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06/02/2007, 19:48 Dick Smith Joined on 23/08/2004 Surrey and Manche (Pays Mortainais) Posts 8,915 Re: 2 Families on the move TU's point, and it is one she and many other posters have made many times on all forums, is that France is not all idyllic, and that the education system particularly is unlike that of the UK, especially in that children are not treated as individually as would be the case here. They are expected to conform to a pre-existing model, and some find that hard. Older (school-age) children do not all react positively to the experience. I personally know of one boy whom I would have put into a top group in the UK being virtually expelled from a French school for poor achievement. No-one was very interested in seeing what his needs were. The level of bureacracy is high compared to the UK and you must expect to find things being done in very inefficient ways, and yet there will be penalties when you get the process wrong. There is crime, disadvantage, urban sprawl and decay in France. You need to factor in all of those things. That said, I am a holiday homer and I love the time I spend deep in rural Normandy. But I wouldn't try to bring my kids up there. Regards Dick Smith Nowhere is there warmth to be found Among those afraid of losing their ground    Report

06/02/2007, 19:51 KathyC Joined on 12/12/2005 Isle of Wight/Mussidan Posts 810 Re: 2 Families on the move I think that what Teamed Up is referring to is your assumption that your children will have a better quality of life in France than in England. Perhaps if you could post your thoughts on why you assume this to be so then people can confirm or contradict (probably both!) your thinking on the subject.    Report

06/02/2007, 19:55 riff_raff Joined on 06/02/2007 Posts 32 Re: 2 Families on the move Thank you Dick for your comments and we take them onboard as people views are a valuable source of info that we dont have to much of at the moment. I have had friends that have lived there for a few years and have heard some right horror stories, ones i hope wont happen to us, but im sure there is a workable way to a positive move there. Im sure there are some plenty of minuses and we want to hear them but surely there are pluses as well? Thanks. Mr Riff      Report

06/02/2007, 20:04 Dick Smith Joined on 23/08/2004 Surrey and Manche (Pays Mortainais) Posts 8,915 Re: 2 Families on the move I don't want to be TOO Eeyoreish about it, but in general you should put the good things aside for the moment and look for the nasties - you won't be too upset if something unexpectedly nice happens!  When you know the bad bits, and you have decided you can live with them, then the good bits will seem all the better! Regards Dick Smith Nowhere is there warmth to be found Among those afraid of losing their ground    Report

06/02/2007, 20:09 riff_raff Joined on 06/02/2007 Posts 32 Re: 2 Families on the move Hi Kathy, im going to live to regret posting on here i can see it already. The reason i said that comment was because at the moment we both work very hard and to be honest have had enough of working for other people, the job we want to do is one we are both very very passioate about and believe we have something to offer, we both have friends that have tryed this before and failed but we think we know why. (we hope)  Also the schooling here changes and at the moment children are not taught languages like they used too, i think they need to be biligual to achive maximum potentual in the future,in our area if your child is one grade below what they think is necessary they wont even teach them a language, or the chance anyway,  the area we live has also changed and not for the better! its gone downhill fast. Yes im sure France has this too and again thats why we are asking questions, surely asking is better than going blindly into the abiss and not knowing a thing. Regards Mr Riff p.s   thanks again Dick, posted at same time..... believe me we are not taking things lightly at all, we are all the time looking on the darkside of things but you can only ask the same questions so many times to each other and thats is why we have come on here. Sorry if we have upset anyone its not our intention.    Report

06/02/2007, 20:20 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 10,158 Re: 2 Families on the move I think the best thing to do now is to take the seperate parts of your question and post in the dedicated forum sections: Disabled Allowance in Health, Inheritance in legal etc. Also it is worth while using the forum search facility. The best of luck   www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

06/02/2007, 20:27 Patf Joined on 23/08/2004 SW Gers Posts 2,335 Re: 2 Families on the move Apart from the complications of owning a property and business in a parnership, for which you need advice from a french notaire, I would think your main concern is will you be able to earn enough to support your families? Have you spoken to other people who have a fishing lake business? If you Google " France - fishing lake business" you will find a few references to british-owned enterprises and they may be able to give useful advice if you contact them. A few years ago there was a long discussion on this forum about several people planning to jointly buy a large french property. One of the "Jon"s or "John"s. I don't know what became of the idea but sadly all lost in the depths of the ancient archives. Pat.    Report

06/02/2007, 20:27 Dick Smith Joined on 23/08/2004 Surrey and Manche (Pays Mortainais) Posts 8,915 Re: 2 Families on the move I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not the least bit upset! Regards Dick Smith Nowhere is there warmth to be found Among those afraid of losing their ground    Report

06/02/2007, 20:31 KathyC Joined on 12/12/2005 Isle of Wight/Mussidan Posts 810 Re: 2 Families on the move Hi As someone who hasn't moved over yet I still have some pinkish glasses on and I do understand anyone's unhappiness about the English education system. However I know that many people aren't happy with the system in France and I'm sure that they'll tell you all about it! I often think that what many people are looking for is a move from the town/city to the country rather than from the UK to France . Personally, I feel  that it might be worthwhile asking yourselves the question "If we could buy the country property/lake/renovation project/guest house for the same price in the UK as we can in France, would we still want to move over?". If the answer is "no" then I would think very carefully about your plans. A move to the country is a difficult enough proposition without adding in the extra complications of a foreign country; unless you really love the idea of moving to France (and accept that your idea may well change with more knowledge) then I would think and think again.    Report

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France Forum » Moving » Finding/Owning ... » 2 Families on the move

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