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young expat moving to france....


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hi all,

i am heading over to look at properties in north dordogne next week and was wondering if there was much to do for a 23 year old living in the area. i am currently living in edinburgh and have lived in wellington and sydney previously so am fairly used to city life. having said that, i did spend last year living in umbria in italy and really enjoyed it, although i met a lot of locals my age through friends i worked with. i am going to be mainly working from home and so will have to meet people without the benefit of meeting locals through a job. do the locals move off to larger cities to live and work after school or stay around where they grew up? are there any other people who have moved over to france under 25 for a lifestyle change that have first hand experience or anyone with views on the matter?

hope to hear from you,

regards

james

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Hi James , I cannot answer you pertinent questions as I do not live near your chosen area of France and, it is a long time since I was 23.

I do hope somebody else on this forum can give you some indication.

A 23 year old coming to France to look at property  is not an everyday occurence!, but,  you do seem to know

 "where your at"

 Kind regards,

Leo

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Hi James

You've posted something similar already and had a lot of sensible replies to your original enquiry.  We have some young Brit people in our village who have lived here several years with Mum and Dad and are really stuggling, too old for college, don't work because of the language etc - I've not come across anybody young who has moved here as a singleton.

Those that are with parents seem to struggle.  You cannot just pick up the language doing what you want to do for a living (mainly indoors with a computer, assuming that you have ADSL connection and it's good and efficient) and just assimilate the language.  Mixing with the locals is fine but the way you'll have to do it it in bars and cafes and it will take a while for people to get used to you.

Were I your age (my eldest grandson is and this is the advice I'd give him) and had itchy feet, I'd move somewhere like Bordeaux which has a vibrant night life, a university town where there are younger people, somewhere like that, not a more rural location where despite your willingness to integrate, the locals just may not let you - there are lots of posts here about the way the majority of French people socialise and incomers not being able to integrate. 

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I was 23 when I moved here and I can tell you that the majority of young people definitely leave the rural areas and head for the larger cities (to go to uni or look for jobs and/or a spouse).  It's highly likely that you will get bored in the countryside, and will have a hard time meeting people your own age, especially if your French isn't that good.   Tony's suggestion of moving to a place like Bordeaux instead is definitely one to consider.

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Grenoble would be a great city too, it is in the Alps. Huge university town, lots of hi-tech computer people, engineers and scientists.  You would have better opportunities too. There are quite a few multi-national employers as well.  There are definitely two sides to France - the cities and then France profond - the countryside!

You also get the benefit of both summner and winter seasons. Great for skiing and the summers are hot, but you can always escape to the mountains if it gets too much.

 

Deby

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I would agree with what most people say - We are slightly older than you, (mid 30's) but even us oldies hanker after the bright lights of the big city now and again! We have had about a dozen people of 18 - 28 age group stay with us over the last 4 years for 3 months to a year, and most of them could only survive here out in the sticks by having or making friends in Bordeaux where they could crash at weekends while having their dose of city living. I'd deliberate hard before ruling out a large town or city.

good luck

suzi

www.patiras.com/trinite.htm

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Hi James,

I am 29 and i moved to a rural part of the Charente in July 2006 with my parents. Which was lovely but a little too quiet and too rural. I am now living in Angouleme (with a French friend) which is the largest city in the Charente but small by English standards. I am an English Teacher! The nightlife is great and it is the best of both worlds so my advice would be to move to a small city! I would suggest some sort of job even if its in a bar a couple of nights a week you learn French more quickly and meet great people.

Alex

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I was 24 when I moved here, but first started to look at property when I was 22.  It's not a common occurence, and other than expat children, I am by far the youngest that has moved to this area. 

I happen to enjoy rural life and the solitude that it entails, but appreciate that not many younger people like this sort of existence.  In our local area, there aren't many young French people, mainly because there are few jobs. 

Alex's comments about moving to a large town/small city do make sense.  Even if you do end up in a rural area, you could also get involved with a local sports team and you should find that you make friends quickly even with limited language skills.

Bon courage!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi James,

I am the same age as you, 23, and moved out to France on my own a couple of years ago - the best decision I ever made! It has been an amazing experience so far, you simply never stop learning and discovering new things. Meeting the local people is one of my favourite things about living here, as they are the key to learning your new way of life. They've got so many interesting tales to tell about the local area, it really is worth spending time in your local bar/café and absorbing what's going on around you. If you're not comfortable with approaching strangers, you'll get approached sooner or later if you go there often enough. That's where the real adventure begins - once you start talking to one person, they will often introduce you to other people they know eventually.

I live in a tiny village in the Alps that nobody seems to have ever heard of, and to be honest that's just fine by me... I love being the only English person in the village! The locals seems to find it fascinating, as it's the sort of place where the natives have had their families there for generations and generations - although they get the occasional group of English tourists every now and then who come for their skiing holidays, they are not used to the idea of outsiders actually coming to their village to live permanently. That always provides a good starting topic of conversation when meeting someone new - tell them your story about how you ended up living there!

I suggest that from a social point of view, just make yourself "visible" - don't hide away in your apartment all the time. Go out, make yourself known to your neighbours, be seen to be making a social effort to fit in. It may take a while, but as the time passes you'll start to discover that your efforts were worth it. The rewards are great, there's so much out there to be gained by moving to another country!

Laura

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