molly1664

Has anyone got direct experience of living in France and commuting to the UK on a weekly basis?


I run a LTD company and take short term contracts so can be flexible about working hours and working areas.

On paper it all seems to work from the financial aspect but it would be helpful to get advice from someone who has done it as we all know what works on paper could be very different in reality.

EuroTrash

Having done a certain amount of it - it can go badly belly-up in winter if the weather is against you, the service you booked is cancelled and you're stuck, absolutely nothing you can do about it. Not so bad if you can't get home, but if you have to let clients down it's not good. Once the bad weather sets in, it gets stressful.

Also - well, I just got plain sick of all the travelling. Waste of time, waste of money, and tiring, I got to dread it. In the end it seemed simpler to ditch working in the UK and find clients in France. But some people do it long term. I suppose if your work is well paid and you can pay for luxury class every trip it's OK.

I guess it all depends how much you want to live in France.

cyrian

On your other posts, you talk about buying somewhere for €50k and spending some horsey time.
It is unlikely that you will get somewhere for €50k in France in commuting distance from the UK. (Other than a "project").
Unlike Ireland, you would have to pay "council tax" on your property.
Equestrian sport is very popular in France but if you bring a horse then you would need to have somewhere to "garage" it.
In addition, vets bill are high in France.
You would be better to consider renting somewhere for a few months in whatever country you choose and find out how it would work in practice.
Good luck

EuroTrash

Well Normandy's very horsey, particularly up in Manche which is also convenient for the ferry from Caen or Cherbourg (if it keeps running) and not too bad for Dinard airport. But 50k for a nice landed property, hmmm.
If your priority is to have a lot of horsey time, I'm not convinced that spending big chunks of your life stressed out on trains boats or planes and cars/away from home, is the best way to achieve it.

molly1664

Thanks for the replies, I am not looking to move to france but need to research the principles of communting to the Uk from another european country. My aim is to only do it for 6 months max if I have to. Just hoped that other's who had experienced it could give me their wisdom.

bigglesworth

I did it for a week every month for several years. It is a bit of a pain, but so long as you are organised it is perfectly manageable,
I deliberately picked central France where I have a choice of two airports, a LGV service and a direct road route (five hours to Calais).
You inevitably get to meet all the very many others who do it weekly. Most do a 4 to 4 1/2 day week.

Chatter Static

Yes but their wisdom would be based on living in France, But ultimately if you're commuting then you have to either live probably within an hour from an Airport or port which is going to put the property price up quite considerably and you haven't mentioned where in the UK you need to end up as smaller airports can be limiting on where you can travel too.

cyrian

Please accept my apologies, I misunderstood your question was about living in France and commuting on a weekly basis.

dmu

This is what I understood, i.e. being resident in France and regularly commuting to the UK to work there. But the OP has since specified that it would be for 6 months max, so at least the questions of tax-residency, healthcare coverage, ... which I mentioned in another thread, wouldn't be relevant (?).

EuroTrash

The way I see it, it's not a lifestyle you'd adopt for fun. You'd do it as a means to an end. So if the ultimate goal is not to live in France, and you're doing all that yo-yoing to and from a place that isn't even 'home', I'm not sure why you would put yourself through it. But I guess the OP has their own good reasons.

Tweedpipe

As already noted, you would certainly be at the mercy of adverse weather conditions during winter.
But there's another big negative to be considered. Strikes in France. They've always been numerous; if it's not grievances with airline aircrew, it's the baggage-handlers, or customs personnel, or air-traffic controllers etc. Rail travel can be as bad, if not worse, with "greve SNCF" being one of the most frequent news headlines or overheard comment.
Imho you have to be very keen, or mad (or both) to commute long distances these days.
Having said that, in the 70's when I worked at CDG, I used to have occasional breakfasts with a guy who commuted daily between Paris and New York - a little over 3:30hrs flight time. He used to love the life, but rather him than me.

jvc

There are too many strikes at ports and airports in France to be doing a commute. The tunnel is getting awful with delays and the combining of trains, so they are not as reliable, or cheap as they used to be. We would love to drive back from here to the Uk more than we do to stock up, but tbh the tolls are 70 euros each way from here, and what with petrol, it is simply not practical.I think even being nearer the north coast wouldn't give you the weather, and still means travel disruption. The only saving grace is the peage which is always nice and clear.

babyposer

Hi,

I did not commute from France to England but I was doing it in France from Paris to a province city (more than 4 hours by train).

To be honest it was really tiring and sometimes I felt I was spending my life in the train.

But I was living in Paris and had to take the RER on a daily basis (1 hour and a half each way, taking the bus then train then walk), plus the train to get to my province home on the week ends.

So if you decide to go for it, the best would be to live really close to the station or airport, otherwise you may feel fed up quickly. It's also better to limit the means of transport if possible. When you have a bus then a flight then a train... forget about it, it's too tiring and probably too expensive as well.

You have to keep in mind that you will lose your quality of life if you travel every week.

Having said that if it's for a limited time only (for instance a year), I would go for it.

I may be in the same situation as you soon so if it happens I'll let you know

TinaBee

I used to commute from Normandy to Southampton as a foot passenger, by ferry, often for a week or so at a time, but not every week. Summer is more flexible, as there is the fast ferry and more sailings, winter is more problematic as others have said. Between 6 and 9 hours travelling time was about normal, allowing for trains/transfers in the UK and being collected from Caen or Cherbourg in France.

Im_and_Er

Wouldn't they ?

There is more to residency than how many days you spend in France !

Example: If you only have one property and that is in France then you are almost certainly French resident. You can also be deemed French resident without actually setting foot in the country.