Where to start - towns with 'family' expat community

[helene]

we will be coming up to Brittany for a few months as part of a tour of France in search of a place to settle.

can anyone suggest any large towns in Brittany with expat(uk/english speaking) families? we are looking for a town with schools near by, bars, market culture.

although we will ease into french living, it would be great to have a uk family/community network to help us along the way.

thanks

helen

[Beryl]

I know every one has to start somewhere but do have a job that can be done from anywhere as you haven't mentioned this in your criteria.

I am not one of these who would knock living in an expat community but it would not be at the top of my list for these reasons which may or not be valid.

Living in an expat community would have made me lazy. Living in an alien country with a language that I don't understand fully, does have its challenges but that is part of the experience. Yes I get stuck and thank goodness I have the forum to help me out. However, I would not want to necessary start making friends (except in cyberspace) with people whose only common link with me could just be the language. You say that you want to ease into French living, but I truely believe it will take you a lot longer if you choose this route.

A network to help you?  There is a thin line between having people help you and becoming a burden as a member found on here last year when she was being put upon by her 'new best (English) friend'. There are hold hand agencies ( mixed reports ) that can assist for a reasonable fee, if you join one of these it could mean that you could relocate to an area that really appeals to you and people won't pretend to be out when you call [:)].

By choosing an expat community, you are already limiting your options in a large beautiful country. For example there are a lot of Brits that live in the centre of Brittany but what if your want to live by the sea side?  Of course they live there too but not in such numbers.

I am sure someone will be able to give you details of all the benefits of living in an expat community and you will have another perspective to think about.

Best of luck

 

 

 

[Val_2]

Central Brittany round Pontivy, Mur de Bretagne and Carhaix have large numbers of british people there. Far fewer round the coastal areas and the far west.

[helene]

thanks for the suggestions and thoughts....

[Ac50]

Agree fully with all you say Beryl.  We moved to France from a expat community (Namibia).  After that experience, when we arrived in Normandy we made a decision to stay away from expats and try to make friends locally.  We had 3 teenagers at the time, who all went to school locally.  None of us spoke French when we arrived, although my husband's company were fantastic in helping us settle in.  The first few months weren't easy but now we have no regrets and know we made the right decision.  All our children are now bi-llingual, we have some great friends (french and English) and love the way of life in France. We would have missed so much if we had only mixed with other expats.

Why would you want to move to another country if you don't want to experience all it has to offer?  I know it's good to know you have a safety net if you need one, but are you 100% sure you want to move?  As we've found out, attitude is one thing that can make such a difference to where you live.

Language isn't the only problem when moving to a new country.  As many of you know, we moved to Canada just over a year ago now.  Everyone here in Nova Scotia speaks English (a form of it anyway!!!).  The move was a terrible mistake.  We are surrounded by expats, nearly all of them spend their time moaning and wishing they could move away. Unfortunately the cost of getting here is so high it's not so easy to go back once you've made the move.  We were lucky in being able to keep a small house in France, and I have been able to spend a few months there, which will hopefully increase once our son finishes school in June.