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Aussie moving to France


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cooperlola, although you are correct in saying that many members love it in France, the fact remains if they are not retirees like the majority of the members of this forum, they still need to earn a living and this seems to be the area where most people fall down.

It is estimated that the vast majority of Brits who move to France and need to work, are forced to return on average after two to three years when their savings run out.

Certainly if you look at this and other similar French forums, it appears far more are selling up to leave France than planning to move there, at the moment.
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Sprogster, all I can say is that my British friends who work here (that's most of them) cope OK, especially those who moved here relatively young who have therefore built up French social security entitlements, are paid in Euros, and whose kids have grown up in the sytem.  In fact I reckon it's easier to get into the bureaucracy of the whole process when you're young - it's much more of a struggle for those of us who are older, especially the language thing as it seems to me it gets harder and harder to learn new tricks the older you get. 

I don't think Clare sounds at all daft or naive and like many Aussies who make the move to Europe, she doesn't have the option to come here for a few holidays or rent for a few months before commiting herself.  Whilst I wouldn't dream of suggesting to anybody that they just pack their bags and take the plunge and to h*ll with the consequences, at the same time, I do think that we are so often over-cautious on behalf of other people, perhaps in an attempt to prevent them from coming a cropper.  Laudable I know, but a bit patronising at the same time, perhaps?  (I don't mean you are, I just mean the attitude which pre-supposes our o/p and people like her have no idea what they are doing!)

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I say go for it, you and your daughter are both young and hopefully adaptable so therefore you should be able to live with the consequences of taking a punt that may or may not work.

One thing i would add though following your comment : Thankyou again for you input, however, I was hoping for some positivity, that's not saying I don't adhere to reality, I just dont buy into negativity...............so if you have anything positive to ad by all means go ahead.

Comments are not necessarily negative, thay may be realsitic, I get the impression that you want to close your ears to anything that you percieve as negative, when you arrive here you wont be able to close your eyes and you may well find yourself surrounded and overwhelmed by negativity, I certainly did and even after nearly 6  years of being able to pick my freinds living here is still really negative compared to the UK and I found in general Australians to be far more positive than UK folk.

I took a leap of faith coming here, I did no research at all, saw only positives and did not hear or maybe want t hear any negatives, I have no regrets but I dont think I would have come had I known what I know now so perhaps you are right after all to disregard the negatives!

Good luck to you both.

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cooperlola, there are far fewer working Brits in France than you might expect, as according to official recent EU stats there are only 298,000 British Citizens currently working in the whole of the EU, which is less than the numbers of French working in London!

Most Brits of working age tend to emigrate to English speaking countries like Oz!
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This returns to my advice to Millie in the "Pole d'emploi" thread about the xenophobia she has encountered whilst looking for work - explain  the imbalance between working Brits in France and vice versa then gently ask who is "taking" whose jobs.  It's all a nonsense of course but it does belie the racist idea that immigrants ipso facto send up unemployment rates.  Utter round bouncy things, imo!

But I digress.  Sorry, Clare.

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[quote user="Sprogster"]

Most Brits of working age tend to emigrate to English speaking countries like Oz![/quote]

Bit of a sweeping generalisation this, methinks..... many other places beckon

Something additional has occurred to me: having lived for lengthy periods in both countries. In Oz there tends to be a back-slapping, gung-ho attitude where everyone is automatically "mates". Managing Directors are called by their first names on first introductions. Best not to do that kind of thing here in France - might not go down too well!

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Evianers, it is a fact not generalisation. Most Brits emigrating go to Oz and other English speaking countries like the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Most Brits that move to Spain and France are retirees.

Should not be surprising, as it reflects that younger Brits are understandably attracted to countries that speak English, as it makes assimilation and finding work a lot easier.
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In March my wife, self and daughter of 9 decided to leave Australia for France for various reasons. I am a UK/OZ dual nationality and had lived in and out of Oz since 1981. Having little or no family there since my mum and dad passed on only amplified our isolation which in turn detonated a whole negative view of Perth, Sydney etc.

My love of Oz was born from those early days of 1981 when I fell in love with the wide open spaces, the nature and hospitality of Australians, but over the years I have seen the things I love slowly erode to the point where Australia has become like any other metropolis in the world. Governments at all levels seem intent on making so many laws and by-laws to stop people having fun that people now do little more than commute to and from the mortgage belt each day, and spend their weekends keeping on the right side of a line whether it be on a beach path, car park or concert. You now have to stand behind a line and be invited to feed the dolphins at Monkey Mia; yesterday I read that a teen in Albany is being investigated by an environmental authority for riding the back of a whale; parking inspectors proliferate; Sydney is a labyrinth of tolls and cameras. And the hospitality of the famous Aussie bbq has all but been cooked. Now, it is the norm to have to take all your own food and drink to a barbie, or for the host to charge guests. This whole thing makes socializing a chore. This is not the Australia those brave diggers fought for in two world wars. In fact, I find it insulting to tie up our freedom in by-laws, banks and in our own 700 square metre block where most of us live in isolation with barely a nod for our neighbour.

And so this is why we left Oz.

Anyway, I digress. Having put our Perth house on the market in April, we then went to Nice for our 20th anniversary in May where we decided The French Riviera was for us. In June we accepted an offer on the house, in July we packed, in August we left Oz and in September we returned to Nice, bought an apartment and are awaiting handover in November. However, we are not in France yet. Being an English teacher, I felt a couple of years in the Middle east would be a wise transition. It would allow us to save and allow my daughter to learn French (I speak some, my wife a little) and it would also give us time to work out exactly how we would make a living there.

I have seen your stitching website and believe you will love France. You are artistic, you are adventurous, you are Australian - and the French like the Ozzies. My notary advised me to use my Aussie passport on the house documents, and they are fascinated, like I was, by the wide open spaces and wildlife. My daughter loved Paris and Nice and Orleans. You and your daughter will be enthralled by the vibrant, artistic detail the people put into their work. Personally, I love the clothes people wear, their politeness and their joie de vivre; they simply love to chat in restaurants and bars - though at times you may crave the informality and humour that permeates Aussie social culture.

Yes, it's a great exchange rate. Yes, it'll be winter when you go. Yes, it may be hard if you can't speak much French. Yes, it may puzzle some posters how you will support yourself and blow them away that you have never been to France, but what I have learned is that money is a vehicle to be used to do the things we want to do. So many times I've lived my life with money being the driver when it ought to have been the other way around. Simply follow your voice within and it will lead you to where you ought to be in your life.

Bon Chance!

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"...and the French like the Ozzies. My notary advised me to use my Aussie passport on the house documents, and they are fascinated, like I was, by the wide open spaces and wildlife."

I agree with this statement in particular. When we first came over, we used our UK passports for all the official stuff, as it made it easier (except for getting into the health system, we were Australian for that).

But socially, we always used our Australian citizenship, as it made us more "interesting" and the French seemed to be more pleased that people from a far away land would come to live in their country.

It sounds like you have that Aussie spirit too. I think mine has been watered down a bit in the 5 years I have lived here. But I fully expect it to reappear when I move to the States at the end of the year, as they have a similar outlook.

Hope you enjoy your life in France too.
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[quote user="jubbah"]but what I have learned is that money is a vehicle to be used to do the things we want to do. So many times I've lived my life with money being the driver when it ought to have been the other way around. Simply follow your voice within and it will lead you to where you ought to be in your life. Bon Chance![/quote]

What a great comment! I am going to learn it by heart.

For me it is always a problem when people ask me why I gave up everything (at least in their eyes) to do what I am doing, I explain that one day I woke up and could answer the question "how much (money) is enough?" but rarely do people understand (I can tell from the recognition in their expression) most I fear will never be able to answer the question.

I reckon I will have more success using your comment. good luck in the middle east and latterly in France.

P.S. I was shocked to learn what P.C. and the Nanny state has done to the true spirit of Australia.

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jubbah, I am not sure your Notary gave you best advice in putting your Aussie passport on the property documents, as non EU citizens are subject to less favourable tax treatment in certain areas.

Ironically some of your observations about modern Australia are equally applicable to France!

The French may love Aussies, but they will still give a job to a French person first!

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Thanks everyone for all your input....its muchly appreciated!!:)

Im looking forward to also doing some sight seeing...really want to check out Provence and round that area.  It all looks so beautiful and very worthy of discovery!!  Anyone have any stories on that area.....how they liked it???

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If you pass through my area then spend some time at Viller Bretonneux, they have the Australian war memorial there and the town is so pro Australian you would not believe it, you will definitely find a warm welcome there which is a very rare thing for this area, all the more so for being Australian.
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  • 3 years later...

Soooo. Clare did you go and how did you like it? We are in Oz now, house on the market ready to head over. We are both English originally but have lived here our working career. Love lots about it but are totally fed up with some aspects which are getting worse. We miss history and I recently spent two weeks in England hugging old cathedral and monument walls to get some of that lovely smell and feel.  I want to live in an old house and go to an old church. We are older, ready to retire, no kids (apart from one dog)  ready for an adventure. And if we hate it we can go elsewhere!

 

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Think you may not get a reply from Clare - she last visited this forum in October 2010.

Sadly, some people join the forum, get the info they want and never give feedback on the outcome - hope you will not be one of those :)
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I think the issue may be no notifications. Or at least I haven't found that button yet. If she didn't get a notification that I had posted on her thread I guess she forgot all about it.

But good of you to answer, thanks!

 

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