New Civilization News: South of France    
 South of France8 comments
picture 14 Jan 2003 @ 18:09, by Flemming Funch

I'm still planning on moving to France. My kids aren't exactly thrilled, except for the smallest one, who's easily excited about the prospect of going just about anywhere. And, based in part on good feedback, I think I'll change my mind and focus mainly on Southern France, as in the South West, Midi-Pyrenees Region. The Cote d'Azur (French Riviera) to the South East also sounds warm and glamorous at first, but crowded and touristy. I don't want to make the same mistake as when moving to California first, we moved to Hollywood, because it sounded like a glamorous thing to write home about. But for people in L.A. Hollywood is mostly just a bad neighborhood, albeit colorful. So, as to South West France, the most vibrant area on various counts would be around Toulouse. It is a big city with lots of high tech computer and aerospace companies. But the bigger area is not very crowded, so you're quickly out in the country. And the whole area has lots of culture and history. Now, it is of course hard to figure it all out in advance, but I think that'll be my starting point when we go and explore a bit.


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8 comments

15 Jan 2003 @ 07:51 by shawa : Toulouse is beautiful.
Do you plan to get work ?  

15 Jan 2003 @ 08:48 by jstarrs : Let me know how...
it goes, Ming, & keep in touch (jeffstarrs@hotmail.com)
If I can be of help...etc
It'd be real fun to meet up....maybe in Toulouse? ;0)
Jeff  

15 Jan 2003 @ 22:51 by ming : Meeting
Yeah, let's meet in Toulouse, Jeff. And I'm sure we can use your help and your advice. So, I'm for sure going to be in Denmark at the end of March, and I'll plan for a week or two in France, but I don't know yet if it will right before or right after that. Looks like I'll bring my wife and our 3 year old for the first trip. And I haven't quite decided how to get around there. I suppose we'll rent a car in the South. But we'll spend a day or two in Paris, and then would want to just take a look over the South, from Bordeaux to Nice, just to get a feel for it, but unless something changes our mind, I think we'll focus on Toulouse, and would like to get a sense of different areas around there.  

15 Jan 2003 @ 22:58 by ming : Work
I sort of gamble on being able to keep my current contract jobs, at least for a while. And then maybe get something going in Europe. The two main companies I work for are not going to love it, but I don't think it will change anything fundamentally for them, as it is months between when I physically meet any of them, anyway. So, chances are I might even see them more often by moving out of the country. But, in case some of that fizzles out at some point, I don't think Toulouse would be the worst place to look for computer work.

I'm not the kind of person who builds up reserves or anything, pretty much living from check to check, so it is rather risky for me in the first place to do this whole thing. But what makes me reasonably confident is the fact that my work is basically virtual, and not really dependent on where I am.  

16 Jan 2003 @ 06:37 by shawa : That´s really interesting...
...see ? I didn´t think of it. Does it show that I´ve been born before 1950 ? *wink*  

6 Aug 2007 @ 03:55 by Raul @71.239.59.73 : I would love to move there too
Hey!! I have day dreams of moving to france myself and my wife loves the idea too. We are very fluent in English and spanish. Do you think we might find a jog as translators or something like that? How much is rent there?
We are already trying to learn some french.  

6 Aug 2007 @ 20:41 by ming : Moving to France
(It doesn't appear from this article, but we moved, in July 2003 and have been 4 years in Toulouse now)

Well, there's always a market for English teachers here, and translators, although a bit less so. People's English skills are generally poor or non-existent, but there's often a need or requirement for speaking English for work. The aerospace companies work in English. My wife works as an English teacher, part-time, despite not having any credentials in that. But it is not a very solid foundation if one plans on working full-time, and it is not very well paid, unless one is lucky to teach English in a university.

As to rent, it depends on where you come from. We come from Los Angeles, and it seems to be just a bit more than half price for rent. It gets a lot cheaper if one goes further out of the big towns.

French is really a must. We didn't speak much, so certain things were difficult, but we managed, and we're happy being here, even more so now that we've figured things out and we're fluent.  

29 Apr 2016 @ 05:02 by Gerry @188.143.232.32 : lGEGjtgUGqUhNcYJf
I’m not buying what you posted.First, I didn’t even read that post. And if that’s what he said then he’s an idiot.Second, I don’t play silly quid pro games or paigevs-asgressive games either. Either you have the link or you don’t. You’re response is disappointing.  

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