Anyone relocated back?

But the ingredients are all French, including croissants, and macarons! When McDo opened in France this was one of the stipulations.
Customers can get free WiFi which is quite a rarity across the country.
I think you can even order a beer too.

France now has more McDonalds than the UK, a statistic I found quite disappointing.

I felt the observation was being offered as a positive , as progress.
To me it said the opposite!

Foxygloves

^Supermarkets now have lots of ready meals and preprepared food, but the range of fresh fruit and veg in shops has shrunk^

That really is a retrograde step M0nica - another illusion perdue .

But in the real world, French markets still exist everywhere and are as popular as ever, 3 a week here where I am and busy with shoppers queueing for local produce. I've never seen such huge artichokes and choufleurs. The difference is that the French don't exclusively do a supermarket shop. Which self respecting French person buys their daily baguette there?

I didn't say anyone expected it, it was a statement of fact.
I imagine anyone who has family living close by receives help, not expected, but usually offered freely.
That's not often the case for those who have emigrated.

Supermarkets now have lots of ready meals and preprepared food, but the range of fresh fruit and veg in shops has shrunk

That really is a retrograde step M0nica - another illusion perdue .

No family around to help day to day

That is not something we should ever expect.

Fleurpepper

Sorchame 'No family around to help day to day, surrounded by other ageing neighbours, or empty holiday homes, with no safety net of social services to support the vulnerable, it's common for people to head back to their country of birth. '

this may well apply to those who move to expat communities where there are so many other expats. Dordogne comes to mind, and Costa del Sol, etc. Many however moved a long time ago, and are totally integrated in their local communities, have little 'expat' contact and speak the language very well.

I live in the Dordogne. In my commune there are 644 residents of whom around 20 are Brits. Not many Brit owned holiday homes either. Eymet and Riberac have lots of Brits - 9% and 4.3% of the population respectively.

According to INSEE (statistics organisation) in 2020 the total population of the Dordogne was 412,807 of which 7198 were Brits - ie 1.74%. Not a huge number.

I hosted some young French students a few years back I couldn’t believe how much they smoked they even got down from the table between courses to go and have a smoke

12 million smokers in France according to ouest- france, and the figure shows no drop.

I agree Mollygo, I went out for coffee today outside at the port with my French friend of 45 years and her DD. The minute we were seated the daughter left the table to go and buy some cigarettes from the nearby tabac.

M0nica we must go to different parts of France from you. There still seems to be so much more smoking there than where we live, and it’s the locals, not the visitors.

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between

Yesterday we came over to France, where we have a holiday home and thinking about this thread we were discussing some of the changes we have seen in the 32 years we have hoad our house here.

When we moved here the outside environment was scruffy, people didnt care what the outside of their houses or gardens looked like, nor did government; local or national care for the wider environement. Now all that has changed, houses and gardens are decorated regularly and look spic and span. Today we drove down roads, both national and rural with no potholes and signs of regular repair.

Supermarkets now have lots of ready meals and preprepared food, but the range of fresh fruit and veg in shops has shrunk. Everyone seems much more environmentally aware

And, most of all - little or no smoking!

I can relate to that a little bit sporeRB I was young when I lived overseas (East Asia) and couldn’t wait to get back to Uk once I was back and seen everyone I wished I was back in Asia but you can’t keep dashing back and forth through the world when you have 3 young children so I stayed here and I m not sorry I did

So did you son live with you for all your 44 years overseas or did he return for uni or something ?
I guess that’s relevant to know how long you’ve been apart ?

I really do not think it is a good idea to relocate from abroad to an area you are not happy with just to be near to your AC. Especially when your AC are too busy with their own lives and don’t spend time with you. This may be the reason why you are unhappy or unsettled.

In my case, I spent the first half of my life in my home country in South East Asia and the rest in the UK. I never felt settled in either country.

When I am here, I start missing my siblings, even wanted to retire there for good to be close to them.

When I am there, I realised that my siblings are too busy with their own grandchildren and families and I will not be seeing them that often if I were to live there. The same goes with friends.

For that reason, I made the decision to remain in Old Blighty much to my daughter’s relief.

SylviaPlathssister it sounds like you are making the best of your move. I wish you well.
Even just visiting France year-on-year, I notice the difference each time we go. Prices have gone up, the shops are closed, there’s more graffiti, and also the more positive things like new garden spaces, more cycle paths, improved travel (in some cases).
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be away for even one decade, never mind, 4 or 5 decades and then to come back.

You probably made the move at the right time, too, SylviaPlathssister.

We have moved around all our married life. We relocated to not far from London around 2 and a half years ago, to be nearer to some of my children. It’s not what I would have chosen.
However the biggest moaners are people who have lived in this sweet little town for years.
When we moved, we joined lots of things. The Rotary, the U3A walking groups, and others that interested us. ( snails pace walking groups.lol) We chose the house carefully, leaving a six bed period house in its own grounds, for a box on a modern estate.
The house is near Children and grandchildren, a bus stop, near town, a hospital, London and Cambridge. We have really resolved not to moan and get on with it. We have no choice.
Our lives have more back than forward, but I am trying hard not to have any regrets. I think the post has no option, Either go forward or wallow in self pity.

For me the crux of the matter lies not necessarily with whether/how much etc life in the UK has declined (it has certainly changed) but what is at the root of OP’s unhappiness and my strong suspicion is that it is heavily influenced by the family situation.
OP won’t be the first to relocate to be near AC and hopefully play a larger part in their lives. And then feel let down because young families do have full-on 7 days a week lives and once they are past needing babysitting, the GPs can feel left out.
It is so easy to hark back to happier days too - other places, friends, younger, fitter, healthier and imagine that perhaps you can recapture that.
We left London nearly 40 years ago (not entirely for the right reasons), but there were definite pluses and despite missing life as it WAS I had to make a good life here. On visits back to where we used to live that saying about stepping into rivers is so true. I am different, the world is different , life is different.
So I believe OP and her DH have to draw up a “balance sheet” of what matters to them, what is desirable, but most of all, what is possible* and work at it.
The grass is rarely greener.

we are no longer the same people mix that we used to be, the mix was quite stable then. People knew each other and looked out for each other

We all have to adapt when simply moving house to a new area or going back to where we spent our childhoods in the uk. It is all about adaptation and willingness to adapt. Nothing falls into our laps, it takes a personal effort

Might have made sense then. But now with the state of the NHS, it doesn't anymore.

Sterling values being so low on the other hand, should help with relocation. In our case, even if we sold for what we paid for our house here, we would more than double our money due to exchange rates. But due to above- would make no sense at all. We will stay where we can get excellent healthcare without any waiting lists, and most covered with S1 exemption.

Sorchame

Fleurpepper I agree, expat communities do suffer from this. In my experience, no matter where in the world, integrated or not, there will usually be a pull back to their country of birth.
Time and again. I have heard so many say that they wouldn't return to the UK, yet death of a partner, illness or just old age has changed this.

I know two couples who went to live abroad ‘for good’ but returned some years later (one or both) because of illness/increasing frailty/widowhood.

Both found that the most difficult aspect of returning was the substantial increase in U.K. property prices, given that they had sold up on leaving - and the difficulty of selling their foreign homes at all quickly, or for even the price they’d paid.

After 40 years living abroad due to my husband’s work we relocated to the UK 6 years ago. We found the climate the most difficult issue as we had been used to living in hot countries but after equipping ourselves for the Beast from the East which was our first experience of winter back in the UK we feel we have adapted well.
We chose a property 20 minutes drive from our daughter and her family so we could reach each other easily and joined a local birdwatching group, my husband’s main hobby as he no longer plays sport.
I feel we have adapted well and it is nice, in our old age, to be back with family. There are problems with governments, bureaucracy etc no matter where you live so yes we are happy to be back.

My view would be that you have moved now and whether it was right or wrong you should try your absolute best to make the most of it. We moved to a new area a few years ago. It has taken me a couple of years to settle. It is a market town and unfortunately has become much more run down, with nice shops closing, lots of rubbish, weeds everywhere. I also didn't feel I fitted in,a bit like you with the neighbour you thought was criticising you. I felt lonely not knowing anybody when I walked in to town and also we are nearer grown up children but don't really see them any more than we did before as they lead such busy lives. However I have persevered with joining groups, smiling at neighbours, trying to make friends and slowly things have got much better. I have also concentrated on making our home as nice as possible and the garden has become our little paradise. We are happy and settled now and have actually found people to be kind and friendly it just takes time. A few new cafes are opening in town, maybe things are starting to improve there too.
By the way we recently drove past our old home and the area seems rather run down and certainly nothing like as nice as it was when we first moved there in the 1980s. Most of our old friends and neighbours have moved away fom there anyway. I guess nothing stays the same and we just have to make the best of where we are. Good luck.