Hi there - looking to move to France but are at the VERY early stages of looking. We are hoping to move (two of us and our two kiddies - 7 and 4) to the Limousin and purchase either a gite or bed and breakfast business OR gites to restore. However, as with all things, it is hard to know where to start. As I say - we have decided on the area and have arranged a trip for in a few months from now (only been to Brittany and Paris so far). We will have cash when we sell our house but may need a mortgage (depending on what we see). I have browsed the internet for hours and have some information on healthcare, social security, property, taxes, education etc but know that I need to delve deeper before we make the move. So - anyone out there with any tips or advice about any of the above things mentioned, please let me know.
I also teach english to speakers of other languages and have my certificate in education and will (if necessary) get my TEFL too. I have hosted many french students in my house and taught them during their stay - ny contacts within the Limousin area would be great!

We moved form Nottingham to the North Cornish coast four years ago so have lived without the help of parents/family with young children for a while now and are aware of what holiday places are like in the winter! Especially BREEZY in Cornwall!

Thanks

PS - you all sound so glad you made the move!

Karry

Why do you want to leave Cornwall and move to France?

Hi there - why do we want to move from this lovely cornish coast and move to france - I know I know!!

I think the weather limits what we do mainly. In the summer we spend our evenings perhaps walking or on the beach which is great but we don't often get the weather to do this. If the weather is nice, our TV stays off and we have a real outdoor life. We would like more of this!

Money is a factor too. We have a nice house by the sea but when the cold, rainy weather comes in, we need to spend money to occupy the kids which becomes a problem. We would like our own holiday let business in Cornwall but unless we can raise a HUGE amount of money it looks unlikely that we will ever fullfil this dream - something which we could afford to do in France.

I love France and speaking french too, and although my hubby does not speak french, he loves the country. We would also like to enable our kids to speak two languages with ease.

Karry

Read "Buying a House in France" from cover to cover then recce the region thoroughly for the areas you'd like to live - before you start going to immobiliers and their web-sites as they'll show you dozens of houses and you may be tempted to buy in an area you haven't really lookd at properly. So holiday in the Limousin first and tour it for the villages/towns you like the look of before house searching.

will do hopefully this year, thanks