Well done. The Web is perfect for people who want to, or are obliged to, live out of the way. I know one young Frenchman who works on line after moving to Thailand, then French Polynesia, and one Englishman who uses the same skills to work in Southern Italy. The Web can free you if you're a fly person.
Dan I love your story.
But you are brave and see life in a different way.
I am glad that it worked out for you.
It does prove that it is good to dream as well as plan.
I was enjoying that, Liz. Where did you go?
:-)
Many good points there, Janet.
The remark about future retirement pension is really pertinent.
I worked for about 6 years in Britain. I learned recently that the contributions I paid in there are lost.
I came here when I was 24 and retirement wasn't a major concern. That'll teach me!
Apparently in order to claim even a penny one has to work at least 10 years in the UK.
That applies to expats in non-Commonwealth countries apparently. I know of two women who worked a little in Britain then moved to Australia and Canada respectively then went back to the UK to retire and received a State pension.
You can do it! Four years ago my wife and I moved to France without the language, no job, no contacts and no savings to speak of. We started off living in an old caravan! We spent our first winter in an old gite which belonged to an eccentric Dutch gentleman in the Gers. We couldnât rent a place normally as we had no French tax returns or proof of income. The system is rigged to keep you out! So first step is to rent a place (donât buy straight away!) from a friendly ex-pat. Winter lets are a good, affordable option to let you get a taste of life here.
As for money, be prepared to do anything, diversify and to learn new skills. I learnt how to use a video camera and editing software and now run a successful YouTube channel about gardening! I earn more than I ever did as a fellow office wallah and have infinitely more fun. We rented another place, after the gite, for two years, got into the âsystemâ, had a baby, got a French mortgage and now own the house of our dreams.
Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Life is possible off the grey island. Just do it! And if you have any French skills whatsoever, youâre way ahead of me, although these days I can get by okay and nearly all our friends are French.
The word 'survive' might evoke an image of some difficult situation. It might be easier today than it was in the past. I don't know
I came here in 1978 with some £500 to my name. I didn't buy a home for a few years. At that time Brits could stay as a tourist for 3 months. For longer stays we had to have a 'carte de séjour', but first we received an 'autorisation de séjour' (a flimsy, almost transparent piece of paper with my photo and contract dates marked) valid for the duration of a work-contract.
To obtain a residence-permit it was necessary to find a job. To sign on as a job-seeker I needed a fixed address. To obtain a lease I needed three pays slips. To get three pay-slips I needed a job ... I was very lucky in finding a job through small ads, and finding a small house in a village thanks to a lady who accepted me on trust, without the 3 pay-slips. I just paid a month in advance.
I obtained a multitude of 3-month contracts, between which I made a one-day return trip to Dover or Folkestone so as to be able to start a new 3-month period as a tourist during which I looked for work again. This was necessary because the day after the end of my work-contract the gendarmes came to the house, which I shared with my girlfriend to check that I had gone. I had to do that about 5 times. Then suddenly I was given a five-year carte de séjour on real cardboard
Proof that the EU is making progress is that in 2007 when I went to renew my 10-year carte de séjour I was informed that it was no longer needed for citizens of EU member-states.
Without the friendliness of the (non-administrative) French I think I might have been discouraged and headed elsewhere.
The people I know who are thriving - not just surviving - are all in the building trade. So it might be worth becoming a good plasterer, mason, electrician, plumber etc. before making the move (if you're not one of these already). It would help to move to an area with a sizeable English-speaking community who will employ you. Move to a largely French area and you will be jobless.
Or you could build a successful business in the UK, then move and run it from here. If this sounds hard, it is nothing compared to how hard it will be otherwise. Without money from outside the country, survival might be all you can look forward to.
Veronique, I agree about the language barrier and "les Anglais". I may upset people but, having lived and worked in 3 EU countries, not including France (plus 3 other countceries all for long periods of time) I have always seen an English clique gather together in each of them. They tend to shun the language, socialise together, work together or work for other Brits; in the latter, they tend to take e advantage by charging more than the local workforce. I stress this is purely my experience.
There are however, the non-clique Brits who throw themselves joyfully in the deep end, benefitting from local friends and their knowledge, immersing in language and culture, enjoying being included in local activities etc. We have only been here a matter of but in that time, have encountered both English communities here. We have been totally accepted by our local French, Italian, Dutch neighbours and tracked down fellow like-minded Brits. We all have to one degree or another a reasonable command of French and smatterings of each other's languages. Weg
Now, having retired to France (with a reasonable command of the languag
Do a realistic appraisal of your skills and physical strength and endurance. Can you really do the type of expat or immigrant jobs that many Brits in the Haute Vienne undertake? Much of the work is seasonal and the winters in the Haute Vienne are very cold. I have good friends who have managed to survive just in Haute Vienne doing gardening and cleaning and kitchen portering but they are always on a knife edge. Moving to France will seriously damage your long term wealth in that any property you buy will appreciate much more slowly than in the UK which can effectively lock you out of the UK property market if you want to go back. Many people do return to the UK within two or three years. You also need to be clear about the impact on your pension and how you will survive when you are not able to work. Research the other posts on pensions.
Is there any possibility that you could live in France but undertake contract office work back in the UK? That might be more lucrative and allow longish breaks between contracts. That was what I did and I met a few people on the plane from Limoges doing the same thing. I moved back to the UK after a couple of years for other family reasons. Even if you can set up a successful business the social charges can really be a disincentive to work in France. After ten years in France my brother and his wife started going back to the UK from France for the winters to earn enough to stay in France for the summer as the social charges and tax were hitting them hard.
I do understand the pull of France and I love the Haute Vienne where I have a second home now but properties there are cheap partly because work opportunities are limited.
I went through Pole Emploi as an unemployed person, having previously been employed on a CDD contract for a holiday company 100+ miles from where we lived. I was told by my advisor that I stood no chance of employment, as a job would always be given to someone in the town first, canton next, department next etc. and always to a French person over any other nationality. After 6 months of searching I gave up. I had applied for over 100 jobs and only ever got a couple of 'no' replies. My advisor just shrugged.
If you were/are an office waller, is there a service you can provide virtually, to clients in the UK / other English-speaking countries? You don't say what your expertise is, but some typical examples are IT, writing, consulting, graphics, etc. You may have to pop back and forth for meetings etc but do the bulk of the work from home in France...your post is eloquently written, seems to me you could have something to offer online...
You really, really will have to make your own way here.
I know several people [british] who work as "gardeners" for an hourly rate. Most of them
supply their own machines and tools.
Managing other peoples property is not so easy. I know of someone who tried to set this
project in motion. People do not seem willing or able to pay for this service.
I hope that I do not offend anyone when I say that Haute Vienne does not appeal to
me.
You will need to move towards an area like Bordeaux...for instance.
I moved ....we moved here almost 8 years ago and came here because it is very
beautiful and has the richness that comes with wine growing. We have the garden
which we have always dreamed of but the love of this environment usually outlives
the natural energy levels.
I know that a good [ and properly insured] tree surgeon seems to be as busy as he could hope for.
But even dreams have to be thought through with care.
Re French nationals being preferred, that's usually simply because of the language barrier and the fact that French tradespeople are aware of eg employment rules & building regs etc and their qualifications can be checked.
We do have a bit of a stereotype about 'les anglais' who stay in their anglo ghetto employing people who 'qualified' in various trades on the ferry over but speak English & are therefore considered OK & more trustworthy than a French person on principle. They do the various honest & properly qualified English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish etc artisans no good at all.
Many English people round here "do gĂźtes" and additionally a number of fairly nebulous moneymaking jobs and I don't know how they survive, really. Some do very well but they probably have other sources of income which don't depend on day-to-day activities.
Rural France isn't really an easy place to earn a living unless you have specific skills wanted on the spot or can work remotely.
Actually unemployment is probably worse here than in UK. As to servicing the expatriate community I would say that if you want to run an honest business and not rip people off you might as well forget it. My impression is that the better off Anglos always want something for nothing.
Hi Barbara,
We're looking at a place in the Haute Vienne. It's pretty rural, as you might imagine and not really close to anywhere you might call touristy! That's our worry. We're not materialistic and plan to be as self sufficient as possible, but we're realistic enough to know we'll need to earn some money to pay the bills. We're thinking that we might be able to do this via a combination of jobs, such as caretaking holiday homes, a bit of gardening ....but obviously these roles are mainly aimed at the expat community and second home owners.
We're pretty self-motivated, but novices!
But life's a challenge :-)
Do you speak french? To work here it would be helpful unless you are planning to start your own business. Unemployment is as bad here as in the UK and often french nationsls get preference.
There are endless questions and answers.
You will need not only money to buy a home but savings and possibly
other financial padding.
You need to be self motivated.
Where would you like to live in France?
It is a big move.
I've been living over 15 years in rural Dordogneshire now.
With hindsight I wouldn't make the move again.
We've had health issues and I really can't fault the FHS, but that aside, it's a difficult place to earn a living if you're not dealing with other expats. For me, the culture just doesn't suit either.
As regards to the weather, It's far too cold in the winter and along with the plague of hunters around here the winter months are becoming unbearable. Sadly, hibernation is not an option. The summer's too seem to be getting increasingly hotter. So the further inland you are, the more extreme the climate.
Maybe rural Devon would have been a better choice for us? ho hum...
Moving to France would be like moving to anywhere, as long as you speak the language. Needing to work to get by, no matter how self sufficient one is should not be a shock to anyone, unless the intention was to live in a shack on the side of the mountain completely off the grid and foraging for food.
Check out the place you intend to live before buying, and by that, I mean actually go and stay there for a while. If there are two things that I noticed on here, it's that many expats whine about where they live simply because they "expected" different of the little hamlet they bought in. Well, no village is going to change to suit a pair of blow-ins, so get to know what the place is like, and the second thing is, many "expats" cannot speak a word of French and expect to do all their wheeling and dealing in English, and trhen whine when there is an issue that the poor receptionist in the mayor's office cannot help them with.
By taking care of these two issues, you will find a job no problem. Everyone knows someone that needs an extra pair of hands and you'll never find that out unless you go mingle with the people. I mean the locals, though, not the coven of expat ladies that meet on a thursday to gargle cheap white wine and stroke each others' egos.
Haute Vienne is cold in the winter. On a recent trip to Limoges, it was -3 and starting to snow, and when we arrived back in AngoulĂȘme, it was +6. Unless you can find an expat outfit to work for, you will need fluent French to get a job. Rural France is thinly populated, because they don't allow "ribbon development": building is only allowed in hamlets and commune villages.