LTimes: Villagers want Brits out of Brittany
Tam
April 16, 2004
Villagers want Brits out of Brittany
By Michael Horsnell
A cross-channel invasion, blamed for rising prices, is meeting French
resistance
THE bunting took no time to take down after the Queenąs recent visit to mark
the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, but in Bourbriac a rash of hostile
graffiti is still being scrubbed off the stone walls.
The anti-British sentiment in the Brittany village is not directed at the
British monarch but at the invasion by perfidious Albion of the French
countryside.
More than 150,000 Rosbifs have bought homes in France ‹ mostly in Normandy,
the Dordogne, the South West and the Riviera ‹ and the 10,000 who have moved
to Brittany, tempted by Gallic ambience and cheap property, have drawn the
fury of Breton nationalists.
The so-called Armée Revolutionnaire Breton (ARB), believed to number no more
than a dozen, is now taking direct action against the foreign colonisation.
It is under police investigation for an outbreak of graffiti calling for
British withdrawal.
The village, dominated by the Romanesque 11th-century church dedicated to
Briac, the patron saint against insanity, was the scene of a major clean-up
yesterday by painters and decorators.
Slogans in black paint demanding łStop speculation. Brits out˛ were daubed
on the walls of the local notaire, Olivier Moal, who specialises in property
conveyancing. Other graffiti in the village, near St Brieuc, called for a
łfree Brittany˛ and were signed by the ARB with a clenched fist.
M Moal said: łI donąt know who has done this; I donąt know if these people
know me, but I think they live near by. I donąt take it as a personal attack
but I find it very embarrassing for the British.
łPeople are sickened to see it. I sell houses to the British, certainly, but
that represents less than a quarter of sales from this office. There are
some areas, not far from here in central Brittany, where they sell much
more.
łThe British do their shopping here and their children are in our schools.
Some work, others arrive in France to find space and calm; but none comes to
make big money.˛
Outside his office, Christian Disserbo, a local painter and decorator, was
obliterating the nuisance and retexturing the walls to prevent further
graffiti from sticking.
He said: łThese people who did this are méchants (nasty). They do not speak
for the people of Brittany. The English are welcome,˛ ‹ he hesitated ‹
łexcept that they do make the price of houses too high for local people.˛
The price of homes has risen 200 per cent in the past five years.
The mayorąs office in the stone square of Bourbriac says that only 40 of the
1,000 houses in the village are British-owned, but local sources put the
figure at 134.
Yannick Botrel, the Mayor, said: łAre they welcome or are there too many
British here? The truth lies between the two. There is certainly no
tradition of xenophobia here.
łI donąt know who has done this and I donąt approve. But there is
frustration on the part of certain persons, Bretons, who see the cost of
housing rise beyond their means.
łLife can be difficult for those who come here, too. A lot of British people
donąt speak French, which makes communication difficult. It isnąt enough
just to buy a house, you have to integrate.˛
Integration is a concern of the patron of the village bar and restaurant, Le
Ty Breizh.Hellec Ronan said: łI have artisan friends, tradesmen, and the
English donąt give them enough work. They import their own materials and
bring in their own artisans. Inte- gration is difficult.˛
He dismissed the ARB as a small group interested only in defending łchez
eux˛ against everyone else.
Among British visitors to the bar yesterday were Michael Gibbs-Kennett and
his partner, Desiree Chubb, who are planning to buy a Ł60,000 three-bedroom
house in Normandy with a willow tree in the large gardens, łbeautiful enough
for an impressionist painting in a hamlet in the middle of nowhere˛.
Mr Gibbs-Kennett, 53, from Yeovil, Somerset, who wants to retire there after
the coupleąs five children have left home, said: łAre there too many Brits
here? That could be considered a marvellous compliment to the French way of
life. We Brits are supposed to have and to be the best in the world but we
have forsaken that for France.
łThe French are 90 per cent excellent and the other 10 per cent are like you
have in England: running all over the 90 per cent.˛
The peace and calm of France have proved better for Stan Skinner, who gave
up his job as a financial adviser in Guildford, Surrey, to run the Bar Ty
Mad in Saint-Mayeux, near Bourbriac, with his wife, Helen, last June.
Mr Skinner, 53, said: łWe have managed to keep the only bar in the village
alive and the locals do seem pleased. The majority of our customers are
French and we havenąt changed anything apart from introducing a bar
billiards table. Iąve never felt hostility from anyone here.˛
For now, at least, one thing seems certain: the ARB may not appreciate the
British love affair with France ‹ with its slower pace of life, its
undulating landscape ‹ but their hostility has yet to exceed the violence of
the paintbrush and the slur afflicting the stone walls of our nearest
neighbour.