god idea or just another rose tinted ideal??

[bigrob]

ok here is my situation......my parents (very

active 60 year olds..and in the british farming world most of their

life)myself (37...brought up on farms and one of kents top chefs and a

single dad of 2) and my 2 boys (10 and 14)

my parents want to buy a farm with about 15-25 acres in the limousin

region,the plan is to keep live stock,cows,pigs chickens and

alpaccas,and grow our own fuit and vegetables to sell at market and at

our own farm shop,also to make our own

chutneys,pickles,sausages,etc,..maybe our own cheeses and do our own

smoked products..again to sell at market and our own farm shop....

the question is...and after alot of research on our part i know this

isnt a simple yes or no..but i would like ideas on wheather this idea is

workable or weather its another rose tinited ideal??

there will be no mortgage over there and we are keeping and renting our property in kent??

thats the vague situation....any ideas?

thanks in advance

[tj]

sounds ok,,,,,just make sure you have enough money for 2 to 3 years ( not counting what you may earn here), and also a way back if things dont turn out as you would like

best of luck

[bigrob]

well were keeping our property in the uk to rent out so we have that to fall back on should it go badly wrong and i believe we have the funds to surbvive a couple of years

[Rob Roy]

When looking for your farm I would suggest you choose an area of the Limousin that gets plenty of visitors as they will boost your shop revenue, and certainly in the begining you are more likely to get tourists coming to buy than local French as they are still not that used to farm shops here. Nor do they eat many chutneys and pickles as far as I'm aware, but the Brits do of course! I have PM'd you the name of a very good French (English speaking) immobilier you may like to contact. Good luck.

[Etoile]

Wishing you all the best, but we've been running a very successful B&B in the Charente for three years. Corporate contract and the income is good, but we give it all away in tax. I never thought I would be saying this but we are considering returning to the UK to go into ...... farming. The culture here cripples enterprise, but I hope you succeed.

[idun]

I think that all I can say is, what about your kids education.

I realise that some kids who move to France 'late', do succeed in it, however, as far as I am concenred, they are a bad age to have to learn good french, and it needs to be good, good enough to pass exams in France.

If you are wondering, my kids were born in France and went right through the system.

[Keni]

Just been to Champagnac la Riviere today - an annual successful farmers/general market and lunch, (but freezing today!). A whole variety of local producers were there from butchers - even a black pudding maker producing on site, to veg producers, bread and cake manufacturers, hot chestnuts, juice producers etc. They works from village fete to fete, depending on the theme, but they come from everywhere, as do the customers. There are no 'Farmers Markets' as such, but you can easily sell at weekly markets as well - the biggest in the area is perhaps in the village of Piegut Pluviers.

[Loiseau]

Had you thought of opening a "ferme-auberge" (restaurant attached to a farm, and serving much of its produce), with your culinary skills? I have no idea if they make money, but I have eaten at a few long-established ones in the Vendee.

Idun's warning is worth heeding though about the ages of your children. I know some people who moved over from the UK, and although their girls seemed to do brilliantly at picking up French, it was just too hard once they got to lycee, and they returned to the UK for school.

Angela

[Peter]

In my opinion (and experience) 14 is too old to move a child to France

[osie]

If you want to do it because you want a change of lifestyle then do it... it sounds a hell of a task.

Not sure that financial reasons would suffice.

[Kitty]

Welcome to the Forum.

There are lots of threads that you can read on this Forum about your proposed adventure.  In particular, you should work your way through several of the posts on the Education Forum about schools in France.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/206/ShowForum.aspx

Your best bet is to think about renting in France for 3 months or more, putting your children into a school for one term or more, and seeing what you and your children think.  Winter rents in France are relatively low, especially if you are prepared to move out before June (when the holiday season starts).   That is how I started off in France, finding a winter let and school places.  My children, some of whom were the ages of yours, enjoyed the experience and so we bought a house.

[britoninbretagne]

We brought our 14 yr old over in 2003. It WAS hard for her to start with, BUT she had a thorough grounding in English which was invaluable and she spent last summer working full time as a bi-lingual receptionist. I'd suggest getting out while you can!

[just john]

[quote user="Loiseau"]Had you thought of opening a "ferme-auberge" (restaurant attached to a farm, and serving much of its produce), with your culinary skills? I have no idea if they make money, but I have eaten at a few long-established ones in the Vendee. [/quote]

Likewise we have a few in Charente, and great places to eat, usually v busy. in fact chatting to the english owner of one locally who had run the farm for a few years, they were looking, in his words 'to make some sensible money' and he told us that it was the local Mairie who encouraged and supported them to obtain grants to convert the original barn into a restaurant in return for which they have to run the restaurant for 5 years, using farm and local produce.

http://villebois.blogs.sudouest.fr/archive/2010/09/07/une-ferme-auberge-a-chavenat.html

http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/charente/ferme-auberge/liste-fermes-2653

 

[idun]

britoninbretagne, what on earth are you on about, 'get out while you can?'

After 27 years in France I moved back to the UK 2.5 years ago and frankly I just think, what a strange thing to say, there is no rational to it, and it is sounds rather like scare mongering and why would you say it anyway.

I'm glad that your daughter did well, don't think I am not, but lots do not. Could we please compare, exactly what do you call decent or good though. As a bright student she would be finishing her degree or maybe doing her masters, depending on her month of birth, if you had stayed in the UK. I'd also like to know where she got such a thorough grounding in English? I cannot remember seeing anyone say that before.

[Kitty]

[quote user="idun"]britoninbretagne, what on earth are you on about, 'get out while you can?'

After 27 years in France I moved back to the UK 2.5 years ago and frankly I just think, what a strange thing to say, there is no rational to it, and it is sounds rather like scare mongering and why would you say it anyway. [/quote]

I can understand what BritoninBretagne is saying.  It's a version of 'follow your dream', which isn't scare mongering.  Just because living in France wasn't right for some, it doesn't mean that it won't be all right for others.  Yes, it's good to exercise caution.  But we all tend to do that anyway, which is why the original poster started this thread.

Welcome to the Forum, BinB by the way.

[idun]

Cathy he didn't say, 'follow your dream', or even 'go for it' though did he, he said 'get out', quite different.

Apart from the education I was quite fine in France, I was there long enough and moved there many many years before it was fashionable. Had to learn everything the hard way, we didn't even have a phone for the first three and a half years. There was no WWW either.

When I mention education, I have to say that I am one of those people who isn't just 'interested' in her own, but was too often distressed and disturbed by what was happening to other kids. So many, bright or bright enough, who are now unemployed or in dead end jobs (or just dead, but we won't go down that road hein!) or simply underachieved, not enough self esteem to try for something as adults. And just who does go back to get good qualifications as an adult in France, of ALL the people I know and being gobby and friendly I know a lot and I only know of three and that is it.

I could go on for hours and hours with examples, but who would read that. I would say that I only encountered a very few excellent teachers, say around 10% and they were wonderful brilliant stars and frankly they were not usually liked by their colleagues. Too interested in the kids and how they were doing apparently. How you change it all, I do not know, wish I did.

Even at an international lycee not too far from us the kids prefered the 'english' teachers to the french ones. Lessons more interesting, made them want to learn and that from french parents and some english speakers too, who have told me that.

Maternelle is great. That is a marvel and seems to have been done right, right from the start.

[britoninbretagne]

IDUN-Harsh! This is a forum and I just expressed 'a view'. This is how it was for us-don't see how you can argue with that.

'Get out while you can'-while you are young enough;while you have the energy and while you have the wherewithal.

[LEO]

[quote user="britoninbretagne"]IDUN-Harsh! This is a forum and I just expressed 'a view'. This is how it was for us-don't see how you can argue with that.

 'Get out while you can'-while you are young enough;while you have the energy and while you have the wherewithal.[/quote]

Maybe britoninbretagne's view of the uk , is the opposite of  the young ambitious  french  !

as, over the last few years, the above" highlighted"  statement, has been grasped by thousands  of  intelligent young French people who now live and work in the uk!

.

[Panda]

It's interesting that of those who report sucess in French education with their offspring, it appears to me that most have girls.  My son was failed by french education despite starting at the age of 3 and staying  with it until age 9, came out as Idun reports, with very low self esteem and almost apologises his existance at times.  He was an outgoing and frankly cocky toddler but 6 years in France changed him.  He experienced racism from teachers and other boys (note always boys) and generally found the rote learning and silent classes boring.

So do girl fair better I wonder, as girls tend to rally around, perhaps even mother those that are different?

For the OP  I think 14 is too late to change schools, he's about to make choices at GCSE, do you really think he can be as successful in a foreign language and take serious life changing exams in just a couple of years.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Panda"]

For the OP  I think 14 is too late to change schools, he's about to make choices at GCSE, do you really think he can be as successful in a foreign language and take serious life changing exams in just a couple of years.

[/quote]I agree, Panda.  My own personal experience of this was a complete disaster in the education department (not that ultimately it mattered career-wise but that's another story.)  I moved abroad when I was 13 and two years later moved back to the UK because the "dream" didn't work out for my parent.  Even in an English speaking country with a UK based exam system and curriculum it was really tough to get into a new school, make new friends, and have to do exams and stuff as well. 

My BiL's kids have all gone back to the UK to complete their educations, even though their father works at a uni' over here.  He is very scathing about the school system this side of the channel.

[Sprogster]

If you look back at posts in the education section, there is a general consensus that moving children to France after the age of twelve, presents too much of a risk of permanently disrupting their education.

At 14 years of age a child has usually started their two year GSCE syllabus, so I don't understand why anyone would risk changing schools and language of teaching at such a critical stage.

If it did not work out and you returned to the UK after a couple of years it would be fine for the adults, as you have kept a base there. However, the childrens education could have been irreversibly damaged by that stage and therefore the childrens interests need to be put first.

[MerveilN]

I think that this is a great idea. Frensh people love good food and are willing to pay for it!