Just joined........hello!

Hello Adrian

We live in Heckington a village close to Sleaford in Lincolnshire. Like you we've been travelling to France for many years and been very close to moving on a couple of occasions.

For many years our favorite has been Lanuguedoc Rousillon, in final analysis decided that in the very hot summers as we age we may struggle. We were in Liguria, Northern Italy in 2006, it was a hot summer all over Western Europe and many old people died as a result. Deux Severes is said to be in the 2nd sunniest area in France and whilst it often has long hot summers it's also a little cooler and of course there's lots of choice in housing at very reasonable prices. Love the rolling hills of the Gatine, love the laid back lifestyle & can't wait!

We'll be checking out some of our shortlist in a few weeks time, whilst dog sitting for friends we've made. They're travelling back to IOW for a family celebration.

Good luck with your search for Shangri La, hope everything meets expectation.

Lots to learn and I for one find SFN invaluaable

Sounds really great, makes me wish I was there now...raining here and will be pretty much for the next 3 days.

B&B is something else we have been considering doing once we have bought somewhere as would be constructive on a number of fronts. That said it begs the question do we set out with that intention so buy something that lends itself to use as a B&B. Don't know currently, hope the answer will dawn on us when we get out there next year, hmm!

I can see another conversation on the subject with you would be very useful sometime if you'd be ok with that.

Regards

we both went to NZ for economic reasons (and separately because we met in NZ) but are both originally from Europe. Long story about jobs and right time to make changes, taking the opportunity to be back in Europe and do some things we want to do etc.

It's a fantastic area we live in - lots to do within an hour of here, so we make a good base for people to explore. We do B&B and other things. Lots of Cathar history in this region, abbeys, mountains, gorges, towns like Mirepoix, Carcassonne, Toulouse, the circulade villages, wineries galore, walking paths, cycling, beaches and hour away.... more than 150 things to do from here. Nature is stunning, are surrounded by sunflowers in the summer, have mountain views from the top of the village -for us it's a wonderful spot. So yes, we do get tourists, but not the same amount that flock to beaches each year - although La Cité is busy from July-September (and imho best avoided during those times).

Hello Peter

Thanks for the tips, we met an agent in the Dordogne this year who suggested the Lot, Tarn regions Of course not far from Gers so we'll have to add it to our visit list.

Regards

Hi Rosanne, good to hear from you. Yep we like it around there too...so much choice !

Regards

Excellent, thanks Terry

Hi Victoria

Thanks for the replies, very useful, all going into the pot.

You certainly threw yourself in at the deep end, glad to hear it's all worked out so well, theres hope for us yet!

Regards

Hello Victoria Danville, My wife and I intend to move/retire to France in the near future, we are very interested in the SW regions. Could you answer a few questions? like is the property expensive in that area and what is the climate like in winter. We like others are planning a stay in the region next year possibly May/June so will miss experiencing the winter months. Does this area get very busy in summer (sorry forgot that question, there are so many), it is nice to know people that have experienced the move to France.

Hi Pamela

Lovely to hear from you.

You certainly have travelled a long way, what made you choose France in the first place? My daughter was working south of you on the coast with one of the camping holiday companies this summer. She liked it a lot and certainly has a very good tan now, wants to go bask again next season to the same place. Do you get many tourists where you are?

Getting the feel of a number of areas is important, as you say, until we find somewhere that fits.

Regards

Hi Adrian

Have a look at the Useful Links page www.survivefrance.com/page/useful-links . There's a huge amount of info there.

Hi Alan - great to hear from you.

House on the market - well done you, thats proper commitment. Not considered Deux Seuvres up to now, as with everyone who has replied with a location I've started looking them up in case they need to go on our itinerary. We've "been" to the majority of areas of France but of course if its not been on our immediate agenda most tend to get ignored or at least not fully explored!

Whereabouts are you living at the moment?

Regards

Hi David

Thanks for your replies, good to hear from you - I like your style!

You make some good points. In our travels in France we have often come across British expats and I guess as with everything that has it's pluses and minuses. Personally I'm looking for somewhere fairly standalone (some might say isolated) yet on the cusp of French culture and with the comfort of some Brits not too many miles away - or at least a network like SFN. Lisa on the other hand wants somewhere a bit closer to "civilisation" at least (I think mainly in case I drop dead and she's left in the middle of nowhere...still, not on my immediate agenda). Thats really why we are having our 6 month trial run, we need to find somewhere simply that feels right - theres no way I can get that from the internet.

Other than language (which we're working on) the health side is the one that seems to be most complex and daunting.

Regards

Hi Sheila

Good to hear from you and thanks for the welcome!

Yes I like the point about the paperwork and digital versions etc.

Regarding the car, certainly a point that's had me scratching my head a bit. Fine for the 6 months but for the long term I'm thinking I'll replace the car when (if??!) we are out there permanently. Second hand cars seem pricey and or difficult to come by in France so a new car there would appear easiest. Plus dont fancy re-registering my car and getting it up to spec.

Responses from you and everyone have been great, certainly many more than I expected, not just the odd line either - really has been a breath of fresh air to me.

Regards

Hi Adrian and welcome to SFN. As others have mentioned, research, and learn French. Now would also be a good time to start putting all your paperwork together - get up to date printouts of your birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc. and make sure your passports are up to date and won't expire during one of your six-month stays. I scanned all mine into PDFs, and then emailed them as a back up to myself (using gmail which can be accessed anywhere).

I can't help with health matters as I am Irish so don't know the UK system. However, in my experience, the French health system is very good. As you won't have a Carte Vitale at first, you will have to pay should you need to see a doctor and obtain medication. However, it only costs €23 to see the doctor.

Our Irish driving licences expire every ten years and so we had one of those mad trips to the Prefecture when we realised one of the licences was due to expire in 6 days! We now have French driving licences.

Others will correct me if I am wrong but I believe that as a UK citizen and therefore a member of the EU, you don't need a carte de sejour.

If you intend bringing your UK car with you when you come to stay permanently,there are some things you will need, and there are plenty of discussions about the requirements here on SFN. It's a bit more complicated to bring a car from Ireland, so we didn't bother. We bought a small car here.

You will have already noticed that there are plenty of well-informed SFN members here who are very helpful, so don't hesitate to ask if you have a question. Best of luck, and keep us posted on progress. :-)

What our cog likes about here (la Creuse) is that she has her own park, but also canine challengers when we walk around the village.

Adrian, check out your EHIC card and the update details on the web. Mine is still valid, even though we've been here 5 years. Wife's isn't - but she counteracts that by not getting ill. I have to say that neither of us have had any sort of illness which a doctor might need to know about since we've been here. On Wife's part that is particularly good because she used to have a stress/climate related asthma - now on days when the weather doesn't suit she just goes out into the garden and talks to the plants. Sounds mad perhaps but she allways comes back in less stressed and more breathing. Although french bureaucracy is allegedly obtuse we have found it not so - just certain people, same as you'd find in the UK.

The most important things, I'd imagine, if you are thinking of making a permanent move and find a place you like, is to ensure that you get something in writing from HMRC to confirm that they recognise your move, and to meet at least one neighbour before you buy.

Hello Adrian

I've been in the forum for just a few weeks and like you we've embarked upon the journey, our house is on the market, we have a shortlist of houses in Deux Sevres and can't wait. Our dog is not so large but he loves it too and made many new friends in the summer.

Look forward to more of your questions and learning from the answers that come back, I already have answers to questions that I didn't know to ask.

Lively discussions make the forum interesting, thanks everyone.

Wife and I moved over with very conflicting advice. The reason we moved here was to bring "our" Grandmother (mine but adopted by Wife) back. We have had and are still having ups and downs but we don't regret the move. Wife, for example, heard a "London" voice outside this morning. She has now realised that she hates "Londoners". "Why did we move to a small village in rural France if I'm going to get Londoners outside every morning?"

I would say she shrilled, but she has a warm Mancunian voice verging on posh Cheshire so she couldn't shrill if she tried. She demanded that we stay in bed with the shutters closed until her perceived threat had gone. So we looked like lazybones this morning because the "threat" didn't bugger off (with engine revving etc - as a non driver I don't understand these things but she says there is no way you can screech tyres from a standing start unless you're a "Londoner".

I can only add that her definition of a "Londoner" comes from her 12 years working in the City - she was shocked, stunned and a slight bit windswept when she first moved down there from the Wirral, to find that City types felt it perfcectly reasonable that anyone having a birthday/leaving/promotion/death drink up should buy the drinks -whereas in all her time "up North" the general reasoning was that everyone else buy the drinks. She is now adding this to her idea on politics -subtly entitled "Don't let the Southerners In". Not necessarily a vote winner but it makes her happy.

Sorry, that tells you nothing at all about life in France. If I can help in any way I will. There are always more answers than questions = because some people come up with answers to questions you didn't know you had!

Hi Adrian, we are living in the true South (Aude, a little south of Carcassonne and near Limoux). When we first arrived here we thought we had done lots of research, which we had, but it still wasn't enough to prepare for the fact of living here - mind you, we did move a long way as we came from New Zealand! The climate has been different each year we've been here, so we don't really know what 'normal' is, except for listening to the locals.

What the others have mentioned - yes, learn as much of the language as possible and don't be put off using it by a few fussy and impatient people. Another suggestion I'd make is to join your local AVF group, if there is one:
http://www.avf.asso.fr/fr/

who can help you learn some more of the language, and make some local friends - networks are important no matter where you are.

Also, while you are not 'fixed' to one spot (and by that, I mean still looking for a place to settle), try doing some big loops of areas you think you'd like to live - it's a great way to find out about the area as well as giving you a good feel about what you can expect from a certain region. Good luck :)

Hi adrian,

ive been here 4 and a bit years and things seem to differ from region to region so best to try and speak to someone closer to where you wanna be however saying that : for a six month stay car will be fine just be sure to let your insurance know you are abroad for that amount of time, taxes all fine residency will not change as you are just seen as holiday maker here until you stay full time, where i am i am unable to get a carte de sejour until i have been here 5 years so if i have had problems etc my passport is still my first port of call when visiting the marie, health cover should be good but as you intend to stay and move here i'd invest in health cover 'mutual' as if you get sick you get money back when you spend it there are many different insurers check cover! When we signed our first lease here we registered with the maire and showed them we were resident here think you will need to do this and good thing in case you have problems down the line . If you need further help let me know or like I say see if nyone closerto your chosen spot knows any different as like i say its not blanket rules here in france !! oh and carte vital!! you need this

I'm near Alencon - Just north of Le Mans. Good to make your acquaintence :o)