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Are you happy in France?


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[quote user="Chouette"]

Hi Zap

My husband and I visited Canada for a month a few years back and absolutely loved it which is why we considered emigrating there.  We flew to Calgary, travelled across the rockies to Banff and then onto Vancouver and Vancouver Island.  Flew from there to Toronto, then drove up to Ottawa and Montreal.  We adored Vancouver and that's where we would have liked to have lived if we had emigrated; either there or the Okanagan.  We will most definitely go back there one day..........

In the meantime and for the foreseeable future, we're busy building and enjoying our new life in France

[/quote]

We have good friends who emigrated there twenty five years ago and who have tried (many times!) to persuade us to join them. I've visited them many times (and travelled across Canada) and love the beautiful (stunning!) scenery. However, the one thing that always put me off were the long winters.  Having  (more recently) seen them dealing with the issue of having elderly and sick family in the UK they want to spend time with, but now also having children settled in Canada, I'm glad we never joined them.  Ironically, they are now seriously talking about returning to the UK - a decision that has also encouraged us to try to maintain a foothold in the UK rather than throw ourselves into the french life lock, stock and barrel.

Kathie  

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My aunt emigrated to Canada from Ireland about 25 years ago.  She had one child already and had another two there.  The whole family moved back to Ireland about 8 years ago, in the middle of my cousins schooling.

Its funny how folk stay in one place for so long, but not forever.

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  • 2 months later...

This string has been very itneresting.  Looking back on it just now I think that good points were raised.  Apologies for the harsh words - my wife was very sick at the time and I was under a lot of pressure.  Am now very close to moving. 

 

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My thoughts!

We sold everything in England, got in a van and drove to France.

1. We had never been to France before.[8-)]

2. No i am not young, in my fourtys.[:P]

3. Came on here, before we came, and everyone thought i was mad.[blink]

4. Cried my eyes out for 2 days before arriving (leaving family behind).[:'(]

5. Never looked back, love it here.

Go on just do it, take a chance, life is to short not to.[kiss]

 

 

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Well said Egger,

Exactly the same on all points (except 4).

Came here with tranny van, OH and 2 kids. Spoke virtually no French, had about 2.5grand and a really derelict house here.

We had decided after everything we had gone through as a family that life is too short and we should have one great family adventure before we were all too old.

6years on, only 1 daughter left at home who is totally bilingual and also speaks German. In a few years she'll be leaving us too to live in Germany (or elsewhere). I work full time, OH has a business, house is half finished but comfortable.

We'll stay here for another few years, and then when my work gets too much for my old joints to stand, we'll sell up and go to northern India to work and live in a village project. Hopefully we'll both die in India and have our ashes scattered in the Ganges.

Happy?... oh yes, but as a means to an end.

Aly

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:-)  Nice to see so much enthusiasm. 

Of course France is not without some serious drawbacks. 

I feel a big adventure coming on (moving if Sarkozy gets in).  Have told the (English) school we're not coming back after summer.  Spent the winter getting the house ready to sell or rent - probably rent.   have been taking French lessons over the winter.  Had the dogs done for rabies more than six months ago.  My four year old daughter thinks a move is a fantastic idea.  Six year old son is terrified of having to learn French, so we'll have to ease him into it as best we can - have been reading about what to do in all the appropriate posts on this and other forums.  Will be leaving England with fond memories of the place, but looking forward to a different life.

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Good luck John, looks like you have done the homework.  Tell your son not to worry, he will pick it up in no time.  Kids fluent after 8months.  They had french lessons in UK and I introduced them gradually into french school. They are much happier than in UK school.  They were that age when I introduced them here during holidays etc. It depends what you want out of life as to whether it is better here, and it is for me.  But I can vouch for the fact that it is a much better life for young children.

Georgina

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[quote user="Later"]

:-)  Nice to see so much enthusiasm. 

Of course France is not without some serious drawbacks. 

I feel a big adventure coming on (moving if Sarkozy gets in). [/quote]

Does that mean you are undecided until the election or that you will be moving away from France if Sarkozi gets in?  If so perhaps you should have plan two in place pretty quickly. [:)]

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Thanks Georgina, that is very reassuring.  What do I want in life?  Lots of time to be with my children. I make plenty of time for them in the UK, but expect to have even more time in France.  Also fantasise about having more time to take photos and write, but suspect I will spend a lot more time filling out forms and earning money to pay my cotisations :-)

[quote user="Georgina"]

Good luck John, looks like you have done the homework.  Tell your son not to worry, he will pick it up in no time.  Kids fluent after 8months.  They had french lessons in UK and I introduced them gradually into french school. They are much happier than in UK school.  They were that age when I introduced them here during holidays etc. It depends what you want out of life as to whether it is better here, and it is for me.  But I can vouch for the fact that it is a much better life for young children.

Georgina

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[quote user="Later"]OK, sticking my my flag in the ground now.  If Sarkozy doesn't get in then, France is in serious trouble. Deep, deep,deep deep in the mire.   [/quote]

And trouble (maybe less serious) when he does get in. His reforms may be needed, at least according to him, but I believe every Frenchman will say that the reforms apply to everybody else and will ignore them. The status quo suits most of the French but is unsustainable.

 

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[quote user="marina"]

[quote user="Later"] If Sarkozy doesn't get in then, France is in serious trouble. Deep, deep,deep deep in the mire.   [/quote]

And trouble (maybe less serious) when he does get in. His reforms may be needed, at least according to him, but I believe every Frenchman will say that the reforms apply to everybody else and will ignore them. The status quo suits most of the French but is unsustainable.

[/quote]

 

France is in deep trouble, full stop. Whoever gets in. But that applies to many countries, even if it is not quite the same kind of trouble.

If Sarkozy becomes president, then not only we will see very deep unrest within France, but we can also look forward to alliance with Bush and US foreign policies - at least something that was spared to France with the milder Chirac. Quite a few French I have spoken to recently say they are actually scared of Sarkozy because he is unbalanced, consumed with personal ambition, and that they would not trust him to be anywhere near THAT button. It's true that in the past few weeks, watching him carefully, he is giving me the heebie-jeebies - and that's not because I am unaware of the needs for reforms!

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