Except for this kind of issues what do you think of the life in our country now you have some time spent here as an inhabitant?
I don't think that life in the French countryside where I am bears much resemblance to life in the cities. but I find the low population density here a very pleasant change from the UK. The pace of life here is much slower and the countryside is absolutely beautiful and unspoiled. It reminds me of life in England in the 50's, which is why I love it so much.
I love the politeness and the formal greetings which make life easier for un Anglais to fit in. I only know 3 French people here who speak English so speaking French is obligatory, you would be a rarity here! The bureaucracy here can be a pain, but once it is done it does make you feel part of the country. The internet has not caught on here as much as the UK, I know a 99 year old in the UK who emails his daughter every morning to tell her he is still alive!
I find the fact that so many still use cheques amazing until I realised that banks charge for bank cards over here, so it saves 45 euros/year.
The internet is faster here than the UK so I can watch Netflix, which is just as well as I would not understand most of French TV.
The weather is much better overall with much less wind than the UK, lots of clear blue skies and sunshine, but cold nights. I live on the massif central, so it never gets too hot in the summer and there is no possibility of flooding. I have to pay for health insurance here but it's affordable and the Carte Vitale seems to work OK. I pay much less local tax than the UK which cancels out the cost of health insurance.
What do I miss about the UK? Speaking English, my kids and white lines on all the roads. But I will never go back because this feels more like home now.
I have one-to-one French lessons every week for conversation and I find that very interesting because so much is the same as English but the meanings have drifted apart over the years, this must be the same for you. Because there are so many accents in different parts of the UK, we are very tolerant of variable vowel sounds, this does not exist to the same extent in French. English words are mostly finished off with a consonant so I find French words with lots of vowel endings troublesome. I find "grenouille" the most difficult, but it does not come up much in normal conversation!
This is the view from the back of my house, et pourquoi j'adore La France. If this view existed in the UK, I could not afford to live there!
Best
DaveP
