Sprogster

lehaut makes an interesting point which is backed up by the surprising lack of posts in the education sections of this forum, in that there has not been more than one page of new posts since June 2011. The same pattern emerges from the other French forum I am a member of. There is no doubt that in the last few years the number of younger Brits moving to France with or without children has fallen substantively and many if not most that moved during the heyday of the early noughties have left France, the OP being an example now ensconced in the land of the free. Not surprising really, with the depreciation of the £ and deteriorating employment situation in France. Also the demise of the prime time TV Place in the Sun type programs probably has something to do with it!    

Is it just me, but I really don't understand what the OP is saying and I have read the post several times, Maybe it was posted after a few glasses of the vine juice!

The absence of winter flights to many of the rural French provincial airports reflects the reality that there is little demand in winter. Dare I say if the current weather pattern prevails for the next ten years as the Met experts predict there might be a lot less. Dave though is totally correct, as Ryanair are at loggerheads with the French government at the moments and could easily scale back further their French operations if they lose their Marseille legal case and Flybe are in serious financial difficulty. Citiyjet are for sale and Easyjet do not generally fly to the rural French airports as that is not their business model.

Interesting programme last night on BBC2 about Ryanair and Easyjet, which was positive publicity for both airlines. Interestingly, Michael O'Leary admitted on camera that the stories about investigating charging for using the toilets, the possibility of having some passengers stand and other type sensational headline making proposals were not true, just publicity stunts! He went on to say that Ryanair do not employ a marketing company for reasons of cost, so come up with these headline grabbers by way of getting free publicity. Certainly works if I recall the forum discussions about some of these so called ideas!!

For those who look to retire abroad for the weather and save money from winter heating bills, I think France will increasingly fall out of favour, if this is the weather pattern for the next ten years!

deby, I think unfortunately even the weather is changing for the worst if the last eighteen months are anything to go by! I am in an area of France that has the highest average sunshine record and all I can say is that I have never known so much torrential and persistant rain with unusually cool temperatures for months on end, with the last week being the first time this year there are signs of the weather settling down with more consistent sunshine. If the experts are correct and the unsettled weather is the beginning of a trend for northern Europe, we won't even have a better climate to console us any longer! Although the skiers are happy!

Nothing new, these emails are sent out to millions of email addresses and you are unusual if you have never received anything similar!

The weather on the Cote D'Azur has been cold wet and windy since last October, with record amounts of rain and snowfall down to the Med. In fact the sea has not been very Azur at times, more a mucky brown with trees floating past, thanks to torrential rain!

Good thing you waited until late June for your holiday, as in PACA we have had one of the worst six months of weather the locals can recall. Today the Cannes film festival is in full swing and the weather is more akin to what you would expect in northern UK, with heavy rain, high winds and cold to the point I have had to put the heating back on! As for Nice taxis, you know you are going to be fleeced when you see a queue of new Mercs, BMW and Lexus taxis outside the airport. I think I am correct in saying that Nice taxis are notorious in France for being the most expensive in the country, a problem the Nice authorities have been trying to get to grips with for years. So you are doing the right thing in making alternative arrangements.

wooly, I was reading the other day that the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are backing plans to introduce restrictions on the free movement of labour within the EU. If I recall correctly, unless you have a job to go to, there will be a restriction on access to benefits and a means test for inactifs, similar to what Spain have introduced. What has given this proposal legs is the German backing and the concern about Romania and Bulgaria having free movement within the EU from the end of the year. With spiralling unemployment in many EU countries like Spain at 27%, you can see the shutters going up on the free movement within the EU.

You are right wooly, as France has become expensive compared to Spain and other popular tourist destinations. Also the unsettled weather over the past few summers has probably not helped France, as tourists head further south for guaranteed sunshine.

For anyone in doubt as to the decline in the standards of French restaurants, it may come as a shock that in 75% of restaurants in France the food being served is pre-cooked industrial sourced, with the resulting cost saving of not requiring a chef in the kitchen, just someone who can re-heat the food. http://www.rivieratimes.com/index.php/gourmet-article/items/ducasse-leads-new-quality-label-for-restaurants.html    

Yesterday's sunny weather in the south of France was unfortunately a brief interlude, although the mistral was blowing full force, as today the cloud is back and further rain forecast this afternoon and most of the forthcoming week on and off. Whilst the UK gets the unusually cold Scandanavian weather the Med is getting the wet unsettled weather normally typical of a UK Spring!

Well down here on the Riviera it rained all day again yesterday and was cold at only 9c max during the day. This afternoon the sun came out and it was much nicer, but tomorrow morning rain is forecast again. Generally this winter has been unusually cold and very wet in PACA and with the jet stream apparently doing weird things by moving down to North Africa at the moment, the unsettled cooler weather is forecast to continue.

Welcome back Katie. As you have probably noticed the forum is a lot quieter these days, no doubt due to the economic situation putting the dampers on people's dreams of a French home. Also some regulars have gone back to the UK and as previously mentioned we have sadly lost some stalwarts such as Coops.

Well here on the Riviera it has been raining cats and dogs for two days and max temp today was 9c! Tomorrow looks better but more rain from Tuesday every day through Sunday forecast!

idun, I think one of the main reasons this and other similar French Forums are so slow is that there are far fewer Brits contemplating moving to France in the current economic environment and many Brits in France like you have returned to the UK or moved on elsewhere. Those who are young enough and want to emigrate are sensibly looking at countries like Australia and Canada, which have been relatively unscathed by the recession.

Overall emigration from the UK is on the increase but mainly comprises young well educated professionals that are headed to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. The decline in emigration is for older individuals and retirees who cannot afford any longer to retire abroad to sunnier climes, because of the demise of the £, final salary pensions, annuity returns and interest on savings. Also the above countries don't want you if you are over 55 as you are seen as a potential liability for their health care systems and as we know even EU countries like France and Spain are making it more difficult for early retirees to use their health care services.

The reason for the overall reduction in posts is quite simple, in that over the last couple of years there has been a dramatic decline in the numbers of Brit retirees and early retirees leaving the UK for Spain and France, according to official Home Office figures. This should not be surprising with the decline in the value of the £, low interest rates on savings, weak UK housing market and increasing retirement age. The change in the French health rules against early retirees did not help either. Meanwhile, there is a natural attrition rate of existing members due to people returning to the UK. The other two French forums I participate in show the same story, with posts from new members seeking advice on moving to France, scarce as hens teeth these days!

You call me betty is correct, in that the 'other' French Forum has cracked down on the animal rescue posts as apparently there are French legal issues involved, which maybe the administrators of this forum should check out, as it is unlikely the other forum would have taken such a stance without good reason. (perhaps because some of these posts are from organisations like animal charities, rather than private individuals.) The timing of this does correlate to the upsurge of animal rescue posts on this site and I have a certain sympathy with the OP, as there have been times when I go into the 'active' section of the Forum that these posts do seem to be taking over a bit.

Sorry to hear about your dreadful experience when you got home. Be careful as it sounds if the man is deranged.

If like most Brits in France you are a retiree dependent on a modest £ retirement income, then the exchange rate makes all the difference. At 1.40 euros to the £, most would find France good value, but at the current rate of 1.16 it is apparent that many retired Brits in France are finding it tougher going. There is a problem in France with escalating prices at the moment, something that has been publicly recognised by the French government, in response to increasing concerns being voiced by the population. 

AnOther, you do not actually need a passport to leave the UK. If you recall nobody looks at your passport leaving the UK other than the airline employee when you show your boarding pass at check in or the gate and this is just to check your identity matches the boarding card and ensure you have the appropriate passport and visa if required to gain entry to your destination country, as if you are refused entry on arrival the airline can be fined if they should have denied you boarding and are responsible for repatriating you.  If you fly to Eire or the C.I, no passports are required at all and if you leave the country by private boat or plane there are no passport checks on departure either. I am not aware of a single instance of a British Citizen who is UK tax resident and pays their National Insurance being denied UK health care.

A few years ago in his Sunday Times article he referred to a printed Christmas card he was sending to all his friends which featured a photo of him and was promoting his books, He called it the worlds most distasteful Christmas card. I emailed him and asked if he could send his Christmas card to my wife as she could not stand him and it would be a good windup, which to my surprise he duly did! However, to my shock he printed my email in the Sunday Times with his weekly feature and I got a lot of ribbing from friends as a result. Had the opportunity of meeting him a year later and love him or hate him I am sad to hear of his passing because he was one of the last British eccentric showman. RIP

With HMRC increasingly making it as difficult as possible for a British Citizen to become non UK tax resident, it is highly unlikely that the NHS would take the contradictory position that you were not entitled to care just because you spent more than 90 days outside the UK, which plenty of people do through the course of their employment. Aircraft and ship crews for example. The fact is that if the UK is your main home, where your family is based and you pay your UK taxes and NI contributions, you are not going to have some faceless civil servant spending thousands of pounds in man hours tracking your every move to try and establish if you are entitled to use the NHS!  Also since the UK abolished border controls on those leaving the country to save costs there is no easy way to monitor how long an individual spends in or out the country. Hence the UK's inability to identify how many illegal immigrants there are!