Kevangela

Hi there

We've just discovered this forum and would like to say hello.

We are fed up with British winters and feel we have a big adventure left in us. We are thinking about moving to France (it's my husbands dream). We're thinking of the Languedoc area in particular as we like the sun, failing that maybe the Dordogne. Can anyone give us any pointers/advice on any nice towns they could recommend? Ideally I'd like to be able to integrate into a community (with both expat and French). Also, I wouldn't want to be anywhere were we weren't wanted and be unable to do this, my worst nightmare would be to be isolated.

We are pre-retirees but wouldn't have to work. Except that I quite like the idea of buying property with a gite/self catering accommodation as a project to keep me busy.

We currently have no health issues. I have a little french but my husband doesn't have any.

Any help or advice received is very welcome.

Thanks in advance

dmu

hello again!
Just to add that you'd need to take out private healthcare insurance until your gîte business is set up and/or you're contributing into the French System. Others more in the know will come along to advise on the feasibility of such a venture in the Dordogne. I can tell you that, in my neck of the woods, Gîtes don't generate much income unless there's a special activity offered nearby.
As the years go by, I'm beginning to regret being in rural Hérault, far from Doctors, Dentists, Pharmacies, etc...., not to mention hospitals. But the last 25 years here have been good and we put up with having to drive everywhere.
To help integrate wherever you settle, join Clubs and Associations in your Commune where you'll make friends with similar interests. Go to all the activities that the Mairie organises.
Good luck with your decision!

Kevangela

Thanks for the tips dmu, especially about making sure there's plenty of activity nearby re the gite. One would be enough tbh, so I had somewhere for family to stay and hopefully I'd rent it out the rest of the time. Have you any favourite towns and villages in the Languedoc?

dmu

Not particularly, but from a professional point of view, you might look at the two spas, Lamalou-les-Bains and Avène. Cures last 3 weeks and you can be more or less sure of renting out for the 8-month season. Avène is beautiful, but dead in the winter, Lamalou is also a Rehabilitation Centre and open all year round, so fairly dynamic.
There's also Balaruc-les-Bains near the coast, and plenty of spas in the Pyrénées-Orientales...
Just an idea for "nearby activity"!

EuroTrash

I would just mildly point out that there are more adventurous things to do than simply setting up home in a different place.

You could for instance buy a campervan and tour Europe. You could follow the sun to your heart's content, see lots of different places and experience different ways of life, without having to give up the safety net of the UK and do battle over healthcare, taxes and suchlike mundane matters, with bureaucrates explaining foreign laws to you in a foreign language. If on your travels you fall in love with a place and feel sure it's where you want to spend your life, that would be the next chapter when you'd had enough of adventuring.

If I had the leisure and the money and I wanted adventure, that's what I'd do.

I moved here because I wanted to live in France. I enjoy being here but I wasn't expecting it to be a non-stop adventure in itself and it hasn't been, being at home is very peaceful which is what I like about it. So I don't quite see how simply hopping over to commit yourself to living in a different place is going to be a big adventure, once the novelty has worn off. To me adventure is what you do, and home is where you go back to in between the adventures.

Hmm, I think maybe I've gotten too fixated on "a big adventure", haven't I. But do think about it. Houses here can take a dickens of a time to sell, if you do eventually tire of the "adventure" of living in France.

cyrian

+1
Why don't you start by renting a gite for a month at a time to see how you like being somewhere as a resident rather than as a tourist.
Winters in France can be cold and dreary also but at least you have the possibility of having 4 seasons.
If you initially rent, then you have the choice to move elsewhere if you don't like it.
If you rent short term, then you would remain tax-resident in the UK and be covered for healthcare. If you are resident in France then you are no longer entitled to NHS treatment.
If you rent, then you don't have to open a french bank account or have to pay council tax.
I couldn't have coped with the french bureaucracy without my OH being fluent in French and us having French friends to explain some things to us.
Your dream can work for you but you need to plan carefully.
Do not burn your bridges in the UK before you know that the move to France is right for you.
Get this wrong and it could be a very expensive mistake.
Good luck.

BuckinghamshireBoy

I can only echo the comments of cyrian and EuroTrash. France is a large, diverse and in parts a beautiful country, so unless you absolutely have your heart set on a particular area, then I would bounce around for a few months either short-term renting or in a camper-van to see what feels good for you.

Good luck!

Kevangela

Hi Eurotrash. Thank you for your input. I would love to hire a campervan and tour Europe. In fact my husband and I always did say we would take a 6 month tour of Europe once we retired. You're right though an adventure is what you make it.

Hi Cyrian

Thanks for your input also. I would love to rent somewhere and get to know the area, good idea. We were planning on touring the Languedoc for a couple of weeks this September to explore. The bureaucracy scares me to be quite frank and is one of the reasons I joined this forum to do my homework

Thanks all for your replies, certainly food for thought

Tweedpipe

EuroTrash -

To the OP, I note that you like the sun, but one mustn't overlook the fact that even the South & SW France can get pretty cold and miserable for quite a few months of the year. The one and only time we ventured into Dordogne(Shire) was during a spring break when driving back from Paris; checking into the B&B that evening the weather was quite pleasant, but the next morning it was snowing heavily, which stayed with us for the next hour driving south down the motorway.
Another thing to bear in mind is that so many depts. in France suffer from terrible flooding, this being a re-occurring issue especially in recent years. Over the last 2 days there is again severe flooding in many areas of France.

The suggestion of getting a camper van in order to see what really suits you, is a very sound idea.

Kevangela

Hi Tweedpipe

Just learning about the weather. Didn't know about the flooding either, thanks for the tip

dmu

According to today's
Carte de vigilance Météo-France
the Hérault isn't affected (although it has been in the past), but the Dordogne has floods at the moment.

EuroTrash

France is probably the best place in the world for motorhomes. Just about every commune has a dedicated aire de camping car, some totally free to use and a lot are in terrific locations, right next to the beach etc. They have a very active federation of camping caristes that has traditionally built a good relationship with communes and works with them to set up facilities, the idea being that communes welcome camping caristes because they bring trade to the local shops and restaurants. Although unfortunately the tide seems to be starting to turn because inevitably it's been abused, more and more new-generation camping caristes never patronise local facilities and the communes are starting to feel they got a bad deal, a great shame IMHO. Over the last few decades it's worked really well. It's nothing at all like the UK where motorhomes are limited to staying on campsites all the time.

cermignano

Are there plenty of places to have repairs done if you run into problems?

EuroTrash

Do you mean, garages? Yes, France has garages. And many motorhome dealerships in case your problem is of a habitational rather than mechanical nature, but they're too expensive for me so I use my Heath Robinson skills instead.

I see you're interested in Spain too. I had an interesting experience at a Spanish garage once which nearly resulted in going up in flames, but we won't go there. But yes, I've had experiences with garagistes in most parts of France, most have been reasonably helpful and some have been amazingly helpful.