Do you live in France?

[ggglimpopo]

Where do you live?
Why did you choose that region?
Why did you come here in the first place?
Do you work?
Do you regret it/love it?

Tell us all!

I live in Bordeaux.

I initially chose Montpellier and had everything (sort of!) set up there, but found it too hectic - and my original holiday accomodation was vile - so came to Bordeaux on holiday and stayed.

I came here post divorce!

I have had an epic time here - a very very rough ride, but life events rather than simply french ones, and am here to stay.

I love the region and will stay put in the south west. I would LOVE a house by the sea - dream on!

I don't regret it and have married a Frenchman to prove the point.....

Et vous?

E'Leclerc is I believe the ONLY (newish) non restricted pay as you go deal atm in France. It is normal to loose your credit and sometimes your "air time" if you do not top up or use monthly.

With the Leclerc one you pay, 1.50 euros per month to secure your air time (this can be done by DD) and you do not loose the credit at any time. This is a sim card deal though, so you would need a phone to use, but I also think they do other similar deals inc phones.

Hi S.Suki, I bought a quite cheap mobile from Darty. If this is any help. I wanted to have a pay as you go for when I am in the uk but O2 were real pains about it so I gave up stopped all business with them and wrote a huffy letter to them too!!!

So, so, so... Thanks for the info on the Neuilly baby gym Anna8888! I will look it up.

Interesting you mentioning Message to Doozie, Anna, People keep telling me I should join message but I am in two hearts. I am in France - I don't want to live in a British/American bubble but then again it looks like they do a lot of fun stuff and I could make some good friends.

Any comments on this will be interesting for me - Is anyone in message or has been and can give an insiders view or decided not to join and has found this the better option???

Message wasn't terribly useful to me because I had been here for years before I became a parent here, spoke completely fluent French, knew my way around and had a 100% French partner who already had two children and so could give me info and support - and I found that at Message M&T groups I was usually the person who had been here longest and knew most .

I do know a lot of expat mothers who are in Message (lots at EaB) though who are very nice and friendly and I think it's a good organisation. And if you are looking for an electrician or a plumber it's a very good way of finding one

Why??? - Because lots of message mummies are plumbers and electricians too!!! Ha ha ha!!! I am pulling your leg - of course!

Well I have gradually worked up a collection of people I can lean on for things like that and have even started to make my own French friends now so I think I will keep on going as I am... this seems to be my mantra in this thread... what is your opinion, Doozie, are you going to message or not message?

I think if you already have the knowledge and support like Anna then message is really just an extra way to meet friends.

But if you wanted info on the HG in your area TFT then Message would have been able to tell you how it worked and how to go about it. You did this alone but some women here are not here for the long term, are more trailing spouses, and need a bit more help. They also provide help post birth with a new mother contact who rings and pops over after birth to check all is going well etc (perhaps Doozie interested). I do not do alot with message but when I arrived it provided me with lots of friends (some of whom I am still in touch with despite them having moved onto other countries) and gave me a lot of info (ie schools and HG) I didn't know about not being french or having french DH.

Also have to admire the women who run this organisation, all volunteers and give so much time to give support others.

Was just catching up with this thread and saw judeat40's thread....looks like we are next door neighbours! Which village are you in?

I mean post of course

So , Anna, that you speak French fluently.

I want to too and hate that I can't. Yet!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend in this gorgeous weather.

Bliss to be in Burgundy again ...

trulymadlydeeply - it will come in time - practice makes perfect

Yes, have a lovely weekend everyone - we're going on a picnic tomorrow with my sister and children (who usually live in Amsterdam but have a holiday house 60km from Paris and are here for the summer) and my partner (who has a private pilot's licence) is going to take my nephews up for a little flight over their house. So we are hoping for great weather

oooh how nice!!! Happy wkd Anna!!!!

tmd - I am like you. The more I learn about French the more aware I am about how completely rubbish I am at it!!! But I keep plodding on and tryng not to get vous and tu confused and remembering if something is feminine or masculine and remembering to try not to constantly speak in the present tense. My dd was watching tellytubbies in French and I was so proud because I understood it. Tellytubbies today Proust tomorrow! Onwards and upwards!!! We can do it I am sure! Keep working at it and I will too! What books and methods are you using? Do you have a teacher? I am interested in how you are learning and how you are finding it because I often feel like I am taking the least easiest path!

I think I will join Message, it sounds like it will be perfect for someone like me. My husband isn't French, I don't know anyone who is pregas or has a baby in Paris, my French is 'developmental' as they say, and I'm relatively new in town so everyday is still a discovery. I think it will be especially handy when the bub is born, as I would like to join a mothers groups . We can be baby bores together!

BTW, any ideas where to buy maternity clothes in Paris other than in the grand magasins? I must admit I haven't been inside one baby shop yet (I've got months to go), but now the time has come as I'm struggling to do up skirts and trous. Thanks.

Doozie, I am sure Anna8888 will be along with some chic Parisian addresses for maternity wear.

I borrowed most of my maternity clothes from similar sized friends but what I couldn't borrow I ordered from Vertbaudet which is a catalogue that does clothes for babies and children, pregnant women, and also things for decorating children's rooms. I was happy with the quality, the clothes have survived 4 pregnancies.

Bonsoir Doozie et othersideofthechannel- It depends on your style, how much you want to spend and what you want to buy...

I love the Natalys style for future Mummies. Simple and stylish! Last time I was in my local one I said "I have a complaint... you have beautiful clothes for babies, toddlers and lovely maternity wear but nothing for just Mums, like me!!!"

In La Defense there is a quite big and fun Vertbaudet and around it a few other places that sell maternity wear. It is nr were Gap is. Turn left at C and A! And p.s the newsagent a little further up sells English newspapers - his funny little shop is very very special to me - you might like it too!

IIRC Natalys is all made in France, if you are concerned about avoiding child labour.
Speaking of C and A, they have a maternity section too which is very cheap.

I'm not the person to ask about maternity wear - I survived my pregnancy with one pair of H&M maternity trousers and shirt, one other shirt donated by my sister (bought in Spain) and the rest was old clothes from fatter days or old stuff of my mother's. Nothing remotely chic (but I was ensconced in deepest Kent far from Parisian standards of dress ).

Anna8888, having seen some of your threads I am very surprised to learn you spent your pregnancy in old, baggy clothes. The bit in your post contrasting deepest Kent with chic Paris makes me think about Mary Boleyn sent away from court to her family's Kent castle where she was relieved to get away from all the frivolity and obsession with appearance.

In 'The other Boleyn girl' I mean.

Oh I had a total back-to-nature moment when I was pregnant and a new mother . Just wanted family and nature and good food - society/the world could wait...

Hi, Tea42, With regards to the French, I work with French people everyday, and I think that has helped. I have recently (4 years in!) started having lessons, and I go on aboutfrench.com or whatever it's called when I can find the time, to do the quizzes and assess my progress. Still intermediate, sadly ...

What doesn't help is having a husband who is regularly mistaken for a Frenchman, and 3 bi-lingual children!

I love the challenge of the language,and my own perfectionist desire to do it better, just wish it would all come a bit quicker.

Thanks for you comments, Anna. you sound fab. Still though.

Wow I haven't been here for a few days and this thread has really progressed.

Just had a lovely weekend and am thoroughly loved up living in rural Brittany. We had music by the canal in the local town on Friday night and it was lovely to sit outside a bar chatting with friends listening to the music, Breton music this week but Jazz I think next week (personally I'm looking forward to salsa night). Then last night our own village had it's Fete de Canal which was just lovely, again on the banks of the canal and with music and wine, the children running around and playing topped off with fireworks at midnight, just really perfect, and nice for us to spend time as a family without being covered in plaster dust.

You'll have to remind me of all this in January when it's pouring down with rain, for the third week running and I haven't seen a soul for months, I'm not so loved up with Brittany then, but for the time being I'm enjoying the sunshine and chat.

If anyone is interested, it turns out that Angelina Jolie will be giving birth to her twins in Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace in Monaco.

You would think someone would have advised her that (1) there are much better maternity units around here, like 'Lenval' in Nice (2) if babies are born in Monaco, that means they are not born in France (she meant to 'honor' her French mother who passed away recently by giving birth in France).

ha ha ha CoteDAzur - your post made me laugh!!!

Off on a bit of a tangent now, but would those of you living in France say now is a good time to be buying a house or appartment, or better to hold off for a while? We're currently renting, (not particularly cheaply), and are kind of lookinng to buy but i can't decide if now is as good a time as any, or whether to wait.The area we live in (Savoie) is fairly pricey in relation to housing size, and I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to whether things are likely to come down a bit, or continue on an upward trend. Any thoughts?

Prices have started falling where we are, although interest rates are higher than they were. Friends selling houses say no one is visiting, as everyone is scared about the financial situation, and banks are not giving credit as easily as they were before.
Don't know much about where you are, but the random experts I've heard on the radio are all in agreement that the property market is starting to hit troubled waters (Kaufmann Broad have lost a fortune in the last six months and their share price is plummeting), so maybe now is starting to be a better time to buy.

My colleague's wife is an estate agent. She says vendors are still a bit reluctant to lower their prices but that she feels it is inevitable. I think it's a good time to be looking too.