Brittany-Friends.com
Comments from the author:
Sometimes, being an expat can be difficult.
We tend to move to other countries to get away from something or to find something new.
Sometimes we are trying to escape from something and sometimes, we are trying to find something that we couldn't get where we used to be.
I hope that most of us expats try to integrate into our local communities, in the knowledge that in a couple of hundred years time, we might be considered almost as locals!
I, personally, am very anti those people who move to Brittany (from the U.K.), and try to create a Little England here, for themselves!
Having said that... There are some things from England that I miss... (Branston Pickle, Coleman's Mustard, The Sun Newspaper????? - all come to mind).
And, although my French is adequate for my daily life here, I do sometimes miss having a chat, in English, with people who are living a similar life - over here in Brittany.
To facilitate this, I use an internet forum. I have tried many of the ones that are about but, have found that the one that works for me is www.Brittany-Friends.com
The site was set up in November of 2006 by Steve and Lisa.
The photo shows Lisa (Steve isn't really fit to be seen in public!)
The site was set up because a number of us were unhappy with the conduct (and moderation) of another site dedicated to expats living in Brittany - I won't mention the name of that site but, on Brittany-Friends.com , we know it as The Dark Side!
I think the aim of Brittany-Friends.com was to provide a non-commercial place for us expats (or soon to be expats) to get together, share information, help each other and... generally, make friends.
If that was the original aim - then it has certainly succeeded!
I met The Girlie through Brittany-Friends.com and, have made many, many other friends (most of whom, I have to admit, haven't seen my bare botty), on the site, as well!
Whilst all the members use Brittany-Friends.com for their own purposes (and some are more vocal than others) - we seem to have created a community of like minded people on the site.
Occasionally, we have get-togethers and sometimes we make arrangements to just meet up to say hello.
Most of the time, though, most of us just use Brittany-Friends.com to have a chat, solve simple problems, get advice and... have a laugh!
Although the forum has all the usual stuff... boards for selling/buying, advice, gallery, blogs etc. there is also an excellent Shoutbox which allows us to keep in touch with each other thoughout the day and a chatroom for those who like that sort of stuff.
Members are allowed to advertise their commercial services (if they have them), free of charge. There is a gallery and... hang on - why don't you just take a look - I'll be here all day if I try to explain it all (and the sun is shining, so I should really make the effort to go out into the garden with a good book!)
If this idle banter and chit-chat has interested you in the slightest, please take a look at www.Brittany-Friends.com
Hope to see you there!
All the best... Keith
P.S. I do apologise for the last image - it is of Steve (Lisa's husband and co-founder of www.Brittany-Friends.com) - not really too sure how it slipped it's way onto this page?
