Countless British visit France each year and over 100,000 live there permanently, successors to generations of their countrymen. This book, starting with the brief and poignant Peace of Amiens, 1801-1803, studies who they were - ranging from businessmen and artisans to rentiers, invalids and tourists - where they went and the reasons why. While some went for fun, to Paris 'where the social arts are carried to perfection' or to Monte Carlo, Biarritz or Deauville, the invalids favoured the Pyrenees or Savoy, making Pau the 'ville anglaise'. Bordeaux was an example of another town where the British attained great influence because of the wine trade. Many also settled in France to save money. The Channel Coast becoming popular with those who fled creditors or disgrace at home (Beau Brummell and Oscar Wilde are examples of this group). Food, architecture and the arts more generally attracted many, as did the climate of the Riviera. The revolutions in travel brought about by railways, motoring and aircraft provide a constant theme. Another very important aspect covered is the relationship, both in general and personal terms, between the French and the British. How, for instance, the local British stimulated a passion for sport in France. A variety of sources including British and French books, letters, journals and periodicals, supply background, as do Foreign Office archives particularly in times of crisis such as 1848, 1870 and 1940.

The False Start: travelling before the Railways.
A Tumultuous Entente
Pau and the Spas
The Transport Revolution
Rosbif and Frog
The Riviera
Babylon
The Atlantic Coast
Displacement
The Rural Idyll