"Our place in France"
Another friend has fallen, & bought a house in rural France.
Middle-age, middle-class Brits.
Why do they do it?
Just because they can buy a beautiful shell of a house in France for the price of a wrecked garage in the south of England?
This time it's my long-time confidante and childhood sweetheart, who is purchasing a semi-ruin in a tiny hamlet in the Correze, miles from anywhere useful. It's "only" one hour and three-quarters drive from Limoges airport, she says. Some people I can understand, if they are intensely private with few friends and a restricted social life in the UK, but what's the gain for an average Brit of middle years? Better weather, yes. Better food, possibly. Only if you have access to a city and aren't living in a rural area which closes for winter. A better way of life? Well, if you slowed down you'd have more time and more friends in the UK.
We had a discussion about this subject a month or so ago. Once the excitement and industry of converting & renovating your new home is over, what are you left with? A country pile, with few local facilities, where you have little understanding of the way of life, little appreciation of the local community, and no-one to talk with, not really closely. What's the point?
To be fair, Fiona may be an exception. Her French is better than average, and she has at least lived near Tulle as a potter and nursing help for several months. And her family in the UK has grown up and her daughter lives many miles away. But, she's not rich at all.
There are similar numbers of French living in Britain and Brits in France, but they are different populations. We send over the near-retirees with cash to buy their rural beauty. The French send their young energetic singletons, who find it difficult to get work back home, or who want to explore a little before settling down. They live in our cities, and blend into our life seamlessly. And frequently they settle; my best mate from school married a French woman who came over here in her mid-twenties.
Middle-age, middle-class Brits.
Why do they do it?
Just because they can buy a beautiful shell of a house in France for the price of a wrecked garage in the south of England?
This time it's my long-time confidante and childhood sweetheart, who is purchasing a semi-ruin in a tiny hamlet in the Correze, miles from anywhere useful. It's "only" one hour and three-quarters drive from Limoges airport, she says. Some people I can understand, if they are intensely private with few friends and a restricted social life in the UK, but what's the gain for an average Brit of middle years? Better weather, yes. Better food, possibly. Only if you have access to a city and aren't living in a rural area which closes for winter. A better way of life? Well, if you slowed down you'd have more time and more friends in the UK.
We had a discussion about this subject a month or so ago. Once the excitement and industry of converting & renovating your new home is over, what are you left with? A country pile, with few local facilities, where you have little understanding of the way of life, little appreciation of the local community, and no-one to talk with, not really closely. What's the point?
To be fair, Fiona may be an exception. Her French is better than average, and she has at least lived near Tulle as a potter and nursing help for several months. And her family in the UK has grown up and her daughter lives many miles away. But, she's not rich at all.
There are similar numbers of French living in Britain and Brits in France, but they are different populations. We send over the near-retirees with cash to buy their rural beauty. The French send their young energetic singletons, who find it difficult to get work back home, or who want to explore a little before settling down. They live in our cities, and blend into our life seamlessly. And frequently they settle; my best mate from school married a French woman who came over here in her mid-twenties.
posted by Moses at
1:17 pm
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