Introduction
Nowadays, French towns have to face to a massive arrival of the British population. These expats leave their country to look for a new way of life and to take advantages of the price of the landed estates.
First of all, we’ll introduce you, the reasons that push them to leave their country for another one, then we’ll talk about the regions they choose, and finally we’ll present you their way of life with the difficulties they had to face.
So Rémi, can you tell us why do they leave their country ?

Why do they leave their country?
Quality of life
The weather, the delicious food and wine, the interesting architecture, the fascinating historic monuments and the relaxed way of life all contribute to a wonderful environment which attracts more Britons.
France is well known all over the world for its gourmet food and is just famous for its wide variety of fine French wines. On a classic Périgord market on Saturday, you will find foie gras, confit de canard, walnuts to make oil and cake, truffles in the winter and wines like Bordeaux, Bergerac, Cahors, Monbazillac. Markets are a direct relationship between producer and consumer and are a part of the life of the villages, towns and cities.
The climate of France is generous with sunshine.
Frequently, you will want to eat out on October and November, and even on December there are sunny days when a picnic is perfectly feasible.
But, it isn’t the only reason why they come.

Economy
It is right that the Britons also chose France for economic reasons.
Actually, the Britons were interested in spending their holidays in France in what we call ‘gîtes ruraux’. But by dint of spending money in location, they prefer to settle in a permanent way.
In Britain, the property situation is awful and the houses in France are less expensive. Nevertheless, we can say that it is quite amazing because the French population find a lot of difficulties to buy a house at a reasonable price.
For example, in Ireland, you could have a house of three rooms for 320.000€, in France a middle class house near a Loire castle with 5 rooms, garages, stables and gardens would cost 318.000€. Finally, it is not so amazing that the Britons would come in France to have bigger for cheaper.
So, the Britons buy farms, sometimes in ruins, and renovate it. Usually, they are used to staying and they try to mix up with the French population but sometimes they sell the renovated house doing then an appreciable capital gain.

Facility
Their coming in France is quite facilitated.
The transactions of purchase are made easier because they are made in English. It is a way to attract potential buyers.
Moreover, the real agencies see to do all the papers of acquisition.
During the last ten years, the movement of the British population have increased. British media make capital out of desire of leaving. TV shows like ‘no going back’ or ‘a place in France’ talks about the expats experience and the real situation abroad. After these shows, you can chat with expats to ask them questions about the formal procedures to follow to buy a house. To talk about their new life, their activity and so on.
You can find information about expatriation in France on radio, in the newspapers like The Daily Telegraph or The Guardian, and obviously onto the Internet. You can also find explanations of the different ways to choose a region, to find realty and how to buy it in the real agency Internet site.
When they speak flatteringly of the French town, they incite the British population to expatriate themselves. All that may be considered as an invitation to expatriation because they are conscious of the opportunity to buy a low cost property in France. But where ?

Where do they live ?
Regions
They are living in 4 regions:

• The first is the North West. We find Normandy, Brittany, … Britons want to keep a part of their country.
• The second is the South West. We locate Dordogne, Lot, Tarn & Garonne… Britons live here for foods and the climate. Dordogne remains the most popular area for expats.
• The third is the South East. Provence is well known for sunshine and seaside.
• And the last is Paris and Yvelines. Paris is considered as the most beautiful and romantic city on earth that’s why they come in !

Their implantations have consequences on the French regional planning.

Town and country planning
The fact that the Britons settle in France has some consequences in particular with Town and Country planning. Actually, the regions had to adapt to these crowds by building more roads or enlarging the airports. Besides, the small airports have more and more liaisons and a traffic that has increased.
For example, the liaisons from Bergerac to English towns were multiplied. Moreover, the cost of a ticket is quite reasonable and offers to Britons to do more travels.
Ferries and Eurostar stay ways of transport always used but train saw its number of passengers increased in a significant way.

How do they live ?
Integration difficulties
We can find two kinds of expats.
The first one is a retired population. They want to reproduce their British way of life in France. They don’t really make efforts to become integrated into the locals, so they stay between themselves.
The second one is a younger population. They come in to live like French people and they often have a professional activity. They are looking for originality; they want to fell like a fish out of water so they maintain a good relationship with the locals. That’s why many of them want to learn French language.
Expats had to face to administrative difficulties but the French administration help them by creating an English-speaking department or office. Another way to take part of the life in town is to vote for municipal election.

Every day life Britons open shops, which are able to supply a good selection of British food: bacon, ham joints, sausages, cheddar cheese, teas and beers.
Also, several French newspapers are written in the language of Shakespeare. : Sud Ouest, which has 2 or 3 pages every week, and French News.
But these expats learn also French, for example Aquitaines France is a company of South West.

Bed & breakfast, Agricultural jobs
Another way to integrate the French life is to work, they had introduced a typical way to accommodate: the bed & breakfast. They rent their bedrooms for the night and the following day, they share with their guests an English breakfast.
It could be considered as an exchange between two cultures.
Sometimes, the Britons buy exploitations. They join forces with a local producer to produce their own foie gras. They do the some way with wine exploitations.

Conclusion
Housing difficulties
To conclude, they find all the same some housing difficulties because there are less and less properties to buy and so they are compelled to build their own residences. Moreover, Britons do not want others Britons as neighbours and it could be quite difficult in small villages.
Because of housing difficulties, British people have to find other region to make their home sweet home. It’s the case of Aude, Langudoc Roussillon…

The « Rosbif » Invasion will go on !!!!

Powerpoint Expats

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