French Life-expat France

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 exactly [...]

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 wasn’t [...]

Well it had to happen eventually, and after six years it is now getting close - we are going back to England in a few weeks time! OK that’s slightly misleading, the visit will only last a week or so, and is because there is a limit to how long you can neglect visiting your [...]

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 Channel [...]

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 [...]

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 thought [...]

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 we [...]

The proposed changes in the French healthcare system applying to expats in France are a source of much discussion at the moment, and it is still not quite clear exactly who will be affected, and to what extent.
Nonetheless the implications could be serious, above all for those expats living in France who are below state [...]

A few years ago, when we first arrived in rural France, there were a few ‘downshifters’ around. Families who believed a peaceful, low-impact, low-cost, environment-friendly life was A GOOD THING.
Or rather, parents who had dragged their kicking and screaming children with them, telling them that growing their own vegetables and learning to knit was a [...]

I thought it might be useful to explain how expats in France make ends meet. Just possibly this will give you an idea of how you could earn money as an expat and enable you to make the big leap yourself.
I am not concerned here with expats who work in France as an employee of [...]

I already knew I had a memorable birthdate - when my mother was halfway through giving birth to me a nurse rushed in and disturbed the special moment by announcing that President Kennedy had been assassinated.
Unfortunately the horror of the world that was waiting for me was all a bit too much, and I refused [...]

A lot of people find this blog when they are searching in google for expat information about France. I fear they will sometimes be disappointed to find instead my ramblings about cycling and belly-button piercing.
If you would prefer some good hard facts about the tax implications of owning a second-home in France, or need [...]

I received the following question as a comment on an earlier post, but it’s too big a question for a ‘comment response’ (and not an easy question in any case) so I thought I’d give it a post all to itself…the question was:
“I came across your site while searching out how to live in France. [...]

What is the difference between family life in France and family life elsewhere, I sometimes get asked. Well in truth, much less than you would think.
Eating habits and mealtimes are more formal in France, and it is much more common for families to eat together. But, it is also common for a television to be [...]

We quite often get asked about French schools and how schools in France compare with those elsewhere. Although I’ve written a general guide elsewhere on the site (see French schools) a few recent conversations with teachers have given us new food for thought. This has included teachers with experience of schools in both the UK [...]