Hi there - we moved to France from the US (Oregon) at the end of March 2024. We’ve been living along/near the Loire, and we’re still looking for a place to settle. We’re retired, brought our two dogs with us, and are learning French but still have a long way to go. Happy to be here.
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Nice to meet you Robyn and welcome. We are further south in mid Dordogne. We also spent 10 years in the Aude. @DrSukie is also American and about to make her move with fogs. What sort of dogs do you have?
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Thanks, @toryroo , nice to meet you as well. We have two Frenchies. We have friends near Bergerac and will be visiting them as soon as we can find a good pension for them. We want to take a look at that area as well.
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Welcome to the forum Robyn. I’m not living in France, but we have a house/project in the Morvan national park on the east side.
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Welcome to the forum.
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Hopefully she will be able to see her way through them… 
Welcome to the forum Robyn!
I am another French resident wannabe, planning a move but with no fixed schedule for it yet unfortunately!
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Welcome, and so hugely sensible to take your time. France has a lot of variation so you need ro explore to find your perfect spot!
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Bienvenue!
@ChrisMann and @Ancient_Mariner , thank you!
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@billybutcher and @vero , thanks.
@JaneJones thank you. It’s a much harder decision than I had anticipated.
Hello and welcome to the site 
Welcome.
My advice is not to aim for perfection. France is huge and there will always be places which are better in one respect and worse in another.
In the same way that (I believe) there is no single perfect life partner for anyone, but a long-term relationship is a matter of seeing the best in the other and adapting and not worrying about the odd imperfection, there is probably more than one option which would suit you.
Bon courage!
We had a list of criteria relating to the house, the town (we’re not people who’d enjoy living in the countryside) and a church. The last was the most important for us, maybe not for you.
We spent time in Normandie, Nimes, and in the Loire Valley. All places we love. We ended up in northern Vienne, a bit south of Saumur.
The climate suits us, the people in our town are lovely (the town itself is the opposite of being touristy) and we’re bang in the middle of chateaux and vineyards.
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Hello from the Vendee / Deux Sevres border area.
Hope that you find your Nirvana.
My wife is also American if you would like to talk to someone in American English with reference to the undoubted culture shock that moving to France brings with it.
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Where in Oregon? I am a Duck, and have lived in EUG, Springfield, Monmouth, and Fairview!
If I can somehow manage to get thru the clusterf_ _ _ that is VFS Global in Texas (Houston), yes, I plan on making it over June 1. VFS is my fog right now. Red, misty fog.
Contact these guys. It says visa insurance but they are a source of all round information and assistance too.
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We used Fab to help the process. Just had our VFS appointment in NY right before Christmas and got approved. We paid for them to take the photos there they also charged another ~$30 a person since it looks like all of the visas are shipped to Washington DC now for approval.
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@/DrSukie. I had to look up Fairview. We come from Beaver territory! Good luck with your visa!
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Thank you, @Gareth and @Robert_Hodge . @Porridge , we’re not aiming for perfection; we know that we will need to compromise on some things. We just moved away from your area; we were just a bit east of Saumur. Lots to love there, but nothing really “spoke” to us. And the town we were living in was so touristy that it was very hard to live there in the summer. It sounds like you have a winner.