Having lived in the South of France for over 2 years I am now wondering if this has been a huge mistake! For a start, the last winter was no drier or warmer than the West of England. Financially, I am finding it more expensive to live here than in England - the cost of food, petrol etc. seems to be no cheaper.

The paperwork here is an absolute nightmare - it took over 12 months to re-register a previously UK registered motorbike.

There is nothing to do in the Winter - is cooking and gardening all that people do here? Where is all the live music and buzzing parties?

I could go on, but would sound like a good old moaner - your comments please!

Life is what you make it, And home is where you dig it.

Do you think it would be any cheaper in the UK?

There is more to living abroad than the cost of living.

There is loads to do in the winter, Buy some ski`s and find a mountain. With some snow on it. Your not that far away from it. Carcassonne to Foix 40 miles or 64.36 Kilometers then Foix to Andorra is about another 60kms.

Before moving anywhere you should consider what the climate is going to be like all year round, Climates are very fluid like and fluctuate a lot. This end is in a Damp spell at the moment but good winters will return.

Welcome to the France forum!
It sounds as though you didn't do your homework before you came here.
It's a myth that the weather is better in the South of France than the North (and beyond). I'm not far from you in the Hérault and we often get -8° in Jan/Feb, torrential rain from Autumn to Spring, and always la Tramontane. This year we had an impossibly long, hot, dry summer. You just adapt!!
France is notorious for its bureaucracy, in all fields. You put up with it, like the French do!
I would have thought Carcassonne would offer a lot of all-year activities - go along to your Mairie to get a list of all the Associations that you could join and they should also have a booklet saying where the local scene is.
Hope you get over your disillusionment soon, just think French rather than compare with your earlier life!

hi there
I agree with Ka Ora that life is what you make of it; we have lived in many places and find that really, monday to friday life has been the same no matter where we were. I agree with you though, that it is more expensive here in france at the moment and it can be difficult to make ends meet.
At the end though YOU must decide which place/ life is right for you, perhaps by drawing up honestly a list of the pros and cons of both countries. Good Luck!

I expect better of you Mr. Ora!

Climates don't fluctuate a lot: Weather does.

Well Mr Novocastratepain.

Climates do fluctuate at lot, Its just a extreme temperature margin range and a longer time period. 13,7 billion years since the big bang, Your Solar system formed some 5 to 6 billion years ago and Earth was created since that creation the Global Climate has fluctuated a lot. The planet known as Earth gets an Ice Age once about every 150 million years with the exception of Mini Ice Ages which can occur quite randomly.

Global Warming, That is a fluctuation that is occurring before your own eyes. Although heavily influenced by your Humans Species.

And whilst we are on the subject, Meteorologists should be renamed to Weather Witch Doctors because I thinks its sums up their ability a little better.

Hi Carcassonne,

I'm sorry to hear your move isn't working out for you. I can identify with your frustrations. The advice given already is sound and I hope you follow it.
If you still feel unhappy after that and decide to move on then my two penneth would be to look at what you have or haven't done that has hindered you settling in. I'm not trying to be rude or offend in any way, I am speaking from my own experience. As much as I am unhappy where I am and could moan for hrs about the things wrong with "this place". I know that I have made a lot of mistakes that have not helped. By recognising my part in this failure I feel won't make the same ones when I move next yr.

Hello,
sad to read you feel like going home if you have done 2 years then you deserve a medal...
I have lived in the south of france for 3 years, have found living here difficult and the people ok but wired differently in many ways.
Are you employed or retired?
I think i did myself a big favour in jumping in at the deep end by getting a job with a french employer with absolutly no english spoken within its employees.
Promoted to chief equipe i now deal verbaly with at least 10 people a day which is complete pain or joy depending how you see it.
I do not unfortunatly enjoy the same great lifestyle as some members in this forum but feel i am intergrated into the tax paying system like the rest of the sad french twits i work with.....
I would say its like working very hard with a sack of potatoes on your shoulder in a box with no holes...
p.s if i have problem living here i ask someone at work
why i live here,thats my buisness its not by choice
I get out alot there are some good clubs depending on taste...

I find France a great deal more expensive than the UK for virtually all everyday things, for example baby milk costs me three times the price than that of the UK, but France for me was about a lifestyle choice, not a financial one. Wherever you lay your hat, that's your home as Paul Young once sang, and I do believe in making the most of where you are. There's nothing wrong in finding out somewhere is not for you; depending on your situation you just need to make some decisions and if need be, move on.

This is not the sense of what the OP or your reply implied.

Ask Val what I do for a living. You might be surprised.

Hey - thanks for all your replies! What a difference a day makes!

What can I say, weather great today - so off to the Med on the motorcycle via the Corbiere mountain region! Great ride, wonderful scenery - of course the resort was all closed up for the winter!

I think, from your comments, that you may have been better off (though not financially!) moving to the Côte d'Azur! Having lived in Antibes between Nice and Cannes (and worked nearby) for 9 years of the 15 I have now lived in France (with more different regions and local climates than the UK (I am originally from Torquay) I can say that the area around there "buzzes" in summer and winter.. always a multitude of things going on to please all tastes - and a large Brit presence (to join in with or avoid according to taste and mood).

Of course, to buy a property around there you would either need a quite large budget - or a quite long ride from the hills into "town".

To give you a flavour check http://www.rivieraradio.mc/home.asp - have a listen http://shoutcast.radica.com:9010/listen.pls

We now live in Palaja (5km from Carcassonne Cité) as my wife has a good job in the Hotel de la Cité which was too good to miss!!

We were going to move there, But struggled to get four in to a kennel.

Sure they are expensive, but if you don't need too much space and like a good setting near Nice,
then some bargains usually in/around La Trinité, e.g.
http://www.seloger.com/detail.htm?ci..._px&bclannpg=1
Course, you pay also for the location and the "Côte" facilities - including Nice airport,
second largest in France, but not as if one needs millions!!

Is that a platitude I see before me?

If it was so easy to "make it", none of us would ever have moved country, because we would have "made it" where we were.