Integrating in France - In The Club - Socialising in France

If you speak to international removals companies, and not just those who specialise in France, you’ll find their vans are often full in both directions. The sad fact is that many people fail to settle in their new home abroad. Adapting to a different culture and, in the case of France, a foreign language, should not be underestimated.

There are many routes you can take to integrate into your new community, which we have covered on these pages before, including joining local hobby clubs, inviting the neighbours around for drinks, attending local events, working within the local community, making friends with parents of your childrens’ friends, and so on.

While it’s important – and desirable – to make French friends, you shouldn’t feel ashamed of wanting to occasionally speak your mother tongue with people from your own country. That’s where English-speaking clubs and associations come in. These are on the increase as more Anglophones move to France – including Brits, Americans, Australians and South Africans, as well as English-speaking people from northern European countries such as the Netherlands.

With a membership made up of different nationalities, these clubs are a great way to make new friends, share experiences and find out all about what’s going on in your area. Far from being Brit enclaves, they actually encourage integration with the local community, and some have French members too. Many clubs are non-profit making associations, run by volunteers, and usually offering various events and activities. Others are just web-based information points, listing local businesses, news and events. Make use of any resource in your area, and you’ll soon find your days of homesickness are few and far between.

Setting up your own club
If there are no clubs in your area, why not set up your own? The most commonly used vehicle is an Association Loi 1901, a nonprofit- making organisation of two or more people. These don’t have to be declared, meaning they don’t exist as a legal entity and fall under the collective ownership of all members.

However, if a bank account is needed, if membership fees are collected, fundraising is organised, or if members buy or sell on its behalf, the association must be legally declared. You do this at the local préfecture or sous-préfecture. Declaration is free, and should include the association’s exact name (and abbreviation if there is one); its aim; the address of the main office (not a post box); full names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of those in charge of the administration; a copy of its statute dated and certified by at least two people or by the founder members (standard statutes, which can be adapted, are available from the préfecture). You may also include the term of the association (usually ‘unlimited’) and the language to be used in official documents or minutes. A receipt of declaration is sent by the administration within five days.

The association’s creation must also be reported in the Journal Officiel, a daily government paper. You can fill in the application form at the same time as the declaration is made. The fee is €39.06 (January 2006). The management team (president, treasurer etc) can be arranged however you want, but all members must be invited to the annual general meeting held by the management. Any changes to the association must be declared at the préfecture within three months.

There are three ways to wind up an assocation: voluntary dissolution (dissolution volontaire); legal dissolution (dissolution judiciaire); administrative dissolution (dissolution administrative).

Alsace is the only region that operates differently. Instead of the 1901 Association law, the magistrate’s court receives the inscription of a non-profit making association, followed by an announcement in a paper.

Mayenne: A writer’s haven

Maryke Stansfield is a member of Euromayenne, an organisation in the Mayenne department founded to help newcomers settle Hidden among fertile hills and wooded slopes, it sometimes seems like time has overlooked Mayenne. Stone houses and farming communities crouch beside rivers and lakes, and many people on smallholdings work in ways that have changed little for centuries. This unlikely setting has seen a number of settlers arriving during the last 20 years, with an inevitable increase recently. The resilient Mayennaise are used to waves of settlers, from Roman times to the present day. This small area has acted as a buffer zone between warring factions, including the Normans, Bretons and Angevin kings.

Fifteen years ago it was decided that many foreign settlers were in need of help to become part of the community. French lessons were essential, together with help to complete all those confusing changes. The Euromayenne Association was started with help from the Conseil Général. There are now approximately 460 members, split into about 35% local French, around 60% British and a smattering of other nationalities. French classes are available in three locations, and there are conversation evenings, social outings and events.

Euromayenne has found a wealth of talent among their members, but during the past year the quiet magic of the locality must have been working overtime – two members have just had books published. In Ian Andrews’ ‘The meaning of Liffré’ he creates surprising definitions of French place names. Ian is better known in the area as a teacher and wood carver (www.iangraveur.com). Babette Gallard’s book ‘Riding the Milky Way’ tells the tale of horseback journeys taken by her and partner Paul Chin along the pilgrim trail from Puy en Velay to St James of Compostela, and from Mayenne to Rome along the Francigena way, the old pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome.

• www.euromayenne.org

French Fridays

Australian Narelle Lewis started the English in Toulouse group when she moved to France in 2005 Both English in Toulouse and French Fridays are conversation groups for people who speak French/English and live in Toulouse. We occasionally get passers through as well. Sessions are free and informal, with no set topic – people just talk about whatever they want to. They’re a great way to network for jobs and meet new people. Members represent a mix of nationalities: French, English, Irish, Australian, American, Canadian, to name a few. We have a membership of over 80 – our youngest member is seven months old, our oldest is around 65, and the average age is between 25 and 35.

English in Toulouse is held monthly at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Toulouse, while the weekly French Fridays meeting has been held at Bapz, a tea salon in Toulouse, since August 2006.

I started the group a month before I moved to France as a way to make friends and start speaking French. We had our first meeting the week I arrived in France in March 2005, attended by two French people, two American women, a British guy, and myself. Our next meeting was put on hold while I spent a month in Paris on a teacher training course. While there I managed to get 20 people together for a conversation group, which went really well, so when I returned to Toulouse I was chomping at the bit to get a regular group going.

June, July and August are probably the worst possible months to start anything in France, and membership fluctuated from one to four members each fortnight. The day I was the only mem-ber to turn up to a meeting was a pretty low point. But in September I started to get a regular following of eight to 10 people. Spurred on by this, I decided to advertise the group on my website and spread the word to everyone I met. By January 2006 we had outgrown our first venue, Terra Nova, and moved to the Crowne Plaza. The group really took off, averaging around 10 to 15 people every month.

That summer I received requests for extra meetings, so in August I started French Fridays. In November I launched the official English in Toulouse website and had business cards printed up. By December, French Fridays averaged 16 people every week, and I’ve had to start taking bookings – there are usually no places left by Thursday morning. We average 20 people at the monthly English in Toulouse meetings at the Crowne Plaza.

Due to the popularity of the groups, we now host two extra events each month. For Tour de Toulouse, on the first Sunday of the month, we visit a museum or art gallery followed by coffee and cake at Bapz. The last Wednesday of the month is Irish pub night at De Danu, an Irish pub in Toulouse.

• www.englishintoulouse.com

Brits in Nîmes

Robin Boxall, who works at the Banque Chaix in Avignon, is president of BritsNîmes In the early 1990s I lived in Montpellier, learning French from scratch and trying my best to be French.

When I returned to France in May 2002 I realised everyone needs support and shouldn’t go it alone, but at the time there wasn’t an English-speaking group in the area.

The first BritsNîmes meeting was held in November 2002. I had contacted the local newspaper Midi Libre and following an excellent article 16 people turned up for the first meeting, allowing us to form a nonprofit making association. Despite the name, BritsNîmes is a group for all Anglophones, we have a mix of nationalities, including Americans, Irish and New Zealanders. We encourage French people to join too, to exchange ideas and make friends with other nationalities. Some have lived in the USA or UK and want to continue their links with the culture.

A rising number of people are migrating to the region from wealthy western countries (UK, Holland, USA etc), as well as from French cities – this is well documented in French government reports.

Some locals blame us for rising house prices, but the TGV has also helped – some people commute from the area to Paris! Those of us on local salaries also find it difficult to afford houses now. To live in the area it is important to show we can integrate, speak the language, eat the food, and take part in local culture.

We now hold over 10 monthly events, including coffee mornings in Uzès and Nîmes, a walking club, a pub night, book and music clubs, restaurant review club, sports such as cycling, golf and even football, cooking and crafts group, a monthly visit of a local town, company or area, and children’s events. Christmas dinner is our largest event, with an attendance of around 90 people. The current membership stands at over 300.

These events help newcomers and those already in the area build a network of friends, and exchange experiences and skills, while integrating with locals. All the volunteers who run BritsNîmes think the hard work has been worth it.

We also felt there was a need for more ‘local’ communication, so decided to share information in a newsletter. Languedoc Sun is put together by an international team of volunteers and can be picked up in one of many distribution continued from page 55 points, received direct to your door or downloaded from the website.

• Tel: 0033 (0)4 66 26 07 34 www.britsnimes.com www.languedocsun.com

The force be with you

Janet Warby is secretary of the Paris Branch of the Royal British Legion The RBL Paris Branch was set up in May 1921, about six weeks before the organisation got going in London. It has been in its present home since 1928. We have the honour of re-kindling the Flamme at the Arc de Triomphe each August 4th (the day Britain and the Commonwealth entered the First World War), and hold an ecumenical Service of Remembrance at Notre Dame Cathedral on November 11th, attended by HM Ambassador to France and Commonwealth Ambassadors, Military Attachés and French VIPs. Money donated at our Poppy Appeal Campaigns is used in Paris to help ex-British Service men and women. We have a clubhouse and monthly lunches.

Members are not just British, there are also French, American and other nationalities who adhere to the aims of the RBL. All British and Commonwealth ex-servicemen and women can join the RBL, and we also have members who weren’t part of the armed forces. We’re looking for new members and need people to help us with the Poppy Appeal in October/November.

www.rblfrance.org

Karen Tait is the Editor of French Property News

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