Merde etc.

I often log onto a particular, and very useful, website – Angloinfo – for my area.

I look at the postings in their general forum, and there are many from people – those who are departing and selling up their homes and possessions, those who want legal advice regarding divorce or child care, those who do not know about registering their motor vehicles (cars or vans) into the French system, those who know nothing about the healthcare system out here and – sadly - those that have no knowledge of the French language and are desperate for an English speaking Doctor, Dentist etc… I do despair.

I am fortunate, in as much, that my man and I did our research before relocating to La Belle France. We had been visiting for many years and we (I) downloaded information, bought books (all sorts about life in France) had language lessons etc. prior to our arrival. But no, we did not do enough research; there were many things that we were not fully aware of. We were on a learning curve after we arrived; and no, it did not peak like some learning curves; for us it was a gentle curve (mind you it was a gentle wave for the first 3 years!

I belong to an association – LIFT – Ladies In France Together – a brilliant idea from a couple of young (non-French) women who were in need of company. They brought women, girls and ladies of all ages and nationalities together for lunches, laughs, sharing, support, and the opportunity to integrate.

And so I return to Angloinfo – There was recently a request from a young mum on their forum for help. She needed to find other young mums so that she was not so alone out here and she made a request: “can someone please help me?”… yes there were many responses but one person stood out alone… and he suggested a ‘blog’ which was tenuously connected to LIFT and referred this poor mum to that ‘blog’…. Poor girl, I do hope that she was not too interested in cooking. I decided to make my post and refer her to the official website for LIFT.

Yes I find it quite disturbing that so many English ex-pat persons out here in La Belle France take it upon themselves to declare themselves as experts on France, the French, their culture, language, food etc. I have had people referred to me for advice in my capacity as an English person who is running a B&B business out here. This is from the local Office de Tourisme who know me and think that I can help the newbies. Yes, I am willing to help those that need it but no way can I declare myself as an expert. All I can say is, you will need to speak to xxx, visit yyy, and then they can give you advice to your situation. So far it has worked.

A couple of years after we arrived our dear son-in-law Kev bought us a copy of ‘A Year In Provence’ with John Thaw and Lindsay Duncan, he thought it would be useful - what a load of cobblers. I have also read Stephen Clarke and his ‘Merde’ version of France….. Blahhh! What a load of merde that is too (so is the X Factor).