Andrew I look back on those Internet-free days with a mixture of affectionate nostalgia and amazement. I recall the days before electric typewriters came into being and the marvels of mimeographs, typed stencils and ink rollers to make copies of documents 
. I was an early adopter of new technology and bought the first Sinclair ZX and paid a cool ÂŁ500 for an Amstrad word processor when that was cutting edge technology 
zzzzzzzzzzz
3 Likes
We had to go it alone, too⊠and we went everywhere with 3 different dictionaries (1 of which was had useful pictures)⊠to help with our challengesâŠand I usually had short phrases already written down, which were often more swiftly understood than my strangled attempts to speak the language.
Also found that a polite greeting and sincere smile helped to get the ball rollingâŠ
3 Likes
Every country is different, I live in Luxembourg
However one of the important steps I took when I arrived in Luxembourg was to start paying my taxes there. This gave me a tax number that I then provided to HMRC which allowed them to tell my income providers they could pay me gross. I then declare that gross income in Luxembourg and Pay tax.
That made me feel really rooted in the country and helped at the Town Hall.
also depends on the square root of the diameter
A lovely post Norman - thank you. Iâm also new to this forum and although we started buying our house last November , completed in April we are now only recently â completelyâ here - as in having all our furniture. Our move has in part been promoted by Brexit and like you the sadness and dislike of the way things are going in the UK. I no longer felt safe where we lived despite being in an allegedly desirable village . Crime has made itâs way out from the city, no longer did we even have a PCSO. Burglaries and break ins had become a fairly frequent occurrence. Huge new housing estates built nearby but no improvement to the roads serving them so our village became a rat run which the locals are left to police with âtrainingâ from the authorities in how to use speed cameras. It felt like the infrastructure around us was falling apart with frequent loss of basic services such as water with no one prepared to invest in fixing or improving them.
We were going to move when my state pension comes into payment in 3.5 yrs time but decided to take a chance and bring things forward after the citizenship arrangements seemed to have been agreed. Weâd have bought earlier but our plans were dependent on the sale of my late parents house and probate which despite assurances to the contrary and a buyer for my parents house took longer than expected. We are despite the fact that weâve bought the house and a lhd car outright , taking somewhat of a chance. We donât intend to work and have my small occupational pension and small amount of savings to see us through. That said , should my husband have been unable to work for any reason here weâd have been in the same position - or worse . I found out to my great annoyance when I broke my arm a few years ago that there is no help in the UK. I wasnât able to work but couldnât claim any financial help as I had savings . My husband is self employed so no help for him either. After paying out rent, Council tax & utilities here there is nothing left from my pension to live on - as in eat! At least in France we will not be paying rent & my pensions topped up by our savings if needs be should see us through until my state pension comes through & a year later my husband can claim his occupational pension if needs be.
Youâve taken a bold step, and perhaps at the right time before March next year when things might be significantly more complicated than theyâve been to date.
Havingng said that, things arenât necessarily that complicated, but French bureacracy is rather different from UK and isnât easy to negotiate without some French, at least enough to decipher words that mean âwaiting roomâ , or âpushâ and âpullâ on an office door 
Everyone on these boards will reassure you that French public servants are polite, friendly and willing to help, bearing in mind that they are often working under pressure. Many if not most of those who have client-facing roles are women, and have empathy with those anxious and flustered types who are learning the ropes. Of course, you may not fit the stereotypical descriptions above, but even the most self-assured and competent may feel stressed and all-at-sea at times, and worry over small delays or set-backs.
Do hope you are beginning to feel finally âarrivedâ, ready to face the settling in adventure, and able to watch (at a safe distance) as the Brexit saga unfolds, collapses, or implodes or all three in quick succession!
Best wishes and a warm welcome, from us two (adoptive) Essexites (Rayleigh 30+ years, Basildon before that!)
Peter & Berlina 
1 Like
Well first will be question of a visa, after you can convert it to a French residence based on a property in France that you bought. More about different visas and residences you can find here https://tranio.com/france/residence/ Good luck and I hope you will enjoy your life in France 
Visa? Really?