Encouragement please!

[MrCanary]

Please can a few of you give me and moh some encouragement to make the move to France we have planned for over a year. All I keep reading are posts from people who are desperate to get out. To us it seems like there are no Brits who want to be there any more and we are getting quite despondent.

[memb]

Reasons to move here:

Quality of life/pace of life/peace in your life/better healthcare, no worries of superbugs/no fear when walking the streets, day or night/respect shown to you by children as well as their parents/no hoodies/no fear of your car being stolen, windows broken and items stolen/most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are, and mostly decent people who want a better quality of life/greenery/beauty/seasons which remember when to change/traditional markets/fresh food and veg/quality wine/etc etc etc.

[Geordie girl]

couldn't agree more with the above and don't forget there are more of us staying here than leaving. Some have to go back for lots of reasons, not necessarily that they didn't like it over here. So if you are sure you want to take that huge step, then do it. Good luck to you all. You can always pm me for more info, not  that i know everything.

cheers liz[:D]

[chris pp]

I don't know what part of France the above posters live in or how long you have been here, but it's not a France that I recognise, non the less I have a happy life here.

Chris

[memb]

I think its evident where both posters live, would you care to expand on how you don't recognise that France?

[Gardian]

[quote user="Miss D Theboat"]To us it seems like there are no Brits who want to be there any more and we are getting quite despondent.[/quote]

As a (presumably) intelligent person, you almost certainly know yourself that this isn't true.

There are difficulties (and the current health cover problem is a major one for many), but if you understand the facts, then you can plan for them.

Having said that, you will never cover all the things that might / will hit you, but how different is it to being in the UK and moving to another part of the country?  Well, a fair bit maybe, but that's part or most of what makes it interesting.  Take each day as it comes (once you're over here) and remember that it's somewhat doubtful that they'll be guillotining Brits in your local Town Square.

There were no tumbrils in our local Square at noon today as we sat over a quiet coffee after the Weds market in 23C and clear blue skies. 

[Geordie girl]

oo-er chris pp maybe you're not looking for what we've already found.

Haway the lads

[KathyF]

[quote user="47AJM"]

Reasons to move here:

....no fear of your car being stolen, windows broken and items stolen/most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are, and mostly decent people who want a better quality of life/......./seasons which remember when to change......[/quote]

Rather rose-tinted spectacles here, I think.....  I doubt there's anywhere in France which doesn't have some theft. Certainly the very quiet and rural area of Manche where we have a holiday cottage has break-ins from time to time. You only have to read the local paper to realise that. As for free-loading immigrants - human nature is much the same the world over and the immigrants coming to Britain are also "mostly decent people who want a better quality of life."  Many of our service industries couldn't manage without immigrant workers willing to do the hard, badly-paid jobs most Britons won't do. Finally, if we're talking about "seasons which remember when to change", the weather here in mid-Wales today was cool, crisp and sunny - perfect autumn weather in anyone's book - and it looks like we could be in for a proper winter too!

 

[chris pp]

""Quality of life/pace of life/peace in your life/better health care, no worries of super bugs/no fear when walking the streets, day or night/respect shown to you by children as well as their parents/no hoodies/no fear of your car being stolen, windows broken and items stolen/most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are, and mostly decent people who want a better quality of life/greenery/beauty/seasons which remember when to change/traditional markets/fresh food and veg/quality wine/etc etc etc.""

I have never been as busy or as fully occupied in my entire life as I have been here in France, I hardly ever stop, although generally my quality of life is better because I have a house with land and I am surrounded by countryside which happens to suit me. I don't actually think that the health service is that much better it just depends on where you live and whether you get good treatment or not, just like the UK as I understand things from friends and relatives that live over there, I know of plenty of "horror stories" as a result of mistakes and bad treatment in France. Crime is very little different here if you take the trouble to see whats going on in the Tribunals, talk to the Gendarmes, look at the statistics or read your local papers. I spent several hours on Sunday with the Gendarmes having been shot on my own land, thankfully I'm OK but there is little chance of the person being caught, the farm 500 metres down the lane was burgled last week and so it goes on.

I won't even answer the "immigrant" bit.. Brits in France? It speaks for itself and frankly I don't think that the quality of food is that great but that is of course a matter of taste and judgement but as I said I'm happy enough here, every ones got to be somewhere.

Just a matter of perspective,

Chris

 

 

[woolybanana]

Be realistic wherever you go, dont wear the famous rose coloured spectacles and you will have a wonderful life here. And there are not hordes trying to get out by the way. What there are is a number of people who had unrealistic expectations, couldn't adapt, made no effort to speak or learn French or integrate into a community, and maybe were cutting corners. The French will welcome you with open arms if you show you are prepared to make an effort too. 

The famous French administration is not a problem once you know where and how it works.

Be open, be prepared to learn, be upfront and it is a good life. Not perfect, but then nowhere is. And I've lived in a few countries to prove that.

Enjoy

Woolybanana

[woolybanana]

Oh, and don't watch those stooooopid programmes about living or buying  in France on TV.

[Tony F Dordogne]

I agree with most or all of the above.  If you're coming here permenantly, you'll always see people come and go.  We've discussed ex-pats and immigrants here many times and mainly it's the ex-pats doing what they always said they will do, going back to the UK or moving on.  I've only seen a couple of people on here - and none in person - say that they're going back to the UK because of the recent/impending changes.

The bureaucracy can be a bit much sometimes but we all deal with it - grin and bear it, if you have to visit your Departemental town, make a day of it, hit the hypermarkets, bit of retail therapy.  Whatever you do, don't get into the 'this isn't the way we did things in England (whereever)' mindset, because rather obviously it isn't because this is France.

Embrace the French and they will embrace you by and large - but there are miserable gits all over the world, so France doesn't have the market cornered there.

Just do it - go for it, see whether you like it and if not, decide to do something else.  And like Chris pp, I live in a home I could never afford in the UK, have land, work in my garden which is a hundred times or more bigger than my UK garden, have great friends from a wide variety of countries (though not as many countries as I did in the UK, some of us enjoyed working in multi cultural settings and didn't think all immigrants were scroungers or were ripping off the system there) and with work (back in the UK) and with just living - I'm busier and infinately happier than I've probably every been in my life.

And of course Jenny and I spend a lot more time together which has made it even more worth while, though some people find being with somebody almost all day every day difficult so you may have to get used to that.

[Chris Head]

Life is what you make it wherever you go, you get out of it what you put in to it. I just spent a few days in UK seeing family and I could never return there to live.

It's a great place to be.

[raindog]

[quote user="47AJM"]

Reasons to move here:

Quality of life/pace of life/peace in your life/better healthcare, no worries of superbugs/no fear when walking the streets, day or night/respect shown to you by children as well as their parents/no hoodies/no fear of your car being stolen, windows broken and items stolen/most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are, and mostly decent people who want a better quality of life/greenery/beauty/seasons which remember when to change/traditional markets/fresh food and veg/quality wine/etc etc etc.

[/quote]

no hoodies?

Walk round the centre of any big town in France and you'll see plenty. And you seem to have missed off your rose tinted list the French hoody's favourite pastime of burning cars, now so common it barely makes the news anymore, and spraying people on buses with petrol and then setting light to them.

And where, in UK can't you buy fresh food and veg?

Open your eyes.

[Iceni]

[quote user="47AJM"]

Reasons to move here:

Quality of life/pace of life/peace in your life/better healthcare, no worries of superbugs/no fear when walking the streets, day or night/respect shown to you by children as well as their parents/no hoodies/no fear of your car being stolen, windows broken and items stolen/most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are, and mostly decent people who want a better quality of life/greenery/beauty/seasons which remember when to change/traditional markets/fresh food and veg/quality wine/etc etc etc.

[/quote]

I recognise these as valid reasons for living where I live in a hamlet in north 46 - fact not rose tinted specs. Paris, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon are not the same but so what, I have chosen not to live in any of them in the same way as I chose not to live in London, Manchester, Nottingham etc. Doubtless others will ruin my world in due course as they have ruined the lives of many in the big towns and cities but hopefully by then Di and I will be long gone.

Miss DT - moving to France is a BIGGG step and you and anyone you bring with you must be 110% committed to making it a success. If you are concerned enough to pose your question then a hint of doubt already exists.  

It helps that I see a glass as half full rather than half empty but my preference for my new life here against my old life in N Essex is of no use to you - make up your own mind based on facts not opinions.

John

not

[Gluestick]

Misty Le Bateau:

Listen to Iceni.

I fear that there are a number of members of this forum who perhaps left some buccolic rural English idyll; and moved to somewhere like Lyons, Tolouse, Tours, Paris whatever!

There are three secrets to success in this, I think (apologies to the late Conrad Hilton):

                                                 RESEARCH;

                                                 RESEARCH;

                                                 RESEARCH.

 

[Suze01]

Hear, hear Gluestick.

Judging by some of the posts on this and other forums there are quite a number of people who moved over here having done none at all.

[Nickel]

Hi

Yes, please do your research and do read all the posts, not just the rose- tinted spectacle wearers ones. France is not Utopia and like everywhere has  good and bad points!

And you must learn the language or you will never integrate enough to enjoy the life here.

Be sure of your own reasons for coming here - i.e to be in France, rather than  to not be in the UK.

I have been coming here for 20 years and finally made the permanent move 3 years ago, very happy and as yet - no regrets.

I wish you all the best in whatever decision you make.

 

 

 

[Val_2]

France is fast catching up with the UK and USA regarding crime so don't be fooled by thinking its all quiet here. Even the smallest isolated hamlets have domestic crimes, drug abuse and alcohol related problems - they just don't get sensationalised when things take a bad turn. As others have said, don't come here unless you want to live the french style of life,its not a fashion must have to move out of the UK and the reality soon sets in when your money runs out, you have no job and many have turned to drink to overcome this. Do a lot of deep research and visit areas with a view to renting before throwing caution to the wind.

[Will]

There are plenty of good reasons to live in France (or anywhere else come to that). If we have to spell them out for you, that indicates to me that you haven't seen them for yourself, so perhaps it isn't the place for you.

What we do find is that too many people don't come here for what is good about France, they tell us their reasons for moving are things they see as bad about Britain. To my mind that is totally the wrong reason - finding a new country should be a positive action not a negative one. They expect to find a reflection of a past English idyll. Although there are certain similarities with England of several years ago, France is a totally different country. And it's not stuck in a time capsule, it is changing, and the current president wants to change things rather faster, and more drastically, then his predecessors. That is not necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, it's just a fact.

Somebody said 'no superbugs'. Sadly, that is incorrect. I know of people who have died from MRSA-type infections picked up in French hospitals, rural as well as big-city ones. It's not that these things don't exist, more that the French media, and the people, don't make such a fuss as the English. Though plenty of British in France have little or no contact with French papers, TV, radio stations anyway, so they will preserve their distorted vision.

[suein56]

[quote user="47AJM"]

most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are [/quote]

In our local paper recently was an article about 3 Lithuanian immigrants who had stolen 2 cars then used one as a battering ram to crash through the front of Boulanger in Vannes - after cutting through the concrete battering-prevention posts in front of the store. The police know they were Lithuanian as they caught 2 of them trying to escape in one of the vehicles with 65 000 euros worth of kit, picked up during the 6 minutes they were inside the store. The other chap is still at large after escaping on foot.*

France has immigration problems too!

*And this wasn't even front page news; the headline was: Payer plus pour la Sécu: notre débat.

Sue

[raindog]

[quote user="Will"]

There are plenty of good reasons to live in France (or anywhere else come to that). If we have to spell them out for you, that indicates to me that you haven't seen them for yourself, so perhaps it isn't the place for you.

What we do find is that too many people don't come here for what is good about France, they tell us their reasons for moving are things they see as bad about Britain. To my mind that is totally the wrong reason - finding a new country should be a positive action not a negative one. They expect to find a reflection of a past English idyll. Although there are certain similarities with England of several years ago, France is a totally different country. And it's not stuck in a time capsule, it is changing, and the current president wants to change things rather faster, and more drastically, then his predecessors. That is not necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, it's just a fact.

Somebody said 'no superbugs'. Sadly, that is incorrect. I know of people who have died from MRSA-type infections picked up in French hospitals, rural as well as big-city ones. It's not that these things don't exist, more that the French media, and the people, don't make such a fuss as the English. Though plenty of British in France have little or no contact with French papers, TV, radio stations anyway, so they will preserve their distorted vision.

[/quote]

Perfectly put.That's what I wanted to say, but i'm too inarticulate to do it.[:)]

[Val_2]

[quote user="spg"][quote user="47AJM"]

most immigrants here are not the freeloaders most immigrants going into the UK are [/quote]

In our local paper recently was an article about 3 Lithuanian immigrants who had stolen 2 cars then used one as a battering ram to crash through the front of Boulanger in Vannes - after cutting through the concrete battering-prevention posts in front of the store. The police know they were Lithuanian as they caught 2 of them trying to escape in one of the vehicles with 65 000 euros worth of kit, picked up during the 6 minutes they were inside the store. The other chap is still at large after escaping on foot.*

France has immigration problems too!

*And this wasn't even front page news; the headline was: Payer plus pour la Sécu: notre débat.

Sue

[/quote]

 

 

Same around here, when you read the results of the local tribunals weekly,nearly all the cases are of eastern european folks.

[memb]

Let me put you straight - we don't wear rose tinted specs, have never worn rose tinted specs and never will.    Everything I said in my post was based on how WE feel about being here and in the area where WE live.     We did research, research and more research before deciding where to settle in France, and we have'nt experienced any of the crimes you speak of, and hopefully we never will.    Your life is how YOU make it.    All we can do is compare it with the life we had in the UK, and no, we did'nt live in a big city there either.  We do read French papers and don't wear blinkers when it comes to the unpleasant parts, but its not anywhere as NEAR to the crime in the UK, reported or unreported.   I believe the person who asked the question was asking for personal opinions.    We each have our own.    Don't label us as being in cloud cuckoo land because we gave our true opinions.     

[Marym2]

My words of encouragement would not help all but some of my friends tell me they wish they could get away, not to France but anywhere then where they live. We bought because it will take time to, learn french, renovate the house, get to know all the neighbours, find out about the area, etc. We are getting along, slowly but it will come to fruit one day. We have had some bad times (latest was a broken leg 3 days into the next stage of renovations) but we have not despaired. I am looking foward to my next visit, and more knowledge, Each time I go I have a long journey, but what a treat when I settle in, I feel the stress and pain of living in England melt away.  I look at this site most days, its a good insight into how it works. I say try it, if it does not work then it might not be for you, but as  my last post  on  Making the Move to France From Outside the EU  Joining the Exodus from France? some of those reasons make me think sooner then later.