What do this have to do with France, specifically? I'm serious, it has nothing to do with France, it just has to do with what you want to do and what you are going to be doing in France. Obviously, anyone who has a job cannot just be traveling around a country they move to. The issues would be the same for anyone who moved to any country as an outsider.

What are your goals? To see the country? To learn the language? To become a part of a community? It would be hard for a complete stranger to choose a, b, or c for you. That is entirely up to you and each of us would have a different answer based on our own preferences. If I had a year to spend in Europe, I would spend 3 months in 4 different places, not necessarily all in France, so I could see several areas in depth. But that is me, not you.

Actually, I think I would spend the year in Paris and take a monthly one-week trip to 12 parts of Europe.

If you want to live in a place and get to know the people then you need to choose a small area. If you're leaving in a year how likely is it that you will form friendships. It takes more than a year to form friendships at home. If you're only looking to be acquaintances and say hi over the fence then any place is fine.

Do you want to get to know French people or English/American expats? You might go someplace where you have an introduction to others.

You need to talk with people who have done this sort of thing to get their perspective on how likely it will be that you will get to know people. Getting to know an area is easy.

I would stay in Paris for 6 months and then choose 2 or 3 other locations for the rest of the time. In Paris you can definitely join an expat community so you won't be lonely.

'In Paris you can definitely join an expat community so you won't be lonely.' Uggggh Exactly the wrong reason to come to France, to my mind. Why come here so that you can speak English and associate with non-French people?

I would suggest spending a lot of time working on your French. Even if you're still working during the day, this should be possible. I have several times got off a business flight to head directly to my 3 hour grammar class. (In fact I found it was a great way to get rid of someone sitting next to you on a flight who wanted to hit on you - 'what are you doing there? ' 'My French grammar homework.' Works every time.)

Then once you arrive, get involved with something - an association, classes, whatever. And go out looking for people - invite neighbours in for a drink, join a gym class.You're not going to meet people just by standing around, especially if you dont speak the language. You need to participate. Which probably also means that you need to spend more than 3 months in one place.

Personally, I would go somewhere and not try to link up with the ex-pats.

As someone who has done something similar, my opinion is that you should base yourself somewhere for the year. Be a part of that place, neighbors , shops etc. That gives you more of a feeling of being there, being a part of everything. Get to know your neighbors, the neighborhood, join in any celebrations/holidays with them .. you will feel more like a "local" or just a part of the place rather than someone stopping by/a tourist.
From that base you can go anywhere, I have friends who stay in an apt in Provence each summer and they rent a car and drive all over, exploring, staying here and there. I would stay in Paris and do the same thing ..
Learn as much of the language as you can, this is so very important in being a part of a place and not just being the outsider looking in.
I have lived outside of the US for over 5 years now and I never have anything to do with ex-pat forums, groups etc. Personal opinion.. I am here because I wanted to be and love it.. I don't want to sit around with a group of people who meet to complain about everything here, wishing they could find things that are not sold here, etc.
I hope you manage to do this, I wish everyone could take a year or so off and just go live somewhere totally different .. it does amazing things for you

Having spent considerable time pondering a similar decision, My first choice would be to find one place to base. We fell in love with Languedoc-Roussillon. I would like to know there is an ex-pat community I could connect with as needed, but I wouldn't want to make it my lifestyle. I would like to have both ex-pat and French friends, so I would chose a town that offers a thriving life to it's current inhabitants. (In other words, not just a place where lots of folks have vacation homes, and the restaurants close up from November til March!)

You should look for a place that has good local and regional bus service and nearby national train service, to maximize your ability to explore. If you can live a daily life without a car, you might get by easily just renting one once in a while. A decent sized Carrefours is probably more important than a once-a-week market, but those markets do seem to have a decent schedule of hitting good towns on a continuous schedule. A good bakery and a local cafe is essential.

If you are concerned about it, take a month -- or at least two weeks -- in winter and stay there to be sure you can do all you would like (another reason we like the SW, more days of sunshine than anywhere else in the country.)

My second choice, would be two bases, for 6 months each...but I really think a full year would give you more of a connection with the community. If I were doing two bases, I would pick a good town (Ceret, Perpignan, Olonzac, Capestang or Uzes made our short list) and one city (Paris, Montpellier or Lyon). I guess it might depend on the budget available! One base would maximize the budget, two would be a bit more costly.

I'm with uhoh_busted here. we've idly thought about this, and the ideal place [for us] is somewhere with enough life going on that there are things to do all year round so that you can meet locals on a daily basis, but not so big that you don't keep meeting the same people.

a huge city would be very difficult IMHO - people just aren't interested enough to make the effort, whereas in a smaller place you will have novelty value. but all of that will be wasted if you can't speak the language.

I also like the idea of staying somewhere for a year and using it as a base for travel, so it would need to have good communications to places you think you'd like to go.

Hi S,

I would live in Paris and take occasional trips to the outside world, like the Parisians do.

I'd spend a year in one area. You can always go on holiday to another area for a week or two, several times during your year.

You need to learn French, and avoid ex-pats , of any nationality, as much as possible to get the most from your year.

Languedoc-Roussillon is chock-a-block with Brits, as are several other areas of France.

One very important thing you must do, regardless of your EU passport is to sort out health care insurance for your year - you will not be entitled to free health care.

annhig brings up another aspect of being an expat/visitor that we don't always consider until it actually happens. Living in a foreign land and not knowing the language can result in various things.. being ignored, being spoken to like you are dear/an idiot or someone being helpful/speaking English.
Where we live, people apologise to us ! for not speaking English .. we butcher the language every day but they do appreciate the effort. Do not expect anyone to speak English, then things will be easier for you.. it will be a nice surprise when they do.
Big cities actually can have more people who 1- speak English 2- are more open to strangers among them. Small towns/villages can be sometimes a bit closed/wary of strangers.
And living in a city, you are bound to meet people from all over the world, so your scope of experiences and who you meet will be a little bigger/ less closed as in a small village somewhere.
I have heard it jokingly said that you don't have to worry about speaking French in Provence, everyone is English :- )
hetismj2 brings up an important point- We live outside the US so we had to buy insurance here, it can be just as expensive as in the US so count that into your expenses.

We have friends to decided to spend a year in Europe (and actually did 11 months) by living for one month in each place all across Western Europe. As I recall, three of the places were in France. Of course, they were a couple, not just one person.

The husband wrote a book about it: Ed Webster's "A Year of Sundays." Their experience might help you figure it out.

Expats must be avoided like poison as they pull you in all of the wrong directions.

d) If you live in Manhattan and could live in New Jersey for a year would you??

Why on earth would anybody want to move to France for any period of time. Interesting question, but I can't imagine any reason. A holiday at the sea, nice but actually living there? What an idea.

Okay, I'll dream along with you. I would try four different places, moving with the seasons to try to maximize good weather. I'd pick the four locations based on how many interesting places are nearby. I'd make overnight trips in the area, so I'd want a car . Even though we always prefer the countryside, for a longer-term stay I'd want to be in a mid-sized town. 5000 population is too small; 10,000 may be too big (for me). I'd want the town to be fairly prosperous.

We think the Orne, Mayenne, and Sarthe are beautiful and not crowded. I'd make that one of my stays. Maybe somewhere south of the Loire too.

Schnauzer, what places have you seen in France that are on your list to return to?

DH and I tried to choose a place (in Italy) to buy but could never figure out what we loved the most.

In France, we were just getting started but also had a difficult time choosing where we'd want to have a permanent base if we could. So your question is a difficult one, schnauzer!

That all being said, I'd go for a town with a university and good transportation and stay there. We enjoyed Montpelier as a base. Although not quite so convenient for trains, we liked Aix as well.

Paris would be my first choice though. You can make your own neighborhood even if you're in a big city, eh?

It's difficult to answer without knowing your objectives and likes and dislikes.

All things being equal, I would choose one or two places I either wanted to explore more in-depth or areas I had not been to before. If you want to do a lot of exploring, obviously in or near a transportation hub would be ideal, few places are very far from one.

I would join one or two local activities. Yes, you meet other ex-pats in French classes but in my experience they are from highly varied countries and backgrounds, not a bunch of self-satisfied English and American retirees such as moi-même.

So, a few more clues would be good!

For purely practical reasons I'd recommend picking one place for the entire year. This helps you to feel part of a place, but I also recommend it because short-term rentals are less common (and tend to be more expensive) - plus, moving repeatedly is a hassle even with relatively little luggage due to having to give months' notice on an apartment and pay a frequently hefty deposit on another. You should also pick a place with good transport links (as mentioned above - whether this is train or bus or both) so that you can travel at the weekends if you want. I'd recommend Paris, Lyon or Bordeaux (or their suburbs). I'd agree with the recommendations to get your health insurance sorted and to stay away from other expats! Out of interest: what kind of job would you be looking to do here? How is your French? And how old are you? I ask these questions because their answers will affect the advice that others are able to give you. FWIW, I'm in my mid-twenties and have lived in France for 4 years (am also from Europe if that helps).

d_claude_bear
Thanks for posting the book,"A Year of Sundays." It's just my kind of read and available used on Amazon. All I had to do was read the flap and I was hooked.

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Sundays-Taking-Plunge-Explore/dp/1889242217/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344787521&sr=1-2&keywords=A+year+of+sundays

Spending a year in France instead of 2 weeks every year would be a dream come true, but just not possible for us. So, I'll just have to live through books and Fodorites posts.

I would pick one place only, a fairly large metropolis or an outlying area of it, with good train/bus connections to other parts of France, and decent weather. Stay away from the English-speaking expats; they will undermine your cause. Have a good command of the language before you go, and be sure you know lots of practical terminology related to keeping up a residence - go to the hardware store and memorize a ton of plumbing and masonry and electrical and appliance terms. Don't expect a warm welcome - you will have to earn your keep with the locals. Get involved in local activities as much as possible.

I like the idea of Montpellier. Lyon also. Paris, while I adore it, would not be where I would want to settle in for a year unless it were in a very outlying arrondissement. Bordeaux I would never choose, though I like it. As much time as I've spent there, I've never really been able to crack its rather crusty, unwelcoming spirit.

We're planning for a move to La Rochelle. You might like that as well.

Good luck - exciting plan!

Oh, hetismij2 and kerouac, I am dismayed with your feelings on ex-pats. I am now an ex-pat transplanted from the sterile DC-beltway culture to the beautiful country of Austria, and would love to know how you feel I might pull others in the wrong direction. I am muddling through with my German, to be be sure, but am happily making the best of this wonderful city! I could not be happier that I am living in Austria for three years and can be so close to your wonderful cities of Paris and Amsterdam, should my wanderlust inspire me.

Why on earth would anybody want to move to France for any period of time. Interesting question, but I can't imagine any reason. A holiday at the sea, nice but actually living there? What an idea.>>

logos - one might just as easily ask why go and live in the uK, the US or indeed Germany [which is where i guess that you re based though your profile is somewhat coy about that and lots of other things].

in fact I can think of several reasons - the stunning and varied scenery, the language and culture, the way in which the french have a certain "je ne sais quoi", the food, the wine, the food..but then i can think of several reasons to live in Germany as well, which is quite a similar list!

Fourfortravel, I frequented a number of expats for years and found that the main reason they get together is to complain about the local people, exchange ways to get around local regulations and trade addresses for getting 'real' food and drinks instead of having to put up with the local stuff.

Anyway, to get back to the question, I would recommend staying in one city only -- not Paris -- and using it as a base to visit other places. It should be at least a medium-sized city like Montpellier, Grenoble, Nantes, Lille, Metz, Strasbourg (non exhaustive list), or, if you really want a smaller place, it needs to have excellent transportation links anyway.

Fourfortravel, I am an ex-pat. I am British but have lived in the Netherlands for getting for 30 years now.
I made a conscious decision not to live in an ex-pat area, or to mix with the few there are around here, manly for the reasons Kerouac says.
I wanted to learn the language quickly and would not have done so if I'd mixed with ex-pats.
There is at least one American, and one Briton who live in the same town as me, and have lived here at least as long as me - but they still don't speak Dutch. They go to ex-pat dos all the time and shop in Amsterdam or Hilversum rather than here, so that they don't have to learn.

Visiting Langedoc-Roussillion and renting a house from British ex-pats made me realise how many Britons there are there. We visited a couple of markets and heard more English than French.
Not my idea of living in another country.

We have done much of what hetismij2 and kerouac have done .. once you decide to live in another country, you want to make friends with the "natives" .. you don't want to limit yourself to ex-pats, ex-pat communities etc. It is true I think, in all countries, the expats get together and complain. They can't find decent mayonnaise or soap or whatever.
We bought our home, it is in a small building of 10 apartments, 2 to a floor. We are the only non-Argentines living here. We were "adopted" by the people in the building, they watch out for us, we are always told when the tenants meetings are and if we miss something ( translation-wise) they will give us a run down when the meeting is over to be sure we got it all .
The best way, in my opinion, to do it if this is your plan, is as hetismij says, immerse yourself in the culture and language and avoid the expat stuff. Even if it is only for a year.

@uhoh_busted, there the forum languedoc-pages.com
run By a brit who doesn't gripe about France and is helpto those who live in his area.
@stcirq, I love La Rochelle and dining at Les Flots.
That bridge that takes you to Ile de Rae, I like better than the Millou tallest one.

About expats: The Dordogne is overflowing with them, mostly British and Dutch. In the early years of owning my home there I met a few and was invited to a few gatherings. Not my cup of tea. The Brits were starting up cricket and polo clubs and choirs, they were raising llamas, they were trying to get a stall at the local markets to sell lemon curd and prawn crackers and beans, they were opening tea salons. You'd see them in the markets walking four abreast wearing safari outfits, yelling "MAHgret! Did you get the CLAret???" They were incredibly insular. And for the most part, even those who had been there for YEARS hadn't bothered to learn French. Their gatherings were tainted with wistful reminders of their homeland - bad chicken curries, jello molds with crème anglaise, crumpets, baked beans - and they never stopped moaning about how difficult it was to deal with French workmen, how antiquated everything was and how long it took to get anything accomplished, how they couldn't find Cadbury's or good Earl Grey or whatever. I could never figure out what they were doing there if they didn't want to assimilate. Certainly I met some lovely ones, but as a group I did not want to socialize with them.

I agree, Cigale, that's a lovely bridge.

I would never move to a place that I had not visited often.
Be sure to rent before buying to see what the area is like
without a romantic vision.

cigale, that is what I thought .. I was all set to move to England or Paris but we had only visited Buenos Aires once. We did like it , we could see all the positives in the move and when my husband said, if and when we get tired of it or want to go home, we can.
That makes Everything easier.
It is going to be very hard to leave here.. but not as hard as it is to stay away from "home" now :- )

PS ... if you have this sort of building in the neighborhood, it helps too ..

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8o0p7ZDKn1qgju3co1_500.jpg

Thanks so much to everyone for your insightful responses. I realise I didn't give much info but wanted to just get people's "gut responses" to the question.

I love some of the suggestions and will take note of all of them. I do speak French but of course need to improve - I am advanced intermediate if that makes any sense!! In other words I can get by but certainly take the sensible point about learning practicle vocabulary.

I am approaching mid fifties and want to do this before I get too old, but have to wait for my doggies to pass over the rainbow ridge before I can go - they are 13 and 11 so it could be a few years yet!!!

I have spent approx 3 months in Paris, a month or so in Provence region, spent time in the Dordogne, Burgundy, Loire, Alsace and Normandy and am planning a trip next year to Corsica, Nice and the Dordogne again.

I want to immerse myself in the culture of France, I love the language, the food, the scenery and could think of no better country to spend a 'dream year' in. The ex pat lifestyle is not for me but understand there will no doubt be occasions where I have the need to speak English (I am from Australia), but I can't see myself mixing with MARgret!! (thanks for the visual laugh - can see her now)

I don't see myself working, but could do volunteering of some sort if available - animals perhaps, or teaching english to local kiddies, not that I have any qualifications in that area, but am always good for them to have a practice on!!

Renting somewhere for a year could be a challenge, I have already tried to search for sites for long term rents but most are for holiday houses. Any suggestions on this score would be appreciated.

It is certainly a dream but one I am planning to make come true. I realise there needs to be a lot of thought and planning - something I revel in and I know my Fodorite chums will give me help.

My only worry about staying in one place for the whole year is what happens if I don't like it? (Move?? but if I have taken a house for a whole year??) moving around is certainly hedging my bets but the continuity if then broken. I have lived in other countries beforehand so it is not as if I have lived in the same country all my life, so I am up for a challenge.

Any more ideas?
thanks so much
schnauzer

Wow, StCirq, "jello molds?" The expats in your area must be living in a time warp, I haven't seen a jelly for many years, in fact since my sons were old enough to protest.

This is so strange regarding the expats.

When we lived in Europe I found the expat women the most interesting, vital, involved of my friends. They were from all over the globe, and had lived all over too - one had lived on an island in Indonesia with limited water and power, there was a japanese gal who was setting up a local acupuncture practice, several had lived and worked in the middle east.

There was only one american; she was in the process of getting her PhD at the local university. In fact, she made fast friends with one of the professors there and has had her family visit in the US now that she is back.

Anyway, I would not dismiss the expat community! They are not a bunch of British retirees, at least in my experience. And most have local friends too.

I found that most the local (non retired) women are working or caring for small children during the day. It will be lonely if you close off speaking to the expats.

Scarlett, I'm interested who you would hang with during the day? Who do you go to the movies with, or coffee, or book discussions, or hikes, or museums? Maybe South America is different and the local women do not work?

I would personally spend it all in one place as well.

I just wanted to stand up for ex-pats for a second - hubby and I are expats living in London. We have been here 5 years and we have a mix of friends - fellow expats and also locals.

There are some pros for mixing with expats:
1. It takes a long time to integrate into the local community - unless you are in a small village I think it will take longer than a year. The people that live there have their families and friends already established and may not be interested in including you in that. Yes you will meet shopkeepers etc but we found it very difficult to build up a real friend group with locals. People at work want to get home to their friends and families. The people wanting to go out and sightsee etc were generally expats who were also looking for company. It can be pretty lonely if you dont know anyone and the locals are not interested in letting you in.

2. Expats tend to want to do the same things - explore tourist sites and travel and experience all they can in the new place. Locals here travel alot, but we travel whenever we can and the locals cant believe how frequently we do it. Expats also generally want to do the day trip to the neighbouring town to see the market or explore - locals think we are nuts when we have our own local market to go to.

3. Sometimes life in another culture is very frustrating and you do need to vent - or laugh about the differences. And you do miss your home culture and its nice to remember it and share it with fellow countryman or other expats experiencing the same frustrations. It doesnt have to be nasty - sometimes its a really good laugh. I have never felt more Canadian than I do when I am in Britain, and never more British than when I am in Canada.

4. Expats are a wealth of knowledge about how to settle somewhere. If you dont know how to do something they will have likely figured it out already and can help you in the process.

So I just wanted to say that you shouldnt write off expats altogether. It could get downright lonely if you cut-off the expat community completely which I have found to be very welcoming to newcomers in a way that locals are not. Now dont go and cut off all the locals or dont integrate - that is not what I am saying AT ALL! But expats do have their place and not all are annoying, negative people.

I should clarify that my experience with expats is limited to the Dordogne, where the vast majority of expats ARE retired Brits; it's not a diverse community of people who have lived all over the world and have all kinds of interesting experiences to share, as you might find in a large metropolitan area. They are typically wealthy, older folks who have a romanticized view of rural life in France, where it's warmer than it is in England but with terrain that's familiar enough that they feel comfortable there (and maybe they have a subconscious hankering to take back Aquitaine). I certainly don't find all of them annoying, negative people, but I don't find them the best conduit into local life, either. And the local French residents DO find them annoying and negative, so if you start spending a lot of time with the British expats, you get labeled as annoying and negative as well, which doesn't further your cause.

I can't speak to getting lonely, as I was never a permanent resident in France; I could come and go as I wished and always had family and friends with me for entertainment. I can see how if I'd had to endure a long winter there alone, I'd have welcomed just about any opportunity for socializing.

And yes, tarquin, I've been to at least three Brit-organized events where jelly was served. It was quite a throwback for me as well - hadn't seen it on a serving table since the late 1950s - thought maybe it was "normal" for a British potluck, but I guess not. It probably speaks to the age group of the expats in the Dordogne.

schnauzer, I don't know a lot about long-term rentals in France, but I can see not wanting to commit to a year in a place, in the event it turns out you're not happy there. I guess I'd either plan to spend time scouting out and living at least briefly in places that attract you ahead of time, or trying hard to find a rental for less than a year. You might want to engage the services of a notaire or real estate agency that is connected with properties in various parts of the country.

Jamikins, an excellent response! I am over the moon ecstatic that I have the opportunity to live outside the US and despite reservations by some, I shall continue to strive to be a "good" ex-pat.

We aren't living in an area surrounded by "us," by choice. We are doing our best to muddle through the language differences, and it's all working out just grand. Through our children's school our friends are both native and non-native, and when I'm out with local girlfriends I comment equally on natives and non-natives. I roam the neighborhood pulling my shopping trolley (I'm even on a first name basis with the local grocery store clerk!), and never pass judgment on the tourists who stop quickly in front of me to consult a map. If I encounter a rough patch in a local store, I ask the shopkeeper to speak slowly so that I can try to understand. It all works.

That said, the challenges of ex-pat life are numerous, no doubt. Even with assistance from your home government (as it is with us), I've found that it's a lot like labor and delivery: your girlfriends don't tell you everything! Still, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Corsica is nice, but why take the crumbs when you can get the cake?
www.reunion.fr

I am a self-described, self-satisfied retired American ex-pat, living in a SW France village of <300. We are the only native English-speakers in the village and 2 of only 3 people who speak English, so for us it was a dive in the deep end!

While St. Cirq's description of English ex-pats borders on caricature, we have encountered people who behave like that, more in the Dordogne than here due to sheer numbers of Brits who have moved there. As pretty as the Dordogne is, it's one reason why we focused our house hunting further south.

We have been here three years this July. Because we retired somewhat early (58), the locals in our age bracket for the most part still work and 2 of our immediate neighbors live in Toulouse and come down only on weekends. We go to all our village's fêtes, which are great fun, and very occasionally we have been invited for aperos or dinner parties. Everyone is friendly, helpful and kind, appearing at our door with apricots, cherries, greengages from their gardens and happy to chat for awhile. I'm not surprised by the lack of invitations, gatherings here tend to be mostly family-oriented.

As for ex-pats, we are fairly spread out in our area. The local volunteer English library is sort of the hub, but the book selection is so poor we rarely go, although the tea and cakes are very tempting. That said, "some of our best friends are ex-pats" and have helped us relative newbies in so many ways. It's pretty daunting sorting out French officialdom on your own and it helps to have someone to moan with from time to time. Through French lessons in St Gaudens (starting year 4 next week) I have met amazing people from Germany, ND, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, the UK.

The virtual ex-pat communities such as Angloinfo, Survive France, Americans in France, etc are a mix of useful and worthless info, but pretty easy to sort one from the other. I used to check them daily.

Schnauzer, through those sites you can often find great off-season rates on holiday homes that would
otherwise be vacant. www.leboncoin.fr is another good source for rentals. We are 45 minutes SW of Toulouse, if you decide to look down this way, I'd be happy to help.

My experience with expats -- from everywhere in the world and all ages, since I live in Paris -- is that a lot of them came to Paris because they thought they were in love with the city, and then they got "Paris Syndrome" to varying degrees. Paris is not Disneyland and some people are very upset when they find out. Also, like any big city, Paris is a city of in-your-face wealth and in-your-face poverty, which can cause a certain amount of distress when you are somewhere in between.

That's why a recommend going to a more "normal" city where you are unlikely to deal with the same extremes.

The expat websites often have some good information, and they are usually run by reasonable people. Just don't get roped into drunken expat friends down at the bar.

More fantastic responses - and EXACTLY the sort of things I was hoping to hear. It sounds like you use the same formula for most things in life - balance/moderation.

It is a shame that the Brits appeared to have spoilt it for the 'rest of us'!! I am sure there are some lovely ones but like a famous aussie author who lives there also a lot refuse to learn the language properly. This for me is probably one of main reasons for going to live in France, until you have lived in a country you don't really stand a chance of speaking the language properly. I realise that a year is not going to make me sound like a native, but I have to get better - yes?

I shall look up that web site - Cathinjoetown, and thank you for your kind offer. ARe you going to be living in France permanently now? I didn't realise you lived there... now I do!!

I have spent a fair bit of time in Paris and love the city but the last time I was there (last year) I felt I had "done" Paris (for a while at least) and think Kerouac is absolutely right to choose a 'normal city'.

I feel like I need to spend a year in France choosing where I am going to spend a year in France... now there is an idea!!

Jamikins your response makes perfect sense and I do feel I couldn't live in another country without some contact from the home land and I think you are absolutely right when you say the ex pats want to do the same things ie investigate further afield but I shall promise not to be roped into the drunken expats at the bar. I remember when we lived in the West Indies as ex pats the drinking and the partying was at the forefront of a lot of ex pats' agenda. I was only a teenager so it didn't affect me. I am more into dancing than drinking...

Queenie it sounds like you have met an amazing group of people in your time, do you still keep in touch?

St Cirq thanks for all your comments, I am hoping that some friends will come and visit me, but I don't want to end up as a b and b for all.

Thanks everyone again, I shall print this off and keep it in my 'dream file' for future reference.

Schnauzer

Can I just say that there is nothing worse than a Canadian bar in London, Paris, or anywhere else haha!

Why is that jamikins? Sorry, know nothing about Canadian bars.

I'll just add (and I realize I keep on just adding) that I've never been an expat or an immigrant, though I'm probably going to be one or the other soon, so my experiences are limited to being a part-time resident. My caricatures are actually real-life moments, though I didn't temper them with the more normal experiences (because I like to play with words). I am very fond of Brits in general, not so much the rich retired ones in the Dordogne as a group.

Schnauzer, do be wary of becoming a B&B. I actually chose the Dordogne 20 years ago because it was, in Rick Steve's words at the time "really hard to get to." Brilliant, I thought. Though at the end of the day we had more people find their way to us "just to crash for a day or two"(right!) than I ever wanted or expected. You gotta set limits.

What a great idea, Schnauzer!

Could you do a couple of house swaps/house sittings?

Not everyone needs or wants to do a concurrent swap, and it might give you an opportunity of trying out an area before renting, or returning there.

For the string - lipped "why would you want to do that?" - your line is a triumphant, "Because I can!"

Knowing you even slightly, I know you'll fit in wherever you go and have a wonderful time.

Indeed, pay attention to StCirq's indirect words of warning: once you are settled, people you barely know from back home may suddenly decide that they are your best friend and would just love to come and visit. During my first couple of years in Paris, I was swamped with visits. While only close friends actually camped out at my place, so many others decided that I would be their personal tour guide/interpreter.

I just find cdn or American or Irish or British pubs outside of their own country horrible...why on earth would I want to go to say Paris and hang out in a cdn bar watching Canadian or American sports (outside the NHL playoffs obviously haha)??

Moosehead beer?

Hahaha Cath - ok, maybe also for the Moosehead, but only during the playoffs (GO CANUCKS!)

I think I would rent out my house here in Sydney and the rent I can receive here per week would pay for a house in France for a month!! (so one advantage of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world...) Okay so in the summer months the prices may be higher but looking at the sites I have already earmarked it would appear I am on a winner $$$ wise.

Someone (St Cirq??) mentioned about buying - no intention (at the moment...)

I might have to be 'away' when certain folk come calling... but that could also be part of the fun showing people around - until the novelty wears off of course.

I understand about Jamikins and the Canadians - we were overseas once and there were a group of rather inebriated Canadians at the next table, every five minutes or so they would make "moose" antlers with their hands and state in a loud voice "I am a Canadian". It became the catch phrase for our holiday with my 16 year old - everytime something happened - funny or just, well happened, we would do the antler hands and say "I am a Canadian", well we thought it was funny at the time!!!! Lost in translation me thinks.

Thanks for the good wishes Bokhara, of course you will be invited to stay!!! See, already issuing those invites,... gotta stop.

Schnauzer

Hi Schnauzer,

Yes, we plan to live here permanently, the lifestyle, weather, etc. suit us.

There's no single home base tugging us back, friends and family are scattered.

Buying a large farmhouse here was tempting but we opted for a smaller place that is easier to maintain and heat! We occasionally wish we had another guest room for large groups but there's a wonderful gite/chambres d'hotes in the village that our friends love--we have a great view but their's is better!

When I moved here I had passable tourist French and deep in my memory, three years in high school and one at university. You'll make good progress in a year, highly recommend 3-5 hours a week in class unless you have a lot of self-discipline.

'I am sure there are some lovely ones but like a famous aussie author who lives there also a lot refuse to learn the language properly. '

I think I have read this 'famous Aussie author' and noticed that she came to France to experience life here, and then spent her whole time with English speakers. And half way through the book I realised I had met some of them! And they weren't my favourite people.

Carlux, LOL!! She has written three books (I think) about her experiences, one about her affair which I thought a bit "off". I went to hear her talk at a library (years ago) about this particular book and lo and behold front row in the audience was the husband. I thought that a bit strange, fancy sitting there listening to your wife bang on about her fling. Nowt as queer .... etc

Knowing that you live in the Dordogne - I need to pick your brains later about the Dordogne for next year - do you find you speak english a lot or do you manage to speak French most of the time? I think the Dordogne is a beautiful area but would be put off if it is just another London suburb... (exaggeration)

Schnau

I'll try to keep my jealousy under wraps, as I lived for a year in Lyon a little while ago and have planned ever since to move back but, as always, life somehow gets in the way...

Regarding learning the language I found that being on my own helped enormously in this regard. Despite having what was thought of as intermediate French, nothing prepared me for the difference of actually having to use it all day, every day.

My advice is to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. Even though my budget was tight at the time, my first purchase in France was a radio so I could listen to French as much as possible and I bought a newspaper every day, to keep learning even when I wasn't speaking to people for more than minimal amounts each day.

Another piece of advice is to not lose heart. I found that even after I'd made French friends, was listening to the radio, and reading the newspaper daily it still took around six months before the switched was flipped and I could actually interject into conversations at the right time, rather than missing the moment as I formulated my response in my head.

I also think Lyon would be a great option for you. Busy enough with enough to see and do without being as hectic as Paris, great transport links and only a couple of hours or so from the Alps and the south coast.

Happy hunting...

Ok,, this goes back many posts,, but its not just expats that complain about french workmen or trying to get through french bureoucracy,, heck all my french relatives and friends do too!! That has nothinng to do with being expats!

As for getting to know the neighbors,, my friends ( french)have lived for decades in same places and it is not normal to have more then a nodding aquaitance with neighbors,, you will really have to make an effort to get involved with activities to make any actual friends( as opposed to chat over the fence neighbors). I agree a university town may be a good choice.

This is hilarious! I live on Nantucket, a resort island about 25 miles off the Massachusetts coast, and just about everything said here about France and elsewhere applies to our situation.

Last week I served as an unpaid guide for an old but not close acquaintance for an afternoon and wound up buying his lunch as well! Our "expats" do a lot of charity work -- which we appreciate -- trying to become "locals" but they really only socialize with people they knew in prep school or the like.

We got around the visitor problem by buying a 2 bedroom home. Most visitors come in pairs and we send them to a nearby hotel. Not the kids, they stay here.

Buying for us just made more sense, because it is Argentina where rules/laws etc can change by the day, the hour .. we felt it was a good investment also.

After over 5 years here, we have Never ... gone to an expat meeting/social event .. we met a couple of American visitors and while it was nice, I never make it a habit and prefer not to be seen as the Local that everyone can contact.
Some people try to live their dreams through you, so you get all sorts of strange questions, requests and intense not real friendships .. so we learned as we went and now almost all of our friends here are Argentine. . and the couple that are Americans are part time residents.

I think it took us about a year before we settled in completely and felt like we were actually living here . The move, house hunt, moving in, renovating , getting ID paper work which takes over a year .. all kept us busy.

Personally, I think everyone should live in a foreign country for a year or more.
It really opens your eyes to so many things .. good and bad. Things that make you thankful for what you have , and sometimes that inspire you to do things that you never considered doing.

I hope you get to do this ... it really changes your life.

I agree, cc -- that website on languedoc was very helpful for us, and had we continued on our original plan, we would have gotten more use out of! Personally, I think I could become pretty fluent in French, but it was really throwing my husband for a loop. Besides, the expats we met (you can always stop by an English language book store as a start) were helpful directing us to real estate agents who spoke English, identifying good language teachers, etc.

I will add another little snippet of advice that nobody has mentioned for being able to fit in while you are in France: watch French television, even though so many foreign channels are available. Watch the French news. Try to understand the political issues, even if you may want to refrain from voicing opinions. And read some French magazines, too. To make contact with the residents, you need to know the basics of local pop culture.

I don't know that many of our friends here in the country are into 'local pop culture,' but it certainly does help if you understand references people are making in a conversation - which comes from television and radio. In fact the French news and documentaries are not difficult to understand - mostly the presenters speak clearly, and of course with the news there are pictures, which makes it easier to follow.

Some years ago someone told me that in her English class the teacher said - All right, you have all come here because you say you love the country and the food and the history, etc. So what do you think are the main issues for French people today? Hardly anyone could respond, because most of them associated more with people from their home country than with French people.

I used this as a topic of conversation with my English class, and while there was some heated discussion and differences of opinion, it was pretty clear that unemployment, even some years ago, was the most significant concern. I have to add though that it was a time when the media were all highlighting security issues, which means that as one does everywhere, you have to take news reporting with a grain of salt.

Yes! French TV is very helpful in getting you in the groove and understanding things in context. Watching the weather is a good easy step, then the news and sports give you a lot to relate to...and also help identify differences between regions. While in the Dordogne, we saw lots of football (soccer) references to local teams, etc. In the SW, it was rugby ALL the way.

Watching the news, you can't ignore the issues that are present. Sometimes it takes more concentration, but you can "get it," especially if you make it a daily practice. But then, we have been life-long news junkies, so just because it isn't available in English isn't going to keep us from wanting to know what is going on around us.

It kind of brings in that feeling you get watching a subtitled movie, when you realize after a bit you are understanding the dialogue instead of reading the subtitles.

Radio, though, is something else. Good lord, those people talk endlessly! I think I would classify myself as truly fluent in a language, if I could listen to the radio for half an hour and not become totally frustrated.

When I say 'pop culture,' I mean: What is the most popular movie at the moment? What are the hit songs? Who is the bestseller at the bookstore? What television series are people watching? Even 'country bumpkins' know things like that.

uhoh_busted, I started listening to France Inter from the moment I arrived in Paris in 1973, and it is still basically the only radio station that I listen to. I wake up to it in the morning and I go to sleep to it every night. It taught me practically everything I know about France.

http://www.franceinter.fr/

I agree about TV, though ours only got three channels, including what my kids called "The Goose Channel," where the "news" was all about who'd shot Farmer Jacques off his tractor down in the valley, how the pisciculture of the Dordogne was coming along, and what kind of profits the foie gras and caviar industries were making.

When I got into discussions with neighbors, though, it was usually complaint fests about their meager pensions, the foreigners moving into the neighborhood, the outrageous prices at the Intermarché, who was inn the rehab center in Cadouin, what the corn crop was expected to be like....pop culture of a sort, I guess. At any rate, I learned loads from long discussions with my neighbors over the years. And contrary to some people's experiences, I actually spent a good deal of time with them - they would come by with garden offerings, eggs, boudin, and other treats, or just to sit and have an apéro with me. Of course, that didn't happen overnight, but it did happen, and I loved it and learned a LOT from it.

I recommend you study, work or volunteer witha French organisation or institution - gets you in touch with locals in a "normal" environment, gives you an excuse not to be tour guide for all your friends from home, will improve your French exponentially, gives structure to your daily life and will no doubt enrich your life in other ways. Have fun!

http://www.letsrentpropertyinfrance.com

Here is a site for long term rentals. I do not have experience using them for rentals but thought it might be useful.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/retiring-to-southern-france.cfm

And here is another thread on retiring to france. Not really specific to your questions but may give you an idea of various places.

Imagine I wouldn't care for working in an organized, cooperative and productive way, imagine I wouldn't want everybody to have and follow rules and laws, imagine I'd like chaos in all aspects of life, imagine I'd call a "friend" I hardly know at 11pm to discuss Sartre, imagine I would eat snails and call them fish, imagine I wouldn't care getting only expensive and dirty hotel rooms, imagine I wouldn't want to eat decent bread and drink good beer, imagine

I were French...

But since I'm Bavarian, I can't imagine all those things. Life is good here, at least a lot better than anywhere in France. However it says a lot more about the place someone comes from than about France, if that someone wants to move there.

I have French relatives..., they know what I'm talking about

"imagine I'd call a "friend" I hardly know at 11pm to discuss Sartre"
You need to update. Discussing Sartre? Nobody does, it's so out.


"I have French relatives..."

Pöor things !

>Pöor things !
I know, but what can you do...

In most French cities there is an organization called "Accueil": Nantes Accueil, Lille Accueil, Nice Accueil, etc.....
The purpose is to help and welcome newcomers. They offer a lot of activities : bike hikes, walks, language lessons, quilting lessons, etc... It is a nice way to meet people.

Logos,

Is your French relative M. Chauvin by any chance?

"Pöor things !
I know, but what can you do..."

Offer my condolences, I suppose.

Too bad people are not flocking to wonderful Bavaria. They don't know what they're missing.

Oh, I forgot to ask "eat snails and call them fish" -- what on earth is that supposed to mean?

LOL kerouac snails are mussels, but not fish, you don't fish for mussels you collect at the beach.
There are on fact already too many people in Bavaria, better send them to Paris.

Snails are mussels? When did this happen? Is that what you call them along the shores of the Bavarian ocean?

Perhaps you have never encountered the word "molluscs"?

You would need to speak German to understand this.
French lacks many words that other languages have. It's easier to learn, but it's not as "rich" in words as many other languages.

Well, it looks like German is lacking sufficent words if Germans think that snails and mussels are the same thing.

Try this to increase your linguistic knowledge:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusca

German makes the same distinction between mussel and mollusc that English and French do: Muschel/Weichtier. You want snail? Schnecke. Doesn't matter the language; a snail isn't a mussel and it certainly isn't a fish.

And BTW one does fish mussels!
http://youtu.be/8JdJH0NKTnw

What are "Wattschnecken" in French and English and what's the difference between them and "Weinbergschnecken"?

You may not get it, but in reality very few people would like to move to a foreign country and leave home. It's nice here, why would I want to move 500k and live in a foreign place, if I'm not forced to do so. Esp. when I know that I don't like it there anyway. What does it say about the love and passion for my home and native country. There's nothing that would make us want to migrate to France, nothing. It's actually really good here. And if I wanted French cheese there's a fromagerie around the corner.

"What are "Wattschnecken" in French"
bigorneaux or bigornots or vigneaux or buccins or escargots de mer, depending on the area.

'Knowing that you live in the Dordogne - I need to pick your brains later about the Dordogne for next year - do you find you speak english a lot or do you manage to speak French most of the time? I think the Dordogne is a beautiful area but would be put off if it is just another London suburb... (exaggeration)

Not at all a London suburb. We have lots of French friends (and neighbours) - had lunch with 20 of them last Friday, will be working with 60 or 70 of them this weekend for our village Fete des Crepes.

I remember reading an interview with an English woman who asked 'Is it really necessary to speak French to live there?' Answer No, if you never want to have your hair cut, go to the dentist, have your TV repaired, have an operation....' All those things we do in French, sometimes for other people who never got around to learning the language.

And I too listen to France Inter a lot, particularly in the car. Good podcasts too, like 'On va deguster' about food, restaurants, etc.

Wattschnecken are boulots in French, I believe. Never seen them here in the USA, so not sure what they're called.

Weinbergschnecken are I believe called Roman snails (chiocciole in Italian), but again, we don't have a lot of snails here in the USA so am not sure. Have no idea what they're called in French or if the French even eat them.

Believe it or not, loads and loads of people uproot happily and move to other countries, more and more every day. If you don't want to, that's fine.

Indeed France has always been a country of immigration rather than emigration. Even though Germany is now a country of immigration, it was not always the case. People used to leave the country in droves.

boulot is an informal word for job, could also be a type of mussel, wish I had the Larousse Gastronomique.

It is bulots, not boulots which is slang for "work" Another name is "gros buccins".

Roman snails (Helix Pomatia) are escargots de Bourgogne. They avoid salt water like the plague.

Sorry guys, but if you check your dictionaries, you'll see
bulot - whelk

boulot - work (as in Metro, boulot, dodo)

In fact I just reread Pvoyageuse, and maybe that's what he/she is saying, it just wasn't clear to me - especially since Ive never seen boulot in the plural.

"Mes boulots de jeunesse furent chiantes."

Now you've seen it!

Interesting discussion re snails and muscles, doesn't matter to me as I don't care for either!!!

Do you think I should be forgetting the dream to live in France and instead be considering Bavaria?? Obviously a top spot.

I love Australia and all it offers, but it doesn't offer the same things as Europe, and variety is the spice of life, non?

Thanks travelanywhere for the link and good suggestions re the accueil pvoyageuse.

May the discussion between snails, muscles and jobs continue!!

Schnauzer

"Mes boulots de jeunesse furent chiantes."

Now you've seen it!

Thanks Kerouac - of course, that makes sense.

Just listened to France Inter, a program on 'Le country' with Merle Haggard singing that it wasn't his mama's fault he turned out bad. Then sang along with Johnny Cash and his Ring of Fire.

Even the 'more French' program afterwards (On n'a pas tous les jours 20 ans, + Jacques Brel singing about us oldies) has been followed by Grete Keller in German, and now 'Talkin bout my generation' Tres international ici!

The July-August programs on France Inter are more quirky than during the rest of the year. They use the holiday period to experiment.

"boulot is an informal word for job, could also be a type of mussel"

It's moules de bouchots. A bouchot is the wooden stake on which mussels are raised.
Un boulot is also a type of bread.

Now it is time to move on to bouleau, the birch tree.

"Mon boulot est de bouillir des bulots sous les bouleaux."

Ack,my mistake, and I should know the difference because they are pronounced differently, and I've ordered bulots at the market enough times to know better!

I knew that boulots was related to work/jobs, but didn't know all these other uses;nor did I know bouchot. So much to learn!

Boulot/boulotte (adj) means short and chubby.

Schnauzer, You are my kind of person. I have had this dream, too, after coming back from school in Villefranche-sur-Mer. Then I got invovled with animal rescue. There are many dogs and cats in my care at this time. Then, I built an apt in Bangkok for our golden years. Hence, the very long absence from this forum. Today is my first time checking the blog. My dream at that time was to spend 6 months in Cassis. We went there and loved it. I am waitting to see about your decision. As a side note, I am happy to to see the same fodorites that I valued their comments/suggestions in the past. I will come back here to ask more advices. I am planning a trip next year to Paris. Again, only after one old sick dog is gone. He is deaf and blind. I can't leave him until then. The rest can be taken care by the pet sitter. Enough for hijacking Schnauzer's post.

I think it's as silly to say "on no accounts have any expat friends" as it is to go to France with the intention of avoiding the French as much as possible. That said, it is easy to fall into the trap of living in an anglo bubble, so moderation in all things. And who doesn't moan sometimes? The French included. Me certainly included - e.g. the summer has been far too cold and rainy, except right now when's it's far too hot and sunny. I'm a delight

I have pretty itchy feet at the mo after nearly 2 1/2 years in Tours, so I would be tempted to say do two 6 month stints or something. It's true that you are just getting to know a place and people after a year, but if you're just leaving at the end anyway, you might not consider that it makes much difference. I would avoid Paris (and have done) myself, but I've just never especially cared for the place. Follow your heart!

PS It may not be, but be prepared for it to be really hard to make friends. I'm a bit "between two chairs" in a way, being older than the uni students around here but not in the retiree age group, so most people of my age a) already have all the friends they want from uni etc. and/or b) are focused on career and/or c) are starting families.

When I first moved, I was "lucky" enough to have a French flatmate that I would hang out with every weekend, but it transpired after more than a year living together that she was stealing my rent cheque and not paying anything and we both got evicted and I was left with that whole drama and the loss of most of my social network. Obviously something that extremely awful is very unlikely to happen to anyone else, but my point (did I have one, or am I moaning?) was that even though I'd been there all that time I had to start from scratch about a year ago, and I'd say I'm probably just now at a "good" level of French and expat friends again (and then the problem with expats is they have a habit of moving on as well).

And I've realised that while some people are interested and want to make friends with foreigners, many don't - for the reasons above or because it's an effort for them to communicate as well as for us. That's perfectly normal, but perhaps unless you're going to a very small village, don't expect to be the star turn in the neighbourhood like A Year In Provence or whatever.

Anyway, sorry for being long and I hope no-one whose opinion and experience differs takes offence.

I agree that it will be exceptional if you manage to make any 'real' French friends, but it's more a question of crossed signals rather than any aversion by the French of making new foreign friends. I happen to be extremely French in my social demeanor, which is probably one of the reasons that drew me back to France. A number of people have told me "From the look in your eyes, I thought you couldn't stand me when we met." Well, welcome to France! Never take such a look at face value. Don't push too hard, but if you want to get to know someone better, do not hesitate to make it known. First impressions can be very deceiving, and the French respect anybody who persists.

That may be part of it - I tend towards the reserved side myself - but I know in New Zealand, and everywhere I suspect, there are always people who point at immigrants who "refuse to integrate". And then you become one yourself and you realise, well duh, it can be a real pain in the arse trying to forge a friendship with someone across cultural and linguistic barriers, so no wonder the native people of whatever country often aren't queueing up to do so when they have their own lives and friends nicely in order.

I found my neighbors in the Dordogne to be exceedingly curious about me, to the point where they could hardly keep themselves away. When they found out I could actually converse with them, they couldn't stop finding excuses to come by and chat and pester me with questions.

I've lived in a building with 6 flats in it for a year and I could literally count on my fingers the number of times I've seen any of my neighbours - seen as in bumped in to in the hallway, not seen as in social gatherings! And I think at least two of those was the day I moved in. Nice and quiet though!

I have never had an expensive dirty hotel room in France logos( and I mean over decades of hotel stays) .. sorry if your hotel searching skills were lacking.

Snails are yummy, ,blood sausage, not so much.

My husband and I recently returned to the US after spending 18 months in Languedoc (a wonderful experience). One thing to consider is that if you plan to be in France for a year, you'll need to provide an address for the OFII and register with them (in the department that you're living in) when you arrive. They'll send you info on a mandatory appointment that's necessary to validate the visa you rec'd from the consulate in the US. After that, you'll be able to move to another area but you should plan to spend at least 3-4 months in one place when you first arrive.
Another thing to consider is transportation. Do you want the freedom a car gives you? If not, make sure you're located near a train station. We heard that some Super U markets lease cars at a reasonable price for 1-2 years.
Although we would have loved to explore other areas in France, we found that even after 18 months, we had only begun to scratch the surface of what to see and do in Languedoc. We took day trips to historical sites, vineyards, a mid-winter truffle market, the Roquefort cheese caves, the oyster beds in the Etang d'Thau, and local markets and vide greniers ("yard sales"). Looking back on it, staying in one location gave us a sense of "home". We've returned to Languedoc once and it did, indeed, feel like we were back home. Had we moved a few times during our time there, I think we would have stayed in a "tourist" frame of mind. The AngloInfo websites ("www.angloinfo.com") are good sources of information.

justineparis, problem is the general lack of clean and super cheap accomodations that are so plenty in the countries east of France. So basically, when travelling to France, I take my camper bus, although I'd prefer a 30€ clean hotel room incl. breakfast, there aren't any.

@temuskia - the OP has an EU passport - no visa or OFII registration required.

You need to stay at the F1 chain, logos -- clean and super cheap for less than 30€ (generally about 26€). Breakfast is an extra 3.95€.

There are still 260 of them all over France.

temuskia, did you take some notes to share?

Kerouac, stayed there once. Awful chain, all in plastic, but would stay there again, if they were located abywhere I'd want to be. Most of them are in Paris or Lyon.

TDudette, I wrote a blog during our time there but don't know if it would have any pertinent notes. What do you want to know? If I can't answer, perhaps I can point you to another source who can.

Logos : there are 270 F1 hotels in France and they're not all in Paris and Lyon.

Here they are on a map: http://www.hotelf1.com/gb/booking/map-search.shtml

Pvoyageuse, what's so bad aboud acepting the facts 87 in Paris and 42 in Lyon. Franve is big and if you only have one hotel chain... So it's the campground and that's o.k. Where I want to stay is away from the big cities.

Logos: there is nothing bad about it. Stay wherever you like, it is your choice, your trip and your money.

Fine, logos, just don't tell mistruths about French hotel prices. You are free to stay wherever you want. You might also want to check out Première Classe, Fast Hôtel, Akena, B&B, Ibis Budget (formerly Etap) and quite a few others. And the famous hôtels de sous-préfecture in many small towns are the same price.

Even in my neighbourhood in Paris, the price of hotel rooms is 25€-30€ (none of which are part of a chain). You are only blind if you want to be. And you have made it clear that you want to be.

Bon voyage!

Just for the record, I even photographed the price signs in Paris on this thread: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=paris&action=display&thread=3582&page=1

Very interesting discussion as we may be considering a long term visit to Europe, but unsure of where to locate.

schnauzer- if you are still reading this thread -

Here's another thought. Think of what really interests you and select according to interest.

Personally I'm interested in opera, so the natural choice is Vienna, where the maximum stay for someone like me is three months. I can then take the train almost anywhere within reason and see opera in other cities: Munich, Berlin, etc. Although my German is atrocious and almost non-existent at times, I was able to make at least one good friend who's a native of Austria (she speaks absolutely no English) and we would plan to meet for a certain opera together.

That's the way to meet locals and to make friends - shared interests, shared experiences.

Are you into dressage? Ceramics? Woodworking? Whatever your personal interests, choose a town that has something to do with your interest. You'll fit right in, you'll learn French fast - and painlessly.

Just my two cents.

temuskia, I meant info that might be of interest to the OP. I'd love to read your blog though.