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Bonjour,

Its hard because my university was delayed, my siret code was delayed, my seeing prefecteur delayed and my driving license delayed.I found several bloques to remove on getting diplomas recognised. Really expensive with translator.

I have decided to move house nearer Grenoble and I have joined english speaking church of 20 nations there. My son starts University in September at Grenoble.

I have being locked up with covid horrible, I also in Provence suffered several racist attacks from Brexit event. I voted remain and its very sad . You get you dont belong here , you have left.
I moved in 2020 under withdrawal agreement and I am still European.Under that agreement I should be treat equally to any national.

It took  months to get my siret code, social security....long delays.

I am looking for to moving my BnB to Grenoble area. Some guest have been really nice and again some hate the english. I think it depends where you are. I was in summer sitting with my son , when cafe ope and a child spat at us for being English.She was with her Grandmother. Who thought it was funny.

On a good point I have made several French friends and they are really nice people.

But we cannot meet up at the moment because of covid 19.

Praying vaccines prevent covid , but I think social distancing and masks help stop the spread as well.

I visit another house to buy tomorrow and I hope my attestation de deplacement is good enough.
There is alot of poverty in the south of France in the cities, shanty areas , especially Marseilles. At the airport full of homeless people living there at the airport. Bizarre,
I hope and pray covid and BREXIT become better Kind regards Louise

Hi Disha,

I moved to France in 2007 after finishing a contract in the UK.

We didn't have any situation then

William

My emigration to Southern France was the result of a lifelong ambition to retire in Provence once my teaching career (special needs, primarily with children & young people on the autism spectrum) came to a well-earned conclusion in November 2019 (aged 67).  I have been a an amateur artist most of my life and always dreamed of painting ‘en plein aire’ in the Midi light, so was extremely happy to secure a modest but beautifully situated small home in the Languedoc region, Provence proving too pricey for my budget.
As fate would have it, I moved permanently into my new home near Béziers in February 2020 - and within the first month Covid enforced the lockdown as we now know it.
It has been a mixture of ups and downs; I adore the place but have really struggled with isolation (have made precisely zero friends due to lockdown and ongoing curfews/travel restrictions) and the bureaucratic nightmare that exists in getting to grips with the French way of doing things.
To date I have not been able to resolve most of the problems of obtaining a carte vitale, French residency etc. Am faced with a few huge hospital bills as had heart failure last July and had to spend a couple of weeks in hospital; without health card have been landed a bill. 
Also have had an absolute nightmare with the French Postal Service - letters going astray or just disappearing into the ether….
Having said all that, I am still very happy to be living here despite all the upsets, hoping the tide will turn soon. I do not regret my decision to move here at all!

Hi Diksha,

I moved to France shortly before the pandemic in February 2020 to join my partner who was returning from a VIE in California. I quit my job after 3 1/2 years in a marketing agency in London and thought with my experience it wouldn’t take long to find work in France. The initial plan was to stay in an aparthotel my boyfriend (who’s french) was supplied with for his 3 month CDD and I attended a french school for 3 weeks to boost my french. We stayed 5 weeks up until the day when the first confinement was announced and moved further out to the suburbs in with his parents and then to our own flat later in the summer.

The job hunt was and still is the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with since moving. I’ve done a couple of short CDD’s for reputable companies but with the crise sanitaire I’ve lost out after positive interviews and talk of contracts being renewed due to each confinement as the uncertainty is just too much for the businesses. I think I was naïve thinking I could find something so quick, but here I am over a year later without work and still searching.

I continued with my french (self studying when the language school closed) and have improved significantly. I speak french with my partners friends and family and when out and about so it’s been great practice. I’m now B1 level and studying towards B2.
I made some new friends at the language school I attended but most returned to their home countries when the first confinement was announced and haven’t returned yet. I’ve met some others via Facebook groups and met some lovely girls, even some local to me.

I’ve discovered some parts of France around me, when we were able to go a little further I’ve visited Rouen, Êtretat, Honfleur, Chantilly and Bretagne. I can’t wait until we can explore the rest of France.

I feel partly at home but I also feel like my life’s in a weird limbo. Though work isn’t everything, it’s structure in the flood of time and I miss it. My background is marketing and account management but I’m very open to other roles. If anyone has any advice or guidance I’m all ears

I hope things get better for you soon! I know a lovely American lady who lives in Béziers who’s been here about 20 years if you’d like me to connect you? I’m sure she’d be willing to chat.

I’m not too far away, in Franconville.

The carte vitale application is long. I received my attestation de droits earlier this year but it came from lots of calls and follow ups after I applied in October. Do you have the English speaking line? Let me know if you need it.x

I can't pretend that it hasn't been difficult. I retired in August and the plan was to move all my possessions over three or four journeys before I moved ,we already had house in brittany and it only meant changing it from second home to permanent home ,unfortunately because of covid I didn't manage three or four trips so ive now got  stuff in storage and eight months later I still cant get over to retrieve them and with Brexit it makes it all the more difficult.
It is also worrying that at the start of june and I still can't exchange my driving license which will only be valid till end of year so not great ,also I brought over my motorhome but I'm having difficulty getting a coc from peugeot fr in order to even start process luckily I applied for a quitus fiscal certificate before December so avoided customs.
I was warned that the french legal system is very different to uk but I would say that between covid and brexit it has made it considerably worse and much more difficult.

It's has been very difficult for me, especially getting a job

Hi everyone, How to get there I mean to France, any ways please?

Hello, Covid and Brexit have made living in France very difficult. Not enough support from UK government and I think they do not respect the withdrawal agreement. I moved to France 2020 and it took 9 months to get carte sjour, 5 year visa. Also, my son wants to visit for summer and because of covid variant Indian type not possible.The blocks and delays are not necessary to Expat. I have under withdrawal agreement European Rights and freedom to travel through Europe. They still consider me English. Which I am with European status.The general public do not understand this. Good luck in Brittainy. Provence is extremely racist againt the English.

Bonjour, vous, 

Bien que je sois parfaitement bilingue: Anglais/Français, je me permets de vous écrire en Français pour vous aider dans votre apprentissage.

Je suis tombé par hasard sur votre message car... ma partenaire Australienne s'appelle KERR aussi d'origine d'un clan Ecossais au Sud de Glasgow...  Je vous donnerai un conseil de sagesse sur votre supposée: "Weird life in limbo"... Car cela fait plus d'un an que ma partenaire est coincée en Australie. Alors je vous invite à relativiser votre situation...

Pour trouver du travail, je ne saurais trop vous recommander le site: "Cadremploi.com" qui est l'outil le plus efficace pour trouver du travail à hauteur de vos qualifications ! Il est géré par une association d'anciens cadres de l'industrie et de services et je vous invite à vous inscrire.

Je suppose, au vu de vos remarques que vous habitez en Région Parisienne, et parmi les endroits préférés de ma partenaire Australienne, je vous suggère d'aller visiter des sites autour de Paris comme:  Le Moulin de Fourges dans les Yvelines sur la rivière Epte, qui fut au X éme. siècle la frontière entre les Les Vikings (ou Nordmans) et le royaume France avec la création du duché de Normandie: Endroit extrêmement reposant et romantique avec un moulin à eau : (Auberge et restaurant) Puis un peu plus loin , le jardin de Giverny du peintre: Claude Monnet. Aussi, le chateau de Pierrefonds au Nord de Compiègne si vous aimez les chateaux du moyen âge. Ou alors les villages de peintres comme Barbizon et Moret  sur Loing au sud Est de Paris , ou Auvers Sur Oise au Nord-Ouest de Paris ( Village de VanGogh) .  Ou Chartres et sa cathédrale au sud, ... Bon courage

I approve your move to Languedoc , name from: "Langue d'Oc" ( Language of Occitanie ) opposed to the Norther France regions: "Langue d'Oïl"... Now one should use the region name: Occitanie instead.

Yess the real South is in Occitanie (Historically and geographically) not in  the French riviera , or Provence back garden like Vaucluse, Alpilles etc..) as too much overstated, tourist trap and too pricey ! The problem is that the famous book from Peter Mayle: " A summer in Provence"..? Or like,  did lure a lot of Anglo-Saxons wanting to settle in Provence ...

For other candidates, I could recommend regions all around Toulouse or Carcassonne like: Gers, Comminges, Aude, Tarn and Tarn et Garonne with nice cottages as low as 120/150 k € !

Could I also recommend to complete your health insurance coverages with a private: "Mutuelle" insurance"  as for a range from 30 to 100 EUD a month, they are supposed to cover most if not all your health costs. Many brokers are available the market to make a good choice.

Come to Occitanie instead ! People are friendly there and housing most than affordable!

Can I invite you and register to the site: "Cadremploi.com"...? This is very effective and helpful , but accdg. to my own experience the best network for job searching is your own personal network of friends, ex colleagues and friends of friends..

Bon courage!