clangrant

Hi everyone. We re new to this and are not even Ex Pats....yet!!! We wold love some advice/opinions regarding ou situation!!

We are considering moving to France to escape the Rat-Race of life in Northern Ireland. We have two children, aged 11 and 10 however, the 11 yr old girl is not keen to go! We have a good life here in terms of material things, ie two cars, big home, good well paid jobs, but we both work long hours and have little quality time as a family. When we are off work, our time is taken up with the household chores organising things for the next working week. And so the Rat Race continues!! We have been to visit France only once but were so impressed by the French way of life that we came home thinking that we would move there when our kids got older. That was almost a year ago and we still would love to move to France, except now we are wondering, why wait til the kids leave home?? Why not move there now and allow the children to experience a dfferent culture. We are going back to France in July for three weeks, although it is simply for a holiday. We are frightened to make the leap to move there because we are worried that if it doesnt work out, we will have given up jobs, home, etc here!! We are also worried that our daughter would not settle as she so desperately does not want to move. We both think that this is simply fear of the unknown and that she would be fine. We dont have strong links to family and the close friends that we have would travel frequently to stay with us. Is it easy to find work in France?? My husband is a Project Manager and Design Engineer. Although i am currenly working, I plan to work only part time if we were to move. The other thing I am unsure about is learning the language. My husband and I have limited French and would like recommendations of material to become more competent with French conversation. Please tell me your thoughts about our situaton.

Thanks

Ka Ora!

We moved with a child at the time one that was a lot younger only one, now we have two, A shift at that age will be harder especially on one thats started Secondary school, it will mean a lot of catching up in the realms of French education at a guess probably an extra year at school. But other members with children of that age will be able to let you know more about how there Children adjusted, but in whole it will be better for them and you.
As with regards to work i would suggest doing your homework on whether or not you qualifications will be recognized here which will mean speaking to someone from the association that governs that profession. The best thing is to immerse your self in the life and culture with trips to find a new home, and i would suggest sampling as much of France as you can, don't entirely count on other peoples opinions because whats good for them might not suit you at all. This is something in hindsight that i wish we had done looked around a bit more. Don't forget that the more remote a place to live is the cost of living will increase in other ways, but the Taxes for the property will be cheaper. The French are certainly more at peace with the countryside that surround them and enjoy the fruit's of labor more so.
They are in a number of regions bargains still to be had you just have to look a bit harder, and possibly do a bit more work. You will never know until you dip your feet in the water. Give it a go and good luck

And dont be afraid to come back with Specific Questions..even silly ones. we have all done it.

Jazzy n Lol

Hello and welcome

Just to add to what Ka Ora! said, we moved here 2 years back with little french and a 12 year old daughter in tow! She was hugely excited about it, but as for my other 2, my 11 year old daughter and 17 year old son, they didn't want to leave Wales. My son was doing A levels and heavily involved in althletics with olympic hopes, so we knew he probably wouldn't come, and my daughter just didn't want to leave her father all alone! They were all given the choice, and 2 years on, everyone is very happy. I know you haven't got the choices we did, but reassure your daughters, they will soon settle in, be fluent within 6-9 months and have plenty of admiring friends. My daughter has done very well, never needed to repeat a year (she went in straight to 2nd year) and her latest report shows her at above average in everything - (top in english, ha ha). There is plenty to do and she is having a childhood like I did, rather than turning into a "teenager" too fast, the french pace is so much better for children being allowed to be children.

Our french has improved, we had little when we got here, we take 3 lessons a week, paid for by the government as a service for people seeking work. My partner is a maths teacher and I am a qualified pharmacist technician, and although the teaching qualification is not recognized, he is volunteering at the local college and will get paid from september on. I am lucky that my qualification is recognized and am waiting for an interview. However, there is plenty of work if you are willing to learn to speak french and not expect a huge salary. A few friends work at the local retirement home, and there is holiday work at the campsite over the holidays.

I would advise reading through the many threads that are from people wondering about taking the plunge, they are packed with advice and tips.
You have to decide which part of France will work for you firstly, and as Ka Ora! says, don't rely too much on advice, come on over and immerse yourself - at every town there is a Mairie where you can find lots of information regarding schools, colleges and rates.

Good luck, and if either of your daughters would like to speak directly by email to my daughter, please PM me and I will set it up. She did this for a while before we came, and it certainly gave her confidence.

(You need to have made 3 posts before you PM)


Whatever you all decide, good luck

clangrant

Thanks for your advice. Jazzy I will certainly talk to my daughter about setting up a link with yours to see if it wil give her the details she needs to boost her belief in our potential new life. I am a qualified Social Worker and my qualifications are recognised throughout Europe but I dont know if I want to continue in this career. Also, my French would need to be spectacular to continue in SW in another country!! Can I ask, what made you decide to move to France and how long from those first notions did it take before you took the plunge??

Jazzy n Lol

Sure. Mostly being fed up with my job, I was working as a pharma rep at the time, and although pay and benefits were amazing, I was just burned out. My parents and sister have been living here for 12 years, and although they are still a few hours away, it feels so much better being in the same country. One day we had a call from my mum telling us about this house in a place we'd never heard of, and we persuaded her to go and look for us. After the initial thumbs up from her, we came over for a weekend, and promptly put a deposit down. I bought my smallholding in Wales very cheaply and after 3 years and lots of back breaking work sold it with a great profit. My partner Lol had his own house in Birmingham at the time. Our houses went up for sale the next day and luckily we sold very quickly. We were in six weeks later! Impulsive? No, not us!! Looking back, we probably should have kept the Birminham house and rented it, but we were convinced we were never coming back (and still are). We arrived in a big lorry on June 29th 2006, cat and all, and 2 years on we still love it. We have made several trips back to the UK to see family and each school holiday we cross the channel many times swopping daughters, hectic but it works for us. On these trips we are reminded of how crowded, noisy and expensive Britain has got, and I truly pine for home.

We don't have many friends here, and I miss not having a mate to have a cuppa with and share the chat, but 3 times a week we see the ex pats at our lessons, and enjoy talks with people from Morocco, Roumania, Thailand and even Russia. The best thing of all is hearing my daughter come in from school (she finishes at 5pm!) with friends, chattering like a native.


Like you, I had no notions of continuing my career here, medical talk in french? Ha, I get funny looks sometimes when I ask directions! We knew it would be hard but we didn't come here for the grand life, so now live simply and carefully and enjoy this blessed freedom.

LizB

Hi there,
Well it seems you are already doing the right thing by spending time researching a possible move and not jumping in without knowing what's in store. I personally came here without children but have many English friends who came with children and most have settled superbly. If anything it ends up being the parents who are homesick!! It does depend on the personality of the child and whether they'll have the confidence to get stuck in with the language..and if the parents encourage this.
If family ties to home aren't a big problem for you, that's good because for many of us that's the hardest part of living here.
If you're going to be self-employed I would say do your homework because my husband is a carpenter and we find it (nearly 4 years on) a real struggle to get by. Having said that, I don't work (lazy cow, I hear you say!) But we do find we can't afford the luxuries in life anymore, so be sure that this is something you're ok with. Then again, the sunsets here are priceless..
Best of luck whatever you decide!

clangrant

Thanks for your reply Liz. We have so many questions about life over there that it will prob take us a year to answer them all and gain the confidence to move there!! Our children are both confident kids, however, we only moved to our current home in Dec 06 from 15 miles away and they didnt want to move then either altho France is slightly further away!!! They love it here now and our daughter in particular has developed close friendships. I think this is why the move to France is so daunting for her. She is just about to start secondary school in Sept and doesnt know anyone!! They are also both adaptable children, on oliday every year they make friends on the first day!! We have lots to reseach before we even contemplate the move but house prices here are not looking good nor are sales of houses so I dont really know whats ahead. What age were you when you moved over there? And can I ask why you chose France? We have beenlooking at loads of regions. Where do you recommend??

Le Chant

We came to France in the summer of 05. We brought our three children then aged 13, 16 and 18. We also (for my sins) brought my mother-in-law! The kids went to French school, made friends and did ok. The middle child is now working towards her qualifications in hotellerie. She's almost completed 2 year, and will do another 2, possibly in Nantes, or La Rochelle. She wouldn't dream of going back. The youngest starts his apprentissage soon as a carreleur (tiler), and he's looking forward to that. Neither gained any academic qualifications here in France, and I have stewed over whether we've let our youngest down, by not giving him the chance to get any in the UK before moving here. He's happy enough, and the fact is that things are different here. There's less emphasis placed on academia as a way into a career, and lots more placed on attitude, personality and capability. Our eldest felt he couldn't find a way forward here with us, so moved back to the UK and is now settled in a job in Manchester that he enjoys.

Your kids may well be unhappy to leave their friends behind, and daunted by the prospect of learning in another language. Be prepared for tears, tantrums, arguments and worse. Hopefully, that stage won't last too long, then they'll begin to realise that France is a lovely place to be. Kids don't grow up too quickly here, they enjoy their childhood and so do their parents. Our one regret as parents is that we didn't make the move earlier. But, then again - everything happens for a reason.

Bon chance!

val50

We've been here since 2001 now, moved when the children were 13, 15 and 16. We were in South Africa/Namibia before the move, and as hard as it was leaving friends behind, we all knew it was for the best. We were also lucky in that my OH was offered a job in Normandy. He's a marine biologist and I'm a nurse. I didn't work for the first few years, busy with the renovations of the old farm we bought, but wanted to make sure I didn't loose my registration with the nursing council in UK, so travelled back and forth from Cherbourg to Portsmouth, where I did 3x12 hour shifts a week. There are quite a few people we know in this part of France who live here but work in UK for part of the week. Not so easy the last 2 years since P&O stopped the Portsmouth to Cherbourg ferry, and Brittany only have the fast boat on that route from March to October. Our kids have done really well from the move, all at university at the moment. One thing they found was how helpful the local children were when they first started school - especially as coming from SA none of ours had done French before. They are all now billingual and I think have more confidence than they would have done if we'd not made the move.
Don't regret it for a minute.

tommyh1979

Hi Clangrant,

When moving abroad it is important to get your finances etc in order. You will need to sort out a Notaire, Immobilier, Insurance and currency specialist. I use various sites for example www.notaires.fr and the French part of this site and for currency this can be quite useful http://forexreporting.blogspot.com/

septimus

[QUOTE=tommyh1979;6148325]Hi Clangrant,

When moving abroad it is important to get your finances etc in order. You will need to sort out a Notaire, Immobilier, Insurance and currency specialist. I use various sites for example www.notaires.fr and the French part of this site and for currency this can be quite useful http://forexreporting.blogspot.com/[/QUOT



Well sorted