Desire to move to France.

[Scoiie]

Hi, we have just made the decision to try to find a property in France. 

Firstly I will do a brief outline of what we would like to do:  Buy a 2 or 3 bedroom house, with a out building or barn in Limousin.  It must also have an amount of land with it for firstly a garden and secondly to expand if we decided that was the route to take. The house must be fairly habitable, but we are not bothered about renovations that need doing, my husband is a joiner with a lot of other skills. The idea would be then to convert the barn or outbuilding into a self contained apartment to let out (the family alone would probably fill it for 6 months, but would probably not want to pay).  Once that was established, then create a small campsite for tents or caravans - no more than 6 at one time - and to offer a cafe style breakfast facility and evening meal - we have both worked in catering.

We both need to brush up on our French anyone got suggests for a quick way for the more mature student?

So, what we need to know is our we mad! no seriously we would like to hear from other people who have jumped of the deep end and is there anthing we can learn from people who have.

 

 

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Have sent you a private message.

[nectarine]

No you're not mad.  Or else you ARE mad, along with hundreds of other people like me!!!  We've bought our house and are now scheduling the removal vans, etc.  I alternate between wild excitement at the future, when I cannot stop myself grinning, and "OMIGOD!!!!" moments in the middle of the night when I wake up and wonder what we are doing.  I think it is all to do with leaving the familiar stuff behind you, and taking a step into the unknown.  But thousands of other people have done it before us, they're still there and are happy and healthy, -and they still have all their fingers and toes and haven't had to sell their bodies to pay the bills.  Er, delete that ... maybe some have, not sure I want to know that.

Re. brushing up on French.  I suggest you introduce yourself to your French neighbours and at some point ask for their assistance.  We owned a small holiday cottage for years and exchanged small DIY jobs that we did for an elderly widow who, in return, sat us down and taught up phrases and words.  It was enormously helpful and she was a good teacher.  There's plenty of CDs and courses but I think that actually trying to speak the language, and encouraging your French neighbours to correct you or teach you more with give you a huge advantage and also endear you to your neighbours, as you are seeking their advice and assistance.

I'll enjoy reading other people's postings on this topic. 

[Geordie girl]

Good luck scoiie do lots and lots of research and then a bit more. i'm sure you'll love it. We've been here six months and wake up every day grinning. I will say the only thing we miss is cuddles from our two young grandchildren. Sometimes my arms just ache to have them on my knee. But theres always visits.

[Framboise]

I know what you mean Geordie Girl - I shall miss my grand-daughter immensely when I leave in Spring.  However, I have done my time in servitude to the kids so this move is purely for my husband and I - we are reclaiming the lives we once had Donkey's Years ago!  Je ne regrette rien as they say.

Oh and I have to agree about neighbours being invaluable help with the language etc.  Ours have been a Godsend helping sort out our Permis and all that stuff, Madame particularly has been great assisting me even though my French is diabolique, and as for the 12 year old daughter, she speaks English amazingly well so all in all we are getting there.   Immersing yourself into the community is a great way to learn rather than isolate yourself within the ex-pat community - you do have to get out there and get stuck in, even if you look a wally when you get the words all wrong!   I have found that making the effort is greatly appreciated rather than expect the locals to speak to you in Anglaise.

[Philouis]

I cannot give you advice regarding the pros and cons of moving to France. In the end is all boils down to money or the lack of it. But if you coming here, it is most essential to be able to speak some French. Without this, life becomes very problematic! I have been in France for four years plus and my wife speaks excellent A level French. That in itself is a problem, because you feel that there is no need to learn it yourself. I have tried a few different course on CD Roms, but in all that time I am still not able to carry on a conversation with anyone.

Then one day I dowwnloaded from the Internet a course called 'Michel Thomas Basic French! I have been studying it with ease and great interest now for just two weeks.  I  have to admit that I have been able to learn more about the French language in this short time, than I have for all the other years I have been here and now able to carry on simple conversations!

It is revolutionary and a joy to learn. Has anyone else found this to be true?

[Chancer]

Yes the Michel Thomas CD's are excellent but be warned things get very hard thereafter, a bit of the law of diminishing returns.

In my experience there is nothing to touch them for rapid learning and confidence.

[Scoiie]

I would like to thank you all for your replies and maybe to add a bit more to why we want to move to France.

Firstly it's not that far from England, its green like here and well just everything else appeals to both of us.  We have a 250 year old cottage in England and due to my husband having to take early retirement, to hold on to our cottage is not going to be possible - but the money from selling it would set us up nicely for a life in France, even if we had a tricky start.

Yes will miss grandchildren, 8 in total but what fun to have them come and stay with us for a few days at time instead of a snatched hour here and there. We also have 5 grown up children between us and maybe time with them relaxing would benefit us all. Paul has had to take earlier retirement but he still wants to work and as a kitchen fitter/joiner we are hoping that he could pick up some part time work in France.  Me, I am the workhorse of the team and will turn my hand to anything - for the past year I have been singlehanded running a bus converted into a cafe, so I know all about hard work and frustration. So please keep your comments and suggestions coming in, it is all very helpful.  We are trying not to jump in feet first, but the more we talk about it the more excited we get.

[bigears]

hi

please make sure you have more than enough money to achieve your dream.  Work it out on paper and build in a large contingency.  Good luck.

[Panda]

Hi

I think work will be your biggest problem, work is very hard to find and almost impossible without full fluency in French, many come over and think they can pick up a few hours of work here and there and it just isn't possible.  Most brits have to work for themselves but this brings associated problems (high cost of social charges, regulations and registrations).

So you must think about how you are going to earn and if you can survive without an income and for how long, then choose your area carefully, if work is a must you need to be where the work is .

EDIT: Just re-read your first post, you intend to run a small campsite, with just 6 pitches and a fairly short season this would give limited income.  I would work it out on getting business for 12 weeks which is the average for this type of business in France, can you live on this?

Panda

[val douest]

May I add my good wishes to everyone else's.  And just in case you haven't read them yet, it would be a good idea to look at Sunday Driver's and Quillan's postings at the head of the Legal forum below.  These explain the new health system regulations coming into force about now, and also the recent changes to the inheritance laws (with a link to the notaires' English website which is also useful).  I gather from your post that you have children who are not all of your current marriage - if so it is important to understand just how the inheritance system in France (which is very inflexible about who can inherit what, and does not automatically protect a surviving partner) will affect you before you buy any property.  It's a lot simpler to get it set up right for your circumstances now than to try to sort it out further down the line.

I also found the Michel Thomas course a great confidence builder to help my rusty French, and once you are actually here buying the bread, dealing with paperwork at the Mairie, and talking to the man about the septic tank I am sure it will start to fall into place.  And most neighbours are pleased to help, especially if they can see that you are trying to learn the language and to become a part of the community.

Bonne chance!

Val

[AnOther]

I concur with most of the previous comments.

Although we bought in January we ourselves are recent immigrants having only actually move completely in August so still in the novelty, "my god we've done it" phase.

Our situation is a little different from most though in that I'm still working in UK (offshore industry 2 weeks on - 3 weeks off, or 60% retired as I like to think of it [:D]) and plan to carry on doing so for a while (perhaps a bit longer now thanks to Sarkozy [:-))]) so making a living in France is not an issue.

A couple of tips I'd pass along:

Unless you are highly social animals and feel you need to be surrounded by familiar voices I would advise staying at arms length from the so called "Brit Ghettos" (no slur intended) as you'll find integrating so much easier when your choices are limited.

Another tip, which I'll admit is sheer hypocrisy on my part because I don't observe it, DONT bring Sky TV with you but get stuck into French TV from day one. Having Sky available can be a huge distraction and something too easy to use as an excuse for not doing other things.

Language is essential and although ours is still very basic 'er indoors is taking formal lessons and but for my job would I be with her but instead I'm picking up from her and also struggling on my own with Michel Thomas. As somone else said, it's very good but gets to be quite hard work as it goes on and personally I find that about 15 minutes at a stretch is enough for me.

Never be afraid to have a go with the French, they'll warm to you and help you out and a surprising number do have a smattering of English but will never make the first move !

Probably the most important thing though is to do your homework and research and by coming here you've made a huge stride forward on that front [;-)]

Good luck

 

[bigears]

hi again

I on the other hand think sky is a must, for me french telivision is 20 years behind the uk.  I understand the logic behind it but personally need the familiar programmes.  We live deep in the countryside where the locals hibernate for the worst three months of the winter.  The wife likes eastenders too much.  Buy an ex rental box so you get the itv channels as well.  Language skills come with interfacing with the french. 

[AnOther]

Agreed, (apart from the Eastenders bit that is [+o(]), as I said, pure hypocrisy on my part.

Doubley so in fact because we have 2 Sky boxes so 'er indoors can watch her stuff and I can watch mine [:$]

[Chancer]

Bigears

So you prefer the UK TV now to that of 20 years ago?

A chacun son gout!

I dont disagree re interfacing with the French (although I dont use that word!) and in my case I only have French friends and rarely speak English, however without the French TV and other media your comprehension and written French will not be what it could, to say nothing of knowledge of current affairs.

I switched to only French TV 4 months ago, and yes it was hard! But after 3 months of watching subtitled French TV I gained so much comprehension and vocabulary to say nothing of finding words that I had consistently been mis-spelling and hence malpronouncing, I had been using "masse" instead of "mince" for instance, luckily not a word that I would write.

Initially it was very hard to understand all of a French program without sous-titrage but the gains made in the first 3 months have resulted in now that I have changed to Free.fr, where I can't get the sous-titrage to work, I understand everything without them.

It is not fair to judge the French TV just by the main 5 channels, once you have the choice of 150 or so there is a whole new world of great programs available including trashy reality TV if that is your bag, personally CH5 is still one of my favorite for the nature and travel documentaries (a lot of them BBC ones).

If you really need an english fix there are several English speaking 24 hours news channels or most of the blockbuster films are available in VO (version original) english soundtrack.

Oh and the porno channels where people send in there own movie clips - well.................................!!

[AnOther]

I applaud you J.R.

Presently I have no means of receiving French TV so that's the first hurdle to overcome after which I just need to pluck up the courage............................[blink]

[Chancer]

Ernie

I was helped along by being hospitalised for a long time speaking only French and only having french TV. When I was discharged I had the good intentions so I swung the dish and used a French analogue receiver so could not watch English TV even in moments of weakness.

My downfall came after yet another detached retina in England, UK Tv during hospital and recuperation, when I got back to France I was terminally weakened, I swung the dish again and reconnected the Skybox.

Luckily it had died[:D]

So I decided that all things happen for a reason and moved to Free.fr and now get loads of really good French channels.

I can say from personal experience that UK Tv is an addiction just like tobacco or alcohol and for me was harder to give up, after all it is usually only a click of a remote control away.