gemmalsmith86

Me and my boyfirend are in the very early stages of planning a move to france, so early in fact we haven't even decided on a region yet. My boyfriend is a bit of a jack of all trades type of tradesman, he does gardening, DIY landscaping, building, etc. From bits of research we've done its been suggested to move to areas popular with other british expats as they are quite likely to hire other british people for doing this sort of work. Which makes sense.

So we're sort of looking at the midi-pyrenees region which apparently is quite popular with us brits. Is this the case? Can anyone living there give us any insights? Does there seem to be a lot of tradesman sort of work knocking about? i.e. brits doing renovations etc?

Or does anyone else have any suggestions for other regions that might be suitable in this way?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Gemma

derbyflan

Hi and welcome to the Forum

You'll have to give us some more details I think..

Such as.. Do you want to live in the country or by the sea?

Somewhere with very hot summers, or snow or weather a bit like the UK?

City, town, village or rural?

What do you expect to do when your b/f is at work?

What do you both like to do outside of work?

I'm sure you'll soon get lots of help when you're more specific

gemmalsmith86

Hi, sorry I should be more specific!

We're both very outdoorsie people, we love growing our own veg and tending to the garden etc. We love the countryside lifestyle so would love somewhere more rural. For example we keep chickens and have 2 very energetic dogs so some somewhere with a large garden, or a bit of land would be ideal. However ideally we would still like to be fairly close to a largish town/city, maybe within 1hr or so drive.
Our perfect home would be an old cottage with a woodburner and original beams with outbuildings or barns and lots of land with a stream and orchard.

We're not too bother about being near the coast/beach etc. We would prefer somewhere with a dryer climate than here (mind you we live in Manchester so it would be hard to find anywhere wetter to be honest!) We don't mind the cold but ideally somewhere a bit warmer.

Currently I am working through options of what I would do. I am currently pregnant and we are thinking of going at some point after the baby is 1ish so it may be difficult for me to find full time work etc whilst looking after the baby, however I have discovered nurseries in France are free from the age of 2 so hopefully this will enable me to work more. At the moment my options are Teaching English or working as a mobile hairdresser. Unfortunately my french isn't great but hoping to work on that over the next year or so.

Hope this helps. Again any info at all would be really helpful.

Thanks

Gemma

gemmalsmith86

Oh and as I mentioned in my original post, living somewhere that is popular with other Brits is probably a necessity in order for my b/f to find work. Thanks

dennerlymum

If you like the countryside you could try the Gers; in the MidiPyrennees region and rolling hills all around. The weather is good; certainly in comparison to Manchester where I spent half my youth and and some of my adult years.

If you want more rugged, mountainous countryside then head out for Ariege, which is also beautiful

to look for the number of expats and jobs offered try the site anglo info and search by region

cjm

Hi Gemma and welcome. There are some 'sages' on this forum who will give you fuller details. Your post is light and bright and you are obviously excited about future prospects - and congrats on being pregnant - but France is not the UK where work is concerned. Your man cannot just freelance and work for Brits. You have to be in the system. French regs are tight. Mobile hairdressing will also pose problems and teaching lots of problems.
There is advice on this site already, so a search may assist you. But, as I said, wise people will give you wise words ...

derbyflan

However... and I'm not disageeing with the above post..

Your OH will probably stand a better chance within a Brit/German/Dutch communities which may give him the reputation to get into the French market.

Mobile hairdressing could be an outlet - but it seems these days, unless you're really going rural.. almost every Expat is a potential English teacher.

By the way, congratulations on your pregnancy

You never said - and we didn't ask....... how's your French?

Tweedpipe

As it's been said before in many posts, you should really spend several holidays touring in different parts of France, at different times of the year to get an idea of the huge variations one can find.
Plus many folks have adored their holidays here, and taken the plunge to put down roots only to realize later how diabolically frustrating French beurocracy can really be.
Think very carefully too before venturing into hairdressing here in France. THIS previous post gives a few indications why.
Do your research very carefully. Good luck anyway.

dmu

Hi, it's Maternelle (Nursery School) which is free from the age of 2, provided there's room in the "petite section" class and that the child is "clean". It's the first class of the French Education System and the child has to go every school day, not when it suits the parents. When mine were in 1st year, they could come home in the afternoon, since the children all had a siesta anyway and didn't "learn" anything. Otherwise it was 8h30 every morning at the school gates....
Alternately there are crêches in towns, but not many in rural areas, which take babies and toddlers up to 3 years, but places are limited and priority is given to working parents. The fees depend on your income. For irregular daytime babysitting, there are Municipal Halte-Garderies which charge fees.
I should really think hard about coming over, in view of the ongoing economic situation in France (and Europe). Unemployment is higher in France than the UK. You'd need a regular take-home income of 1500€ per month for the basics (not including rent/mortgage) in order to survive, with a growing baby. No treats, no trips back to the UK.
You'd have to think about health coverage for you all - a Mutuelle (top up insurance) would cost you up to 150€ per month for a family of 3.
If you were just a couple, I'd say go for it, but there are so many things to consider when you've got a baby to bring up and are uncertain of having work to provide a decent income.
Both of you should start learning to speak French as from now, esp. business/technical, not just conversation about the latest film..
Sorry to be such a Cassandra, but I'm being realistic, and forewarned is forearmed!

gemmalsmith86

Hi, thanks for all of the replies and advice, and also the words of warning.

We are both realistic and hard working and know it's not going to be as easy as driving over getting a house and a job and living happily ever after. We are hard grafters and have had to work extremely hard for what we've got now. We're not work shy and would happily do any job as long as it pays the bills.

We have thought long and hard about this decision and we're not going into this blindly, we know there are a lot of obstacles in our way. We are considering moving in perhaps 2 years time so we are planning on doing a lot of research into this. I understand the job market isn't good in France and I know it won't be easy for us to get work. But we are planning on having 12months worth of rent saved up for when we go to give us time to get work.

I understand that the nursery schools are part of the education system, and completely agree with the idea of encouraging children to interact and learn social skills from an early age. This would also allow me to work almost full time hours to help with our income.

I know it is important to visit the areas we are considering before moving, but just wanted to get a few ideas from people already living there to help us narrow down the options. We are planning on visiting a few regions over the next year or so to help us decide.

Our french is basic at the moment but we are planning on doing some home study and then enrolling in some courses for more advanced language. We understand it is extremely unadvisable moving unless you have a good grasp of the language.

We are excited and optimistic about the possibility of the move. We are prepared to work hard to make this happen for us. We especially want to do this now as we want to provide our child with a good quality of life that we feel would not be available here.

We also know that if things don't work out we can come home and it won't be the end of the world, at least we have given it a go. The biggest regrets in life are the things we don't do!!

We really appreciate the words of warning, we need to be aware of the pitfalls. Any advice is greatly welcomed.

Thanks again for all of your replies, and all of the congratulations! S/he is our main motivation for this, we want to strive to give him/her the best opportunities in life.

We have also considered Germany as an option (my German is much better), does anyone have any opinions advice re: France Vs Germany?

smithyandlisa

I agree with everything that's been said so far, but my best advice would be that if you have 2 years or thereabouts before you make the move, start learning/improving the language as much as you can. You could make a tremendous difference in that time. Nothing makes this exciting adventure better and easier than being able to communicate in French. Bon Courage!