It has been a cool day here in the counrtyside in France “Not hot” but just nice enough to be able to sit in the garden a feel nice & you could say safe,
I see a Black bird every day from first thing when i open the window shutters till just as the day is finishing, SHe sits on the telephone wire first thing and sings away,
I noticed today she had bits of straw etc in her beak and is making a nest on the side of the house just under the plastic guttering "A really nice sight to see and know all the bird feeds ive made and kept filled through out the winter has paid off,
We do not see a lot of people here as the area is very much farming life style,
The same can be said for traffic, we see about three what we call out side cars & vans ie the post lady / any parcel deliveries & the people visiting, Other wise it’s Tractors again about three from the nearest farms and then it’s quiet most of the day,
I was reading the news on the PC Ref whats going on in the UK & todays story that caught my attention was the car ploughing into the football crowd in Liverpool, & the bombing killing people,
I closed the lap top and could’nt help but think how lucky we are not having any of this happening here, We have a lot to be thank full for “Peace perfect peace.” And to be able to sleep in our beds knowing the only real sound I’ll hear is the old owl hooting away.
Did you leave your business behind when you went to France? are you at “We” in French fashion now?
What about Charlie Hebdo?
Not much changes anywhere.
yes i finished the business, and we are in dept23 you could say the middle of France
I’m fairly sure if we researched violence in parts of France we could find some. I think it depends on the area of a country a person lives in, although rural crime can exist anywhere too.
There are many areas of UK where the pleasant state you found yourself in would apply. My back garden is one of them. Bees buzzing, birds singing and feeding, no bombs or cars ploughing people down in our area. A pleasant place to sit and contemplate life on a nice day.
It’s an uncertain World though and probably best not to get too complacent about the prospect of continued well-being whatever area is lived in.
I live on the outskirts of a town, Doncaster has recently got city status but it will always be a town to me. It’s still largely a farming area where I live and just a hundred yards away you are in the country…
Although I live on a bungalow estate, we live at the bottom of a Cul-de-sac and nobody ever comes down here unless they are coming to see us, or turning round.
It’s very peaceful and you can sit outside and never see a soul, but I know all the places I can go to find that perfect peace you mention Daniel, and just let your mind wander where it wants to go without the sound of cars roaring past or the incessant sounds of the 21st century. I tend not to listen to the news because you get a very distorted view of life and it sometimes makes you angry.
Hi Daniel and a welcome from me and others. Enjoy the peace in France. Similar for me when we lived in the country hills.
Our area is what might be termed semi-rural. Far enough out of town to be fairly peaceful but not too far from shops and services.
For sure. There’s a fair bit of tension in the poorer suburbs of most cities in France. The police can be quite heavy handed as well which builds resentment. And then the same police will sit and watch while a farmer burns straw bales on a motorway. Go figure.
But the countryside can be exceptionally quiet. Villages look almost dead to visitors with shutters closed and no sign of anybody. But if there is a fete or event happening - that’s when it kicks off. We just had the absolute chaos of les bandas (brass bands playing pop songs) in a local town, we’ve “open doors” day coming up in a nearby wine domaine and this Friday is a fete that will finish at 2-3 am …and then quiet again for a couple of weeks. When I first moved out to the country there were nights when I’d waken for no reason in the pitch dark and see nothing and hear nothing. Not a thing. It would have been very peaceful if I had not had that nagging worry about whether I was still alive.
I know people who owned a house in the middle of France for many years. They used if for extended holidays. I always thought they might go to live there permanently but they didn’t. Recently sold it and now live around here full time. The property took a lot of upkeep and I think, with getting older, they decided it was too much.
Maybe that’s a factor worth considering when moving to an isolated area. Good while a person has their health and fitness but maybe it will need a rethink one day.
A lot of retired people with second homes in Europe sold them when the 90/180 day rule kicked in. It was no longer possible to spend the whole, glorious summer in Spain or France - just 3 months. So for many it wasn’t worth keeping a second home, especially if you add in the other issues of cost and effort that you highlighted. That applied to second homes in the country, in villages and in towns.
Hello Mart,
Very true, I have a new neighbour moved in to the farm house at the back of us and they came from the outer part of Paris,
They told us the crime in the area they left was really bad, and a lot of problems because of the imergration, So as you say dont think nothing will change because who knows whats around the corner,
Hello Lincolnshire,
I know what your saying and agree 100%
I think i should add that a lot of the summer homes here are owned by the French city folk who use them for that get away from the French rat race Having said that again a lot of French think our way of life and the solitude of the countryside is the back of beyond, No clubs (thank god) no traffic jams, And no litter, I mean we have a street open market every friday from 7am until 2pm this market has fruit/ veg stalls Meat/cheese vans / Wine stalls /Bread /cakes / and live chicken sales
And clothing stalls / A get your keys cut here van etc etc
Yet b y 3pm the whole area is cleaned "all waste / rubbish talen away and you’'d never know early that day it was full of people,
The local streets just do not have litter, We do not have parking problems due to the fact parking
throughout the complete area is free,
The way of life is so different to the uk in as much as children are seen in restraunts enjoying grown up conversation and shown good manners, the children drink juices "orange etc And while the adults drink wine etc,
We have a piece of Land that devides two small “B” roads that lead into the village, if you can imagen a V shape ? Well thats what this devided land looks like it’s about 20foot wide at it’s widest point going down to it’s smallest point and 20 feet long, as far as i can remember this land has been used to grow veg/ fruit bushes , It is council owned but used in a way that someone gets pleasure out of making good use of it, And no theft or damage done to it,
In fact when the fruit is fully grown you’ll find a small stall and help youself sign on it,
I knew a woman who said the same thing about her 98yr old husband,
Hi Old GREY FOX,
I know just what your saying,
If anyone is not understanding your way of saying what you"ve said?
Here is help,
You’ve had a very large helping of Beans on toast and your tummy is twice the size it should be ?
Well in a situation like Old Grey Fox has described You can blow for England and nobody will know; 
No I have no wish to live in France. With the UK being so close I would get home sick. Language would also be a problem as I only speak in English “like wot most does”
Eating frogs legs and snail evryday is also a huge turnoff, no not for me thank you. I have no wish to see Fenchmen in striped shirts with onions around their necks every day either cluttering up the roads. Let alone driving on the wrong side anyway. Did that once on the way to Brittany ,scared most of the French as I headed towards French drivers. Why can’t they drive on the proper side of the road?
Well the way things are going in the UK you’ll be lucky to find many people speaking English,
As for eating frogs legs, you’d need a few bob to afford to buy them, Most of the best chiefs are french, And a lot of the english trained Including a few english one’s Gordon Ramsey being one, french men going around wearing striped shirts & wearing onions around their Necks !!! ???
And seeing the police programs ref english drivers “”“” a lot seem to drive on the wrong side of the road anyway,
One good thing ive found about the French is the average person is proud to be a working class person and they will & do stand up for them selves if any goverment try to impose taking increases in tax for the sake of it and many more things they do not agree with, Hence the powers to be really do think twice before they try to impose increases in anything, No stiffer upper lip idea’s here,
If you keep a close eye on the english farming you’ll see a lot of trouble ahead and few family run farms, You should never have left the E,U,
Never forget your roots!!
Well, Dan the Man, you seem to a bit of a grievance about the English. Perhaps you ought explain that we are British for the greater majority.