禁漫天堂

Hi everyone! I'm a retired research biologist from Bethesda, MD in the US. I relocated 2 years ago with my then 8 year old son to Atlanta, GA. I had to retire prematurely on disability because of bad knees (have had surgeries on both). Since my job required standing/bending/walking about 90% of the time, I had to leave a job I loved. Since then I've been knocking about in Atlanta. I actually live in a nice little suburb named Decatur (think John Mayer - this was his home prior to his career taking off). I love parts of Decatur, especially downtown. It's sort of like me: a little quirky sometimes, funky, accepting, artsy, culturally diverse, and a passion for great coffee shops, restaurants, and outdoor cafes. Now here's the rub, this is basically my only haunt in the Atlanta area. I don't ever like to speak badly about where people call home, but the rest of Atlanta is not for me---traffic takes on a whole new meaning here--road signs stand for "interpret suitable to your convenience", I cannot understand my native English when I venture about in some areas. It's been a dream of mine to one day move to France and live out the remainder of my life amidst for one, people who live longer (smile), walking along cafe lined streets, smelling flowers blooming from my balcony (did I mention I am also a romantic?) My 10 year old is dying to move---things are "too slow" for him here. Anyway we are seriously looking to move in the summer of 2010 and would like some advice on where to start.....basically from deciding to move to actually landing at DeGualle (spelling?). One sure plan for now is to learn as much French as possible over the next year. For recently relocated American or other expats, please help some friendly newcomers. Merci