[rebelfifi]

Just returned from a house hunt in the Var nans les pins to be exact, but found no English and told not many live in village? St maximin la sainte baume and all environs visited but I heard no one talking English. I do speak French and want a typical French life but I thought there would be d few as there's s golf course!! Am I wrong anyone? Bit worrying support wise although I will be near Aix

 

[Bevdeforges]

It's entirely possible to be in an area where there are some expats but to not hear any English being spoken in the streets.

It can be very difficult to gauge the level of "support" in an area until you live there and start seeking out expat organizations or just regular organizations that expats might belong to. Some folks are actually trying to blend in to the point where they might be hard to find. <g>
Cheers,
Bev

 

[rebelfifi]

Thank you asked the locals and no one knew any!!! :/

 

[DizzyDorinda]

We live in a mountain village in The Var region and I know there are quite a lot of expats here (rather more than I'd have liked) but on the plus side, in the month and a half we've been here I have only heard English spoken once in the street (thank goodness) and that was at the chestnut festival. There are Brit shopkeepers in the village but they speak French (as it should be), my French isn't very good but it's already improving and I try to speak French when I use the shops. I have to say our locals are lovely and they do speak to us in English even though we'd prefer them not to; they like to practice their English so they try to speak English whilst we try to speak to them in French, it's a two way learning process and it seems to work, with a few giggles at mistakes on both sides.
I would think the locals wouldn't be too keen to direct you towards other Brits, in all honesty would you want to if the boot was on the other foot.
I wouldn't let it worry you unless you particularly want to be in the middle of an expat community, if there are others they'll emerge.

 

[DejW]

We live in a small Catalan village with some native English speakers. Most of us speak reasonable French and can hold our own at dinner parties in French. Yes, we speak English between ourselves, (it's a bit bizarre to speak French with only 1 other person present - English!), but flip into French when required. Clearly it's required when a French person arrives.

In answer to the OP, I would say that if you hear English in the streets they are most probably tourists rather than residents.

DejW