I love it here

[Polly]

The Paris painting is so evocative - for me there’s the aroma of coffee and of Gitanes - strange as it’s many years since the aroma of the latter passed my nose.

[Hotrodder]

Blaze, yes, by someone I know for quite some time ( The Stones in the Park), July 1969, with a message from Mick. For some or other reason I said goodbey to the design of amplifiers, analogue mixing desks, guitars and speakers cabinets and there he is, RA, on his way to another meeting in Paris. The smell of autumn in the air, when a door of a café opens mixed with the pleasant and inviting smell of a croque monsieur and coffee of course.

I have often wondered about your "tech" background. Funny enough, the only proper friend here at the moment is a retired sound engineer. He still has all his recording kit and a mixing desk. I recently failed to bring his B77 back to life and he needs it running to transcribe a couple of hundred old concert tapes to archive them. His best option is to send it to Germany for renovation but he is unwilling to put it into the hands of the couriers (aka: demolition men) to get it there.

[RobertArthur]

@ Hotrodder, you probably made a little tour d'horizon on the internet, REVOX B77 issues. The same old song, the infamous Swedish Rifa capacitors and everything else. Division of labour: a still blank white canvas scares me a little, lost in the white open space, where to begin. The OH likes it ( Port Brûlé and plenty of water). To rebalance that, I am available on call for technical problems. Noticing the decline of species in the bookshops, magazines disappearing. Talk of the town, repair economy! Sweet dreams, last time these guys - and the other room mates - saw some real action was when I invited myself last year to repair a SONY VHS recorder.

[Antonia]

last time these guys

Good grief that took me back !!!

[Hotrodder]

That's where I was at a disadvantage. All I have is a £20 multimeter to do any serious fault finding and setting up afterwards.
The B77 was doing some mad things and almost completely unresponsive to any control buttons pushed. All the caps look OK but I know that is no guarantee. Given that pretty much all the parts are available for replacement I would rather know which are actually needed rather than throw hundreds of euros at recapping every board in the box.

[L Austin France]

Fascinating how quickly my original post has transformed from liking where I live to paintings to electronic things.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining as it keeps the FiF post count up & infinitely more interesting than my OP.

[Blaze]

Don't worry, LAF, I think you'll find we're all happy here ! Whilst there are things that irritate us here, it would be the same anywhere else - nowhere's perfect ! But we've always felt at home and it's never felt like being in a foreign country. I've felt more of a foreigner when visiting the UK (it's embarrassing to have to check coins carefully )

[exile]

I could not have put it better @Blaze. Until Brexit I felt fully integrated even though my language skills remain a bit lacking. Brexit took a bit of the shine off that but that is down to me, rather than than those around me who still accept me for what I am.

As you say no place is perfect but this place will do me just fine - faults and all.

[Wilbro]

Brexit hasn't affected us at all in terms of how we feel about here. We've noticed a massive drop off in UK vehicles this and last year, mainly Dutch and French tourists that come just as before.
We are happy as Larry and when I look at the UK with it's jampacked houses, tiny gardens and non stop traffic I relish the bliss here.

[Antonia]

France will always be a foreign country to me but one that I feel privileged to be allowed to live in. I suppose there may come a time when I am either too old or too infirm to remain but they'll have to drag me out . Down here it's the Belgians that have filled the gap. Seven couples have moved into our little village over the past two years. The difference is, they're all young not retirees. It's really given an oomph to the local associations.