France

We are now seriously thinking of moving to France. A few reasons
houses are pretty cheap and we could get one with a couple of gites to rent out for income.
OH is missing his parents and they are getting old, so visiting would be a lot easier
There are things I miss about Europe, the ease of going to other countries for a weekend away for one thing

I do not want to live in the UK again.

Our main concern is getting jobs there, neither of us speaks good French. I know I would pick it up easily, I learnt it at school and I have learnt 3 other languages since then.

Being British/kiwi I don't think I need any permits to live there.

Its an interesting consideration. How long have you been living in NZ for Kai?

I have been thinking we should head either further south or just away from this area which is seeing a population explosion. The direction the area is going is no long rurally orientated.

I'm heading to Paris next month actually. Never been before and its just a tourist stop over between my arrival and departure points. I have been using google maps to work out travelling times and distance and as you say, everything is very close. My family go into Germany to do their shopping from their home in another country.

We have been here for over 10 years now and are officially kiwis. I have loved living here, but my career has been crap, I had a really well paid job in the UK, here I can't even find one. Fortunately OH has a lot better career here and earns about 3 times what he did in the UK so that balances things out.

i believe Germany very expensive these days especially food. I don't know if French people have the same outlook as French Canadian, but while in Canada, Mum and I found those to be extremely rude.

Kai, perhaps you should rent out your home for 6 months and go to France for that time to check out if it will work.

I have a cousin in Normandy who doesn't speak French and she finds it very difficult, doesn't get on with her neighbours etc. I think she might have helped herself a little more had she tried to at least learn the language. Yet I have a friend from the UK also living here who loves the place and just bought a property there she hopes one day to move into.

Stikkibeek wrote: i believe Germany very expensive these days especially food. I don't know if French people have the same outlook as French Canadian, but while in Canada, Mum and I found those to be extremely rude.

Kai, perhaps you should rent out your home for 6 months and go to France for that time to check out if it will work.

We want to sell this place anyway and as citizens we can come back here whenever we want

When I went to France 30 years ago, and Italy 10 years ago, I learnt enough French and Italian to try to start a conversation. Because I am absolutely useless at trying to speak other languages, as soon as I had tried the local spoke to me in English. I have a British passport but decided to be an NZer, and when that was made clear I had no problems.
Good luck.

My parents retired to France and lived there for over 30 years. They avoided areas that were full of ex-pat Brits. They learnt French, got involved in the village life, shopped locally, enjoyed the local wines and had a wonderful retirement. Healthcare was good, it was easy to travel around and the French appreciated my parents immersing themselves into the French culture. My parents only left France because they died My mum died in Jan 2015 so my input is based on recent knowledge.

I have never been to France so have no relevant knowledge to share but can offer some thoughts about moving to another country.
Doing a lot of research before you go is essential. Use the lessons you learned by coming to NZ as the basis.
Start to learn French now!
Use your research to decide possible areas you'd like to live and check on job prospects for there. Include more menial jobs that will bring in an income while you learn more language and will give you the opportunity to meet locals who would both talk to you and help you learn a bit about local culture. Things like grape picking for example.
Apart from google the French embassy should have info and there are websites for some places that offer advice to prospective immigrants to various countries.
Don't burn all your bridges here if there is a chance you may come back.
And when you do get there don't be afraid to to let the locals know you want to understand their rules and customs and you truly are keen to know their language.
Be patient (good things take time!) and don't lose your sense of humour. If you can laugh at your mistakes it will be easier not to make the same ones too often.
Living in another culture can be a wonderful experience even if its unbelievably hard at first, so good luck!

We have decided to go for a holiday, although I have been there many times, it is man years since either of us was there and things no doubt have changed. We are going to have a week in India on the way and can hopefully persuade the in laws to meet us to share a week together.
We have already got a book to learn better French and we are testing each other, it is amazing what I can remember from my school girl French once you start bringing it back and there are many words I had no idea I even knew. OH asks what is the word for..... and somehow I seem to know it no matter how obscure it is.

The how to get jobs is the big thing. I have a background in IT and him in telecoms, so English is used a lot, but there is no way I could write a report in French at the moment.

ZummersetGirl wrote: My parents retired to France and lived there for over 30 years. They avoided areas that were full of ex-pat Brits. They learnt French, got involved in the village life, shopped locally, enjoyed the local wines and had a wonderful retirement. Healthcare was good, it was easy to travel around and the French appreciated my parents immersing themselves into the French culture. My parents only left France because they died My mum died in Jan 2015 so my input is based on recent knowledge.

That is the approach I would take, there is no point living in a different country if you don't want to be involved in it. When I lived in Poland I was more than happy to mime things I could not speak, people thought it funny, but it got the point across and they became more relaxed to try their English out. However I do remember my attempt to mime a OHP (overhead projector) was a complete failure, though it did have the class rolling with laughter..