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hi all

my partner and myself along with my 2 childeren ( 10yrs and 11yrs) are thinking about moving to france this year.....providing we sell our house!

we are thinking about the pyrenees are, a property to renovate with some land.

does anyone know what it's like there? weather, schools, shops ect

we looked at Limisin when we came over last year because we wanted a lake.... couldnt find one we liked!

 

Cant wait to move but dont know where...................

Sandy

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Sandy ............

First and foremost, you shouldn't base your plans for location on the feedback you may get from here or any other site.  All of us think that where we have chosen to live is pretty good, but that's just human nature.  You have to do the groundwork yourself and that means doing a serious recce over a period of several weeks if needs be - depends how well you know the general area.  This time of the year is a good time to do it, before Spring arrives and it all seems too lovely ........

Do the recce, (hopefully) home in on a general area and then start to look seriously at property availability / costs / climate.

As for education for 10yo+'s, that's a whole different subject and there's plenty of stuff on here about that.  It hasn't been a concern for me, but the general advice seems to be "Tread carefully". 

  

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I so agree, Gardian, choose the place which will suit you!  It was a no brainer for us as we had spent so much time here before we ever contemplated living in this part of France, but still spent two or three long breaks in winter before being convinced.  I wouldn't dream of recommending it to anybody else as they may not want the kind of life we want (or the circuit de la Sarthe within driving distance!)
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For most people I would say that the above answers are the way to go, but that was not so in our case (no kids). We did a 3 week motorbike tour around the area in Easter 04, having never been here before. We saw a house that we liked and in Nov 04 we had given up our civil service jobs with the MOD and moved here permanantly. Would I do things different if I had the chance to? No.

We never look back and enjoy France and the people.

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If you're considering the Pyrenees area you should visit summer and winter. There's quite a difference. Very cold in winter and the traffic can be very heavy - skiiers. Having said that, this season there has been hardly any snow as yet, Pat.

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Thanks for all the advice guy's

i agree that we would never relocate on just the say so on forums. We have looked at other places as well as France.

My friend lives in north cyprus and we went to look there last year and even tho she offered me a job there we decided against it, mainly because garry, my other half, who is a builder wouldnt get work there and also the schooling wasnt that good.

We have looked at Italy but didnt think we could settle there. France seems to be the best mainly because it is close enough to England to return if there are problems with the childeren we are leaving behind and parents.

We will be coming over again to view places, we want to get away from here and enjoy life not just survive like we are doing now.

The main problem is we don't know where to look. We loved Limosin but we need to be able to make a living and didnt think we could there.

I suppose we are like a lot of Brits...looking for the good life... the nice weather.....getting away from it all!!!!  but we are also realistic, we know it will be hard work, but we are looking forward to that. As long as the kids have good schools to go to and are happy then thats the main thing.

Any advice or suggestons are more than welcome

Thanks

Sandy

 

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"my other half, who is a builder wouldnt get work there and also the schooling wasnt that good."

Are you certain that these things would be any better in France than Italy.

Please take a long look at threads in "Earning a Living in France" and "Education".

Hoddy
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If your hubbie is a builder you need to choose a region where there is lots of building going on, I'm in the south west, les landes,and they are always looking for people.  Also I think if you want to choose an area think of the climate. We had a holiday place in the Limousin, very long winters compared to here and it was cold !  My son has a place in the Pyrenees and snow usually only falls high up.......places like Pau and south of it can be very mild. If you are touring around look and see what they grow, a good inclination on the weather they get is what they grow........best of luck !

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Hi again

Hoody, thanks for the advice, i have looked at the education and employment threads and found them interesting.

I think its like anywhere, you can get good and bad schools, but in general they appear to be good.

As for employment, we are hoping to be able to keep ourselves going with renovation work or a fishing lake.

 

lil, The property we are interested in in the midi-pyreneese is in Lacaune. We have alo seen property inAquitaine ( villebois ) and Poitou-Charentes ( melle ), there is also a carp lake in that area.

We are hoping to come over in Feb to have another look, but have had a little hic up, hubby has broken his arm and hand yesterday, stupid thing to do when we are trying to get the extention on our house finished so we can sell it [;-)]

Sandy

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Hi sandy - sorry to hear about your husband's accident, hopefully he'll enjoy the enforced rest and that his arm mends quickly. I remember that happening to me and, after a few weeks of being in a pot, I just couldn't stop scratching!!! The relief to have it off, but then it still took weeks to get back to normal strength.

Anyway, I can certainly vouch for the Pau area of the Pyrenees. It's absolutely beautiful. We're planning to make the move there at some point when we find the right place but properties are much more expensive there than here, but there is sooo much to see and do!

At the moment we live in Charente and love it here.

We have a small business but at times it's really been a struggle and, unless your French is very good, you'll find that you need lots of British folks around to get work. It's nothing like the UK. The health and pension charges are really high, so make sure you can get work before you register (this is a legal requirement for s/e) otherwise life is just as miserable as anywhere if you are struggling to pay the bills. Make sure you have enough capital for your family to get by on for a least 2 years so that you can build up a business/customer base, and in the meantime, learn FRENCH - you'll struggle to manage without it.

On the bright side though, we've always had plenty of work (although sometimes payments are very erratic), life is much more relaxed and the sun shines here much more than it did in NE Essex!!

Not sure about carp lakes in the Pyrenees, but as you say there are several in the Limousin. Vienne and North Dordogne.

Do a search on google for agence immobiliers in Haute-Pyrenees, Pyrenees-Atlantique and Haute Garonne. That will give you an idea of properties available and prices (and keep you busy for days!).

Good luck.

Good luck.
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There are bound to be some exceptions, but it seems to be a rule that those who are happy in France and take to the French life are those who either have no need to earn money (i.e. have loads of savings or a good pension from elsewhere) or those who have few if any commitments and can get by on little (you say you are leaving children etc behind - even adult offspring and elderly parents are still a commitment, you will need to see them regularly).

Whatever you do, don't assume that you are going to earn a living wage from day one, however hard you are prepared to work. Even if you get salaried employment it is not likely to be at much more than the minimum wage and will probably be something like working in a pig processing plant. And there is little or no real practical help for the self-employed starting out in business. The alternative is to work in the black economy, but we could not possibly condone that on a forum like this, and it does carry certain risks.

We're not saying don't do it - just make sure you do it with your eyes open.

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Hello

I live near Carcassonne and if you are looking for a lake I think the area around lake Montbel near Mirepoix, Chalabre, Camon is lovely. You are in the foothills of the Pyrenees with killer views but not too near to be over  run with skiers or snowed in - though not much chance of that anywhere this year. You'll be glad to know it has been very sunny and warm here for days - t shirt weather (nearly!). Good luck.

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Well spotted Ernie - I think I have mentioned it twice here recently. It is something that often comes up on a certain Brittany forum. It seems there are several of these plants in an area where a lot of English live, and they are about the only place where jobs are available for non-fluent French speakers. The work is apparently very physical, very messy, and definitely not for vegetarians, animal lovers or those with weak stomachs. Not many manage to stay for long. Those who do, seem to display an air of superiority, fortunately falling short of smugness, in their postings on that forum. Anybody who can work there and still say, with all honesty, that they love being in France and would never return to Britain must be the true francophiles.

I don't think I could do a job like that, but it is all that seems to be available there. Something to bear in mind for people who think finding work won't be too difficult in France.

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