Family ties are far more important to people in France than is the case in Britain.

Children and grandchildren visit their parents and grandparents on a regular basis and always seem to enjoy these visits. It never comes across as a chore.

On Mother’s Day, in particular, families expect to get together and have a party always accompanied by plenty of flowers for mum. Even in the case of the departed, graves are visited regularly and flowers placed.

On All Saints Day every cemetery in the country will have crowds of visiting people and again flowers are placed on graves, typically chrysanthemums. The French are a lot more tactile than the British.

When people meet friends or acquaintances they always shake hands and male and female friends will always kiss on the cheek. Children up to the age of about ten are expected to kiss the adult friends of their parents when they meet. These things go a long way to making the whole society friendly, more cohesive and definitely more laid-back than is the case in Britain.

Tied-in with the above is the lack of a yob culture throughout France.

French youths never go out with the intention of getting plastered or looking for a fight in the evenings. In Britain you can find this thriving not only in the big cities but in rural areas too. You can see graffiti and vandalism throughout the country, whether in big cities, towns or small villages.

Along with this is the ‘lager-lout’ culture that gets British youth such a bad name both at home and abroad. This does not happen in France. There are occasions when French youngsters get a bit tipsy but this always seems to be tied-in with a special occasion.

They may get a bit loud but it never seems to end in any sort of violence or yobbish behaviour, and very seldom do girls get involved.

Fraser Blake, 70, author of 'Dear Chips' and 'A Rant Too Far?' grew up in Africa, was at school in Scotland, and worked for the British South Africa Police in Southern Rhodesia. He has taught English in Saudi Arabia and sold and renovated hundreds of properties in Northern France.

In 1998 Fraser was selling houses in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire region and so was the obvious choice, when Cle France was started, to be their first agent on the ground in France. In retirement he writes, blogs, cooks, drinks wine, and hosts to dinner unlimited numbers of ex-pats.

Always on hand with a viewpoint, Fraser is going to share his views on France, the French and the British, and other people who buy in France. Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, painfully true, outrageously opinionated but always entertaining so we hope it adds a slightly different dimension to the usual normality of searching through the fantastic properties for sale on the Cle France website.

If you want more? then follow the links above where you can buy Fraser's published books.