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Considering a move from Australia to France


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Hi,

After purchasing my Citroen, I have become enamored with all things French, and my fiance and I are considering seriously the prospect of leaving Australia and moving to France, probably the south of France, but we are open to anything really. I am 31 and she is 39, we both work in the casino industry, but I also have a marketing degree, and also coach tennis. I am a UK passport holder and she is an Australian citizen. Realistically, we would expect to take about  420k Euro with us, maybe a little more.

We would be looking for a basic house with a good deal of land, enough to grow some vegetables, fruit, herbs, and keep some chickens! Basically we are looking  for a very simple way of life. The only real drama logistically with the move is that our two dogs would have to come with us. Has anyone experienced taking their dogs such a long distance into France, and is it a major hassle? Also we would probably want to take some furniture with us, but we are not sure how cost inhibitive that would be, does anyone know about the cost of containers or the like?

Obviously our investigating is in it's infancy at this stage, but I am wondering about the employment prospects for younger people such as us in France. Is it even possible to find work of any sort in rural type areas of the country?  I realise the language is crucial to success there, and we would do our best to learn as much as poss before we departed.

Any ideas or hints are most welcome, thanks for reading!

Daniel

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[quote user="wen"]Stay where you are. A Citroen is not a good indicator of how life here will be.[/quote]

Not perhaps the most helpful of contributions.

From that distance, it's very hard to suggest any income-generating solutions, which in reality is what you need for the foreseeable future.  If you want to live rurally, then you might as well forget whatever it is that you've done professionally hitherto.

This is such a life-changing situation for the two of you, that I can't see any alternative to a serious & lengthy recce over here to try to settle on an area and a possible means of income.  Whether that's CdH / Gites is a matter for you.

Put the dogs issue out of your minds for the moment - all that is capable of being sorted out.

  • Area

  • Income

  • Affordability

  • Details (incl pets!)

Best wishes !!

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Hi and thanks for your replies. (although Wen's was a little silly-I wouldn't base an international move on  the qualities of a car! )

I may not have conveyed in my message that this will not happen for at least three years anyway, so there is certainly time to get loads of info together and make an informed decision on which way to proceed. I would also plan on heading over to France for a few weeks holiday first before making a final decision. One question I do have however, is regarding property price trends in France generally. Is the market fairly stagnant, especially in rural areas? If this is so, is there any forecast of which way property prices generally may move in the next 3-5 years. I would hate to get to a point where we can move only to find it is now unaffordable.

Obviously the employment side of things is the major consideration. Our savings wouldn't last long without a job. Probably becoming self employed in some area of business would be a necessity. Does anybody have any ideas on how the French accept foreigners running businesses in villages?

Anyway, that's it for now. Again thanks for reading

Daniel

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Compared to Australia, house prices in France rise very slowly. However, France has a new president in who says he is going to bring France into the 21st century (by-passing the 20th century on the way), so who knows what this means.

Living rurally (I guess we are rural, there isn't a major town for 20 minutes where we live), we have found that cost of living to be a lot cheaper in France compared to Australia. However when you start working, that's when they seem to screw you into the ground especially if you are a small business (also known as the milk cow). The charges are quite horrendus at the moment. But again, the new Pressy might have changed this by the time you come out. But personally, I doubt it, he is a politician after all, but on the other hand he could surprise me.

The French seem to like Australians, and I don't think they'd have a problem if we ran a business.

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Daniel,

If I were you, I wouldn't even consider moving to France until you have gone and stayed for a while to see if it suits you. From what the snobby people on this post suggest, they don't want immigrants there at all. I have heard that France is not as great as you think it will be. Do some research and experiment. Don't court misery by moving somewhere that is full of cold hearted snobs they will only make your life hell when you get there.  

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I'm sure that there are snobby people all over the place, and many who don't like foreigners....That can be said for any place in the world  really. I'm certain that it all comes down to doing plenty of research and finding the place that suits us best. we have two  French friends who we work with, One from Brittany, the other from Carcassonne, who have strongly encouraged us to go for it. They are pointing out to us here and there what we should be looking for and also pitfalls to avoid.  (no they are not trying to get rid of us!)  Actually we wouldn't mind if we WERE isolated from people to a degree, that's kind of what it's all about. France actually wasn't our first choice. Greece had been on the agenda, and I haven't discounted Italy altogether yet. I fully intend to pay France a visit in the coming year or so to get a feel for what is possible. I would never move over to Europe without checking it all out first.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Let's just put it simply and how it is.

I had a couple of Australian friends who came here to "retire" to France. ( Ex Quantas)  They stayed just three years then went back to Australia, even though their French was excellent ( important that ). Since then I have had, photos of their beautiful new house, heard tales of their wonderful way of life, and how happy they were to be back  "HOME". 

Maybe it's because they had a Peugeot...................................

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I have no doubt that some people will move to France and eventually come home, perhaps we would too, who knows?? All I know is that we are over here doing well asset wise, but everything else is becoming fairly dull and boring. I think it would be a terrific adventure to make such a big move and see what we could achieve. In the broad scheme of things, Australia is a great place to live, but things are changing. We have a looming government change which may bring about problems in terms of interest rates and wages, most of the country is in severe drought, and there is a real danger we will soon run out of water altogether. The property market, which has served us very nicely until now is in danger I think of imploding to some degree and causing property values to stagnate or decline sharply in some areas. Like I have said previously, research I believe is the key, and I am doing plenty of it! However,  I now wish I had never mentioned the Citroen in my opening post!! hehe.[:D]
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It's what attracted us to France. Unless you are sport mad or a nature nerd, there isn't that much you can do in Australia. We got realy bored with it. Same routes to town, no change, no meaningful history or culture (unless you're into Abo stuff, which we're not). France has just so much more colour and vibrancy. No water drought worries here (although you get the odd person winging about water, but generally ignore them), gardening is a piece of cake (the soil is soft for a start) and of course soooo much history and culture. Ok, the tax and social security system is a pile of poo, but nothngs perfect.

We haven't regretted the move here for a minute.

It's an adventure and if it doesn't work out for you, simply go back. It's only a day away![:)]

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Only a general note on foreigners in France. we live, at last, in a very rural area of South West France. Our Maire issues a monthly news letter and in one a couple of years back he was commentating on incomers to the area: they bring Money to the local economy, artisans stay in the area, local services are maintained etc, and in general this particular Maire believes that Incomers are a Good Thing.

There are areas where there is a significant percentage of aged Colonels(retd) who only frequent areas with a genuine English tea room and a Cricket Club that serves Marmite sandwiches, but my experience (Elsewhere) is that I have met a lot of hard working people, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Turkish even Aussies etc who have a similar mindset to myself , because we all have a dream and have had the b**ls to try.

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It's nice to finally hear some positive commentary from people!! As Linda(or was it Richard?) said, the return is only a day away! Putting it in some perspective also-a good European holiday done properly would probably cost about $20k+ to do. Making the move over I believe would cost somewhere in that ball park. (cost of new furniture and inevitable losses on the sale of other things aside) So if you look at it as a great big holiday where you don't have to return home is you don't want to, I think it becomes a far less daunting and risky move.

Daniel

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Lynda and Dicky...what a couple of racist bigots you both are. 'Unless you're into Abo stuff which we're not''...what a disgusting comment to make and I am appalled no-one has taken you to task here for that. Do you call 'history' that of a people who cold-bloodedly murdered a mother and her husband?(Marie-Antoinette and Louis VI) without proper trial or reason?.

Please do not speak as 'Australians' because you both are not...you were 'arrived Brits' in Australia...Pom's in other words. Back when it was easy I would say.

Please name one other nation on this planet that has had a human occupancy of over 40,000 years... and no culture? Banjo Paterson; CJ Dennis; May Gibbs; Pro Hart; Dorothy MacKellar; Dame Joan Sutherland; Roger Woodward; John Williams; Sir Charles MacKerras; Sidney Nolan; Norman Lindsay; Albert Namadjira(an 'Abo'); George Lambert; Henry Lawson; Thomas Keneally; David Williamson; Kath Walker (another 'Abo'); Henry Handel Richardson; Brett Whitely;...I could go on. These people are all our playwrights, artists, poets, writers, musicians...and you say we have no culture???.

You wouldn't know I suppose...too busy hunting for water and a 'proper route into town' all that time.

And yes, no 'meaningful history' considering we were settled by an overflow of England's prisoners.

To me, the only 'pile of poo' are your ignorant remarks.

France deserves you.

In support of an Australian Republic I remain and the sooner the better.

 

 

 

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[quote user="wen"]

Lynda and Dicky...what a couple of racist bigots you both are. 'Unless you're into Abo stuff which we're not''...what a disgusting comment to make and I am appalled no-one has taken you to task here for that. Do you call 'history' that of a people who cold-bloodedly murdered a mother and her husband?(Marie-Antoinette and Louis VI) without proper trial or reason?.

Please do not speak as 'Australians' because you both are not...you were 'arrived Brits' in Australia...Pom's in other words. Back when it was easy I would say.

Please name one other nation on this planet that has had a human occupancy of over 40,000 years... and no culture? Banjo Paterson; CJ Dennis; May Gibbs; Pro Hart; Dorothy MacKellar; Dame Joan Sutherland; Roger Woodward; John Williams; Sir Charles MacKerras; Sidney Nolan; Norman Lindsay; Albert Namadjira(an 'Abo'); George Lambert; Henry Lawson; Thomas Keneally; David Williamson; Kath Walker (another 'Abo'); Henry Handel Richardson; Brett Whitely;...I could go on. These people are all our playwrights, artists, poets, writers, musicians...and you say we have no culture???.

You wouldn't know I suppose...too busy hunting for water and a 'proper route into town' all that time.

And yes, no 'meaningful history' considering we were settled by an overflow of England's prisoners.

To me, the only 'pile of poo' are your ignorant remarks.

France deserves you.

In support of an Australian Republic I remain and the sooner the better.

 

 

 

[/quote]

Firstly, Lynda was born and bred in Australia. So she is not a pom. I arrived in 1999, when it was not easy to "get in". I became an Australian citizen 5 years later.

Secondly are Aussie or Pommie or Yankie, etc racist terms because they are meant in exactly the same way as Abo? If not, you are just as racist for calling me a pom (not that I give a stuff about that). It's just a term of endearment. A nickname. If the term "Abo" offends you, then I apologise in this case. I always thought it was a nickname.

Thirdly, where exactly would you go to see all this massive wealth of culture in Australia? Once you have seen the national icons (Opera House, Bridge and the big rock), there ain't a lot else to see, plus you have to travel so much to get there. I have been to many museums and exhibitions in Australia, and they have all been pretty much the same, a victorian teapot on display here, an old iron there, with very little in the way of explaining the history or the significance of the place - which is a shame.

In comparison to France, the search for culture is extremely limited in Australia, which is the point I was trying to get across. And of course, there are tons more famous people from France and the UK that I could list to make your list insignificant. I won't bother wasting my time on it.

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