| Bonjour! I live in North Carolina, US. But have always wanted to live in France. I have finally talked my family into moving also, but would love to know someone who has done this before and could give me some pointers. My thought was to run a bed and breakfast, we dont have the money to buy but are willing to work. Any suggestions and tips I would greatly appreciate. Thank you. You have a lovely place, I hope to see one day. Elizabeth === Hello Elizabeth, I moved to France nearly 20 years ago with Carole and our two little girls and none of us regret one second. But, it is not the right decision for everyone; We had a family from California staying with us this August, they booked for 5 weeks to see if this was the country where they wanted to make their home – after three weeks they had rented a villa for a year and plan to stay and make their life here. The difficulty is earning a living – unless you have an income already, getting work is very difficult. I know of other people from the USA, Australia and the UK who work on the Internet and live in France, so earning money is possible – getting employment in France, even if you speak perfect French, is hard (or near to impossible). We run a successful BandB with some apartments, this works because I have been marketing vacation rentals on the Internet for 12 years and can generate business. But is is a lifestyle, a good B and B will cost a million euro at least to set up and it would never be possible to finance a loan on this and make a living – it is also getting harder as more people open more accommodation, for (optimistically) the same market. However, the only way you can know if this is the challenge for you is to come here and stay awhile, many do and many find what they want. I am happy to help and comment on any ideas, but each person has different skills, needs, and dreams. Hope to see you also Tony |
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