Richcall

Hi all,
I am in the process of being made redundant. My eventual redundancy package will not be huge, but there will be enough to see me through for a while. I have a friend who lives in Les Leves Et Thoumeyragues that I can stay with. He has told me that there is no work about but I can stay at his place.
What i'd like to know is, is there no work for anyone or is there just no work for foreigners. I think the grape harvest is about to begin, but I can't come over to France until the end of the year, by which time there will probably be absolutely nothing to do. Do people do house sitting while the owners go back home for a few months. I would like to be in France long enough to be able to learn to speak French fluently, but it would be nice to be working.
Any advice would be good

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
I had to google Les-Lèves-et-Thoumeryagues! (in the Gironde, for those not in the know). A village with fewer than 600 inhabitants in 2009.
I don't know whether there's a reciprocal arrangement between Jersey and France, but you'd have to organise your healthcare insurance before you arrive so that you'd have coverage for a certain time while job-seeking, like expats arriving from the UK with the document from the DWP. Your friend would probably have to make declarations to officialdom that you are living rent-free in his home so that you can justify your domicile when you need to (to open a bank account, to give one example).
Sorry to have to say that the employment situation is still dire for everyone in all fields, and priority for any decent jobs going is given to bilingual French candidates. Bear in mind that France is still in the middle of economic crisis and isn't the best place to come to without a job lined up. Your redundancy package won't last forever....
Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I'm realistic. Fore-warned is fore-armed!