24 LEGGETTFRANCE.COM
INTEGRATION LEGGETT MAGAZINE
Forget any
misconceptions,
when you move to
France you'll be
made welcome.
After all, your choice
to live here is obvious to the
French - wherever else in the
world could one want to live?
And it will be your neighbours
who'll provide the entrée into
local society as, especially in
the countryside, there's an ethos
of 'bon voisinage', being a good
neighbour.
For Lisa Greene, our Area
Coordinator in Brittany, the move
she and her family made to France
some 16 years ago was a lifestyle
choice. They found their forever
home in a small village close to
Lamballe in the Côtes-d'Armor.
"We'd lived in a lovely area in
England but when we moved here
we noticed a real difference in the
way the French really care for their
neighbours!
"In our commune of around
900, few are British or even speak
English, so when we arrived it was
time to dust off schoolgirl French,
make friends and integrate.
"One of the things we first
noted was courtesy - neighbours
really care how you are and
genuinely want to help with the
language - they particularly enjoy
any faux pas you make! I made my
first French friend, my neighbour
Isobel, through car sharing on the
school run with my son and her
daughter. Since then, we've become
real friends."
Learning French by osmosis
lead to the odd bit of confusion
she's not been allowed to forget
"especially when I asked where I
could buy a cable for a saucepan
when in fact I needed a cable for
the cooker!"
Lisa says in the current testing
times we're all living through, it's
never been more important to have
good neighbours. "Here everyone
Everyone needs good neighbours, and in France they become good friends says
Helen Holbrook
ENTENTE CORDIALE
makes sure to pass the time of day,
ensuring you've got everything
which might be needed, especially
including your elderly neighbours
- added to this it's a far safer
environment where children can go
out safely to play, climb trees and
enjoy life!"
My own experiences of moving
to the Dordogne nine years ago
were similar. Everyone in my village
was fascinated to see the shutters
open on my house for the first
time in over 30 years and wanted
to visit, ostensibly for a cup of
'English tea', in reality to see inside
and make friends. The former Maire
came over the road to introduce
himself, and when I explained my
furniture would shortly be arriving
he instructed the road be closed
and a diversion set in place so
my demanagement could proceed
without any inconvenience! Where
else in the world?
Of course in France, life
revolves around the table and, like