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?

Weather beautiful here, swallows and martins swooping under the eaves, summer may have finally arrived. About time...

AA - I got it. Ds has turned into the amazingnonsleepingbaby and writing anything longer than a single line or two is v diff. Will get back to you!

I don't, but visited Castellane (near Grasse) last summer and would quite happily relocate. I'd never been to France before.

What a great question hullygully.

Backpack, hmmmmmmmm............. why?

ggg - Little bells chimed and danced at certain details... Did you, then?

Beachcomber, can I ask: how was it working for the Ch de Commerce? I'm going to see them to get on their books when I get back to France because I hate doing supply teaching, but I'm a bit nervous because of my French - which is good and I get by fine, but I'm going through a consciously incompetent phase where I know I'm making mistakes and keep correcting myself mid sentence so it all feels a bit slow.

Know I need to earn a secondary income in France, though, because as ggg or Anna said on another thread, it's very difficult to survive if you have your ownbusiness in France - especially when it's related to the housing market!

I know who you're thinking of hullygully... and it's not ggg (unless she is a master of disguise)

T
is not me but I am intrigued. Is it that 'Bananas in Bordeaux' book?

C - of whom do I hear the bell ringing?

this expat by any chance?

good lord, when did she write all those others?!

Might have been!

Hi trulymadlydeeply. I found working for the CCI alright but with some disadvantages. I was working in the CEL (Centre d'Etudes des Langues) and most of my teaching was in local companies, we also taught jobseekers and some foreign students. On the whole I found the work interesting.

Disadvantages were that as a vacataire hours and therefore money depended on work availability. Also our directrice would put pressure on us to take work at awkward times (very early in the morning or in the evening for example). If you didn't accept the inconveniant time then she would give the contract to someone else. All this meant that she liked to have a lot of teachers on her books so that she could always work things to suit the customers. A lot of the time there were too many teachers for the actual hours of work available. I felt like we got virtually no support (from management) and that the materials and equipment available to us were poor/not enough to go round.

All this, however, varies from one centre to the next, it depends a lot on who's in charge. I got on well with most of my collegues and despite the bad management I think we had a good team going.

Don't want to put you off! If you are wanting to do the work to top up you income or as part time work then it is fine. I think it is a little precarious as a main household income though. I found it stressful to be constantly counting my hours and losing money through cancellations, public holidays and so on. When I only had to pay childcare for one child it was ok but now that I have two the sums don't work so well. The work isn't terribly well paid, IIRC we got about 18 Euros per teacing hour net (after security sociale but before income tax).

HTH, don't hesitate if there is anything else you would like to ask.

Oh I wouldn't be too concerned by your level of French, we had quite a few teachers who were new to the country and who hadn't got to grips with French yet. All the teaching is supposed to be done in the target language so our boss almost saw not speaking fluent French as an advantage.

Beachcomber, that's really helpful. It would be a secondary income and I think the going rate here is around 20 euros an hour, so not brilliant, but still at the moment, it all helps. There are a couple of people I know who work for 3 diferent local C de Cs and although they seem to juggle endlessly, it's still work.

My main priority is that we don't have to go back to the UK, so we need a stopgap and backup until the economy improves.

I'll go and see them next week, and then I might have more questions. I hope that will be OK ...

Many thanks indeed.

ggg, have got yr e-mail. Bit manic this end, will try and scout and then reply...

No problem, glad to be of help. If you are doing the work to tide you over/top you up then it does make it less stressful. Saying that, I worked pretty much full time for nearly 5 years and although things are lean in the summer and around Xmas, over the whole year the work does mount up. My DH has a stable income so we were able to manage when I didn't have so much work.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have after your meeting with them. Good luck, hope it goes well .

Lordy, have just read over my earlier post and am at the lack of commas. Am quite good English teacher really who knows how to punctuate!

Just got back from my daughter's Fête de l'école - the petite section put on a very impressive show. Nearly 90 children aged 3 and 4 on stage, in circus costumes they had made themselves, singing nursery rhymes with movements in English and French and absolutely no mishaps.

Am very pleasantly surprised with what the school has achieved with them

We have the kermesse this afternoon. DS1 is a prehistoric man (complete with plastic phallic looking club) and dd3 is manning a stall and had to have the makeup removed as she was rushing past me this morning

Anna8888 - did you cry? Our town puts on a massive beautiful carnival once a year - my dd is too young to be in it yet but I still whell up a bit watching our neighbours. I know as soon as she is in plays like you have mentioned and carnivals I am going to be wet-faced and embarrasing her!!!! Honestly I nearly started crying yesterday when she went down a slide - it wasn't even a massive one!

On the side - It is v interesting all the things you have been saying about EAB - I had got bad reports of it from friends of mine who insist it is a poor mans billingual school and tell me I should be jumping hoops and making friends in the right places to get dd into schools that scare me a bit a lot!

But things you have been saying make me very interested in EAB... actually very very interested!!! Thanks!!! When the time comes we will have a nosy!

No I didn't cry - it was all very cheerful.

EaB is a school on the up. The location has always been fantastic (parc Monceau is a better playground than any other school in central Paris has), and since the new headmistress (at Monceau) took up her job two years ago a lot of changes have been made. The parents' association, which was run by a truly ghastly woman for years and years and totally sidelined by the school proper, has changed and seems to be doing a really good job, with lots of new blood (and much more anglo influence).

Last September the headmistress appointed a directrice adjointe who is Anglophone, which sent a very clear signal to the parent body about how much emphasis the school was putting on English.

We have the fête de l'école next Saturday and DD1's class are performing a play based on La Fontaine's fables... so heaven help us we have to produce a tortoise costume! Any ideas?! How on earth can we make a tortoise shell?!

DD2 is mainly singing thank goodness

With firmish card cut into shapes similar to the relief on the tortoiseshell, and stapled together.

Brown tights and brown polo neck jumper underneath shell, I suppose.

Sounds good, thanks Anna, I'm not known for my creative skills I'd better get some paint. How could I attach finished shell to to child?

With elastic in an X-shape across body, I'd have thought...

Better get some elastic too then