A year in France...but not working

[Plastoslax]

DH and I have always had a yearning to live in France. But like most we were (safely 😬) bound by family obligations, work commitments, mortgage etc.

A series of unexpected events has cancelled all of these "excuses" out and we have no reason to not try a year in France anymore, to see if it is best kept as a dream or if we should try to make it a reality.

So, we would not be looking to work, we have eu passports and enough income to afford 3/4k rent a month. (This will decimate savings etc but I feel a "pee or get off the pot" exercise justifies this risk plus we should be able to rent our home for the period). We both speak reasonable French though could do with improvement.

Questions are:
Would you stay in one place for the 12 months or would you break it up?

If so, would you break it up into 2 or 3 or 6 month blocs?

Where would you go (and why if you have time to say)?

Any tips about finding accommodation for 2 or 3 month stays??

If this was your dream, what would you be hoping to gain from the experimental year?

I'm at the "be careful what you wish for, you might get it" stage of wariness about this. We were always safe in our dreams: we could never have swung this til retirement but retirement was an ever moving (into the distance) goal in our case. So really, this is kind of a one off opportunity, I will have to get another job etc and pin myself down to life here again unless this year-long experiment is a success. Even still, if its not it would allow us to stop saying : if only we had moved to France....(which gets tiring!)

Like others it’s not clear to me what your aim is here 🤷‍♀️ it’s a lot of upheaval.

lots of points already raised: rentals are not easy to come by, landlords will usually want proof of income and a guarantor, many properties are rented unfurnished so you may be better off looking on Air BnB.

you will need a car. We live in central Lyon and would just about manage without one in the city, but you won’t get much exploring done (unless you are planning to rent one).

you could join Ladies in Languedoc on FB - they are a friendly bunch and include a lot of retirees / semi retired women.

My parents are selling their holiday home in the Languedoc if you are interested 😂 three bedrooms, all on one floor, big garden and pool, small village.

I think you'd be bored stupid in South West France over winter!

We will Have a car! And bikes. Just not a camper van. And have decided to stay in one base for the 9 months.

Surely we won't be any more bored than in our current rural home Ceramiq. What would you suggest to stave off boredom?

We obviously have plans but I'm not sure how realistic our plans are. As I said we've never had more than 2 weeks off.

We don't want to buy but buying a house in France has always been a lazy safe dream of ours. I want to see if it could be a reality, I fully anticipate boredom and the fact that we could quickly decide: this is so not for us! But at least then we will know

Perpignan is a kiphole, but we love the area between Carcassonne and the Pyrenees, a bit further up. And Toulouse/Foix/Sant Girons. Although skiing is the only thing that keeps you sane during the winter.

My area is very rural but I don't get bored in winter!

Good social life, 1.5 hours to Paris by train, so many places to explore! Then there's eating....

Hi Op just wondering if you ever realised your dream and how things are going? DH and I are planning a 3 month sabbatical next spring and early stages of planning but a house sit/teaching English in France is currently top of our wish list so interested to see how your plans have panned out.