16 leggettfrance.com
ABOVE
The local village
shop is a great place
to meet people
EXPERT ADVICE LEGGETT MAGAZINE
over to British TV for Downton!
Your 'O' level French might
need brushing up: language
does change over the years,
and what you learned at school
is not necessarily the French
you need today.
Many of the French will
speak a little English, and shop
staff often go out of their way
to help foreigners. The local tax
office might even have someone who speaks English to help
you 'arrange your affairs', and
the EDF electricity board have
an English-speaking helpline.
However, this isn't enough to
make you truly happy in your
new environment. You must mix
with French people whenever you
can. Perhaps you can
join the 'Comité des Fêtes' in
your village. Help out in your
community as often as possible;
it will be noted and appreciated
- and your French will improve
enormously.
CULTURE
The culture in France is
subtly different to UK culture.
The French have a different
way of doing things: they think
differently and have different
values; they prioritise differently and live
quite differently. For
example, you have to get used
to the long lunch hours, when
banks and shops close. Many
British people fail to realise that
they must still deal with the
everyday chores, hassles and
problems life brings anywhere.
You may wonder how
much everyday life is going to
cost. This depends: what may
seem a perfectly reasonable
standard of living for one
person could be inconceivable
to another. Talk to people who
live in your target area to get an
idea of their monthly outgoings.
At Leggett Immobilier, we can
tell you the cost of the rates,
but don't forget to account for
electricity, heating, telephone
and food costs.
Many people use wood-
burning stoves for heating. In
autumn, your woodsman will
arrive on his tractor to deliver
the cubic metres of logs you
ordered. You then get to stack
them. The delivery can be
hilarious: while the woodsman
is being charming to you, he
could well be shouting profanities to his apprentice
as he fails
to negotiate backing into a tight
driveway.
Then there is the paperwork:
be prepared. You will
amass a dossier of essential
papers. You'll need birth and
marriage certificates and,
although EU law says this is
not required, you may have to
get them officially translated.
My advice is to keep all your
paperwork to hand and go with
the flow. While administrative