Living in France.

[jonbikebod]

Having reached one of those cross roads in life, one of my options may be to live in France. I have friends who live in Brittany and I have always felt very comfortable in France having spent much of my youth there. I dimly remember mention of a forum or two for Brits living in France. Can anyone give me links please?
Also first hand views from esteemed members of this forum would be appreciated.
Jon.

 

[wizer]

My only advice would be to buy a property big enough for a Franglais Woodworker's Bash

My Dad's been talking about moving to the South of France for years

 

[dedee]

This site cover just about everything with links to many other regional sites
http://www.frenchentree.com/


Andy

 

[davin]

I am at the same cross roads.
In a few weeks time my wife small child and I are filling up my newly purchased ford transit and setting off for a new life in Finland.
Frankly I am terrified. The plan is to find temp work and rent for a while. Then make a second journey back to UK to pick up tools and machinery with the aim of setting up a workshop.
Our decision was slightly helped by applying for a mortgage here in the UK and realising that we are not going to be able to live somewhere "nice, with good schools".for a good few years anyway.
We have a small amount of savings to fall back on.
I don't know if your decision to move to France involves children, good luck with your journey - and wish us luck with ours...

Davin

 

[christoph clark]

I've lived in France for 16 years and apart from the obvious language and culture being different their laws are too. Last year I was fined €11 for not carying my "carte grise" "log book" for the car when I was stopped by the police. They didn't seem to mind my english driving licence though.
Also starting in July all cars must carry a high visibility jacket in the glove box and a warning trangle in car or its a €90 fine..
You could try this link
Its a forum for expats..

 

[Smudger]

That may be a good move.

There are a couple of really good forums, where you can have a chat with reasonably aware and intelligent people, and some others!
You will get help and advice on any matters on moving.

Avoid AngloInfo like the plague!

I would recommend Complete France here, or
TotalFrance here, or if you are really brave a small forum of complete pisstakers here.

The last one was formed as a breakaway from Complete France when the mods were seen to be a bit heavy handed... May sound a bit familiar.

We have had a holiday home in Normandy for about 8 years. We like it there a lot, but as we come up to retirement (22 days!) we have been thinking a lot about how we will use it, and we won't be moving out full time, as our roots, family and friends, social networks are too deep in the UK for us to be comfortable without them. We know of several English couples who are selling up in France and coming back for that reason. It's wonderful when you are stressed from work to have a bolt hole in la France profonde, but when you are chilled (and so is it) the attraction is less. If I was buying a place now it would be in a small town, with neighbours who don't have to be milked twice a day!

The other thing is to have excellent French. Without it you can become very isolated.

If I can be of any help, don't hesitate. Bonne chance!

 

[gatesmr2]

hiya Jon

My girlfriend is french and we are moving back to France in the future.

First thing is it's a bigger country you find so much more space and the main thing i enjoy there is how nice ( :shock: yes they can be nice) the people are if you try and speak French to them, my French is passable still get lots mixed up etc but have always found them very helpful.
Don't know if it's just the Le Mans area but it also seems they are very family minded like we used to be 30 odd years ago.

The one thing that upsets them which i can fully understand is British people coming over and living in small anglo communities making it like a little England........................sounds like over here as well lol

The language can be full of pitfalls like a petit robinet .................... small tap or little boys willy when going into B and Q be careful what you ask for lol. Wood preservative translates to wood condom :?

Could go on for hours but i think i am biased hope this link works and helps.


http://www.frenchentree.com/

Good luck and enjoy France

Martin

 

[jonbikebod]

Thank you all for the links and practical considerations. The language in particular. In a sense I am reasonably good at making myself understood in French. This comes from spending 9 weeks living with a French family on school educational exchanges in the seventies (nearly everyone else hated them but I loved it). The reason I am at this crossroads is that I am now deaf. So I am forced to finish work soon. My wife is divorcing me (it can’t be easy living with someone deaf) so I will have to sell my house. Kids are both at uni. With my half of the equity in the house, I could buy a suburban maisonette or a farm house and out-buildings in France. The outbuildings seem to be seen as more of a liability to many buyers as they cannot usually be converted into gites. For me however a big workshop and storage space is almost more important than the house but I have renovated all the houses we have lived in to date so I have the skills and tools to do that. As normal verbal communication is now difficult to me in any language, I am not sure being in France would be any worse. I am becoming more reclusive anyway because of the communication thing and I somehow prefer the idea of being a recluse in provincial France (big workshop to play with wood and old motorbikes) than suburban England.
It seems to come down to the nature of the Brit communities over there now. With the links I can lurk on some forums for a bit and get an idea what they are like as I will inevitably need their help with communication while hopefully being able to help others with my skills.
Or is this just pie in the sky?
Jon.

 

[Smudger]

No, not pie in the sky. But probably hard. I don't know anything about signing in French, but you will need to communicate in some ways.

Have a look at the forums - Complete France has a woodworking section and a bikers section, so you could be at home there!

If you need any advice on buying and setting up it is also a good place to ask.

You might also like to look at http://www.leboncoin.fr which is a sort of buy and sell list (what's it called in the USA? Craig's List?) where there is loads of s/h stuff.

Whatever path you choose, I hope it goes well.[/url]

 

[mr]

http://fr.wikibooks.org/wiki/LSF

references to LSF (French sign language) and where to learn it etc.

It's in french but then you've got to start somewhere.

Cheers Mike

 

[tim]

We are about to move to Canada - the missus goes week after next and I follow a month later.

I looked at the expat forums and occasionally still do - but only for the odd bit of info. The raeson I don't involve myself is that I decided that I didn't want to be an expat.

It appears to me that there are two types of emigre. Ones who are going to a new country to embrace the opportunities, culture and lifestyle there and then there are those who are intent on remaining British against all odds but wanting to take advantage of cost of living, space, weather etc. IMO the second type are going to find it very difficult to fit in and make the most of the opportunities there.

Don't get me wrong - I am very proudly British but to focus on a 'its not as good as at home' mindset is very negative.

So use the expat forums as sources of info but you will also see pretty quickly that there are a lot of bitter folk on there - threads like 'Why Canada isn't as good as the UK' for example.

The very best of luck to you - we are really excited about our move and I am sure that there will be loads that we will miss and loads that will be better. Most of that I imagine won't become apparent until we are fully there.

Cheers

Tim

 

[jonbikebod]

Well, I am really glad I asked and a lot of good stuff. I have been taking lip reading classes for a year but that would be practically useless for French. I hadn’t bothered with BSL as I don’t know anyone else that signs but I have heard it said BSL is more like European sign languages than American sign language for example.
I am very wary of using the term ex-pat as it conjures up images of the British in India and more recently Brit communities in areas such as the Dordogne. It is the (provincial) French people and their attitude to life I find as attractive as anything but it will be hard to integrate if I can’t communicate. The established communities could well be that bridge.. ?
A good point, well made Tim.

 

[Smudger]

There's a lot of controversy over the word 'expat', with many seeing it as the lushitup types on the Costas or ex-colonials still hankering for the days of the Raj. Generally frowned upon.

To be fair, there are also many Brits in France who claim to have left because of the immigration into Britain who are blissfully unaware of the irony in becoming immigrants themselves, and many who never learn French but instead try to recreate 50s Britain in Dordogneshire.

Also some dodgy types...

 

[mr]

I have heard it said BSL is more like European sign languages than American sign language for example.

Unusually though LSF (French Sign Language) is closer to ASL (American) than it is to BSL (British) or other European strains. Apparently as a result of ASL being developed by a Frenchie, Laurent Clerc, in the Nineteenth C.


edit
http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/MSSDLRC/clerc/

Cheers Mike

 

[Losos]

Thank you all for the links and practical considerations. The language in particular. In a sense I am reasonably good at making myself understood in French. This comes from spending 9 weeks living with a French family on school educational exchanges in the seventies (nearly everyone else hated them but I loved it). The reason I am at this crossroads is that I am now deaf. So I am forced to finish work soon. My wife is divorcing me (it can’t be easy living with someone deaf) so I will have to sell my house. Kids are both at uni. With my half of the equity in the house, I could buy a suburban maisonette or a farm house and out-buildings in France. The outbuildings seem to be seen as more of a liability to many buyers as they cannot usually be converted into gites. For me however a big workshop and storage space is almost more important than the house but I have renovated all the houses we have lived in to date so I have the skills and tools to do that. As normal verbal communication is now difficult to me in any language, I am not sure being in France would be any worse. I am becoming more reclusive anyway because of the communication thing and I somehow prefer the idea of being a recluse in provincial France (big workshop to play with wood and old motorbikes) than suburban England.
It seems to come down to the nature of the Brit communities over there now. With the links I can lurk on some forums for a bit and get an idea what they are like as I will inevitably need their help with communication while hopefully being able to help others with my skills.
Or is this just pie in the sky?
Jon.

Jon,
Writing as someone who has upsticks and moved to Eastern Europe I would just like to make a few points.
1) Living in a foreign country is conpletely different to going on holiday there. I have been comming to Czechoslovakia for 30 years but have lived here permantley for 4 years, I still can't take on board how different and frustrating it is. When on holiday if there's something you need and you can't get it you just shrug and say I'll get when I'm home. Living here I have to plan weeks or months ahead to get what I need.

2) If you are going after a rural location don't underestimate the time you spend just getting to do routine things like the weekly food shop. You'll likely find that 'just popping down the shops' is a thing of the past and in our case a whole morning has to be allocated

3) Having a nice big workshop in an old barn is great (I've got one too) but there's still the leaky roof and the wobly doors to keep on top of and it's ten time sharder when the parts you need are hard to find.

4) Knowing the language is important, even if you can speak fluently you'll find tradesmen either tend to over charge ('cos you're a rich foreigner) or they have so much work you get quoted six months to do a job. If you can handle plumbing, electric, bricky and plastering, as well as woodwork you'll have a head start but I find there is so much to do one person alone is not enough.

But I must say that seeing no one from Monday to Friday is bliss, and if you get yourself a dog you'll have all the company you need.

Good luck in your venture, I don't think your lack of hearing should discourage you. Take your time about selecting the property you want to buy and don't be too ambitious.

 

[Scott]

Read this book.

It's very funny and, speaking as someone who has stormed out of a French Post Office in sheer bloody frustration, I reckon it describes them to a T!

It's a great place to live though and they're not a bad lot (once you get the hang of them!) :lol:

 

[gatesmr2]

Hiya again

Just another point

The French system is different to ours more like the states :?

You are Responsible for tax and paper work they won't chase you like over here, also try and sort everything out like pensions, NHS etc etc before you go. They are very helpful when you get there but will require forms just like here paper pushing is a job done by well paid civil servants of which there are loads. :shock: oops does that sound very cynical.

The main thing i would say is don't be put of by the fact you have trouble communicating, once you find the local shop etc and explain to them they will bend over backwards to help ................ ok i can't be 100% sure of this but only from what i have found.

If you would like any further help please let me know i will ask my girlfriend about hearing etc and get back to you.

Martin

 

[Jake]

But I must say that seeing no one from Monday to Friday is bliss, and if you get yourself a dog you'll have all the company you need.

You surprise me you normally come across as such a sociable chap!! :lol::roll: :lol: :wink:

 

[DaveL]

But I must say that seeing no one from Monday to Friday is bliss, and if you get yourself a dog you'll have all the company you need.

You surprise me you normally come across as such a sociable chap!! :lol::roll: :lol: :wink:

I would agree Losos is a great chap to have round, but I can see were he is coming from, dogs are much better company than a lot of humans. 8) :shock: :lol:

 

[Jake]

I can see were he is coming from, dogs are much better company than a lot of humans. 8) :shock: :lol:

I don't get that at all, I find humans much more interesting - even the ones I don't understand/don't get. But everyone finds their level, I guess! :shock: :lol: