As I said I am just finding my feet here and am not overly knowledgeable at this point! The point I was aiming for was more how different the systems are as in my opinion and personal experience this is the biggest point of adaptation
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Itās been a while since Iāve posted hereā¦thought Iād drop in and say hello and saw this. Thought to myselfā¦hey up! I can join in here. Itās taken me a blinking eternity but now happy to report am running my wee digital marketing and PR business hereā¦developing websites and managing social media communities. Training online in both. Loves it. Keeps growing bit by bit with clients in France, UK and US.
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Nice to āseeā you again Aly, and great news that the business has taken off 
Bonne continuation!
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Hey Anna! Thanks! How you doing? Not entirely sure taken off is entirely accurateā¦but Iām on the run way instead of resting in the hanger area 
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yes James. My clients love it and with facebook we even do questions can i see my pooch and within seconds im launching a video chat or thy video chat me. I like very much the open book policy, people know we are caring for their dogs at all times. Our new place not only do dogs have access to the garden area they also have full access to the entire ground floor of our house apart from the boiler / laundry room.
There are a couple of public feeds from our old place on my facebook James. You should check them out
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āThe quality of lifeā¦ā Wow! Well said!!
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Interesting question, as have been the answers thus far received. Starting with the last point first, I am a Pensioner (coming up to 78 in three months time). I was an International Marketing and Ad-man all my working life, and for the last ten years of my working life a Marketing Professor for two Brussels based Business Schools, teaching BBA and MBA students.
Yes, I do still work, but at my own lifelong love of graphic design, notably in the world of āOld Postersā and have now published over thirty books on the subject in various sectors 'chek out on amazon.com). Doesnāt make a lot of money but keeps my brain occupied.
On you specific reasons for posing the questions, my reading here (and I have had homes here since 1992 although not always full-time residency) is coloured by my own experiences, possibly now dated of the difficulties of establishing a business in France - notaby the mass of red tape.
However I still worked out of France and ensured I did not have double taxation, which meant in a lot of cases pre-EU it was necessary to establish a business presence in many other countries Estonia and Hungary to name two. Otherwise I worked through an Australian company in which I was a partner (for publishing activities), or was temporarily āemployedā as a Consultant which made assorted registrations essential, and all were different country by country. NB I nver had a business in France, and never conducted any business in France as unlike all the other 12 countries I physically worked in, and the 20 others or so I did Consultancy projects for at āarmās lengthā all worked in English language -whereas France did not.
I believe that France is still not geared up to other languages (including English), but I stand to be corrected on this. However if it IS still the case you will definitely need at least a reasonable written and spoken French to get by - or as I have, a French wife!
As you will have seen the most opportunities here are either in the building trade - renovations of all sorts, or in service industries, notably using the Internet to service Customers around the globe if that is what you can offer - education at some level seems an option, BUT even this is a massively crowded field these days, plus there are an awful lot of Free sites to compete with as well. You would be very wise to consider what sort of āniche marketā you might be able to concentrate on and make a living from.
Many people will cite Gites as an opportunity, but my own investigations indicated to me that with a maximum 12-15 week season, plus a few out of season add-ons like Easter, Christmas etc., to make more than just a living you need at least three gites. However as there are many Gite owners on this site, I will always defer to their greater operating experience rather than just my more business-oriented appraisal.
Hope this adds to your fund of thoughts.
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I came to live in the south of France in 2000 to āescape the
rat-raceā, having worked in IT for 25+ years.
My wife and I arrived here without much of a plan but after
buying a modest house we still had enough savings to live frugally for a few
years. After a year or so of settling in,
some French acquaintances asked me to look after their villa and pool while
they worked abroad. Within a few years, just by word of mouth, I had a dozen
villas and to look after during the rental season plus another dozen pools to
service. I also did occasional PC training
and support plus odd DIY jobs for the villa owners out of season.
Sadly my English wife missed life in the UK and we split up after
seven years in Franceā¦but soon afterwards I met a lovely French woman and weāve
now been together for over ten years.
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Not very interesting but ā¦
Iām an online English teacher mainly to Chinese children. I also teach adults from China, Vietnam and of course France.
I work for multiple teaching companies and I have the best job in the world!
Never full-time but never less than 15 hours per week. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays are always work free because I go cycling.
Classed as self-employed.
I was a Personal Fitness Trainer and post lady for The Royal Mail in the UK.
Iām not pensioner at 39 years old 
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Hi Aly - just interested in what type of social comunities you manage.
Magaret
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Hi Margaret, I manage social media communities online for businesses.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Plus etc etc. I post and
management engagement on behalf of the businessā¦as well as creating
sites.
Aly
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Bought a gĆ®te complex in 2005 with the idea that our 3 children would become bilingual (tick!) and that my husband whoās job was based all over Europe, could travel to work. Since then we sold the gĆ®tes and I have worked in service in a hotel, as a receptionist (v complicated if your french is not REALLY word perfect) and for the last 4 seasons I have run a holiday residence of 8 appartments. - Thatās a great job because someone else pays the bills ! It is possible to run gĆ®tes for more than 12 weeks - this one ran 1 april to early nov) simply because the owner signed up with a german agency who filled the apartments when the French and British donāt holiday.
There is plenty summer work - my billingual children all worked this last summer (but even then two worked only 6 weeks ) but to get into a full-time job is simply not possible with even moderate language skills. I consider myself billingual but I have a very long way to go to perfection. I do some voluntary teaching with adults and a local primary school where for an hour a week I do english work with the children.
Iām still looking for a non tourism related job ā¦
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As an ex teacher of English, I want to point out the lack of a comma after the word āTrainer,ā unless you did both jobs for The Royal Mail. Make no mistake, if you look at what I write, youāll find howlers galore; thatās why some scribe in heaven invented editors.
Oh no! I took it for granted Marie was helping the people at the Post Office work on their core strength, garden gate jumping skills, and dog-outrunning stamina. I am disappointed now.
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Thank you for all of the replies which have been very interesting.
I was keen to see how many people have continued to work in the same profession that they used to have prior to arriving in France.
The main thing I have picked up is be prepared to be flexible - I think it is important to, if possible, do something you enjoy.
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It is easy to work anywhere PROVIDING your qualifications are recognised and you are reasonably fluent in the local language(s)!
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Where do you live Helen?
Stategically positioned in the heart of the PĆ©rigord Noir.
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Hello,
Ever considered living in France but working for periods in the UK?
How much will you pay and where in the UK would I live?