❤Fabien! Really appreciate his honest and frank information. Always good to hear the pros and cons...great job! My husband and I will be in France this April...'city hunting'. We do live France and really want to retire there from US asap!
Happy to have found your channel! Rob from Escape to France - Charente mentioned you. We are looking at buying an apartment in France in the next year or two (coming from the U.S.).
Amazing, do you have an idea as to where in France you’d like to move? More than happy to have a chat and I can share a few tips… from an insider’s perspective 😂
@@fabexpats We will be looking in the Loire Valley. Specifically, Tours and nearby smaller towns such as Chinon, Saumur and Langeais. We are coming for a visit this fall to wander these areas with an eye toward narrowing down favorites.
@@LivinCindysLife Nice, if you have some time in your schedule try to fit in a visit in one (or more) of the "chateaux de la Loire" (Chenonceau and Chambord are my favorites). That would be great to have a chat together I'd be happy to help you in this journey. You can go on www.fabexpat.com for VIP consultations or use this link for free consultations (but they are high on demand so you often need to look a few months later to find a spot) => calendly.com/fab-advisors/moving-to-france-consultation
Bonjour, Fabien. Thank you. I missed the webinar bc we sold our condo and must move quickly while we await our VLS-TS interview. Thank you for your excellent videos!!!! Merci. Dean et Cindy
@@fabexpats Bonjour, Fabien. We canceled our VLS-TS interview bc there wasn't enough time bc the condo didn't sell until Dec 4th, 2 days after our appointment. However, we still flew to Europe. First Lisbon; not for us. Then Marseille, but it's too busy but very friendly. Next was Toulon, nice and generous but a bit touristy with the cruise ships. Perpignan is next (Jan 1-31). We are exploring the coastal cities from Toulon to Perpignan. Montpellier is our next visit and looks promising; flat not hilly like Lyon (which we thought about for a minute). We will return to the States in March and reapply, hoping to return to France in September. Thank you for your inquiry. Empirical research is really helping. Merci. Dean et Cindy *we met wonderful French people in Lisbon, on the train to Toulon, and in Toulon: generous, welcoming, and friendly!
Jai achete une petite maison pres de Poitiers. Je n’ai pas encore fait l’application de visa, car je peut rendre visite comme touriste pendant les annees prochaines.
Exactement oui. Si vous voulez faire un visa pendant que vous achetez attention il faudra attendre d'avoir "l'acte de vente authentique" pour avoir une "proof of address" valide.
Terrific webinar! Hoping to relocate to the Bordeaux region from Colorado (USA) in about 2-3 years. Sooner, if we can put the pieces in place to make that happen as quickly as possible. You are both very much appreciated for sharing this excellent information. Bonne journee!
I disagree with Adrian’s view of Bordeaux’s connectivity. I’ve studied the air connections from it and it hits the places we’d want to get to in Europe. Of course to go to US you need to go through Paris no matter where you are in France. I also disagree with the premise that an American should be necessarily aiming for a place full of American expats. How does that help assimilation into French society and culture? Sure, I’d like some international expat friends, but definitely not exclusively American. Finally, while I love Paris, I would never want to live there. I’d prefer Bordeaux: beautiful and human-scaled, less crowds, less expensive, better weather, not far from coast, closer to nature in general than Paris is, very walkable and bikeable and with good public transport-including a 2-hour TGV train to Paris so that you could theoretically do day trips there. And I appreciate that the current mayor (Pierre Hurmic) is from The Greens party. The city’s been headed in a good direction the past 20 years. The one downside to me is that since the TGV opened in 2017 there have been too many Parisians selling there small overpriced flats in Paris to move to something bigger and less expensive in Bordeaux and commuting from there! That has elevated real estate in Bordeaux.
I don’t particularly want to live in Nice or Paris just to be close to American expats either. It’s nice to have a built in social life but I like to be able to live in a less touristic area, to escape from the constant hustle and bustle on a daily basis. That said, I might buy a second home in France, or consider renting, in Bordeaux or Lyon, or Nantes… or Toulouse. But I’m fine with being far from the madding crowd for periods too.
I agree. Personnally I think one's dreams and "vision of France" has to be personnal, whatever "they" want to move to Paris, Nice, Bordeaux... or la creuse 😂 The bottom-line for me is that everyone is welcome 🙏
Bordeaux, Lyon or Nantes, all cool places. A small preference for Bordeaux or Lyon (for different reasons) although my ancestors will hate me as I was born in Nantes 😂
Bordeaux sounds wonderful. I think I have added it to my list now. I'm more of a country gal so I was looking at Normandy and Brittany. Coming in the spring for 3 months to explore all the areas on my list. Thank you for sharing this. I don't speak French, I'm learning and just started now, so that was my biggest concern, being able to navigate things on my own. But you're right, you throw someone in it and it sure pushes you to learn fast. What about living in France part-time ? Can I use the long stay visa to live part-time in France? Say 6-9 months?
@@222dyanYes, you can split time with the long stay visa. While I would happily stay in France full-time, my wife is insisting on keeping a foot (and property) in the US, so probably three summer months in US and rest of the year in France.
Comparing prices between Maui and France and say how much cheaper things are in France to the ‘US’ is a mental gymnastics. Maui is much more expensive even to most parts of Southern California. How much for a gallon of gas in France vs SoCal or Texas? You pay 2-3x more in France. If you work as a teacher, engineer, professor, nurse, doctor, IT or most professionals, expect to be paid 2-3x less in France while paying higher progressive taxes. Where France is better is the social safety net, especially for the lower-middle and lower classes. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to better opportunities. Look at the Latino and Asian American demographics in the US. The 63 million Latinos have the same GDP as France. The Asians (11 million) are top earners in the US. Most of these people are immigrants within the last 50 years. France and most of southern Europe are great for retired expats, who have built up their retirement funds.
Definitely although some also consider France thanks to the culture, lifestyle, food, etc. No matter the reason everyone is welcome as long as you're being friendly you'll be meet in kind 😉
❤Fabien! Really appreciate his honest and frank information. Always good to hear the pros and cons...great job! My husband and I will be in France this April...'city hunting'. We do live France and really want to retire there from US asap!
Happy to have found your channel! Rob from Escape to France - Charente mentioned you. We are looking at buying an apartment in France in the next year or two (coming from the U.S.).
Amazing, do you have an idea as to where in France you’d like to move? More than happy to have a chat and I can share a few tips… from an insider’s perspective 😂
@@fabexpats We will be looking in the Loire Valley. Specifically, Tours and nearby smaller towns such as Chinon, Saumur and Langeais. We are coming for a visit this fall to wander these areas with an eye toward narrowing down favorites.
@@LivinCindysLife Nice, if you have some time in your schedule try to fit in a visit in one (or more) of the "chateaux de la Loire" (Chenonceau and Chambord are my favorites). That would be great to have a chat together I'd be happy to help you in this journey. You can go on www.fabexpat.com for VIP consultations or use this link for free consultations (but they are high on demand so you often need to look a few months later to find a spot) => calendly.com/fab-advisors/moving-to-france-consultation
@@fabexpats Thank you, Fabien!
I was live yesterday, this was great. TY!
Sorry for the late respond, just saw your comment now, thanks again and don't hesitate to reach out, always a pleasure to help 🙏
Great web narrative. Thank you both
🙏
Bonjour, Fabien. Thank you. I missed the webinar bc we sold our condo and must move quickly while we await our VLS-TS interview. Thank you for your excellent videos!!!! Merci. Dean et Cindy
Congrats. Hope your visa interview process was as smooth and easy as mine minus the paper, right!
Hi Dean, hope you're doing good, feel free to send me updates over email, always a pleasure to know where you are at in the relocation process 😉
@@fabexpats Bonjour, Fabien. We canceled our VLS-TS interview bc there wasn't enough time bc the condo didn't sell until Dec 4th, 2 days after our appointment. However, we still flew to Europe. First Lisbon; not for us. Then Marseille, but it's too busy but very friendly. Next was Toulon, nice and generous but a bit touristy with the cruise ships. Perpignan is next (Jan 1-31). We are exploring the coastal cities from Toulon to Perpignan. Montpellier is our next visit and looks promising; flat not hilly like Lyon (which we thought about for a minute). We will return to the States in March and reapply, hoping to return to France in September. Thank you for your inquiry. Empirical research is really helping. Merci. Dean et Cindy *we met wonderful French people in Lisbon, on the train to Toulon, and in Toulon: generous, welcoming, and friendly!
Jai achete une petite maison pres de Poitiers. Je n’ai pas encore fait l’application de visa, car je peut rendre visite comme touriste pendant les annees prochaines.
Exactement oui. Si vous voulez faire un visa pendant que vous achetez attention il faudra attendre d'avoir "l'acte de vente authentique" pour avoir une "proof of address" valide.
Terrific webinar! Hoping to relocate to the Bordeaux region from Colorado (USA) in about 2-3 years. Sooner, if we can put the pieces in place to make that happen as quickly as possible. You are both very much appreciated for sharing this excellent information. Bonne journee!
Don't hesitate to reach out, more than happy to help / advise 😉
❤
I disagree with Adrian’s view of Bordeaux’s connectivity. I’ve studied the air connections from it and it hits the places we’d want to get to in Europe. Of course to go to US you need to go through Paris no matter where you are in France. I also disagree with the premise that an American should be necessarily aiming for a place full of American expats. How does that help assimilation into French society and culture? Sure, I’d like some international expat friends, but definitely not exclusively American. Finally, while I love Paris, I would never want to live there. I’d prefer Bordeaux: beautiful and human-scaled, less crowds, less expensive, better weather, not far from coast, closer to nature in general than Paris is, very walkable and bikeable and with good public transport-including a 2-hour TGV train to Paris so that you could theoretically do day trips there. And I appreciate that the current mayor (Pierre Hurmic) is from The Greens party. The city’s been headed in a good direction the past 20 years. The one downside to me is that since the TGV opened in 2017 there have been too many Parisians selling there small overpriced flats in Paris to move to something bigger and less expensive in Bordeaux and commuting from there! That has elevated real estate in Bordeaux.
I don’t particularly want to live in Nice or Paris just to be close to American expats either. It’s nice to have a built in social life but I like to be able to live in a less touristic area, to escape from the constant hustle and bustle on a daily basis. That said, I might buy a second home in France, or consider renting, in Bordeaux or Lyon, or Nantes… or Toulouse. But I’m fine with being far from the madding crowd for periods too.
I agree. Personnally I think one's dreams and "vision of France" has to be personnal, whatever "they" want to move to Paris, Nice, Bordeaux... or la creuse 😂 The bottom-line for me is that everyone is welcome 🙏
Bordeaux, Lyon or Nantes, all cool places. A small preference for Bordeaux or Lyon (for different reasons) although my ancestors will hate me as I was born in Nantes 😂
Bordeaux sounds wonderful. I think I have added it to my list now. I'm more of a country gal so I was looking at Normandy and Brittany. Coming in the spring for 3 months to explore all the areas on my list. Thank you for sharing this. I don't speak French, I'm learning and just started now, so that was my biggest concern, being able to navigate things on my own. But you're right, you throw someone in it and it sure pushes you to learn fast. What about living in France part-time ? Can I use the long stay visa to live part-time in France? Say 6-9 months?
@@222dyanYes, you can split time with the long stay visa. While I would happily stay in France full-time, my wife is insisting on keeping a foot (and property) in the US, so probably three summer months in US and rest of the year in France.
Comparing prices between Maui and France and say how much cheaper things are in France to the ‘US’ is a mental gymnastics. Maui is much more expensive even to most parts of Southern California. How much for a gallon of gas in France vs SoCal or Texas? You pay 2-3x more in France. If you work as a teacher, engineer, professor, nurse, doctor, IT or most professionals, expect to be paid 2-3x less in France while paying higher progressive taxes. Where France is better is the social safety net, especially for the lower-middle and lower classes. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to better opportunities. Look at the Latino and Asian American demographics in the US. The 63 million Latinos have the same GDP as France. The Asians (11 million) are top earners in the US. Most of these people are immigrants within the last 50 years.
France and most of southern Europe are great for retired expats, who have built up their retirement funds.
Definitely although some also consider France thanks to the culture, lifestyle, food, etc. No matter the reason everyone is welcome as long as you're being friendly you'll be meet in kind 😉
It will be hilarious to see what she does when Le Pen wins the Presidency.
I’m sure people who love France will always be welcome 🙏 As to future politics, tomorrow is another day 😉
Great webinar... I am a filmmaker looking to moving to Bretagne by July 2025 - looking to connect with the transition process
Feel free to reach out, links in bio 😉