Moving to France - Essential Guide?

kerash

I'm looking for information, experience, tips and advice on moving to France to live.
So here's the hypothetical scenario, the aim is to move from Ireland to rural Provence, with no idea how or where to begin, I look to boardsies for guidance!:P

LilOc

Ask this blogger => http://irishherault.wordpress.com/

Hérault isn't Provence but it's in Occitania, the 1/3 south of France (without Basque and Catalan areas, even though Catalans are Occitans' cultural cousins).

Also what he could say about Hérault would apply to Provence. What do you want to do there? Do you even know which area? Town you're looking to move to?

If you're successful please contribute to the local life and try to learn the language, show that you Irish aren't like British settlers in some areas like Dordogne, please...

Best of luck though! Provence is gorgeous in every way.

azzie

It depends if you're planning to work or if you're retired. Are you a fluent French speaker? Have you got children as if you do and they're over about 10 - 11 they'll struggle with school.

kerash

LilOc wrote: »

Ask this blogger => http://irishherault.wordpress.com/

Hérault isn't Provence but it's in Occitania, the 1/3 south of France (without Basque and Catalan areas, even though Catalans are Occitans' cultural cousins).

.

Thank you LilOc I will check that out.

Also what he could say about Hérault would apply to Provence. What do you want to do there? Do you even know which area? Town you're looking to move to?

I have no idea yet to be honest!

If you're successful please contribute to the local life and try to learn the language, show that you Irish aren't like British settlers in some areas like Dordogne, please...

Best of luck though! Provence is gorgeous in every way

I would certainly learn the language (or do my best to!) Will probably avoid Dordogne so

kerash

azzie wrote: »

It depends if you're planning to work or if you're retired. Are you a fluent French speaker? Have you got children as if you do and they're over about 10 - 11 they'll struggle with school.

Planning to work and learn the language. No children so that's not a factor.

What about the cost of living in france?
Also it's difficult to find homes for rent online apart from holiday rentals.

azzie

Try looking at Leboncoin http://www.leboncoin.fr/ for rentals (or anything else to buy/rent!).
Cost of living cheaper than Ireland for food (I put a posting on the Irish Economy part of the forum on the thread about food prices). As a renter you'd pay Taxe d'Habitation (like rates) so check how much that is. Water is metered. If working you'd have health cover for generally 70% of costs; you can take out a top-up policy to cover the rest.

LilOc

Other people who could help you : http://www.irishfrenchconnection.com

Check the "French members" section, maybe drop a message on the "Contact" page...

Ponster

kerash wrote: »

Planning to work and learn the language. No children so that's not a factor.

What about the cost of living in france?
Also it's difficult to find homes for rent online apart from holiday rentals.

Try this site for rent : http://www.seloger.co.uk/

Cost of living for the average French person is cheaper than in Ireland. Though the Irish/Brits tend to spend more on 'luxury' goods to remind them of home (Guinness & Taytos) that it can make it more expensive

You realise that unemployment is about 10% over here and work isn't all that easy to find for a lot of people outside of the biggest cities?

nattyguest

I just made a huge post on a new boards living abroad topic which might cover a lot of your questions:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055990183