Q & A

Subject: Canadian family thinking of spending a year in France.

Question: We are a Canadian family thinking of spending a year in France. Our daughters would require a school. They currently are in a French Immersion program. How does one decide where to live? Paris seems interesting and there would be a good choice of schools. (I have contacted Lycee International in Germaine en Laye). The area around Nice is appealing because of its climate and location to Italy. Whatever information you could provide would be appreciated or Internet sites that would be of interest.

Answer:

I don't have a definitive answer for your excellent question about how one decides where to live in France. Most outsiders (read Brits) that move to France and have a choice seem to move to the south, Marseille, Nantes, Montpellier, Toulouse, Bordeaux, etc. I guess you need to decide if you want to live in a little village in the countryside or an urban area. What kind of weather you want. A good area might be the Ile-de-France as it is close to Paris and yet you could still live in a little village. If you have not already read as much about France as you can, try these sites,
http://www.escapeartist.com/embassy30/france7.htm,
http://www.francentral.com/indexfinger/html/gp7.shtml and
http://www.lifeinfrance.free.fr/.
Also try Living, Studying, and Working in France, by Saskia Reilly, Lorin David Kalisky and have a go at sending an e-mail to . Someone on it might have a suggestion that I have not thought of.
I have to say that moving a family to France for a year is not going to be easy. I don't feel that it is worth it to only stay in France a year. It is one thing if your company moves you and does all the set up, but if you do it yourself you will spent so much time and energy figuring out how and where to move that I don't know if the return will be worth it. It will be a wonderful experience for everyone but it will also be very hard work. I know because I have done it.

Related Link:
http://www.americansinfrance.net/MovingPlanner/