so we don't see them.<br />The friends we have are mostly French but getting fewer in number as the years take their toll...a pity, as there aren't many broad minded ones to replace them.<br />Re the war....the British supposedly fled for the channel ports once the Germans advanced in 1940, endangering the flank of our gallant French allies who were thus forced to retreat.<br />Same in world war I. This is the French version, I hasten to add, hearing the rumbles of father turning in his grave.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-79195915178588305792009-06-26T21:41:04.896+02:002009-06-26T21:41:04.896+02:00Yes, Roz, but you're making a real go of it. Y...Yes, Roz, but you're making a real go of it. You don't let things get you down, whereas I start foaming at the mouth! Not a pretty sight!the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-55153646212167072352009-06-26T13:30:56.833+02:002009-06-26T13:30:56.833+02:00sad, but true xsad, but true xRozhttp://rozahol.expat-blog.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-30472578824466745352009-06-26T12:41:12.566+02:002009-06-26T12:41:12.566+02:00You said it all really -far better than I could an...You said it all really -far better than I could and every word was true.<br /><br />As for the little groups of expats that I encounter out here - I avoid them like the plague. There are very few English in our circle of friends that I feel much affinity with - mind you, the same could be said of most of the Bretons that I encounter as well.<br /><br />(how could the French think we let them down during the WWII?)French Fancy...https://www.blogger.com/profile/04941577892849157015noreply@blogger.com