Advise please on living in France

[Joules]

Hi, we are seriously thinking about leaving the UK and moving to France.
We have 2 children (age 10 & 12) so english speaking schools would be an advantage (could do with knowing if these cost ?

We plan on learning the language, as I dont think it would work otherwise.

Main questions are:
1, Good areas to live? (ideally by the coast)
2, What are job prospects like?
3, If we like it, can we stay?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

OK, as UK nationals (or so I'm assuming) you have the right to move to France and stay there as long as you like. But the practical aspects of supporting yourselves and getting established can be trickier than you realize.

First of all, your job prospects are directly linked to what you do, and your level of French. In some lines of work, you'll be hard pressed to find work outside of Paris or one of the other major cities. Some lines of work are simply not open to non-French (say, civil servants, or teaching in the public schools) or require a very high level of French fluency (most medical professions require you to demonstrate your fluency as part of the process of validating your credentials).

To a large extent, where you settle will depend on where you can find work.

There are English sections in some of the French public schools. These schools are free, as they are part of the public system, but there is an admissions process and native speaking children, while having some advantage, are not guaranteed a place. For a truly English speaking school, you probably will have to look at the private "international" schools, which can be expensive. There is a women's group in Paris that publishes a guide to the schools in France here: AAWE - Guide to Education, Vital Issues, AAWE News, AAWE Directory
Cheers,
Bev

[Joules]

Thanks Bev, thats a great help!

[Redmusic]

Originally Posted by Joules

Thanks Bev, thats a great help!

Hi Joules,

We have just moved to France this summer July 16th to be exact. We are in the Normandy area about 30 mins from the port of Cherbourg. It is a beautiful area with lots of beaches within a 20min drive. (D Day normandy landing beaches) and a fabulous sandy inlet at Barnville Carteret. We have two girls aged 8 and 10 and they have just started french school. Their first week has been tough but they have survived. They have made lots of friends and now enjoy going into school. Both schools have put in place procedures to help the girls speak and learn the language and in just a week they have progressed fast. We had not expected to recieve such a warm welcome from the french families locally but we have settled here well.

This area is like the UK but 40 years ago. It is safe for the kids to play and the whole ethos is on family life, the children are respectful, polite and caring (including the teenagers) Our girls are at the College (Senior school yr 7) and the Ecole Primaire both schools are next to each other. The town is St Sauveur le Vicomte.

We feel close enough to pop back to the Uk to visit family but far enough away to be in the heart of the french countryside.

I cannot help with job info as I am not working here, although I have been asked to help with english in the Ecole Primaire! But I can recommend coming to live out here, it is early days for us I know but so far we have been impressed.

Cheers

[Joules]

Originally Posted by Redmusic

Hi Joules,

We have just moved to France this summer July 16th to be exact. We are in the Normandy area about 30 mins from the port of Cherbourg. It is a beautiful area with lots of beaches within a 20min drive. (D Day normandy landing beaches) and a fabulous sandy inlet at Barnville Carteret. We have two girls aged 8 and 10 and they have just started french school. Their first week has been tough but they have survived. They have made lots of friends and now enjoy going into school. Both schools have put in place procedures to help the girls speak and learn the language and in just a week they have progressed fast. We had not expected to recieve such a warm welcome from the french families locally but we have settled here well.

This area is like the UK but 40 years ago. It is safe for the kids to play and the whole ethos is on family life, the children are respectful, polite and caring (including the teenagers) Our girls are at the College (Senior school yr 7) and the Ecole Primaire both schools are next to each other. The town is St Sauveur le Vicomte.

We feel close enough to pop back to the Uk to visit family but far enough away to be in the heart of the french countryside.

I cannot help with job info as I am not working here, although I have been asked to help with english in the Ecole Primaire! But I can recommend coming to live out here, it is early days for us I know but so far we have been impressed.

Cheers

Thank you for the reply.
Sounds great !! I take it you can already speak french then ?
How do you find the cost of living compared to the UK ?

Many Thanks in advance, Joules

[Redmusic]

Originally Posted by Joules

Thank you for the reply.
Sounds great !! I take it you can already speak french then ?
How do you find the cost of living compared to the UK ?

Many Thanks in advance, Joules

No I cannot speak much french I am still learning, and finding it tough, but everyone is very helpful when I attempt to talk in french. I do get embarassed and self concious, I have not found it a problem as yet.

Cost of living is cheaper but not by a large amount. Food, unless you buy local produce from the markets is expensive. Petrol is slightly lower. Water is cheaper and electric is marginally cheaper. We don't have gas (bottled only) we have wood burners and logs are plentiful and cheap if you have to buy them.

We are in a largely farming community and it is very rural but we have 3 towns nearby Cherbourg being the biggest with the most facilities. Our girls love the
area but they miss cadburys chocolate. !!!!!!1