Relocating to France/Limousin

[overthemill]

We are moving! After months of planning and hoping we have a house and are going to be moving permanently end of June. We are going out to do a recee on new town in half term Now I need to pick all your brains.

Mobile phones: cheap PAYG or contract? Can anyone recommend a provider to me? I want one for using in France and will keep my UK one for a while too.

TV: if the house has a satelite dish - can I just buy SkySat box and use that for the BBC (I need the BBC news, won't be able to manage without it!)?

Where do you buy stuff like BIG bags rabbit /dog food?

Registering for schools - is there a central registration point like LEA in UK or is it with the Mairie? My dd will be 12 and so at College - we are hoping she can transfer to 7iemme (?) but know the language may be an issue as she is not yet fluent.

Language teaching (French) - has anyone been on an immersion course in Limousin and if so, any recommendations (for me) and any for 12 year old?

Anything else you wish you'd known?

I am looking at Anglinfo and totalfrance too but wanted a MNer Point of View!!

Yes, that's a very good point about the health system.

If you aren't contributing (eg through your own business or as an employee) after the first couple of years you won't have any state cover so will need to take out a fully private policy (v expensive for people in their 50s)

frenchfancy so if we came out at, say, easter (which is possible but not brilliant for us) she'd go into CM2 then transfer into 6eme? Hmm that might be better - i will talk to dh and see if we can see school

and we have been using the all subject book with her tutor. so she has been looking at maths, history etc with her tutor, doing it in french iyswim. we thought that would help

Your best option for schooling is to ask the Académie which schools in Limousin at college level have "adaptation" or "acceuil" or "immersion" classes for non francophones, any of these terms could be used. It might mean a bit of travelling for the first year, but these are classes where French language is what is taught and not much else. There might even by some of these classes at primaire level.

done, sent an email. thank you so much for this help - there is so much to take into account and her welfare takes all of my brain space at present!

I wondered if overthemill had made it over yet.