Is it all roses?

we have been here 8 months for me most of the time its a good move as we do not have a mortgage and do not have to work as hard for the wife its harder she misses the family but as we meet other people it gets better,

the first 12 months could be the worst as the money dissaperes very fast getting the house renovated changing the vehicle to French plates and coming to terms with the lack of a free health service, mind saying that last year i was in hospital over xmas with gall stones and my op was cancelled 5 times i never did get it done.

is the grass greener? most of the time but when asked i say we live in France now but not maybe in the future

pete

I have been here for 6 years and recently was wondering about retuning to the uk at some point in the near-ish future, but after spending 3 weeks there it made my mind up that I do prefer it here. Money is tighter here but the quality of life is much better.

I moved here with 13 and 9 year old daughters and do honestly believe it has been better for them. The older one has just moved back to the uk to go to uni as she never wanted to stay, but she can see the advantages of here and why we moved. Had I have moved to a city it would have been another mater as it was the town life she missed rather than England.

The one thing I hate is the paperwork and beurocracy here....everything has to be filled in 3 times before you get an answer, even the frnch hate it!

The weather is better here and the summer is longer and in my opinion, this outwieghs the downside of living here by quite a bit!

Carole

We moved to France in 1997 and we spent from 2003-2006 in Spain where my husband spent much of this time in 3 terrible Spanish hospitals receiving sub-standard, very expensive care. I moved him to UK in 2006 to an Excellent NHS hospital in Oxford, and when he was well enough returned to France, as it is our home and we personally are happy here.

Its hard for everyone who has a pension at the moment and it wasnt so expensive in earlier years in France, infact it was cheaper here than in the UK in all respects, so I suppose we cannot now really complain as its the same for French families also,although they are more self sufficient in their way of life.

My husband is currently very ill and has just spent 10 weeks in hospital in Angouleme, he has been very well cared for in all respects, the services he has received have been faultless, but he does have a carte vitale and also top-up insurance to cover all his needs, its a small price to pay for peace of mind. It would be completely free in the UK to us both, but its personal preference that we live here. The UK has little now to offer anyone if you believe the press, but I dont know if thats correct or not, as I havent been back there and have no desire too.

I feel for those who work here and have young families, it must be very hard indeed, but those who truly love the life here will come through this recession, all of us who are retired proper! have been through more than one recession and cut our cloth accordingly, but it gets tighter and harder the older you become, I wonder if that is any different in UK, I personally doubt it.

Nothing is all roses, but it does depend on how we all view life as individuals. We are happy here and thats good enough for us.