In search of a past
Romantic dreams are driving thousands of Brits accross the Channel in search of a better life. According to a recent survey they seek a bygone era, but, asks John Hillman, were the 1950s really so good?
More than 150,000 British people live in France while more than 500,000 of us have holiday homes over there. According to research from the Montesquieu University in Bordeaux a principal reason given by ex-pats, for leaving the UK, is that France reminds them of how Britain once used to be.
The vast majority head to France for the rural lifestyle, full of romantic dreams of a simple life spent rearing chickens and growing vegetables. According to the survey a whopping 57.8% of respondents said that they associate the expression ‘French Village’ with:
“Small, traditional rural, working the land, references to the UK 50 years ago.”
The Aquitaine region is by far the most popular destination, which probably has something to do with Bordeaux’s sizeable wine industry. Let’s face it the middle classes and wine go together like ants and sugar.
Living abroad, however, certainly has its drawbacks, especially for children. It’s important to remember that no matter how much effort you make to integrate yourselves into the local community you will always be a bit of an outsider and growing up knowing this makes for a certain amount of added insecurity.
It’s also worth remembering that the “UK 50 years ago” was hardly the most socially enlightened place so expect to encounter some pretty outdated attitudes in the rural hinterlands of France. The UK for all its faults is still a pretty cosmopolitan part of the world and leaving it can sometimes be a bit of a shock.
But with property in rural France still selling well and millions of us still convinced that the grass on the other side of the Channel is considerably greener, expect the gradual migration of the middle classes continue. Me personally? I’ve always preferred real ale to Sancerre.
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Image credit: didier.bier
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