Lewc

Hi there - My boyfriend and I are thinking of moving to France around this time next year. We have a property in London to sell, which will set us up nicely for buying a property with a small if no mortgage.

We are both currently learning french (as best we can!), so hopefully by the time we come out we will have the basics and can build on it from there.

My boyfriend is a carpenter and I work in interior design and project management of domestic refurbishments. Do you think we would struggle in getting work, or is this something which is in demand? Another option for myself is to run B&B/gites business.

Any advice would be most welcome!

Thanks.

dreamcatcher

Just popping through, hallo and welcome,sure someone will be along with some good advice for you.good luck bientout

artemis

Lewc, just to say hello and sorry I can't help you because we still live in the UK and like you are planning to move to France. Hopefully someone will be able to give u some information soon must be a good start if you are going to be mortgage free all the best

paulajayne

Hi Lewc
Any ideas where about you want to move we live in the centre (41) region - The Loire Vally to be presice but you dont mention where you want to go.
Also the gereral opinion is dont bother with the Gite idea - everyone doing it

Regards

P

iwilldoit

Hi and welcome to the forum, first i would like to say, that i live in the charente, and have done now for 16 months, my advise to you, is were ever you chose to locate to, i would rent for the first year here, and live out a winter, then think about what kind of property you buy as a lot of the propertys here look beautifull but are in fact money pits, as for employment in France it is very very hard to find employment, there are no jobs for the French, and unless you are fluent that includes reading and writing, you have very little chance of securing a job anywere in France, but i hope it all works out for you, but think very carefully before making your move.
good luck

Kate45

Hi Iwilldoit
How are your plans for your move to OZ going ? When I read this forum I am amazed by the number of people moving from country to country and there reasons for doing it.

Lewc

Thanks to everyone for your respones. We are hoping to move to somewhere in the Languedoc area, but not sure exactly where yet. We are actually thinking of renting for a while first of all, which will give us a good insight into the area and help our french along.
I have to say that reading through this forum, everyone makes it sound all doom and gloom. Is it not the better life that you were all hoping for after all?

Lewc

Thanks for your advise. Do you think it will be as hard for my boyfriend to get work? He was hoping to work for himself as he is a carpenter.

cupoftea

Do not be downhearted. In my opinion it seems to be often the people who are sitting around feeling miserable who respond on this forum to questions like yours. Those of us who are totally immersed in our new french life just don't always have the time! We have been here three years and absolutely love it. We are not retired, but are making a living despite all the negative comments about employment. My advice is to just go for it, but be clear about what you are looking for. We love the isolation of the mountains and the long cold snowy winters are fantastic, but may not suit everyone.

Lewc

Thank you for your positive response. I have to admit I was getting worried as reading through the forum there seems to be an awful lot of doom and gloom! Was beginning to wander if better off staying in London.

cupoftea

In my opinion, you are definitely not better off in London! I don't even want to go back to England for holidays, and I know in my bones that I will never go back to live. It's hard work here, and you need a positive attitude and lots of energy and enthusiasm, but it is truly a fantastic life. In the years I have been here I have looked on and off at various expat sites and I think they cater for a lot of people who would rather live their lives in english than in french - my biggest piece of advice is to get to grips with the french language, however difficult, and do everything in french, right from the start (websites, shops, healthcare etc) - the only way to do it, is to just do it! It does get easier, but takes time and effort, it doesn't 'just happen'.

paulajayne

Hi,

your boyfriend will need to register as an artisan here overwise it could be difficult for him to find work as people (especially those who are wanting work done as part of mortgage offer ) will be unable to use him if he isunregistered and you would need to look around the area you are thinking of moving to, to see if
A, there is room for another carpenter
B, there is a lot of English speaking people in the area, as obviously these are initially the people that will be his customers until he is fluent in French

on the plus side,
the whole atmosphere here is wonderful and calm and although we not been here for long we are loving it.

Pamela 1

You mentioned as an alternative running a B & B or a gite, so for what it is worth take a look at this site
www.laymyhat.com and click on France. There is a lot of useful information for those who own gites etc. Alot of info. in general.

We have British friends here in Ontario Canada who bought a home 6 years ago and renovated. Lots of hard work, but they now have it as a gite and live in it themselves during winter.

They are in the Languegdoc area which has many gites and they tell us that property prices have increased a lot over the last few years.

RedMonsk

Hi, I'm too am looking at moving to the Aquitaine region of France. My mum lives in La Gironde and we absolutely love it there!

Is there anyone else out there with encouraging advice for a couple with 2 children (aged 7 and 4) who hope to offer the children a better life??

My mum seems to be under the impression that my husband would be able to find work (another carpenter!!).

Calling all families with young children for some advice pls!

artemis

Hi Lewc, if it is any help we have just come back from Fabrezan which is halfway between Carcasonne and the med coast (Leucate plage). It was a culture shock at first, but I was really pleased to find that within a couple of days I really began to settle in and found that even with my extremely limited French I COULD communicate in French. I feel that you have to put behind you what the French might think of your French because after it all it does not really matter what you sound like does it! I feel what could hinder people is not having the confidence to communicate in French one can only learn by trying. I found that I could understand people talking to me in French as well. It depends what you are looking for really I mean personally I would want the warmer climate and a large garden plus lots of outdoor activities including access to a good beach. The weather was hot around 28 to 30c and our trip was in august. The beach was fantastic everything you would wish for. We are not ready to move yet, but I definitely feel that I could move to France if it is of any help to you. Diesel is cheaper, wine is much cheaper and the houses are extremely cheap compared to the U.K. Just to say that we did not like Carcasonne, but liked the castle and the countryside down south is VERY dry which is very different from where we live which is in Kent. My OH and I are going to investigate the Aquitaine region next because he thinks it is a little too dry. We shall see. all the best,