Would you move to France?

[JHDH]

We currently live in Spain as my husband is employed in Gibraltar. However, his job contract is about to change to remote so we can live anywhere. We are considering moving to France? Does anyone live there and can help me with a list of pros and cons?

What kind of experience in France would you want? It's a very diverse country in terms of living conditions and climate - more so than the UK.

I would (and do plan to) move at some point.

We want to live in a rural/village location but close to travel networks. Somewhere we can continue the outdoor lifestyle our kids love about Spain. Rhone Alps region is appealing but have only been once. Climate wise, the extremes are appealing, we miss cold winters and find the summers here too hot!

Do you or your DH have EU citizenship? If not you might not be able to move to another EU country where you're not employed.

I'm in Rhône Alps - it's not cheap! But yes we generally have hotter summers than the U.K., proper snow in winter and are rural without being isolated. If your DH is working on French soil he'll need to pay social contributions in France, which are generally quite high. As others said it will make a massive difference whether you are EU citizens or coming as TCNs.

Did that for 6 years but never again. Still have a house and business but live in the UK. There are many reasons why everyone I've ever met moved back to the UK within 10 years (funds permitting). There is an endless list of why I couldnt live there again. Compared to the UK France is incredibly backward, expensive (apart for properties in some areas and wine), the majority of French are lazy and arrogant, and the bureaucracy is unreal.Great for holidays when you can be drunk most of the time and forgive the above but full time? Absolutely not!

I live in the Rhône Alpes, it’s a pretty dynamic region but house prices in some of the most attractive towns are high. Annecy region might be worth a look - great summers by the lake and in the mountains, winter sports, proximity to Geneva and Lyon. Do you have kids? If you are looking for international schools, Lyon probably best option but also lots in Geneva so possible to live across the border.

I’ve been here years, a great standard of living, we’ve had a very positive experience, but are EU citizens so haven’t had Brexit issues. Have remote worked for years with no problems.

Yes we are Irish so whole family have EU citizenship

Great this is really useful! I have three kids in an international school here in Spain. They already speak some French so would consider A state school too (the state schools here are not overly impressive). It’s the lakes and mountain life we desire!!

Me too - Aer Lingus fly out of Lyon and Geneva pre COVID so hoping that will kick back in. Your life will be so much easier if you speak French a bit already. In the ski resort areas people seem to get by in English speaking bubbles / towns bordering Switzerland but it’s not the same in the average village.

Do make sure your husband is on a French contract to make things easier, especially around payment of social charges which can be very high. I have my own business and of course there is paperwork and bureaucracy but if you’re organized, I’ve found it fine.

I work for an international organisation who have a base in Paris so I can be moved on to a French contract. Lucky to have some flexibility with regards to work for us both

Are you familiar with Cahors? Nice town but still a rural lifestyle. Outdoor swimming in the river and lots of hills and mountains around. Easy access on the TGV to Paris and to the airport at Toulouse.

We also live in the Rhône-Alpes. We’ve been here for 20+ years. Great climate - although summers can be hot (not this one). Very central for travelling, good schools -my dc went to a private French school but are both at an Irish Uni, outside living from April-September ( except for this year🙁).

@loopylou3030

Did that for 6 years but never again. Still have a house and business but live in the UK. There are many reasons why everyone I've ever met moved back to the UK within 10 years (funds permitting). There is an endless list of why I couldnt live there again. Compared to the UK France is incredibly backward, expensive (apart for properties in some areas and wine), the majority of French are lazy and arrogant, and the bureaucracy is unreal.Great for holidays when you can be drunk most of the time and forgive the above but full time? Absolutely not!

Wow! Where on earth did you live?! This isn't the France I recognise at all. We have found the French to be welcoming, helpful, witty and charming. When it comes to the notorious bureaucracy, we have found that the people in charge are more than happy to fill out the forms for you and then just present them for signature. As for backward, that amazes me as a description. We have needed quite a bit of medical care as a family since arriving a few years ago and it has been streets ahead of anything we received under the NHS (sorry if that upsets people, but it's just our experience).

Forgot to mention the unbelievable medical provision. My ds was refused an operation on the NHS, while the French said we would have been neglecting our roles as parents to not have it done. Another reason we would never leave.

I'm actually struggling to come up with an answer to this even though I have lived in France for over 18 years and plan to never leave.

On the plus side:
Climate
Living and eating with the season
A sense of living with traditional values rather than trying to keep up with the Jones'

Cons
No matter how well you speak the language someone will always find mistakes.
The reticence towards change of any sort.

I occasionally as myself the question if I had my time again would I move to France, and I don't know. My DDs are French and I can't imagine them not being French, but I never imagined that I would live my life as a foreigner, and yet I will always be a foreigner.

I'm sure that different areas of France have different pros and cons, it is a very big country.

Frenchfancy, that is true too. A foreigner here but bizarrely also one at home, where you don’t belong completely either.
Is it not the same everywhere though? We have friends in the US, and they say they still feel foreign, even after a long time. It doesn’t bother me at all, I like the freedom it bestows and the lack of obligation.

I've lived here 30 years this year and couldn't really imagine living anywhere else.

Whenever I visit the UK I find the consumerism and social pressure exhausting and it's actually quite refreshing to come back home.

Here we buy all our produce fresh from local producers at an outdoor market, spend a lot of time outdoors - eating and drinking, but also hiking, picnicking, camping, sailing...

There's not the same pressure to fit in and keep up, everyone just does their own thing (Paris may be an exception to this - it's along time since I lived and worked there).

We live in Rhône-Alpes and love it here, but I think just across the border in southern Burgundy or the Beaujolais (which is split across both regions) may be a good option for you.

It's very close to Lyon, which has everything. Great access to the motorway network, trains, the airport etc. Housing is cheaper than the rest of the region. They have 4 real seasons and you're only a couple of hours from the ski slopes, the Mediterranean or even Paris (by TGV from Mâcon). Plenty of good quality local produce. Rivers, lakes and beautiful scenery...

My only hesitancy would be regarding schools, depending on how old your children are. There may not be the same level of support for non-speakers as in an urban area.

I live 50:50 in France and UK. Was full-time in France until recently.

For me the only real downside of living in France was schooling for my children because they were not born in France and were used to the English ways when we moved. The language was not a problem for them, it was just the cultural way of doing things. They came back to UK to finish their education and go to uni.

Other than that, yes, since Brexit especially, I think France is a better place to live than the UK as long as you do not expect it to be a utopia and do not expect too much from the people but enjoy it for what it is. And as others have said, be prepared to always be in limbo or an outsider (un étranger) but this is not something that applies to France - I feel the same in most places.

And yes, as someone else said, it is annoying to always have your French corrected whatever your level of fluency

Weirdly, I don't feel particularly an outsider here (Bordeaux wine region) but then it is very cosmopolitan, with Dutch, Belgians, South Africans, Australians, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians, Brits, Irish and Portuguese living among the French locals. I feel far more connected to the world living here and I totally agree that there is far more appreciation for just doing your own thing. Keeping up with the Joneses (even when you're not consciously doing it) and the tribe mentality of the UK is something I couldn't live amongst any more.

I've lived in both France and Spain over the last couple of decades, have children born in each country. For similar reasons to your own, I far prefer France - I don't like the heat in Spain and I miss proper, snowy winters. France is more expensive for a lot of daily shopping but social contributions are lower than Spain (percentage rather than a fixed amount - in Spain even if you only earn 400€ per month you still have to contribute nearly 300€ of it. It's a ridiculous system.)

I've never had any of the language problems because I'm trilingual without an accent and in general I find the French very pleasant - they're different to the English in many ways but then so are the Spanish. Healthcare in France was good - better than England by far and mostly better than Spain.

Unfortunately for me my husband and children are very happy and settled in Spain now so I don't think we'll be moving back to France any time soon . If I had the opportunity as you do I'd move back tomorrow.