Dave Maggie Siddall

We were wondering if members would care to share their reasons for settling where they did in France.

cyrian

Having read many posts on the forum, people have moved to France for various reasons.
Perhaps that is where their work was or they wanted a rural setting or they wanted to keep their horses or they wanted to be by the sea or they wanted lots of sunshine.
Some have even moved to more rainy parts but wanted to keep easy travel links with the UK.
After having visited most parts of France we chose the Loire valley because it was not too hot/cold; had good links back to the UK; was interesting historically; had good wine and food; was within easy reach of other places by TGV or autoroute or plane.
It also had some nice golf courses.
You need to think about what your priorities are and then look at the choice you have.
Happy hunting.

dennerlymum

we ended up near toulouse for my husbands work; we moved further out due to constrained circumstances; actually ending up as a real positive as I love it here!

cuthbert

I only had a choice of Switzerland or 01 / 74 departments as I came to work at CERN. Chose 01 in the end as the traffic to get home is far easier, and it was right on the doorstep of my office, 11 years later no regrets.

smithyandlisa

We came here on holiday, (first holiday in France I may add), and fell in love with the area. Went home, sold our house, gave up two great jobs, and 4 months later we were living here. Mad? Obviously! The right decision? Without question! It's just over 3 years now, and we absolutely love it.

Novocastrian

We decided to buy a place in France for our eventual retirement and started seriously looking about 8 years ago; after visits to Charente Maritime. Loire, Vendee etc., we slowly realized we were wasting our time and that actually we didn't want to retire in France; we really wanted to retire in Basse-Normandie where most of the OH's family live and which we already knew very well after decades of holidays there.

That is where we bought our house 4 years ago.

dmu

Hi, I came over to work in Paris x years ago, met and married my OH, lived several years in the Paris suburbs, then, when OH retired and wanted to rear goats in the Cévennes, I put my foot down and we came to a compromise. We've lived in rural (but civilized) Hérault ever since!

G-J-B

Have lived in Paris for just over 3 years, because that's where my girlfriend was from, but am moving to Charente Limousine next month, as we have two babies, and want more space to live in and for them to run around in. Although in the middle of nowhere, there is a major town and city not that far away. We chose the place purely by chance as for a good couple of years, we'd planned on Auvergne.

bigglesworth

We had decided on Northern Spain, but got caught out by the volcano, and discovered how important it was to us to get back to the UK easily when necessary. So we are just off a good motorway and rail connection, two airports nearby and the TGV coming soon. Others of course might see that ease of access as a negative.

leforgais

We holidayed in the Vendee with small children, returned with older ones and fell in love with it. Finally moved out here in November after retiring and selling up in UK.

derbyflan

Still looking...

I resigned from work to come to France but my Boss made me an offer I couldn't refuse!

I could work part-time and travel back to the UK once per month for a week to deliver my course (I'm a trainer) - added bonus was that work agreed to pay for travel back and forth

Came over last September and wanted to try out life in the South. Stayed for two months in Le Cap d'Agde and then another month in Pezenas. We've now secured a 14-month rental in the Charente Maritime and have got our 4-year old into a local school which is excellent.

Still undecided about the long-term and our UK home is being let out to Tenants on a 12-month contract.

So far so very good. If it were down to me, I'd sell up and stay here. Time will tell though.

Blackladder

Hi all,

I have lived in Scandinavia (mostly Sweden) for 42 years and as retirement approached, I said 'not another bloody winter here', so 2 years ago we started looking for a holiday/retirement home further south and west. I had fond memories of playing rugby with an English club on tour in SW France, so we started looking there (around Angouleme and Bordeaux). We bought a small place in the Charente and have been slowly but surely moving furniture and things and this year, insha'alla, we will be making the final move from the Frozen North to la Douce France. We spent all of last summer in the Charente and got to know a lot of both French and English neighbours who have become good friends. Having spent a lot of time in France I am pretty good with the language, my wife is learning and making good progress, and that's a key issue if you are to settle and feel at home in France, the language.

Anybody wants to see what Swedish winters look like, for the snow lovers, pm me!

Blackie

Novocastrian

Are they anything like Canadian winters?

I'm yet to say "not another bloody winter here", but I think I can say "only one more bloody winter here" after this one.

Blackladder

Hi Novocastrian!

Here's a few shots:

http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/l...%20and%20snow/

got some from a hide photoshoot if you're interested.

Blackie

Novocastrian

Cheers Blackie. Yup, just like Canada.

<this years been exceptional though; there's barely a covering on the ground here in southern Ontario on Jan 14th, quite strange>