A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

If you are thinking about moving to France, read this.
I know it is the Daily Mail but.....

France's other migrant problem - penniless and hungry BRITS: Their dreams of La Belle Vie turned to dust. Then they found the socialist French are far tougher than us - and won't pay benefits | Mail Online

Think carefully before you leap.:fingerscrossed:

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Isn't this what we all warn people about on here, it's not confined to France, but to many other EU countries, and to the USA, Canada and Australia. People really need to do their homework before moving to ANY other country, and work out what will happen in a worst case scenario.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

The clue is in 'she made a spontaneous life-changing decision'...:lol:

Did I say clue. I meant stupidity. You don't just up and emigrate to a different country of which you know pretty much zilch 'spontaneously'.

Hang on, there is another clue in 'she bought a property online without even viewing it'.:lol:

I blame Reality TV and cell phones...

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Plus the fact that they couldn't speak French, didn't understand the French jobs market or the bureaucracy etc. etc.
As Mikelincs says, sometimes we try to advise people of these potential problems (in our collective experience) without actually telling them that they are barking mad.
A move to another country can (and does) work but you need to have done your homework first and fully understand what you are letting yourself in for.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

I rest my case.

These people did not stand a chance. Their destiny was written before they even packed their bags. When kids are involved it is terrible. Trouble is there are thousands of expats moving to France each year and most will suffer a similar fate. They are trying to live a life in France that does not exist and certainly can't be done.

Don't move to France unless you have a job with a 'French contract' or looking to retire (if you can afford) and really.....don't move to rural France. Its false economy.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

We were told by a relocation agent we were given when we bought our house in Spain, about a family of 5, mother, father and 3 sons, all of whom were over 18. They bought a house in Spain, sold up in the UK and moved over, none of them knew Spanish, and they needed jobs to be able to survive as they brought over very little money, just enough to live on for aroun 4 weeks. The upshot was they were back in the UK, peniless, within 5 weeks, hoping to sell their Spanish house so they would have money in the UK. This was before the collapse of the job/housing market, i.e. pre 2008.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

You're just nitpicking. English is the global language today. Everyone should speak it.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Not in France

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

+1
and please believe us!

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Oh dear, I just can't resist responding to this.

A Brit who relocates to another country and can't speak the local language is at a MAJOR disadvantage. There's even no point arguing about English being the international language when you're surrounded by people who can, and will, speak a language you cannot understand.

Firstly, there is the issue of dual-pricing which exists in every foreign country. You have no hope getting local prices if you can't speak the linga franca. This is maybe why many Brits end up spending so much on their properties.

Secondly, there is the deliberate (occasionally it just might be unintentional) miscommunication where do not get what you expected, when you expected, at the price you expected).

Thirdly, there is the ignorance factor where you expect in all logic that things must work be somewhat similar to the good-old UK and boy is it a shock to find that sometimes there is no logic and often it isn't anything at all like the UK.

Fourthly, there is misdirection, on a massive scale by the French as to what constitutes a sensible economic strategy on anything in France - President Flanby being a particularly good example. Buying a cute 200 year-old cottage in the sticks falls firmly into this category.

Fifthly, there is the lack of informed knowledge as a result of not being able to follow pronouncements and reactions, both political and fiscal, in the the French media.

You are doing the right thing asking questions on this forum rather than doing a Place in the Sun but don't assume that you might know better than the collective experience of the members who share their experiences here.

My personal view is that anyone thinking of moving to France at the moment is clearly not following the plot of the play thus far.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

A daft question but has anyone here actually managed to buy a old French house with pre installed insulation? Normally you get tiles wood more wood bats rats hay bit of rubbish never seen insulation in a old house.

I really can't imagine why anyone buy a house on the internet without looking at it, when it's 7 hours by car or an hour and a bit from Gatwick "which they lived almost next door to" to Nantes.

This is a fine example of why the there are so many Brit own properties for sale here. It became very trendy to buy properties with your eyes wide shut.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

I speak 4 languages. Read the lines, chaps, read the lines....

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Or...you could read my post where I do say I speak French..

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

Sorry but the language comment was about your views and not about whether you speak French.

Re: A cautionary tale about moving to France
 

+1
I did not direct this thread at you.
There are other threads (present, past and future) where the person intending to relocate to France does not speak French.
If I had intended it for you I would have put it into your thread.
The article is current (today) and seemed appropriate.
You seem to have taken this personally, which was not my intention.