Hi everyone!

We're new on here and are looking for people in our area (near Nimes, Gard) to meet up with and socialize!! We're a family of 5, I'm french, my husband is english and we have 3 girls! We've been living here for just over 2 years and although I'm from Arles (20 minutes away...) and have some family there, we are struggling to settle in our village... I'm a stay-at-home mum and my husband works away all week...
I was just wondering if we were the only ones to find it hard to fit in with the locals... Maybe being French myself doesn't help, but after spending 12 years in the UK, I am struggling...big time...especially with the mentalities...
Please someone tell me I'm not alone!!! LOL

Hi, welcome again to the forum! PM sent.

Welcome to the Forum, So I'm not in your area but a growing trend is that migration does not tend to allow folk into an area with ease in France. It is typically worse in rural zones, Although after 12 years in the UK you have probably adopted our friendship social skills which vary somewhat from French ones.

There is no magic method one day it will all click in to place, But once again welcome to the Forum if you get any issues give me a shout.

Thanks Ka Ora!

I used to live in a village in Germany called Heidesheim, it took a while, but we made friends eventually. The closest of them was a family from Gonsenheim, a place about 7 km away.

He'd moved there as a youth but was still referred to (by the Heidesheimer) as der Gonsenheimer.

Go figure.

Germans are friendlier than the French "Imho"

There's not much in it I'd say. Both take a while before opening up to strangers but my tale was to illustrate that sometimes (not always) it's easier to get accepted if you're coming from a different country than from a different local place. It's a bit like Newcastle. Foreigners are welcomed but anyone from Sunderland can **** right off.

Hi there,
I recently moved to Nimes from the UK to be with my french boyfriend, and I am finding it hard to meet people too.
Whee are you living? If you ever fancy a meeting up for a chat, or an English babysitter, please get in touch

But . . . but . . . I thought bloody Mackems WERE foreigners

Sandw - yes fitting into a village can be a bit hard, but use the kids to help! It's much easier when you have children of the same age. We have turned a couple of "gate mates" from school into forever friends. We have friends, who are both French, who live near Montpellier but 'he' is from Paris originally, he's never been accepted in the village even after 20 years. It took me a long time to be accepted in this village, and bizzarely I'm leaving! I leave with many happy memories though.