This and that and what ifs
At the moment I am back in the U.K.
I was worried about coming as my head has been full of thoughts about coming back here to live. The main problem is the language barrier closely followed by the culture. My French is pretty good now but I will never be fluent. It has been lovely understanding everything and feeling like I belong. Not feeling like the foreigner.
I love where I live in France and the way I can live a very simple life. I also love the fact we have no mortgage or debt. I have days when I long for all things English !
I have often wondered why, when we started looking in France we did not look in say Cornwall, a place I love. Hind sight is an amazing thing but not much use.
We have now been here nearly a week and go home on Thursday. I have had some wonderful meals out in places where veganism is understood. It has been great chatting to waitresses and sharing a joke..the English sense of humour is unique! Him indoors has enjoyed drinking proper beer from a barrel. BUT.....we have heard many tales of how bad the National Health service is. How schools and prisons are failing. Many are fed up with the number of immigrants who change neighborhoods. The roads have big pot holes which make driving difficult.
In France the health care is great. No queues or long waits for appointments. The roads are repaired quickly. The infra structure seems solid. We have very few immigrants close ( apart from us which is something I struggle with, don't we all need safety and calmness?)
It really is a dilemma and I have to say the jury is out just now. We have to finish all the renovations and get the place valued before making any decisions. Him indoors says he does not want to start wishing himself elsewhere when there is nothing we can do. I think he is right. So for now we will go home on Thursday and carry on with our dream a bit longer.
I was worried about coming as my head has been full of thoughts about coming back here to live. The main problem is the language barrier closely followed by the culture. My French is pretty good now but I will never be fluent. It has been lovely understanding everything and feeling like I belong. Not feeling like the foreigner.
I love where I live in France and the way I can live a very simple life. I also love the fact we have no mortgage or debt. I have days when I long for all things English !
I have often wondered why, when we started looking in France we did not look in say Cornwall, a place I love. Hind sight is an amazing thing but not much use.
We have now been here nearly a week and go home on Thursday. I have had some wonderful meals out in places where veganism is understood. It has been great chatting to waitresses and sharing a joke..the English sense of humour is unique! Him indoors has enjoyed drinking proper beer from a barrel. BUT.....we have heard many tales of how bad the National Health service is. How schools and prisons are failing. Many are fed up with the number of immigrants who change neighborhoods. The roads have big pot holes which make driving difficult.
In France the health care is great. No queues or long waits for appointments. The roads are repaired quickly. The infra structure seems solid. We have very few immigrants close ( apart from us which is something I struggle with, don't we all need safety and calmness?)
It really is a dilemma and I have to say the jury is out just now. We have to finish all the renovations and get the place valued before making any decisions. Him indoors says he does not want to start wishing himself elsewhere when there is nothing we can do. I think he is right. So for now we will go home on Thursday and carry on with our dream a bit longer.