Neighbours

Written by Riviera Reporter

“Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours”

So they say but not all of us are so lucky. Jill Penton-Browne has been making some enquiries

Maybe you recognise the words of my title. They’re the opening of the theme song of the Australian soap Neighbours. All about the nice guys who live on an imaginary Ramsay Street in Melbourne (“thought you looked a bit crook, mate, so I decided to pop in”). Years ago the show was given an airing on a French channel (the former A2) but was quickly cancelled. A network official admitted that “our viewers just couldn’t identify with people like that”. That doesn’t surprise Keith and Patti who’ve been here for the last three years since he was assigned to Sophia Antipolis. They live in a small apartment block in Saint-Raphaël. “We’re New Zealanders,” explained Keith, “but like Australians we noticed the difference in the neighbouring thing from the word go. When we moved from Dunedin to a suburb of Auckland in the first thirty-six hours we got two notes and a card through the letter-box offering greetings and help. Here it was as if we didn’t exist and even after all this time we’re on no more than nodding terms with the other people in the building. There’s only one exception and that’s a Danish couple.”

“Standoffishness ... a very French thing”
My old friend Jean-Luc, a Frenchman who also works in Sophia Antipolis and who’s lived in several countries, smiled wearily when I relayed Keith’s complaint. “I have to admit that we French aren’t a neighbourly people like I found a lot of Americans to be. We do very much like to keep ourselves to ourselves. But I think that’s now even truer than it was in my parents’ day. To start with, a lot of women are working these days and don’t get involved with the people next door. Then with so much shopping done at the out-of-town hypermarket you lose another chance for socialising with the neighbours. I remember my mother did a lot of gossiping at the baker’s and the butcher’s and we knew a lot about other families’ business. And think of all the time we spend in front of screens: television, PCs, video games. Doesn’t leave much time for the neighbours.” Keith wasn’t convinced when I shared these ideas with him. “A lot of all that’s true of Auckland, for example, but there people still want to know their neighbours. I’d say this standoffishness is a very French thing.”

Actually when you talk to people – especially English-speaking expats – about neighbours that’s not all they complain about. They’ll often have stories of bad behaviour. Brits Steve and Lainie still talk of “the hell” they endured when they moved into a house in Antibes. They found themselves next door to a very disagreeable family. Father surly. Mother clearly disturbed (it turned out she was on drugs). Three yobbish boys – 11, 13 and 18 – and two large and unfriendly dogs. The big problem was noise – loud music, shouting, barking – but complaints were met with insults and worse. Rubbish was thrown into Steve and Lainie’s garden and their car was scratched. Finally they left. “C’est affreux,” agreed Jean-Luc, “but you do get people like that and it’s made worse by the general lack of friendly contact. If there’s a problem indifference can turn into hostility or even open warfare.”

What can you do about badly behaved neighbours? I talked about this to a local lawyer. “Above all,” she insisted, “do try and settle things amicably.” All well and good but that didn’t work for Steve and Lainie so what then? “Well, there’s not much point usually in going to the syndic. They’ll send a letter maybe but if it’s not a general nuisance involved they usually keep their distance.” And the police? “They’ve got a lot on their plate and they don’t give much priority to barking dogs and over-loud televisions. Beyond that, of course, you can go to court but – I don’t hesitate to tell you this – that can drag on and be rather expensive.” Steve and Lainie, of course, adopted the most radical solution and moved out. Phil Heinlein had met them earlier and afterwards suggested that it’s not a bad idea to hire a private investigator to do a neighbour audit for you before you decide on a property and so avoid nasty surprises. At the time some readers said they found this a bit OTT. Steve and Lainie wouldn’t agree...

For advice on problems with neighbours (in French) talk to l’Association de defense des victimes de troubles de voisinage (ADVTV). Visit http://nuisances.advtv.free.fr for more information. ADVTV (Neighbours): 04 76 36 55 39 / This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

From Reporter 114 - Apr/May 2006

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