Planning our new life in France Blog

Back to the drawing board.

We were so excited after coming back from Aix last year. We were finally going to do it! Then things happened, as they often do. Nothing dramatic. Just the slow realisation that myself and Monsieur P. living in two different countries was not a great idea, even if one of those countries was France and the one living in it was me. With Monsieur P. living in Copenhagen for months, and myself and Mlle. P. living in England, we realised just how hard it was, and that changing England for France wouldn't make it any easier. The commuting, the expensive flights, squeezing family life, the hellos and goodbyes, the paperwork, the social life, the cuddles, the arguments, all of it, into one and a half days per week. After a couple of months we all looked like zombies and we stopped dreaming about France and started dreaming about living together. It was hard to postpone a dream that we've had for so long, since before we got married. But we started getting excited about living together as a family in Copenhagen instead. I visited schools (I am thinking of writing a book about international schools in Europe, I feel like I have visited them all!), looked at rental property. THEN Monsieur P.'s contract ended and we were back to square one, or what felt more like square zero. At the moment, France seems very far away, alhtough I look accross the channel every day, and when the weather is clear, I can see it looks so close, it is like torture. When I see the ferries leave I want to shout "wait for me!" and swim after them. They look so beautiful, the great white things disappearing into the horizon, like one of those 1920s postcards with cruiceliners on, have you seen those? There is a glimmer of hope, because, although the French jobmarket is all but closed to non-French speakers, we have discovered a back-door! It ain't pretty, and it ain't glamorous and apparently the weather is as cold and damp as in England, but they speak French, and they don't mind if we don't. The job market is quite international. I'm talking about Belgium. Yes, I know it's not France, but we can't afford to be fussy. With two years in Brussels under the belt, we'll be fluent in French (in my dreams) and suddenly, as if by magic, employers in France will roll out the red carpet. Anyway, that's the theory. At the time of writing, Monsieur P. has had some encouraging noises from a recruitment agency in Brussels. It may come to nothing. Or it may be the answer. I'll keep you posted.