I want to live in France age 73

A bit of give and take Kirsten please. Our Norman has not been the same since he lost his job at Snow White's place in the enchanted forest. Doc, Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy and Happy are missing their old friend ;-)

Norman, I must object to something you said, that you were a total *****! You don't sound like it to me, maybe it's because of your lack of luck in finding kindred spirits to befriend be they Brits or Frenchies. In that case I don't think it is valid to say that this group or that is difficult to befriend. It's good to read up on social nuances of any culture and hear others' experiences, but you can't make sweeping generalizations on such a personal experience.

I've made friends with many so-called difficult sorts, (even Frenchies and Brits), and couldn't stand others whom everyone else seemed to like, go figure. So I think you and I would get on just fine, LOL

I think they are drifting a bit Carol. You said Lot et Garonne, so that department it is. The Marmande area might suit. Not far from Bordeaux and a pleasant but little 'eccentric' bunch of us near and around the Bergerac area. Plus it would give you Bergerac as well as Bordeaux airports within easy reach. Further down the road there is Agen, prune capital of the world ;-)

Carol, yes I would also give the Cahors/Gourdon axis a good look. Even though I love the Correze, that region is a former one of which I have exceptionally warm memories, especially with a friendly bunch of English, which I haven't found elsewhere.

Thank you,I will investigate Gourdon and Cahors.
Carol

Thanks Claire,
I left the UK soon after my husband died and went to Penang.whilst it was a fun time,I was wasting money and made a few mistakes,which I hope not to make again!
Property is a good price but I do drive and know a few areas quite well but only Asa visitor!
I have always wanted to live in France so I believe thatI will"go for it".

Hi Carol, If you are keen on the Lot et Garonne, being within travelling distance to Gourdon or Cahors would be useful. That way you have the facilities of main towns as well as a rural aspect should you prefer your privacy. Both places have English-speaking folk around and about. I know that in Gourdon there are various clubs or societies that you could join that involve both English-speaking people and the French which is a lovely mix. Good luck with your decisions . . . .

. . . .. . and re-read all of the above comments. SFN is usually full of very good advice.

Carol

as you can see there are quite a lot of us +70's living here. Some married, some single and some in-between. I fall somewhere between 1 and 2 being essentially separated but still sharing a house with my French 'wife' of some 40 years.

OK I would agree with just about everything others have mentioned here, except for the 'integrating with the French'. Forget it, as you never will least of all at your/our age! That does not mean you don't need to get a pretty decent vocabulary concerning the most important things - notably re. health words etc. Food and other shopping is not critical as pointing and having a credit card covers all sins!

I truly believe it is incumbent on us oldies to look within ourselves to make the most of our lives, and not rely on others as the support. Here on SFN is the salt and pepper but not the meal, although subjects often exercise the mind which is important. You are lucky in that in extremis you have your son to call. Personally I think your decision not to be too close to him is admirable.

For me a few things are critical and for what they are worth here they are;

1) Create an interest/hobby that keeps you absorbed.

2) Realise the power of the internet to bring you entertainment and interests

3) Stay tooned to SFN as it IS a good resource and there are some good people here, (I exclude myself from the latter bit as I am a total *****!) Most are not.

4) Get the most comprehensive TV coverage you can afford if you need the English language - Orange is not bad and a few English language channels (BBC World, Al-Jazeerah, France 24, CNN etc) come with the subscription plus Internet, TV and telephone (landlines) around the world. Several channels provide French subtitles with films, which is a pretty painless way of extending your vocabulary. Don't forget the power of Skype!!!

5) Get friendly with your local Mayor wherever you settle. Even where your French is not good. People in the SW of France in my experience are very helpful. Other regions I have known a bit less so (Burgundy, Jura, Paris)

6) Yes try to develop your French and I have used the Hugo's French in Three Months good (although I ahve been using it for 40 years!). Don't worry about being perfect, and despite others thinking it makes you look an idiot - smile a lot!

Still the shortest distance between two people!

7) Go to the Puces and see what is for sale, sometimes English books (and in your proposed region that shouldn't be too hard), bilingual DVDs etc all cheap as chips - €1,00 or less.

8) Don't get down if you find the English you meet don't want to follow through with you. This may be just me, but developing English friends I have found to be far harder than getting friendly with the French.

Good luck!

Dear Carol

I would just like say GO FOR IT! The other people seem to have given you lots of practical considerations, but I will just say that my experience, similar to yours, is that I simply decided I wanted to live in France (in my case after many years in South America). Everyone said I was very brave making such a big move, without a job etc. but here I am and have never felt better. If you have a vision of what you want your life to be, you can make it happen. There may be a few ups and downs but you'll be doing what you want and so glad to have taken the plunge. And there are plenty of ways now of joining clubs and doing things with people with the same interests. Your age is no impediment.

Good luck!

Clare

I'm also 73, Carol, and we've been living in very rural Lozere since I retired in 1997. When we were looking at where to live we had a list of essentials. Knowing this would be our last home and that we were going to grow old (hopefully VERY old!) here the first was quick access to medical services. We live 6 km from a small town called Marvejols where there is a clinic with a number of specialists, and those that aren't based in Marvejols are a pretty easy drive away in Mende where there is a big hospital with an emergency department and an intensive care unit which can deal with most things including cancer treatment.

The second thought was transport. We're not particularly well served in that department as the train services are minimal (most are provided by buses) and the nearest airport is 100 km away. But we have a motorway which links us to Montpellier and Clermont Ferrand two minutes drive from our house and both cities are about 90 minutes drive away. It would have been nice to have a high-speed rail link to Paris, but other things took priority. If you do want quick access to travel it is, as Veronique says, a good idea to think in terms of where the high-speed trains go and how far it will be to the nearest airport.

For shopping we have supermarkets in Marvejols and a hypermarket in Mende plus the usual range of shops. About once a month we drive to Clermont where the really big shops and chain stores like FNAC and Darty are based.

Entertainment is another thing to consider. If we want top flight concerts, opera, theatre, ballet we have to go to Montpellier or Clermont, which is not a major hassle for the moment. Local theatre etc is very basic and concerts seem mostly to centre on local folk music which after a while drove me mad! If I hear Se Canto one more time I shall shoot the singer! If you're happy with the TV, DVDs and your own music collection then this is not a great issue.

So, as long as we can drive we don't have a problem. What happens when we can't we will deal with when it happens but it's something to bear in mind.

I would suggest renting in the area you are considering first as so many people make very expensive mistakes. I moved here in the Charente from Spain last year age 70 with 2 dogs an a parrot and only knew a friend with a holiday home locally. I am taking French classes and doing on line French as well but unfortunately do not meet many French people to chat with. I have met some really lovely people who have helped me settle. If you rent and the area isn't right for you then you can move and try somewhere else.

I agree with Vero and Brian, move to within reasonable distance of a decent sized town. Do you drive/are you intending to drive when you come to France? Because if you don't somewhere like Bordeaux with good public transport is going to be essential.

Be realistic about your French - it's going to take some time to be prefectly comfortable with speaking it (unless you're some sort of linguistic sponge) and in the meantime you're going to want to be able to meet people who speak your mother tongue and socialise. Bigger places, like Bordeaux, will have several anglophone groups to join, many of them are international so you won't be in some sort of English ghetto if that's what worries you, and they have all sorts of activities to do, including conversation in other languages, lunches, bridge, book clubs....

Without good French you will find it very hard to integrate with the locals - unless you just want the ex-pat contacts. I am about your age so hope you don't think me rude to suggest going some where a little less isolated, a large village or small town might be more practical. Unless things are really bad with yur son it might be better to be a little nearer him.

My ex-wife Judith lived near you,she died last October. Perhaps you knew her. Anyway, she remained a close friend and was planning to move to live here in the Dordogne. I agree with Véro 200%, I think she has said it all. On the other hand, if you like the quiet life...

Make that two tons of ikan bilis please! I have, literally, just run out of the last ones my OH brought back from Cambodia.

Yes outside of Georgetown towards Batu Ferringhi.
Too humid for me and yes plenty to do…
I am busy reading about the negative side to my choices!
Thanks for your reply.

You're likely to find the Lot et Garonne unbelievably quiet & dull after Penang not to mention boring food-wise (I'm assuming you live in Georgetown though, it might be less of a contrast if you live on the mainland at least outside Butterworth)... One big difference is population density, everyone is fairly spread out here so get-togethers aren't necessarily that easy to organise. Make sure you are near an airport or a mainline station. You might prefer the outskirts of Bordeaux, there's a lot more going on and better access to all sorts of things for retired people, theatres, clubs, shops etc not to mention better transport.

Ha! I've just been asked what I'm doing by my children & when I told them they gasped & said who would want to leave Penang... If you do come & have room in your luggage for a ton of ikan bilis, think of us...