We love living in the north of France and after seven sometimes turbulent years would not dream of living anywhere else – but lets have a realistic look at how this can be achieved, and at what cost – and we are not just talking money! We are going to look generally at the overall subject of settling and living in Normandy hoping to provide you with a positive slant on solutions to ensure that you can plan and effectively deal with different events… yes, surprising as it may seem, life goes on the same in France just as it did in the UK, and at some point you might have to take off those rose tinted glasses and deal with day to day matters.
Without achieving happiness as a result of your move to France, the knowledge of how to exchange currency or understand how the notaire works suddenly seems irrelevant. This is a broad subject, we are going to try to cover a lot of ground, and even if we do only scratch the surface of that ground, I hope it will be helpful and some will undoubtedly be thought provoking, which is good… and hopefully will encourage you to dig deeper with more research.
Why don’t we start with the weather – if you think the British talk about the weather, that’s nothing to the French. Sometimes the climate in Normandy can be the first shock – will there be sunshine every day? There are actually seven climates across France – and the one here in Normandy is much more like the south of England than the south of France!
When you ARE settled here, will it feel like a holiday that lasts for ever? It can feel like that sometimes – especially when you have neighbours with holiday homes and you wave them off at the end of their stay! But – no looking back? Don’t bank on it – keep a healthy scepticism as to whether it’s nirvana or not.
When you first announce the news to the family that you are planning to live in France… how might they react? Will they be happy to be left behind? Or might they play follow my leader and join you in due course?
Either way…Do consider this aspect of your new life very carefully. If you leave family behind, yes it’s easy to visit them – but not for a few hours. Of course you can plan weekends together – but I would love to sometimes have a coffee with my daughter, or an afternoon – which can’t be done. The alternative – bringing them too – can be a terrific pressure. We know people who have sung the praises of their new life to their relatives only to be taken aback to find they plan to join them. If this happens to an older generation, there is even more pressure since learning any more than basic French for an older generation may be utterly impossible in which case you are their ONLY window on the world.
It’s a price you pay for choosing to live abroad.
For more info about Les Bons Voisins – see our main site: www.lbvfrance.com or to join our Team in Normandy – see www.lbvfranchise.com
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