beachgal21

Thanks for the tip

InVinoVeritas

Honestly Beachgal, I think your best bet would be to swap lives with a French couple. There must at least a million who would rather live in Florida than in France!

Tweedpipe

Do you mean including the respective partners in the swap? Would certainly ease the transition, not the least for learning French!

Chatter Static

As I said employment is a big factor when living here, France is probably the most expensive place in Europe to be self employed and it's pretty complicated I know a few English folk that have basically gone bust when the tax bill comes in as it's not uncommon to be over quoted for tax which you then have to pay whilst waiting for reassessment for the proper figure.

EuroTrash

In the league tables of the most business-friendly countries, the UK invariably comes way way ahead of France. On the table below, when it comes to burden of taxes the UK is at number 14 and France is at number 52.
http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

beachgal21

They're welcome to Florida .... it's not all sun, sand and orange juice you know

miss limousin

Be VERY careful if you buy in France who your neighbours are. I wanted neighbours because I am alone, and thought it would be nice to have people around to say hello to, and exchange a few words. I have one very friendly neighbour, but have ended up with the devil incarnate for another neighbour, who has cost me dearly in both money and loss of peace of mind with his access blocking tactics and constant petty complaints to his friends in the Mairie, who of course are always on his side. I now have to sell up to save my sanity.

beachgal21

OK the job situation is cr@p and people are taxed up the YingYang .... so what's the attraction of moving to France?

EuroTrash

Shouldn't you be asking your husband

I guess we all have our own personal reasons for being here, that outweigh the negatives. Otherwise we wouldn't be here.

beachgal21

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with your neighbors, but surely you run the same risk wherever you live. Our neighbors to the one side of us hardly ever speak to us, in fact they totally ignore us unless we speak to them. For someone sociable like me who speaks to absolutely anyone, it makes things very uncomfortable. I hope your next move is a success and that you find you perfect, happy place As for us, we would want a detached house, not miles from anywhere, but not with any really close neighbors either. Where we live right now, the houses stand shoulder to shoulder .... talk about feeling claustrophobic

beachgal21

I already know his reasons My previous comment was somewhat tongue in cheek prompted by all the negativity. However, I realise you're all just trying to point out that it's not exactly Shangrila and I thank you for that

EuroTrash

Just tryin' to be helpful - you seemed to be looking for arguments in favour of the UK, so just pointing out that you don't have to look far because for anybody who is going to be running a business the economic arguments have to come into the equation.

Of course the UK isn't Shangrila either. And you say that even Florida isn't... so where is?

Novocastrian

Not here. Another 5 cm of snow overnight to add to the metre or so that's been on the ground since mid-December.

InVinoVeritas

I guess a lot of us moved to France some years ago when, if not Shangri-La, it was a bloody sight better than the UK. Years of recession from which France seems incapable of escaping and an increasing cost of living which many expats find difficult to finance makes for a degree of negativity.

If you move here eyes-open to the reality then I guess you can still make a go of it. For my part, I've had enough and will leave la not-so-dolce vita for new horizons with the little money Hollande has not yet taken from me.

beachgal21

I guess home is where the heart is .... or so the saying goes

I think I'll have to work on hubby a bit more ... truth be told I can't see me wanting to settle anywhere except Britain. Maybe I can persuade him to settle for a holiday home in France