Raygraham

I will try to be as specific as i possibly can as to why i am "cheesed off" with Britain and British ways. So here goes.. 1st it's the parents WE can't get far enough away from them if we tried, they are controlling to say the least and walk into OUR  home as if it's there's, 2nd, and please forgive me for saying this, But i can't stand the b****y british and there snobbery, I hate our system and the way it works or doesn't as the case may be at the moment, 3rd We want a great big house with a great big garden and a great big life for less, It has absolutly nothing what so ever to do with the tabloids, so for all you budding psychologists/psychoanalysts (and my wife is one) out there, PLEASE give it up... bye the way i only gave up smoking a week ago and am feeling a little noxious.

Thanks to everyone for your valued input. I think i just need to think on it some more before we make any final acts..

Thanks for the advise, theres just one small problem, we need to sell our place here to do the relocation as all of our funds are tied up in it. I am fortunate in that i do have many trades, i'm a qualified plasterer/builder, i also hold tickets for heavy plant machinery, ie, 360 machine op/diggers etc etc.. although i donot know if these trades are called for much in the limousin region, but then i'm not afraid to travel to other regions for work. We have also explored the possibility of running a gite buisness but then who hasn't, it all really depends on the type of property we would go for. our main aim is for a different and maybe more interesting way of life for us and the kids, basically were bored stupid with british ways and britain as a whole, but i'm not entirely sure that were looking for something in france that isn't really there!!

Ive been a part of the forum for nearly a year now, and i'm still asking the same question.. Ive had a break from the dreams for approx 5 mths, and one stupid property programme has sent me back here.. Ive learnt the language, well, to a point that i like to think i'm proficient, and via the internet and my head have purchased a property i like in every single region, I still love the Limousin, and if i was going to settle anywhere it would be there. BUT, i'm worried about my kids. Ive got 5 of them ranging in age from 2 - 10, if it was just me and the misses i'd go tomorow, but it's not and i'm not afraid to admit it all scares the bl***y life out of me. We'd have enough money to buy something nice and be self sufficient until we settle so that's not an issue, it's the whole packing up, buying, getting the kids in the "right" schools and if they arn't happy after 3/4 mths what do you do?  Some of you say you just did it and got on with it, and others say"if your not 100% sure don't do it, Please help a seriously confused friend..

Thanks guys for getting back so quickly, i feel much happier now. alot of the books ive read make it  all sound so complicated, i think i'd be lost without the forum.  Jo

We have heard that a lot of money can be lost during the currency conversion when selling your home, what do you recommend?  should we convert our money into euro' before we leave the uk, or wait until we get to france and just pay it into a french bank account and let them do the conversion for us? any answers greatfully recieved, Jo and Ray 

Thankyou all, so much for coming back to us, my husband is 6" 5 and needs a bit  more than an armchair to stretch out in,  we have also got 5 kids that love nothing more than a snoozle up in bed with us, we are definatley going to hang on to what weve got, sofa, beds an all...

can anyone tell me which costs are involved in having a pool, do you have to pay yearly/monthly tax' on a pool? and what are the average yearly costs incured for a large pool. thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

We have 5 children, aged 10, 8, 6, 3, and 1and a half, can anybody tell me what is needed to get them into school,ie, jabs,which ones? do we need reports from their previous schools? health records etc.. just any info at all that might be relevent would be such a help and would they go to the same school, i know we want them to go into a french speaking school are there any costs involved? do they wear uniform? i have also heard that we would have to buy all their school books, is this true???  so many questions,, please help. Ray and Jo

We were thinking of maybe selling our furniture here in the u.k rather than storing it, but was wondering if replacing it all in france (limousin) was going to work out more expensive, do you get auctions, second hand shops, antique fairs etc.. like you do over here.  any help would be greatly recieved,, Ray and Jo

We are in the early stages of our move, ie, our house in the u.k is currently on the market, when we sell we will be looking to rent in the limousin region while we house hunt.. I would like to know how we would stand with entitlement to french benefits, My wife has an incureable lung disease and this limits her mobility quite alot, we have been told that as her condition worsens she will need a lung transplant, and on top of all that, I have a back problem which will require surgery at some stage, and so as a result of this we are currently in reciept of income support and incapacity benefit, we are not sure how we go about getting these benefits or the equivilent to them in france and does it like here depend on how much money you have in the bank.  We also have 5 kids all of them under 10, would we still get family allowance etc..  any help would be greatfully recieved  Ray and Jo..

We are currently looking at property in the limousin area, the properties that we like have oodles of land and pool etc.. but no outbuildings, would planning be difficult to have gites built onto the land ourselves, and can anyone give us any information about the average costs that might be incured to have this done, or alternatively, if the property had barns for renovation, is planning needed for change of use and the running of power,services etc.. are renovation costs expensive? are the workers required for such a project readily available..