Hi John, if one of the key things is to have family visit, may I suggest you think about how they will visit .i.e. if they live near Southampton (and will use that airport) then you might want to be near an airport that you can fly to from Southampton, if they are likely to use another airport then consider where that will fly to and you may want to be there. If they are likely to drive, then how far would they be happy to drive at each end. Good luck.
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John. Letâs be positive about this idea. First of all, the Limousin is, generally speaking, lovely. To continue, you will be amazed at how fast you learn to get by in French when you absolutely have to. Not having anyone around to help you speak French will further increase your speed of learning. In the event that you have a formal letter or document that you canât read, there will always be someone around who will help you. Also, the Mairies (Town Halls) are, generally speaking, very helpful. Itâll all be fine. I think that you should work out, if you want to move to France, if you (initially) want to live without any friends nearby, although you will make new ones quite quickly, and what (if anything) you will miss about the UK? We live in between Paris and Burgundy, with the idea being to retire to Burgundy - soon. We chose our Burgundy village because it is not smothered with Brits. Our village does have one English couple in it and we are friends, but then we are friends with everyone in the village, as they are all so friendly. The French like to see people make an effort, so a âBonjourâ or âComment ça vaâ? (Howâs it going?) is âde rigueurâ (obligatory). It really wonât take you long to settle, if you make an effort. However and if youâre someone who prefers to be alone and not take part in village activities, you may find it more difficult. I wish you the very best for your future.
Go for it. Iâd recommend renting a house for a couple of years to give it a try though. Just the process of buying a house will give you a headache and there are plenty of potential problems, rentings cheap and less trouble, we should have started that way, no regrets though.
Iâve been in Brittany for 8 years and now speak fluent french, took a while though.
Not helpful!
Youâve put your finger on it thereâŚthe business of finding someone to help out translating Official French. As you are now living as a single person, I cannot suggest any way that you could get help in translating a French Bureaucratic Formal LetterâŚeven for me, after 15 years of living in France, I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what such letters really mean, and I am just so very fortunate in having a French friend of long standing to help me outâŚTranslators abound, but they are professionals and charge for their services. However, IF you have a computer with a Google or Bing Translator, you may just make some sense out of official texts. If you take the plunge and come to live in France, you will need to declare ALL your various incomes from the U.K. to the Tax Authorities, including dividends and pensions, with Certificates of Benefits received (P60). Be aware that the French tax year runs from January to December, so if you want to avoid a fine for a late return of Certificates you may need to chivvy UK companies to send them early, especially the Certificate of Benefits Received from the State Ension people, who wonât send them out unless you ask for them by telephone, and it can be a pain to get through to them. Try phoning 0044 (0) 1912187777, leaving out the (0). and ask them as a matter of urgency to send you that Certificate! Hope this helpsâŚ
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I published an article this morning that could be useful if you do decide to move to France and learn French https://bilingualminds.com/2017/02/23/becoming-bilingual-a-how-to-guide/
My sympathiesâŚI act as an Assistant at our local English Course, helping French
people to learn English. But, dear souls (most are very late middle-aged) they only come as a hobby, and donât really learn a great deal of English. Itâs more of a Club for those who like to dabble with English. Most of them have AWFUL accents, and as an Englishman I have to constantly correct their dropping of "H"
and when they DO drop an H i always sit up and screech âGnaaaaarhg!,â. .But I really hope that you manage to pick up some workable and really useful French phrases, but learning any foreign language is a very very hard thing to do, especially if you are past school age. But thereâs hope for you yet, as you have managed to buy a house and a car, and coped with the French bureaucracy in acquiring these! Iâm still struggling after 15 years of living in France, and French Official letters still baffle me, but Iâm fortunate in having a French friend who bales me out when needed.
Duolingo all the way! 5 mins a day and you will be fluent in no time at all ! Good luck xx
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Iâm going to go against the majority here and say that you might be a lot better living somewhere like Baden-WĂźrttemberg rather than France, seeing you already speak German. Some things in Germany are more expensive than in France, but many are absolutely not.
If you live near the border you can make the best of both, eg somewhere like Offenburg. Or conversely live in a village like Rhinau or Neuf Breisach on the French side of the Rhine where people also speak German and you will at least be able to communicate.
My parents live in Germany, I was a student there, and I genuinely believe bureaucracy is simpler in Germany than it is in France. I can completely understand a person thinking France might be less of a hassle but especially if you are foreign and you speak no French, it really isnât.
French official correspondence isnât any simpler than the German equivalent and there is just as much if not more red tape.
Oh and bear in mind that your acquiring German nationality is a result of living there for ages and being integrated as a German among Germans, and may not go through if you decide to live in France instead. I was adopted by my step-father, who is German so I legally bear a German name, speak German, lived in Germany, was educated in Germany but if I donât live in Germany I wonât obtain German nationality (and why should I if I choose to live elsewhere and already have another nationality or nationalities?)
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Hi everyone,
Thanks again for all the replyâs, I really appreciate them.
I already live in Mannheim, Baden-WĂźrttemberg. and drive two to pick up my family from the airport, I donât imagine anywhere in France will be any worse than that. I like the climate here in Mannheim, dry warm summers, but the winters can be long and cold, this winter especially. I am currently look also in the Offenberg area, but what I have found is that the prices are about double that in Linousin. I could buy somewhere in the German countryside or forests, but these properties are really high up, where it is cold for 6 months of the year. Plus I donât feel attracted to these areas, the is just something about France that I find appealing having spent at least 6 summer holidays there. Plus, plus I would like somewhere that has a garden big enough that donât disturb the neighbors when Iâm playing my saxophone, I donât want to play it in a cellar, I want to be in the sun as often as possible, a small project property to give me something to do.
I like company and meeting people, but I also enjoy my own company, I can adapt to both situations within reason.
I visited the Massive Central in January this year just to get a feel of the winter, not as cold a Germany. I will also be doing a walking tour of ST. Jamesâ Way, From St Eitiane westward for two weeks this spring, maybe Iâll try and get a summer job and see how it works out.
I currently use Google Translate to correct my German, but it can give some very puzzling results with official letters.
P.S. My British Passport has European Union stamped on it, but I want to acquire German nationality as well so that I can stay in Europe no matter how the Brexit pans out.
Weâve been here for 10 months, in the Deux Sevres area of the Poitou Charentes region. Didnât speak any French but been having lessons, we can get by (just) but when the French speak to us we are completely lost, as they speak fast. But donât worry about it, you will manage. There are many Brits scattered around our area and itâs easy to fit in. There are many functions arranged, some French also attend. There are quizzes, curry nights, bingo, dances, gardening clubs etc. If itâs your dream to move here, then do it ! We both took early retirement, and havenât looked back, love it here
Oh how lovelyâŚthey must feel so honouredâŚ(!!!)
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do I detect a bit of sarcasm in that?. Just trying to reply to the guys comment in a positive manner. We have also been to French functions
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Palace of Versailles? 
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Simon is big enough to explain by himself but Iâll wade in; thereâs just something about the phrase âsome French also attendâ that sounds like âsome martians/ bead-festooned savages/weird people also attend, how extraordinaryâ, that smacks just a tiny bit of a parallel anglo-universe and begs the question âwhy live in France?â if thereâs barely any real connection with the ânativesâ beyond tokenism and transactional stuff eg at the supermarket. Sometimes I read things about living in France written by dwellers in the Anglosphere that make me think living in Kenya in the 1920s is being described.
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I think you said it perfectly @vero!
Sounds like @redjohnboy43 has never been quite the same since the British pulled out of India! Imagine the shoe on the other foot - French (or indeed any other nationality) immigrants in the UK who sometimes invite Brits along to their gatherings - imagine the contempt and derision they would provoke from the âlocalsâ. Although I suspect you and the fellow Brits scattered around your area John, just wouldnât be able to grasp that concept.
And yes @redjohnboy43 I was being sarcastic.
Lifeâs too short to worry too much about whether things will work or not. Generally speaking, if you want something to work then it will in the long run. I had schoolgirl French and my husband had none when we first got here 11 years ago. France is a wonderful place, the people generally are helpful and kind, I can count on one hand any sort of racism in our time here. We live in the north west so the climate is wet and windy in the winter - just like England! Your dream of a new start is a good one. A new adventure - fabulous stuff. I am going to be a bit controversial now, the only snottiness I have come across is from superior English people, we dont tend to make friends with them! Good Luck!
ooookkkkaaaayyyâŚIt seems like Iâm being slagged off here when I am trying to make an effort. Letâs TRY and make myself a bit clearer. âŚI have only been here for 10 months and am still learning. Granted, I donât know everything like you appear to do but I feel I am at least making an effort. When I said âsome French attendâ, I meant it in the way that the functions are open to everyone, and some of the French do actually attend even though the functions are organised by the Brits, they encourage as many people to attend. We have attended functions that have also been predominantly French locals, and also enjoyed them. I have spoken to British people in our area who have been here for 10-15 years (or even longer) and canât speak the French language. We didnât want that so have taken (and still take) French lessons. I put my original comment to help the guy out (or so I thought). Reading my original post, maybe I could have worded it better, as it probably came out not quite the way it was intended to. Having said that, I donât think it deserved the sarcastic comments or posts. I have only just joined this site, and that was actually my first postâŚwish I hadnât bothered now. Maybe Iâll get someone to proof read any future comments before I post in case they are misconstrued.
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@redjohnboy43 - good response and it certainly explains your position.
The thing is I come across folks living in the rose-tinted Anglosphere (love that word @vero - thanks) on a regular basis. I donât go out of my way to find them but they all have one thing in common - they live in a bubble and normally demonstrate an incredible lack of self awareness.
I fully appreciate itâs their choice to live their âtypeâ of French life but they shouldnât be surprised when it rubs folks up the wrong way! More than anything they tend to openly demonstrate the very behaviours they criticise in their home country. Theyâre easily identified as they donât tend to see themselves as immigrants and much prefer to use the term expat.
It doesnât really matter how long youâve been here - some have been here half a lifetime and still dwell in the bubble. What matters is how people are treated.