Re: carolyn morton "learning the language" - this is Brittany, so which one?

hognoxious, Brussels, Belgium

What on earth gives people the idea that they will always be welcomed with open arms wherever they go?

And another thing, bad feeling, abrasion, bad-will, etc. and for whatever reason, no matter how bizarre, and ill founded, occurs even between people from different parts of the same country.

Martyn Richard Jones, Denia, Valencia, Spain

What seems to come accross is the importance of integration,
learning the language and not trying to live as a British person in Britttany. I wholeheartedly agree BUT I wonder what would be said if the same sentiment was voiced in regard to immigrants coming to the UK who want to live there but entirely by the culture, religion and even laws of the country they left? The 'voicee' would instantly be declared racist!

The phrase 'When in Rome, do as Rome does' is fair and if deemed a suitable stance for the Bretons to take, should be applied to immigrants to Rome, Brittany and everwhere else, including, most definitely, the UK!

carolyn morton, Crapstone, Devon, UK

It is interesting that the article points out that anti-British attacks in Brittany have gone up since house prices have risen owing to an influx of British as well as "Parisian second home owners."

This last point is almost invariably overlooked. The foreign national is culturally visible and therefore an easy target and scapegoat. On their backs, natives with spare money contribute hugely to the process of inflated prices and get away scot free from recriminations. Its local people who build the houses and demand the high prices that foreigners pay.

Whether in Brittany or the Costa del Sol where I live, its the same story. It doesn´t matter that I speak Spanish fluently now, work for an average wage , and have a large mortgage around my neck and therefore I´m not privileged.

Remember always that nationalism requires no sound reasons to justify its complaints. In WW2 most massacred Jews had been patriotic Germans in Germany and Frenchmen in France and were culturally native

cerronevado, Malaga, Spain

I am Currently living in brittany, and have done for a year now. Im not too surprised at all to read about these attacks. While the large majority of locals are friendly and helpful, there is a sizeable amount who aren't helpful or friendly, and to be honest, are just rude, constantly, just because im english. im only 19 years old, and with all the will in the world, my french isnt as good as theres! just 2 weeks ago the owner of a local tabac, refused to serve me, saying it was because im english and she's Breton.

Adam Cutts, dol de bretagne,

Do you think they would of been calling for "Brits out" 50 years ago. Oh, sorry Mr. Blair and Mr. Brown, we are not allowed to discuss the war and Wiston Churchill. People might remember what a real Prime Minister is.

Charles Milner, London, Great Britain

Quite ironic..if correct that these incidents have been linked to comments made by Sarkozy.....after all his roots seem to be a little further away that Britain.

Perhaps first refusal at a reasonable price should be given to locals. There after a proportion of the inflated prices paid by outsiders should go into local economies rather than one pocket.

J.M, Stockport, UK

Expats so often say how sympathetic to local culture they are, how they 've learned a second language, how they get on with their neighbours etc - never owning up to the property price bubbles they create when buying (so often called "investing in") property abroad? What selfish and patronising opportunists most of these people are.

Kirsten, Milan, Italy

Fears of unrest in Brittany after English-owned homes attacked by Fran Yeoman.

Please advise where we can find further/update information on this issue as we are about to buy in the area.

Thanks.

Kevin Gray, Penryn, UK

Twenty years ago I lived in Brittany for five years. I reluctantly returned to the UK because of family commitments but am now planning to return there permanently after retirement.It is the only place I have ever felt homesick for and I have lived in many places. The people are wonderful. However must point out that I took the trouble to learn the language and I did not try to live as a Brit.

Di, Bedford, UK

I live near the Costa del Sol in Spain in an urbanisation in which 90% of the dwellings are owned by expats who don´t live there for most of the year. Spain generally has high unemployment and in this area, almost all work is seasonal. I myself live here all year round. I´m a salaried Brit earning less than many employed Spaniards. The (Spanish) gardener on our urbanisation earns more than my wife and I do, and drives a better car. I have a mortgage round my neck more than 45% of my net income. I have also learnt to speak Spanish fluently in the last five years I have lived here - while also busy working 50 hours a week. So it would be fair to say that I´m foreign but not privileged. In many places you see anti-foreigner graffiti - not against all foreigners but against Brits who 1. don´t speak Spanish and are not sympathetic to Spanish culture, and 2. have bought up property at high prices. But we´re not all the same!

cerronevado, Mijas, Spain

When I lived in an English village we were concerned about housing being snapped up for second homes - and it took quite a few years for newcommers to be really integrated.
The problem of younger locals no longer being able to afford to buy in the villages is the same in the UK - but do the younger locals actually want to live there anyway?
I had a holiday home in northern France, the old house had been left to rot - I was told the local people preferred to live in new houses in towns.
I bought what I could locally, but one problem probably not understood by one of the previous writers, is how hard it is to learn how to use unfamiliar building materials, it is not just the cost that makes it attractive to bring some materials from the UK.
Plaster for walls is a great example, by the time one has learned how to use French plaster the walls will be quite a few inches thicker!
Wouldn't the simple solution be to put a heavy tax on habitable but empty houses?

Tony Turner, Feld am See, Austria

Integrating, but what to? If I may say one thing: French is not our language, our language is Breton. The French culture is not our culture, our culture is the breton culture. Many of us happen to speak not breton because the French State is killing our own language and culture. We cannot get education in our own language! We are a number of Bretons who are fighting for our rights. If you come to our country please be on our side. "Integrating into the French culture" is just one way to contribute to the destruction of the Breton culture. I am sure Britons can do better than this, I prefer them not to integrate at all than become "frenchified". We have enough ignorant breton people at home, what we need is support and respect for Brittany!

Gwen, kemper, Breizh-Brittany

Integrating, but to what? If I may say one thing: French is not our language, our language is Breton. The French culture is not our culture, our culture is the breton culture. Many of us happen to speak no breton at all just because the French State is killing our own language and culture. We cannot get education in our own language, we can no longer speak the language of our forefathers. What a shame! We are a number of Bretons fighting for our rights. With peaceful means but determination. Our only enemy is the French takeover of our country. Britons from over the sea, if you come to our country please be on our side. "Integrating into the French culture” is just one way to contribute to the destruction of the Breton culture! I am sure Britons can do better than this, I prefer them not to integrate at all than become "frenchified". Just remain what you are, get to know your neighbours and local community and please, please, support the Breton cause! We have enough ignorant Breton people at home, what we need is support and respect for Brittany.

Gwen, kemper, Breizh-Brittany

Integrating, but what to? If I may say one thing: French is not our language, our language is Breton. The French culture is not our culture, our culture is the breton culture. Many of us happen to speak not breton because the French State is killing our own language and culture. We cannot get education in our own language! We are a number of Bretons who are fighting for our rights. If you come to our country please be on our side. "Integrating into the French culture" is just one way to contribute to the destruction of the Breton culture. I am sure Britons can do better than this, I prefer them not to integrate at all than become "frenchified". We have enough ignorant breton people at home, what we need is support and respect for Brittany!

Gwen, kemper, Breizh-Brittany

Integrating, but what to? If I may say one thing: French is not our language, our language is Breton. The French culture is not our culture, our culture is the breton culture. Many of us happen to speak not breton because the French State is killing our own language and culture. We cannot get education in our own language! We are a number of Bretons who are fighting for our rights. If you come to our country please be on our side. "Integrating into the French culture" is just one way to contribute to the destruction of the Breton culture. I am sure Britons can do better than this, I prefer them not to integrate at all than become "frenchified". We have enough ignorant breton people at home, what we need is support and respect for Brittany!

Gwen, kemper, Breizh-Brittany

I think it would be better if the English expats made more of an efford to intergrate with the locals ie ; learn to speak french and stop bringing over their wood , screws , electric fittings, and even plaster and cement from the U K §
The price of property here in Brittany has nothing to do with the increase of property prices in the U K , most of the expats that I have met here say openly they HATE the French and only buy to get a quick profit so that they can buy in Spain where they are free of burocracy § Most of the expats hate paying taxes here and their first reaction is that England leads Europe and they don't see why they should pay the into the French system.
I say the sooner you realize that the don't need any of you here the better, why not take a quick boat back to the U K ?

augustin , dinan, france

What the Bretons must remember is that the English generally buy run down houses and barns. What would the commerce be like for them without all these extra residents. They cannot have their cake and eat it! If they continue along this unfreindly road they will be left out on a limb. They must also remember that it is not property just in Brittany that has risen. We have had enormous price increases in the UK as well. Not many of our young people can afford to buy a home here, what with price rises, mortgage rates etc. I lived in Brittany for years and generally found that the locals were nice people. The farmers were jumping for joy when they sold off that old wreck of a barn! I think that it may be extreme groups that cause this bad feeling. What I worry about is the fact that these people are now burning property etc. It will not be long before someone is killed. If it's any consolation to the Brits who live there, the Bretons also hate their own countrymen, the Parisiens.

Elisabeth, Swansea, Great Britain

I was born in Brittanny and I still live here. I can't see any comment in our newspaper regarding those troubles. That fire on the picture is from 200 litres drum and is probably taken from outside a factory on strike. Is it not designed to sell paper? I don't think anything like what is describbed in the Times ever happened here...

D Le Blanc, Ploermel , France

So which is it - English or British homes ?

As a Welsh person who has been on the receiving end of the incomer issue I can totally understand where the Bretons are coming from. As a previous contributor said - integration is key - don't try and replicate your previous life. It's basic courtesy to your new country - in this case Brittany (not France).

Gareth Phillips, Cardiff, Wales

i have a house in brittany and have had a little trouble.i also live in cornwall,which of recent has seen an increase in anti english graffiti.both regions are of celtic heritage and the people have a very strong feeling of community and localisim.just because people in citys who move to these scenic areas dont bother back home to talk to neibours,how do they think they are going to fit in,in these areas they have moved to?the pricing debate is also a huge factor,as both areas have high unemployment and very low wages,so when big city money comes flooding in,pushing up house prices it makes it 10 times more difficult for locally born youngsters to get that first step on the property ladder.,one polish friend of mine is here to earn enough money so he and his wife can buy a house back in poland(which is still very cheap even compared to brittany,)but worries when he returns,its all been brought up by the next wave of the british expat locasts looking for a cheap holiday home!

craig, corwall/, brittany

I'm from Brittany but have lived in Scotland for years. This form of terror is unacceptable. I know the majority of Bretons will feel the same. Brits buy houses in Brittany as prices are too high in the UK. I believe that they also buy in Brittany as they like this beautiful country. I hope that Scots, Welsh and Cornishmen chose this country also because of the strong Celtic traditions we share. It is a good thing when newcomers help keep our villages and schools alive and contribute to the local economy. It is a bad thing when locals now have to pay London prices for a family house. Rural areas suffer from unemployment and alcoholism. After being colonised by Paris, locals don't want to be colonised by anyone else. Estate agents are more to blame than Brits for this. You can help by adopting the right attitudes:
- learn the language and communicate with locals.
- buy local esp. when doing up a house.
- send your kids to local shools.
- contribute to the village's life in general.

Laurent, Edinburgh,

Soundslike a few hotheads taking their cue from Sarko's recent endearing comments about Brit settlers taking over french rural villages.

pachapapa, gourgé, deux sèvres

I bought a house in Brittiany almost 5 years ago. It was a house that had been on the market for over a year with no interest. The price was out of reach of many Breton or French. We were told, however, that the French would not buy the house because it was not near a town or seaside and therefore not attractive to tthem. We have done extensive renovations on the house using French builders and a French architect. We employ a local man to do our gardening and keep an eye on the property. We are learning French, slowly, and do not expect the people to speak English to us. They have been very patient and supportive with our sometimes painful French pronunciation.

While I can understand the feeling of some of the Breton people , I am unalbe to understand violence and what purpose it serves.

Maybe the local communities in Brittiany need to get together and discuss the regulations they want to put in place to make sure that Brittiany remains distinctive and unique.
Sue

Sue Davis, London, Uk

For a number of years, France has seen the flourishing of neo-Marxist, so-called “anti-globalization” and other extremist movements at the far left of the political spectrum. These movements have made their way into Brittany and have even tried to hijack Breton symbols, fortunately without too much success. Among other things, these violent groups are regularly demonizing “Anglo-Saxon colonialism”, with little respect for the traditional bounds that have united Britain and Brittany up to this day. In a nutshell, this attitude is nothing but a far left version of the widespread frustration of France vis-à-vis the English speaking world. Brittany has one crucial problem, and it is clearly the suppression of our State, language, culture and people, which has illegally gone on for more than Four Hundred years. It is time for Bretons and Britons to stand side by side against this injustice!

Press release of ADSAV! , the breton national party

Adsav, Roazhon, Brittany

Recently, Linsey Widd and her husband Darren were woken in the night and found their car on fire in front of the restaurant they run in the village of Kallag (Callac), a traditional community in the centre of Brittany. ADSAV! , the Breton People’s Party, which legally struggles for an independent Breton state, condemns this despicable act and expresses its deepest sympathy to the victims.
This act is particularly revolting because it is the third attack against Britons in only few days, as British, Breton and French media have reported. It is too early to draw definite conclusions on who might be responsible and who should be punished. However, one thing is certain, these attacks are more than “incivility act”, as French authorities may call them. ADSAV! would like to draw the attention of our Briton’s cousins living in and outside Brittany to a number of basic – and greatly disturbing- facts.

Adsav, Roazhon, Brittany

The Breton people could choose to sell there houses to Breton people, and get less money for it! They don't, they take the highest bidder.
This also applies too the people of Cornwall.
Put your money where your mouth is, or accept it as, The Future!

Busta, Lovelyville, England

Too many Brits juxtaposed with a naturally cohesive mainly Celtic
community is potentially inflammatory. Whilst it would be an illusion to dismiss the possibility of such "manifs" in other areas of la france profonde, they cannot be completely discounted.
The recent more robust critical attitude of sarko vis à vis Brits taking over french villages has nevertheless the potential to cause anxiety.

pachapapa, gourgé, deux sèvres

Surely, it can never be right to blame individual people/families for a general problem, or in any case set someone else's house on fire.
However, there are very understandable reasons for the Breton discontent.
For one, they can no longer afford houses in their own country, due to the number of mainly secondary homes bought by foreigners (and that includes the Parisians!).
Secondly, in some areas they are being told to learn English and receive bilingual administrative docs in French-English whilst at the same time they are persistantly denied the use of the Breton language by the French state. As the case of one schoolteacher in Lorient has shown, signing a cheque in Breton can land you in jail!
Most Britons are so used to the cultural freedoms and diversity of the UK that they cannot even begin to understand how the Breton-speaking population must feel to be treated as 3rd class citizens, ranking even behind the English speaking foreigners!

Sonja Muller, Luxembourg,

Bonjour,

Take it easy !

Brittany has become a very attractive region and that is the good point. The cities of Rennes, Nantes and Brest are expanding even small cities on the shores.

New peoples in rural areas are welcome because without them, local economy would be bad.

Why prices are growing ? just because we don't have enough breton political power to regulate these facts. It is our own problem.

PEAN, Tokyo, Japan

The situation sounds a bit like Cornwall.

There really needs to be a proper solution to the problem of housing affordability as otherwise more people are liable to decide to start burning things. I feel quite sorry for the people involved here especially because they've been living and working permamently rather than just having a second home lived in a few weeks a year.

There should be restrictions on the numbers of second homes.

david, Cornwall,

The Bretons are friendly and welcoming people - however, large numbers of English people who buy homes in Brittany want to exist in some kind of parallel universe and do not attempt to learn the language or integrate into Breton culture. They are often the same people who criticise immigrants in Britain who do exactly the same thing: it is unfortunately very easy to draw comparisons between your middle-class Brit and the Muslim granny who doesn't speak the language, knows diddly-squat about the culture but would like to access all the benefits of their chosen home. It comes down to basic civility and consideration for your neighbours. The French often describe the English as 'mal eleve' - 'badly brought up'. Large numbers of the English who live there have given them no reason at all to change their views. Whilst this incident might have nothing at all to do with the foregoing, it should be taken as a salutory lesson that you don't move to another country without integrating.

Jean Willmott, London, England

Well,I think it should be mentioned that there are as least as many French in GB.

France has a lot of debt,the Brits & others bring much needed foreign currency into the country.

I heard that in Morocco there are similar complaints because the French are buying property and pushing up prices there.

G. Cochrane, Auzon, France

Wasn't there a similar problem in Wales some 20 years ago? And for the same reasons. "Come home to a real fire. Buy a Welsh cottage."
No such problem for me in Japan. They love me here and the feeling is mutual. Guess it's a case of familiarity breeding contempt. Going a lot further into France may well be the answer.
Arson especially as a hate crime must surely carry a severe prison sentence. Be interesting to see if French courts hand down 10-year sentences to French people convicted of setting fire to British-owned properties.

Andrew Milner, Yokohama, Kanagawa

There was a similar problem in the Isle of Man some years ago where outsiders were buying homes and not living in them. The local youngsters were priced out of the market so the homes were damaged while empty. In Guernsey/Jersey many years ago, during a visit, I was told that many homes are reserved for buying only by selected Channel Islanders who qualified due to age and residence. You had homes there where one would have cost 120.000 Pounds and the similar sized home next door was 15.000 Pounds.

Perhaps this needs looking into again in the EU with homes especially built with taxpayer's money..

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

English homes? So Scottish and Welsh ones are ok? Or did you mean British?

Luke Magee, Kent, UK

As the policeman said, they weren't necessarily targeted for being English. I imagine the Bretons dislike Parisians coming and driving up house prices just as much as the English.

Anyway, the Bretons are descended from immigrants from Britain in the 5th-9th centuries. Some of them even speak a language very similar to Cornish.

Dave, Truro, Cornwall

I am not surprised to read of the attacks in Brittany towards us English. Four years ago my husband and I moved to Brittany with a view to buying a property near Bourbriac. There was a nearby signpost damning the English, with many nasty chalked up writings on walls in the local village, and near the Mairie may I add, again against the English. This was very unpleasant to see, and we eventually bought a property in the Morbihan region, which we improved on, as we English do. Even there I received rudeness from some Bretons, even though I had taken the trouble to revise my French so that I could fit in with them. My husband had no problem because he is from Quebec, but being English was my problem, and I hated my time living there. These Bretons can sometimes be nice to your face, but beware with the animosity which lurks underneath. I never want to go back to Brittany, and we have returned to England to live.

Mrs Kathy Pare, South Molton, N.Devon, England

Is it not usually those who move away who do so because England is going down the pan because of things like "immigration". It always makes me laugh when I hear that completely ironic statement.

I can fully understand the civil uprest, just like we see in rural Britain with richer 'immigrants' taking over the local towns and villages.

How many of the people moving to Brittany speak French fluently in the same way that most of the middle class in Britain want immigrants to speak fluent English.

One rule of some, another for the others. There is no excuse for burning peoples' houses, but maybe these expats need to be asked as to how much they are integrating into the local economy. And no, I don't believe that asking for 'deux baguette' at the local bakery cuts it.

I expect a torrent of angry replies, but imagine your small town or village suddenly got really expensive and taken over by a load of rich foreigners... Oh wait, it has in London and all I read is complaints about nondoms!

Jamie, Halifax, West Yorkshire

Ladies and gentlemen,

people in Europe can´t afford to hate and/or fight each other - any more!. They either survive/rise or sink together. But, together it will be, whether they like it or not!
They have to learn to appreciate each other quickly! They must communicate - if need be, in Russian!

Sauer Kraut, Berlin, Germany

In no way would I wish to under-rate the distress that has been felt by this family. As someone who has lived in Brittany for the last 2 1/2 years I would like to say that there are some people who believe that the British, Parisiens and Germans are the reason that house prices are rising without realising that mondilisation is the cause, but they are few.

We have never felt threatened by the local inhabitants, wherever there is low employment and people are seen to do better than others there will be rancour its the way of life all over the world. Unfortunately there will always be people who will retaliate in a totally unacceptable manner and I hope to God it does not happen to me.

On a recent outing to a music festival my family were accosted by some young and very happy Bretons who were so charming to us and asked us not to go home but stay and dance with them. This activity is much more common than firebombing and is much more the norm.

Patsie, Reguiny, Brittany