A relative of mine has a house in France, about 50km from Perpignan, and recently had it rewired by a local contractor. They used only BC lampholders. Subsequent shopping for decorative light fittings resulted in a 50/50 mix of BC and ES.
Apparently however, small BCs, common in UK, are virtually unobtainable and had to be specially "imported" to equip a fitting they had taken with them.
