Feuding Bretons
My estranged wife is the daughter of a father who is one of nine, seven of whom live within half an hour of where they were born. These sexagenarians and septuagenarians do an A1 job of falling out over the most pitifully small issues, and will shun a relative who is literally a next door neighbour. And what's more, the kids (20-40 somethings) get embroiled too.

The last big blow up involved the inheritance from the estate of the mater familias. This tiny house sold for maybe £30,000, probably to a naive Briton. Anyway, ex F-in-l argued that under some obscure piece of French inheritance law he was entitled to a larger share on the basis that as the eldest son he had worked the land - these being farming folk. This might have resulted in him pulling in an extra £500 or so, so the other siblings would have been down comparatively little. Not that either side would condede the point.

The estranged wife does not really care one way or the other, but is rather hurt that two cousins to whom she had played big sister to for years - both of whom are extensively educated - were not interested in being non-partisan and refuse to answer phone calls, e-mails and what have you. As for the rest of the nine, it is her father plus his little brother versus the rest.

And I won't even get started on said F-in-L having to be tranquilised on the day after his daughter's wedding as he feared lasting loss of face in front of siblings because the Anglo contingent did not turn up on the dot of 3 for a barbecue. He was intercepted with a rope just short of the nearest tree.

First /substantial/ post - be gentle.
(Jack of Diamonds, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 13:02, 8 replies)

How odd.
Oh, and shouldn't it be "Breton" rather than "Briton" in the second paragraph?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 13:25, closed)

Nope, definitely Briton - my countrymen like that part of the world.
(Jack of Diamonds, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 14:13, closed)

It was the word "native" that threw me.
Nice story, though. (But I think that some aspects of French inheritance law make a lot of sense...)
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 15:17, closed)

You saw a ghost 't' in naive.
(Jack of Diamonds, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 16:32, closed)

Yup, I'm married to a Breton too
thats what they're like.
(anat0010, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 15:31, closed)

They're the same ethnic group as the Cornish, are they not?

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Nov 2009, 17:34, closed)

Yup, and Breton and Cornish are mutually intelligible.
(Jack of Diamonds, Wed 18 Nov 2009, 12:08, closed)

I must be drunk... or hungry
I read that as frey bentos!
( tim1701 I have no board signature!!!!!, Wed 18 Nov 2009, 2:56, closed)