The View From Here

As you are aware this Blog is a reflection of our personal life in France and as such the implications of Brexit have such profound effects on us that I now feel moved to comment.

We must say that this result comes as no surprise to us although that seems not to be the case with many others. I have been really fearful of a Brexit vote for the last six months. A friend of ours was so sure that the outcome would be to stay in the EU that about three months ago she arranged a celebration party for last Friday. It turned into a Wake! However we all felt better for being able to get our thoughts off our chests.

Since we have lived here we have always thought that French people were reticent to talk about politics. However that has not been the case in the last few weeks. Even the post lady and shop assistants are expressing their views to us. On Friday we were not only getting messages of support from friends in England but emails from French friends as well. They are concerned about the political implications for them.

We are watching the situation in the UK with utter disbelief. I expected to be saying by now "after the dust has settled" but far from it, every day a new plume rises.

Meanwhile our "normal" contented life goes on. Yesterday I, along with a number of others, went to a cookery demonstration at a French friend's house in the morning and then our spouses were invited to join us for lunch to eat the fruits of the mornings labour. Well Bernadette had bulked the food up considerably and the wine flowed, followed by the homemade eau de vie and we got home at 4pm. I needed a little "rest" but John mowed the back field!

We plan to stay!

And now for a more academic view ... anyone who is interested in History or Politics will have realised what 'interesting' times we are living through.  The results of the Referendum will have world-wide ramifications, even though the 'people' of England are in denial that we all now live in a global world.

However much the feeling is to close the doors and pull the curtains, Britain needs many things that are outside of its shores ... more labour, markets, security.  I fear that the result of the Referendum commits Britain's future to a former empire, soon to become a faded backwater, a foot-note in History.  And its role in History will be seen as the trigger for the break-up of the European dream, which, for me, was the dream of a peaceful continent where the tensions of Nation states no longer lead to armed conflict.

But hey, all eras of peace end and Man is a violent animal.  Fortunately my doomsday scenario won't happen in my lifetime so I will stay here in our little backwater and enjoy the roses blooming!