Do your homework and learn French!
Many people have the idea of moving to France in an attempt to get out of the British climate and dreary culture of the UK. We had a similar idea almost two years ago. When the opportunity of moving to the sunny Charente in mid France came up we jumped at it. Moving our two teenagers and all our house contents we arrived lock, stock and barrel in September 2010. We left the most beautiful house in North Wales and swapped it for a ramshackle collection of buildings on the edge of the quietest village in the world. It was a real culture shock!
Having had French lessons for over 6 years before we came out, I thought my standard of French was good - WRONG! It is woefully inadequate and having a conversation with my neighbours in more depth than the weather forecast is almost impossible for me.
We now had a gite complex to run and realised rather quickly that it was going to cost us rather a lot of money before we ever saw any return. We had a huge bill for the roof, septic tanks, plumber, electrician, gas man etc. The business is very seasonal and we had to supplement our income in other ways. Many people come to France with rose tinted specs until they realise that maybe it isn't going to be as easy as they thought. The British are very resourceful and I know of a former bank manager who is now a pool maintenance man and a former pharmaceutical salesman who is now a property manager. Many British people make things like cards, furniture or crafts to sell at markets, although few make a fortune. When you factor in all the taxes and charges you will be charged by the authorities I wonder whether it is worth it. You have to do what you can. Unless you speak French fluently it is unlikely you will get a job working for a French employer. Many British people have a trade like building, plumbing or electrician, cleaning or gardening and these are the people who are in demand.
France is not cheap - it is much more expensive than the UK. The only thing that is cheaper is wine. I just paid 14 euros for the tiniest piece of beef that would have been about £6 in the UK. This is the reason why many people still do their shopping online at Asda or Tesco in the UK and get it delivered to France by one of the food delivery companies. Even with a charge of 20% for the transport it is still cheaper than buying in French supermarkets. What have you come to France for you may ask?
If you are thinking of running a business, think hard first. Do your sums, read the books if it is an established business, factor in how you are going to finance unexpected bills. Some friends of ours have moved out to start a restaurant. However, neither of them have any cooking experience and the waitress had almost zero French. Now they are in at the deep end trying to serve French-style food to the French. Not easy!
If you have dreamt of owning a pool remember that it isn't cheap and you will have to do a lot of maintenance. Always shut down the pool properly for winter (which can be surprisingly fierce) or get someone qualified to do it for you. This year's two-week winter freeze with temperatures of -17 degrees has caused many people's pool pumps, pipes and filters to simply burst causing huge bills that are not insured.
Schooling
We moved our two teenage boys to a tiny rural school where they were put in at the deep end and had to learn French rapidly. The school did help but the boys found it a real shock at first. The facilities and the technology provided for the pupils was so much below what they were used to in a UK school. All French schools seem to look like the same concrete block. The choice of subjects was very narrow and subjects like music and art were almost non-existent. The boys now speak French fluently and are also learning Spanish and Italian and generally we are pleased with the standard of education here. They work them very hard and they have tests every week but they have certainly learnt a lot. We had no idea about how the French education system worked and should have done more research. We didn't realise, for example, that at age 15 the children go to Lycee - the next stage in the education process and we did not realise how far we lived from the nearest one! Through a series of lucky breaks our son managed to get a place in Angouleme our nearest city and a French family to lodge with relatively cheaply but I know people who pay a fortune for their offspring to be at Lycee. Many English people move their children here and have no idea how hard it is going to be for them. Obviously, the younger they are the better. Remember that you will have to give them a lot of homework help until their French is better. If you have to move teens, do it before they start their GCSEs and give them at least 2 years at French college before Lycee. It is amazing how fast children pick up a language but unless they are very clever they will not be able to do it and often have to re-take the year or 'redouble' which is normal here but a demoralising step for many. Much of the information about schools is in French and it is hard for us to understand it all, particularly how to go through the next steps of the education system.
This all sounds rather negative but it is not meant to be. It is just what I wish I'd known before we took the step to move. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Has it been worth it? Certainly.
www.charentecottages.com
