ellen75005

A number of you have suggested areas of the southwest. I've never visited that part of the country, and I think I'm due .

qwovadis, thanks for the links; I haven't seen these particular ones.

StCirq, your point is well-taken. We're far from knowing the answer and we're not ready yet, but that's why we're asking questions and doing research which I hope will help narrow the choices.

kerouac, I know you live in Paris and I love seeing it through your photos. We've lived in big cities and as much as I do love Paris, we're ready for a smaller town (being an easy train ride away would be ideal).

Having lived in the SW desert and upstate NY, we're ready for a more temperate climate. That describes most of France with the exception of the mountains in the winter and le sud in the summer, but the ability to bike or just be outside more than a few months of the year is appealing.

I loved the rolling hills of Franche-Comte, but as you've all proven, France is an incredibly varied country. Lots of choices and a good problem to have, indeed!

gwan

I've lived for various amounts of time in a small village in le Nord-Pas-de-Calais, in Chamonix, in Nice, and here in Tours, so I'll restrict my comments to these areas.

NPdC - Was only there for 5 months over spring-summer-autumn. Could probably have counted the fine days on one hand, I imagine winter to be quite dire! Landscape is also monotonous, it's just as much a 'plat pays' as Belgium. I also found the local accent difficult to understand, although I have heard that once you crack into the local scene, people are very welcoming. Small town life is also not my thing! However, Lille is a nice city and it is certainly very well situated for trips here and there, close to the UK of course.

Chamonix - Only there for 2 months in late autumn/early winter, left before the season started, so I can't really comment on much there except that it was really a great place to party, but expensive and impractical in many ways for day-to-day living (e.g. clothes shopping etc.). Also, obviously, in a good region for travelling to neighbouring countries & I don't need to go into the joys or otherwise of skiing, hiking etc.

Nice - Lived here for 7 months, not over summer so thankfully avoided the worst of the tourist crowds. It still is a lively place (obviously, relatively a big city) in the off-season. The climate is definitely a big plus - the winter *was* cold while I was there (snowed even), but it was short. I don't know if I could put up with the hot summers, on the other hand. Probably the best part of Nice is the beautiful region around it. Very very easy to hop on a bus and explore. I walked (gradually) the whole coast between Nice and Ventimiglia in Italy, then again along the cliff roads, and between Cannes and the Cap d'Antibes in the other direction. Just stunning. The large expat community was a bit of a honey trap for me - I fell into the temptation of making expat friends, and I found it difficult to make friends with French people. Since my job at the time was teaching English, I spoke English probably 90% of the time. Obviously, for many people, large numbers of expats are a bonus, but it was ultimately a bit frustrating for me.

Tours - been here almost a year now, and it is sincerely my favourite place to live so far. I do know some expats, but I have been able to make French friends & I feel much more integrated into the community. I feel more like an immigrant than an expat here, if that makes sense. The climate is not as nice as Nice, of course, but is relatively mild - only a smattering of snow this year (but plenty of freezing weather to be fair). Not as much rain as expected. I am more than ready for spring though! For me, Tours is the perfect size - I can walk pretty much everywhere I want to go, although I take the bus in the mornings as a time saver. Lots of people bike (nice and flat). Since it's a student town, it's lively, with lots of cultural and other activities & restaurants, bars etc. for its size - and of course, plenty of opportunities for day trips in the region. Most of the time there's not so many tourists as to get annoying (mostly you notice it right in the middle of August when all the French leave town & you're left only with tourists in the centre and empty streets everywhere else). There is an international airport with flights to Dublin, Porto and London a few times a week (Ryanair unfortunately). The region has some great wines too (I'm a rosé fan, so Provence was good for this too of course, but I am now definitely in love with Chinon rosé - try it if you ever get the chance, even though Chinon is better-known for its reds).

That's probably quite long enough, so I'll stop there, but feel free to ask if you have any more questions. I've just discovered these forums, very interesting!

gwan

Sorry, I know I said I'd finished but I realised I hadn't really said any bad points for Tours, so to even things up - I do miss the sea, chateaux aside it isn't *the* most amazing/scenic countryside ever, and although it is fairly well-connected on the TGV network, if you don't plan well in advance fares can be a bit expensive to actually go anywhere. Maybe this isn't a big deal for everyone, but I tend to be a bit too cheap to shell out 40-60 euros for a day trip to Paris. Of course trains are dear everywhere in France, but there are places closer to Paris if that's important to you (and we all know all trains lead to Paris on the French rail network!)

MichaelCrean

Hi, my wife and I plus nine year old (very sporty) twin boys are thinking of coming over end of January 13. Just started looking. We both teach English and all want to learn French. Bit of the deep end scenario, earn money to survive would be good. Happy to put boys in French school for a few days if possible or home school. The money we will save on school fees will float us for a while. Thinking of renting somewhere with decent weather and reasonable size town to teach English to, also children interaction and shops etc. Outskirts of Toulouse we thought, has anyone any suggestions? An area to look at or somewhere completely separate from Toulouse - We will rent our UK house and put our foot in the water in France..It's the adventure aspect and off the hamster wheel for a while we are looking forward to. If we like it we will stay, if not we have only gained! All are friends think we are a bit mad but say they would love to do it... When someone asked my wife recently why do you want to move to France? she said "because when I wake up I want to go and buy my bread!" Very grateful for any suggestions...

cigalechanta

The best way to decide is to vacation in the different parts so you will have a bit of the feel of the area.t hey are all so different.

Underhill

Were we able to move to France and could afford it, Nice would be our number 1 choice. Barring that, we would look in the area of the Drôme, east of the very nice town of Montélimar--probably in the small town of Dieulefit.

Cathinjoetown

Hi Michael,

I live about 45 min. SW of Toulouse, in a very small village. With young, active children I would think your family would be better suited to a small or medium-sized town with organized sports for kids and more opportunities overall.

My opinion only but if you really think it might be a permanent change, everyone should start intensive French lessons now, with apologies if you are already fluent. Once here, put the boys in school full-time, supplemented with home schooling if you wish.

It depends very much on where you settle but I believe the boys would be expected to go to school full-time or not at all. Through school they can participate in many activities at 0 or very low cost including skiing one day a week throughout the season. Only second-hand info but I believe home-schooling has really not caught on here i.e. no set curriculum, no integration for sports or other social activities. This may be old info but want to stress again, if there is a good chance you will be staying the best thing for your kids is to help them integrate as much and as soon as possible.

We are retired so don't know much about job opportunities. Is your experience in teaching English as a second language? Are you certified? There is at least one international school in Toulouse which you could contact. You could offer private lessons--students revising for the BAC, business people, etc., all of which suggests being close to Toulouse.

This is primarily a travel forum although a few of us live in France. If you've found Fodor's you probably
are familiar with Angloinfo, Survive France Network, Greenacres (rentals and real estate), TotalFrance, etc. Those are targeted at people planning to re-locate and ex-pats.

Best of luck, happy to help if I can but you need to connect with families with children, experience with French schools, ex-pats working in France, etc.

bdsbeautyblog

I also live in France. I agree with Kerouac.

bdsbeautyblog

I would also big up the Rhone/Drome area though - which hasn't been mentioned much here yet. And I always enjoy visiting the Lot-et-Garonne area

MichaelCrean

Thank you all very much for the information. Fair to say we have a lot of work to do! Those site are interesting and we will have a look - our French level is not very good - in at the deep end!
I realise this will be a hinderance and we will have to work on it...thanks again

bdsbeautyblog

Michael: Just realised you are both English teachers. Do you want to teach first language or second language? If first language, look in an area with international schools. If second language, you will essentially be working freelance, so make sure you research all of the paperwork that will be involved (for tax etc) as far as possible before arriving. Alternatively, do you have a CELTA certificate or similar? Language schools like the Wall Street Institute are likely to hire you if you have one of those, which will formalize things like pensions, health insurance etc for you. This can be easier for you at least when you first arrive.

As for me, I teach English (mainly as a first language) in an international school in France, so just ask if you think I can help in that regard.

Drew55

I am Andres I am from Spain but I have been in UK 2 years I came to learn English and I did it Know I am interesting to learn French and I think the best way is go to France and practice it as I have with English but I don´t know where it would be a good place to start

Goybabe

Where in France? Talk about an embarrassment of riches. We're still researching, since my husband just got through a long battle with cancer (he won!) so we're taking back some of our dreams. He's a writer, so we can live where we please. You can't take a job away from someone French. Wish America had that law. We fell in love with Provence, of course, and the home of a friend who built a house from a two-centuries-old olive press building. It's incredible, and I love being near Italy. Just not in it. But we want to take a few investigative trips, while I get my French back up to snuff. Use it or you lose it! Listen to French music if you've no time for films. The French are always so polite to me, even in Paris, when I ask for help. I think they just want you to try, and mine doesn't truly stink. Anyway, love the Loire, a vibe all its own. I know Marseilles, we'll launch the first trip from there, looking into one of the few places we've never seen, the southwest of the Languedoc. People there say the economy and culture have just begun to recover from the Albigensian Crusade. I hear it's much cheaper, with the same dramatic village perche. Then we'll revisit Normandy, then to the east. Paris is generally just too expensive. I have friends there and they've told me the prices. I'll post for each trip on what I find for expats, but in general, you can't beat France, so long as you're aware of constantly-changing US banking laws and tax situations that can leave you paying in both countries. Buy books, study, think. Good luck. To both of us.

fuzzbucket

If you don't have any work restrictions that would tie you to a specific area, why not spend 3 months in a variety of regions?

I live in Paris, slightly to the South of kerouac's address, but that's what I would do, if I could swing it.

hetismij2

This is a five year old thread.

kerouac

But it has been revived. Why not? The subject comes up regularly.

One thing that I would add now about the Paris region for anybody thinking about the future is that a new huge regional metro network is being built which will add 68 suburban stations to the network. While the full project will take about 20 years, portions will be in service in the next 5 years and it will give quite a few new affordable options for living within easy reach of Paris.

schnauzer

Yes but it's still interesting... I clocked the old thread when I read Cathinjoetown's response! I got excited cos I thought she was back in France.

What's happened to Carlux? Doesn't he post anymore...apropos of nothing...

Cathinjoetown

No, Schnauzer, we moved to Florida last November after 6 1/2 years in France.

The right thing for us but there's so much I miss, particularly our friends, the mountains and the weather. We'll be going back for a long visit next year.

Trying to keep up my French. I thrive in small, structured classes but can't find anything around here. Lots on the web and I use French with my friends online, but not enough. Never enough.

Cathinjoetown

Goybabe, I lived in the Southwest, an hour south of Toulouse. Loved the area, it is relatively less expensive than other regions but not a great deal. All depends on lifestyle. Let me know if I can help with anything.

At some point the region (merger of Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillan) is to be re-named Occitanie, pending a vote by residents.

StCirq

We have aucune regrette about having decided to move permanently to the Périgord. It's a lot less expensive than living in Washington, DC, for sure!

I've been wondering about Carlux, too. Haven't seen a posting in a long time.