Live in France? Join us for a gentil thread

[TheAccidentalExhibitionist]

So how about a lovely supportive, information sharing thread for us mumsnetters living in France?
I've been here for two years, this is my second time living here so 4 years in total.
I have my moans about France, the paperwork, the driving but other than that I love it

[Bonsoir]

I'm going to offer a different opinion here: I honestly believe that English higher education is infinitely superior to French and that you would need your head read to pursue your studies in France in almost every domain if you had the choice of studying in the UK.

[ImpOfDarkness]

It depends what you're studying and where, surely. Plus there's the cost factor. Personally I think you need your head read if you come out of uni with thousands in debt if you can do the same degree more or less for free in France.

[AuldAlliance]

I work in French HE.
There are a few subjects I'd contemplate my DC studying here, but I'd think long and hard about it.

[tb]

Interesting the comments about friendly and non-friendly places. I don't think we could have found a less friendly village if we'd tried, sadly.

I was told by a neighbour that locally anyone who smiles a lot is the sign of a liar. Nice!

[tb]

Sorry, that should have said 'is considered to be a liar'. Someone else - who has lived in Limoges has said that people are a bit arrieré.

We're thinking about moving, but have to be near autoroute, and railway line from Brive/Paris.

Feel a bit sad, that in 7 years next month, we haven't made any friends.

[Herisson]

castlesintheair, I'm in SW London and very interested in your experience as we are contemplating a similar jump to a VERY rural area. What made you take the plunge?

[ImpOfDarkness]

I work in French HE

Me too... I won't probe any further to find out who you are!

[PetiteRaleuse]

Interesting re higher education. One of the reasons I would not go back to the uk would be to not pay the uk fees. I would be happy for my children to go through the higher education system here or in Benelux. In fact I am considering finally working towards a degree myself via study plus VAE. Just need to work out in what.

[castlesintheair]

tb, so sorry to hear that. Do you have any ideas about where you might move to?

Herisson, my DH works here. He was commuting weekly from London and then after DS did his 11+ exams we decided to pull the DCs out of school and move over here for 6 months. After looking at French schools and generally weighing everything up we decided to stay. I don't know if it is a permanent move yet. Where are you thinking of moving to?

[hattymattie]

I agree with Bonsoir on HE - unless you want to be an engineer of course. I think my DC's would like to study in the UK because they want to sample their Britishness having never really lived there. I suspect they may find they're actually more French than they think.

[SDhopeful]

EmilyAlice I also love the vision of 'trous en formation!'

[Herisson]

We are thinking of the Gers (because we already spend a lot of time there and know people, both English and French). But not sure if we are really going to take the plunge. Our idea is to do it for a year (renting) and see how it goes before committing longer term. DH already works away from home an awful lot so we wouldn't see that much less of him and could potentially live more comfortably for less money in nicer weather. But it would be a big wrench to leave Richmond where I have lived nearly all my life. And it would be hard for me to do the move and liaising with schools etc with little adult backup from DH (who speaks only VERY basic French anyway).

[Bonsoir]

Even if you want to be an engineer, there is no guarantee that after two years of Math sup and spe that you will get the school and speciality you are interested in in France. In England you can apply directly to university for eg Aeronautical Engineering and know that you can pursue your passion.

French degrees are cheaper than UK ones and they are not "exactly the same", unsurprisingly.

[Bonsoir]

How old are your DC, Herisson?

[franglomama]

Hi
I'm also in 06 and working in the French university sector. I have lived in France for 11 years. I never quite feel at home here nor back in the UK. I have French nationality and a French DH and a DS born here who will probably be more French than British but I try hard to keep as much English as I can at home and on weekend playdates with fellow English speakers.
I really miss the British deprecating sense of humour and general laid back approach compared to the formality of the French.
Interesting to read others' views.

[Herisson]

Just one child, Bonsoir, aged just 7. She speaks very basic French, about on a par with DH, able to order food in a restaurant reasonably competently and answer questions about her age and place of domicile etc. She's reading and doing Maths way ahead of age-related expectations in the UK so I kind of feel that if we took a year or two out to spend in France and she got to improve her French a lot, it might not really impact on her English education that much (and she might gain something quite important and not replicable in the UK). I speak good French but not fluent. Good enough to read newspaper articles or listen to the radio or make myself understood in most situations but not good enough to be taken for a native!

[frenchfancy]

Another Vendeen here (85). 10 years in. Probably life depending on what happens to the Dcs. 3 DDi 1 in 2nd, 1 in 4eme and 1 in CE1.

Interesting to hear about FE in France. What if they want to do law or vetinary or similar a and practice in France. Surely it is better to have the French qualifications.

[AuldAlliance]

Law and medicine are amongst the subjects I'd think about my DC studying at a French university, though I reckon a bilingual student could study medicine/veterinary science, etc. in the UK and then work here without too much difficulty.

[ImpOfDarkness]

French degrees are cheaper than UK ones and they are not "exactly the same", unsurprisingly

No, that's fair enough. Some are better, some are worse.

[PetiteRaleuse]

I think the medecine degrees here are good. Not too sure about the choice of specialty being based on exam results though. Means good GPs are undervalued and specialists tend to have very little general knowledge.

[castlesintheair]

Herisson I'm from Richmond! We took the same view as you: our DC are all quite ahead (who isn't in Richmond ) so decided a year or two wouldn't affect them academically and at least they'd have very good french. The secondary school in London that my DS has a place at is holding his place open for 2 years so it makes it easier to be here.

[NomDeClavier]

Law and medicine, and the degrees via the military, are the only ones I'd encourage DS to do here too. Or French if he had a burning desire to study French literature because doing that in the UK would be a bit pointless.

If he wants to do anything non-vocational (ie the degree doesn't give you or exempt you from a professional qualification) then I'll be encouraging him to look at the US. I reckon costs will be on a par with the UK by then.

[AuldAlliance]

[MrsSchadenfreude]

We have just moved back to London from Paris, and have to say, I am not entirely missing Paris, particularly the bureaucracy. I am still having grief from the French because apparently I was supposed to return my carte grise when I left the country. I can't register my car in the UK without my carte grise, so am not sending it back. The French have said they only want a "quick look" at it and will then return it. I don't believe them! Does anyone have any experience of this? I've also been told by someone different that I need permission from the French to export the vehicle...

[Booboostoo]

I am not familiar with French HE but I worked in the UK HE and my gut feeling is that the UK is the better bet. This is clearly a generalisation but taking that into account I think overall the UK has an emphasis on original, critical and independent thinking that is lacking from the French approach. French education is very much top led (learn to tow the official line), structured around memorisation and repetition, and lacking in an international perspective. The UK is suffering from chronic underfunding and while I know that the fees are a huge drain on the resources of individual families they won't go anywhere near enough to plug the gap, while the generously financed French HE doesn't have the right educational aims.

Happy to be corrected though!