StCirq

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!

fourfortravel

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.

annhig

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!

kerouac

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.

hetismij2

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.

Scarlett

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.

cigalechanta

@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.

StCirq

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.

cigalechanta

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.

Scarlett

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 :- )

Scarlett

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

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8...ju3co1_500.jpg

schnauzer

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

tarquin

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.

Queenie

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?

jamikins

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.

StCirq

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.

fourfortravel

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.

Cowboy1968

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

Cathinjoetown

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.

kerouac

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.