Dilbert

Squide My wife and I are in a similar position.  We are currently selling our house and will probably put the money into savings prior to any purchase as we haven't found an ideal property yet.  I have no idea whether an English or French account will give a better return, we haven't investigated that yet.  The only thing I would say is that if you can open a savings account in France it will stand you in better stead with the bank when you come to open a current account or need any help with loans or a mortgage.  However, I am not sure how you stand with regard to opening the account if you are not resident.  My wife is living in France at the moment so has an address and is a French National so has a current account there.  A savings account would not be an issue for us.

Phil I appreciate your reply.  Sounds like you have quite a ball.  I really like Wishbone Ash, I would have loved to have been at that particular open mic night.  Was it Andy or Ted? In the UK, I play a couple of times a month and I was kind of hoping for something similar or maybe 1 per week.  My wife went to a NYE do last year and there was a showband playing, hence why I was trying to get an insite. Thanks again. David 

As some of you may have seen in another post, my wife and I are contemplatng the big move.  She is a qualified nurse and already has a short term contract in southern Brittany.  I will look for work, possibly in IT, but in the UK, I earn a secondary income from playing in a showband playing weddings and functions etc. I am interested to know what the music scene is like in France and whether it would be possible to suppliment my income playing a few gigs.  I could either join an existing band playing the usual function type music or I could play solo guitar and vocal.  I enjoy varied styles of music and listen to Dan Ar Braz, Mylene Farmer, Barbara, Florent Pagney as well as many other UK and US artists so I would be happy to play whatever was required.  It may be that there is no call for it at all or that it is very seasonal but I thought that someone on here may have some knowledge in this area.  We will be based in southern Brittany if that helps. David

Musicmonkey Although I have had some positive responses, there have also been words of caution.  Tresco has made many valid, pertinent and sensible comments.  1 Gite is not enough.  I may get IT work, I would more than likely not.  My wife may not get her temporary contract renewed on the other hand she might. I have advantages over other people considering the same move.  That advantage is my wife, pure and simple.  Without her language skills, transferable nursing skills and family connections, we would be dead in the water.  Her mother has a house with a self contained flat that we can rent for a song and she has lots of extended family to help out. As I have said, the comments have been positive, but I am under no illusion that this would be easy, or even possible.  The more I have looked into things, the more unsure I become.  We can't really make any serious decisions until July, when we will know if she has work or not.  We have a lot of things to think through and decisions to make.  We do have to consider the kids and the issue of feeling abandonned.  This is exactly what happened to my wife, so she knows what it feels like.   This story is set to continue, but at the moment I am still only writing the prologue David

This is so enjoyable I have added the post as a link in my favourites folder.  Come on Val, get on with the next chapter. 

As others have said, this post really tells it like it is.  I too am sorry that things have not worked out for you.   The weather can be very extreme.  My mother in law lives in southern Brittany and her house is fully double glazed and has oil fired central heating, she wouldn't cope without it.  My sister in law lives in the south, just up from Marseilles and one day she will report temperatures of 40+ where it is unbearable and then in winter she can be under 6 feet of snow and lets not even talk about the Mistral!  As for the neighbours, you may just have been unlucky. We are considering a permanent move to Brittany and this post just reinforces how important it is to do thorough research and dot every "i" and cross every "t" before commiting to a major life change.  I hope you get your sale soon and that the next move, whether back to the UK or to try in Spain, is more sucessful for you. As for what I really think of France, well I love it, but I am biased as my wife is half French (her mother is Breton).  I am often out of my depth with the language but I have always found the people to be very warm and welcoming, although this is helped with the family connections.

[quote]Like most people, my French is still at the "Le singe est dans l'arbre" stage Don't worry, Dilbert, by most British people's standards, you're a fluent French speaker, though I've never heard that ...[/quote] The expression comes from a comedy sketch by Eddie Izzard where he goes on about how useless some of the French you were taught in school was.  The synopsis was that he went into a forest and released a monkey in to a tree and then waited for a passer by.  After the formalities you could look into the tree in amazement and quote the expression.  It is obvioulsy a lot more amusing when Mr Izzard does it! As for that making me fluent, I think I have way to go before that will be the case!

Moonbus My wife is a qualified theatre nurse.  She is currently working on a short term contract covering maternity leave.  First thing she had to do was get her qualifications professionally translated.  this cost her about 80 euros.  Your qualifications do transfer but they need to be in French. She was very fortunate as she walked into the local hospital and spoke to personnel and they just happened to need someone with her level of experience.  It helps that she is half French so the interview was not a problem.  Learning all the different names for the instruments has been her hardest challenge.  She has been told that if a full time vacancy comes up, it is hers, so in the nicest possible way, I hope the other lady decides not to return to work after having her baby. The shortages are the same as in the UK.  Some hospitals and some wards can not get and keep staff and others never lose staff.  When we first looked at this as a possible option, we found a number of French hospitals advertising for staff on the internet, I assume you have tried a Google search (not trying to teach grandma to suck eggs) as this may be an option. Bon chance

Jo Thanks for that nod.  It is encouraging and maybe all is not lost.  My wife is currently working in Pont L'Abbe which, incase you don't know, and there is no reason why you should, is near Quimper in South West Brittany.  We would like to be close to this area but this does give us Quimper, Lorient even Brest as possible larger conurbations.  The problem is that the main IT area, as I understand it, is Orange, but I may be wrong.  I think I need to investigate this also as a possible option as well as running a Gite complex.  Oh what the heck, she works, I can be a kept man I wish David

Tresco You make some valid points.  Yes being apart is very tough but the fact her mother is still with us has made it all worth while.  I do work in IT, but as a Business Analyst.  This obviously involves a considerable amount of writing using business type language. As my French is no where near being able to do this, I still see this as an obstacle.  Had I been a programmer or web designer, perhaps things would be better. As for the timing, we having been talking about this move for years.  We have put things off until her kids (from her first marriage) were old enough to fend for themselves.  They are now 18 and 20 so are old enough to make their own way in life, even if this means coming with us. The shock of going from an IT salary to nothing is a big change and one that I have my doubts about.  There is a lot to consider, including pensions, and I do not under estimate the inormity of the decision we are looking to make.  I don't want to be a burden to her and her single salary so some careful considerations have to be made.  The property has a single Gite attached so is not going to give a big income.  There is sufficent land to build more but at what cost and at what return? As mentioned I need to do a lot of serious investigation into what is involved and the likely returns.  We may find we can't raise the required capital to purchase anyway from our house sale and the mortgage she has been offered so it may all be accademic!

I couldn't see where to introduce myself to you nice people, so I chose here.  I am 44 and currently working in IT in Gloucester.  My wife is 40 and is half French.  She is a theatre nurse and is currently living and working in Brittany.  She is there as her mother is recovering from a serious illness.  Her mother is well on the road to recovery and my wife's contract of work is coming to an end.  Faced with the thought of coming back to Gloucester or staying in Brittany, she has realised she would like to stay where she grew up and I can't blame her. Like most people, my French is still at the "Le singe est dans l'arbre" stage and finding work would be a nightmare.  My mother in law is a retired head of languages and has taught French for 30+ years so I think I can see some lessons coming on. Anyway, she calls me (on Skype which is free internet chat software so the call costs nothing other than the standard broadband costs per month) on Sunday evening and says she has a solution for my employment problems.  She has found a 3 bedroom property with a Gite attached to it on a reasonable sized plot.  The idea is that she can still work as a nurse and I can run the Gite.  She is looking into the property, I have the estate agents coming to do the valuations and the adventure starts here. So I will be asking lots of questions, some sensible and some just plain stupid, so be nice, please!  Oh, and please wish us luck