Re: Cold feet ?
 

Done :thumbsup: Thanks CS!

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Lot of wasted space there...

Re: Cold feet ?
 

I'd read through recent posts from JJMB very carefully before retiring to France. Her posts tell you what happens when you can no longer look after yourself and the effect it has on your children. I also had some conversations with a woman who worked in the British Consulat in Bordeaux about how difficult it becomes when one of you dies and the other has to cope on their own.

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Gosh this thread has grown a tad - really I'm not expecting our lives to be very different than here in rural Lincolnshire. With 7 dogs to excercise, train, groom and campaign I guess we'll be kept pretty busy. Just with a better climate, better food , no mortgage & a good lump sum behind us for emergencies :) To be honest I think life is what you make it , I'm expecting to have both French and UK friends over there , it won't be their nationality that counts but shared interests and compatibility. The logistics of doing it though is a nightmare and that's what's really putting us off. Finding rented accomodation and then getting all the dogs to the South West and then doing a second move once we've found our French home is all mind boggling stuff and we do like our home here - it's just that I'd have to go back to work a couple of days a week to pay the mortgage we still owe and after 34 years of teaching stroppy teenagers I'm burn't out !

Re: Cold feet ?
 

At last a sane post and by the OP too !!!

Can I suggest you work out what aspects of the move you need help, advice or counselling with and post those as a new thread?

Cheers IVV

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Hi Invinoveritas - thanks for that :) after lots of thought and dscussion we've had a change of plans and are now looking to relocate to Northern France instead. It just makes the whole thing so much easier as we can simply drive through the Chunnel with the dogs. So ....,, if anyone knows of a rural property in either Normandy or Brittany with at least 1 acre of land, no near neighbours and in excellent condition - let me know !!

Re: Cold feet ?
 

It still worries me a tad that there doesn't seem to be anything specific to France that you actively want in your lives. Generally, from what I've observed, moving to France hoping to live a UK lifestyle but with cheaper housing and better weather tends not to work because the Frenchness has a way of intruding. Unless you really do live in a bubble and ignore what's around you it's not really possible to live in a different country with a different culture, different customs, different laws, different language, different taxation system etc etc and barely notice that you're not still in Lincolnshire. You have to come into contact with the Frenchness on a more or less daily basis and if you're not actually getting any positive enjoyment out of interacting with all this Frenchness, it can all start seem like a load of unwanted hassle and annoyance and frustration that you never had in the UK.

But I do see where you're coming from. You have the dogs and you have your circle of friends so hopefully in your case your lifestyle will survive the transplant.

Shouldn't be hard to find at all.

PS Normandy climate better than the UK... hmm... not many people move to Normandy for the climate.

PPS Normandy and Brittany are normally considered western France, 'le grand Ouest'. Northern France is Nord (59)/ Pas de Calais (62)/Picardie etc.

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Some lovely spots there but personally when I was looking 3 decades ago it was too much like S.W. England but with a foreign language.

I spent 3 years looking at most regions before choosing Midi Pyrénées.
Then a couple choosing the commune, hence I was very certain of where I was going and what to, not escaping from something as so many do.

Re: Cold feet ?
 

I agree with ET here.
And as for comparing Normandy/Brittany with the Lot, or Midi-Pyrenees in general, well imho they are as different as chalk and cheese.
The average temperatures (and rainfall) in Normandy/Brittany are so different to Midi-Pyrenees, so you need to ask if that's suitable for yourselves and the future. Especially if you are looking for a better climate than Lincolnshire.

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Wow, that's a helluva change. I understood the logic for choosing Cahors but you've lost me completely now. Going to Normandy via the tunnel is hardly a very important factor in this decision is it?

Re: Cold feet ?
 

I see the OP has been/is also considering Ireland. So that's Eire, Normandy, Brittany, the north of France and Midi-Pyrenees all on the table so far.
Do beware of the "grass is greener" syndrome, and being tempted to pick a place to live in at random, for what it's not, rather than for what it is. It's the 'what it is' that becomes important once you've committed yourself, and it would IMHO take a quite extraordinarily self-contained or adaptable couple to uproot themselves from the UK and settle equally well, and feel equally at home, in all these different ambiances, they are so different.

If basically what you want is to get shot of the mortgage, you don't have to move to euroland to do it, there's plenty of cheap property in Wales and you don't even have the inconvenience of having to drive under the sea to get there.

Chosen at random: PLAS BACH | Small Holding | for sale LLANLLWNI

Re: Cold feet ?
 

Grendemon123, cold feet when moving are very much the norm...the only difference for me being that I moved from France to Canada, so my feet are often physically frozen too:blink:

You have everything going for you...an understanding of the language and culture, and yes, dependent on where you move to a very good chance of better weather. Please, if you aren't 'fixed' on where you are going, have a look at Sarthe and Pays de la Loire, it's a super area and often unsung.

I left France nearly three years ago after 15 mostly, happy years, for various reasons we needed to come to Canada. I miss France and the French on a daily basis. I miss good friends, honest, funny and open people, cheese, wine and a vibrant busy life. The French are as warm and welcoming as you are to them.

I wish you luck and joy...go to France and be happy!

Re: Cold feet ?
 

There are 1000's of houses that fit some of that criteria around here, but I'm a tad skeptical with your ease in shifting ends of the country that easy. I have lived in both regions and they do vary a lot and how the English are treated generally varies a fair bit as well imho.

Let's move on to your medical conditions, do your conditions involve seeing consultants regular like or hospitalisation some services are only found in larger hospitals and when you have heart conditions you need to weigh in that fact if you are to have a heart attack then your local hospital will be a stop over whilst they stabilise your condition until they can transfer you to a city unit where angiograms and stuff can be carried out.

Re: Cold feet ?
 

I mentioned this in #4 but it wasn't picked up.
Even if the "medical conditions" are simply cholesterol or high bp, the OPs should settle in or near a town with all medical facilities (WHEREVER!;))

Re: Cold feet ?
 

:goodpost:

You're both right, the climate in Normandy is not particularly mild :(

I remember a year where I was on hol in Brittany, it rained the whole week :lol: