The Expat Experience
Has anyone been watching ‘Little England’, the TV programme about being an expat in the Dordogne? It’s quite interesting as a reminder that we all have very different ‘expat experiences’ – and that for most people there is more to being an expat than integrating in the community. The first thing that is clear, both [...]
iPlayer comes to France!
Preview: iplayer app No I haven’t forgotten that we only talked about iPlayer in France a couple of months ago – even my aging memory can remember that far back. But dreams can become reality and you can now watch everything from Doctor Who to Absolutely Fabulous in your own little corner of France – [...]
Adjusting to life as an expat
When Peter Mayle spent his famous Year in Provence he seemed to get lots done, have a great time, and integrate in the community in just a few short months. Quite an achievement, but a question that crops up quite often when chatting to people who are thinking about moving to France, or those who [...]
Back to France, back to reality
After Christmas in England and a long bout of flu it’s about time for me to get back to the real world (apparently the whole of France is now gripped by an epidemic of flu, sorry if it is my fault!) Happily a week lying in bed doing nothing but groaning unnecessarily loudly does mean [...]
Integrating in France
A week since my last post! Sorry, I’m getting lazy! I was meaning to respond to a couple of interesting comments on the last post about ‘England vs France for University‘, which raised interesting questions and merited discussion…but get bogged down with a problem with a deleted database. So I’ll do it now!
A day in the life of…an expat!
Contrary to what Daily Mail readers might think, most ‘good life in France’ expats below retirement age still need to work and are busy doing a whole variety of things in an attempt to make a living – spending all day sipping wine and gazing at sunflowers is unfortunately not usually an option and I [...]
Breaking the law – again
In our third (when will it end) look at why you might be behaving illegally or at least be uninsured without knowing it, it’s back to drivers again. You know already that your car insurance might be invalid if you are driving illegally, and we have already seen that a UK registered car without UK [...]
Happy Christmas for expats?
How quickly times can change! Until two or three years ago hardly a month passed without a new family arriving in France from the UK. Many pensioners have also moved here, for the weather, the health system, and the quality of life. Although the rate of arrivals has slowed during the last couple of years [...]
QROPS and expat pension transfers
Well I’d never heard of QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) until I was sent this article – but they actually look quite useful if you are an expat with a substantial UK based pension fund. Could be why I hadn’t heard of them, perhaps? Read on, you might just save a few pennies… What [...]
Expats thinking of returning to the UK?
Are you thinking of returning to the UK? I’ve got just the thing for you! You can get a ‘free trial’ return to see if all is as rosy as you remember it. I’m tempted to apply myself, just to get a free holiday, but a free holiday in the UK with a television crew [...]
Going back to England
(Note: for comments about UK expats going back to England as a result of the financial crisis at the end of 2008 please see this entry. The one below was written before the crisis ever came about!) Well it had to happen eventually, and after six years it is now getting close – we are [...]
Are you an expat having troubles getting settled?
Quite a few expats struggle a bit during the first few months, years, decades….the language, the culture, lack of money, missing family and friends can all make the process of settling in a new country a bit difficult. Help is at hand! I have received a request from a group making a television series for [...]
Healthcare in France – the conclusion?
It appears that the rules about health care obligations for expats in France have been finalised (see note at bottom added january 2008). An approximate translation of the bulletin is as follows (please don’t rely on my summary translation if it has an important impact on you, seek professional advice – there are links to [...]
Top three reasons to be a French expat
Tomorrow it’s my birthday, and I’ll be…a little bit older. It’s also exactly six years since we took over the keys for the house where we now live. Time to reflect on whether it was a wise decision moving to France, or whether we are frittering our lives away? When we came to France we [...]
French expats returning to England
We went to a party last night for a family who have been here in France for a few years and are now returning to England. I can’t say I’m envious, I like it here! A good number of expats do return to England – perhaps 50% within two years I would guess from people [...]
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