Welcome to Expat France

[david-giorgi]

Greetings to all

Allow me to introduce myself. My Name is David Giorgi I live lived with my wife Penny in Brisbane, Australia with our two Children Lily & Jasper + Puddy our cat. In May 2007 we are moving moved to France to live in Annecy.

Why France? Why Annecy?

Well I was born in Italy but grew up in Lausanne, Switzerland and speak fluent French, Penny is a budding Francophile and we both share the desire for our children to become bilingual and encourage them to travel. Both Penny and I will be reached 40 in 2007 and we have lived in Brisbane, Australia for over 20 years! Time for a change.

The European cultural mélange wil be a welcome change from Australian monoculture, we will miss the beaches and aussie laissez-faire lifestyle though.

We originally looked at areas around Nice, but even though a fantastic region with warmer climate and more meditteranean feel we became hooked on Annecy as it a small town with plenty of clean, outdoor spaces for a young family, mouth watering Savoyarde cooking and proximity to some of the best ski resorts in the world also helps.

I work as a self employed web designer/developer in Brisbane and since this type of work is flexible I will be migrating my skills and hopefully picking up some new EU clients.

I setup this forum as a virtual pied-à-terre to nurture a supportive community of like minded Expats/Francophiles and hopefully make some new friends & business contacts, along the way.

So without further ado I welcome you to Expat France and invite you to introduce yourself and share your wonderful experiences of 'La vie en France".

[loufoque]

Born in England to an English Mother and an American father I have always had itchy feet. I have lived in Egypt, Australia, England and travelled to many more places around the world. I now in France where I have been for the last 2 and a bit years. I live with my husband and children, 2 dogs ,6 cats and lots of chickens . By trade I am a potter and my liivng is making and decoraring clay figures and tile panels. I enjoy red wine and rose and my greastest pasions are travelling and writing and photography... the world is so big and there are so many interesting palces in it I want to experience as much of it as I can .

[Johnny Maher]

Borned and raised in the Antipodes, went to school on the Gold Coast and uni in St Lucia, Brisbane (!) in the early 80's, then spent the next half of my life in England, loving, and subsequently marrying, an English girl, with whom life has been good. Three kids later we moved to France in 2004, where I hope the last part of our lives will be, though whether in the départment we are now or not remains to be seen. Brittany (22) is MUCH wetter and greyer living here than it ever was when we were on holiday, and being a SAD sufferer raised on 21 years' of strong UV light, I think the heat and light and lux of the south-west appeals more and more.

Johnny

[mpprh]

Originally Posted by Johnny Maher

Borned and raised in the Antipodes, went to school on the Gold Coast and uni in St Lucia, Brisbane (!) in the early 80's, then spent the next half of my life in England, loving, and subsequently marrying, an English girl, with whom life has been good. Three kids later we moved to France in 2004, where I hope the last part of our lives will be, though whether in the départment we are now or not remains to be seen. Brittany (22) is MUCH wetter and greyer living here than it ever was when we were on holiday, and being a SAD sufferer raised on 21 years' of strong UV light, I think the heat and light and lux of the south-west appeals more and more.

Johnny

Languedoc has 300 + days of sunshine.

Worth a move ?

Peter

[Jomichka]

Hello

I have a confession to make, I don't actually live in France. I just like learning about different places and I'm hoping to visit at some point so it would be good to learn before I go there.

If I say anything silly or stupid please be patient with me I hope to avoid making a faux pas when I do go and visit.

[samdebretagne]

Welcome to the forum Jomichka!

[david-giorgi]

Originally Posted by Jomichka

... I hope to avoid making a faux pas when I do go and visit.

Welcome to Expat France Jomichka...

Don't worry about any "faux pas" we have some high profile bloggers and well travelled francophiles on this forum who are very helpful and have constuctive feedback. We are trying to keep a balanced viewpoint on most subjects

[lizakollman]

I have been posting in here for a few days, but have failed to introduce myself! I am a 26 year old student and freelance writer, and I have been obsessed with France and French culture for a few years. I have studied abroad as well as traveled through france as a whole. My fiance and I hope to either move to France or spend an awful lot of time there during our lives.
Glad to be here!

[ameri-cannes]

Hi! I've only just discovered this site and I am thrilled! Finally a place to go here in France where there are others "like me". I've been looking for chat rooms or anyplace I can associate with other Americans living in France. I have found a few American clubs, but sadly, they are all too far away from me. Most Americans, too, I find, are in Paris or someplace I've never even heard of. (I don't get out much- LOL!)

Okay, about myself: I turned 40 in June. My husband is also 40. I have a 14 yr old daughter (from previous relationship of 22 yrs) and a brand new baby girl (born July 6th). We lived in Connecticut until moving to France in Feb '05. We were married here in France in June, '05. My daughters and I are going home for 3 weeks (in 19 days !!!) to show off new addition to the family.

As beautiful as I find France, I must admit, I can't wait to get my feet on familiar ground!!! I am very fortunate to be able to get back once a year. Mandy (my 14 yr old) can stock up on Big Red & Reeses peanut butter cups, which will save my mom from the usual shipping cost- LOL. And I can finally do the baby shopping I missed out on during my pregnancy. I miss Walmart and similar stores. Back home I know where to go for everything- it's so VERY different here. The ability to buy hard liquor in the grocery store, for example, baffles me. Needing a prescription for Advil, another strange concept. I am trying to adapt, but I still love to get home!

I am a bit out-dated on the computer, simple things take me forever, so I usually have to wait for Mandy to get home from school to help me figure things out, which stinks, because when I was younger, I was a real whiz at it. Like Algebra, I guess, miss one day & you get so lost you can't ever catch up. Again, I am trying to adapt. I'll get there with time & practice. (The Google map had me completely lost.) I'll keep pluggin' away though!

Thanks again, David, for the invitation. I'm very happy to be a part of this!

-Kim

[twistoffate]

Hello and thank you for creating this wonderful site. I was referred by "ameri-cannes" a forum member who I happened to meet via posting at another (far less friendly) expat website. I have to say this has been a welcome introduction as I have been planning to relocate from the US to France for some time, but now that my son is living and loving his life in New York (he travels abroad at least four months out of each year) that I'm ready to get going. Big question though; how do I start this process?!

I know mastering the language is key, but not being incredibly familiar with French regions where do I go to research? I know I would prefer a place with more than one season (365 days of sunshine isn't necessary), quiet living yet in or near a town with activity and ideally it would be great not to need to drive to get about for a bit in the beginning - any of this possible? Within a year to plan?

I have been a sales/marketing consultant as well as an event planner for many years but what I do for work sincerely doesn't matter to me as I will be focusing on more online consulting as well as my writing once settled. I am open however to an actual "job" as a way to connect to my community!

Thanks much for the opportunity to post and I look forward to anyone's input most certainly!