" I live in Antibes wioth my husband and we are having a tough time meeting 30 something people who live here and not just ""play"" here or work on boats. Are there any expats living in this area? Any suggestions also on how to meet french people? In this area it seems that they are not interested in expats. In some ways I do not blame them as alot of them are transient, boat workers or tourists. Any suggestions? "

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" I''m not that familiar with the area, but isn''t Antibes close to Sofia Antipolis and Valbonne? I would have thought there would be a lot of expats in that area. Otherwise, to meet French people, you could see if there are any local organizations for people interested in learning English. Some places have conversation exchanges or cultural exchanges. I would check in the local library for that. Also, you should definitely go to the mairie and see what kinds of activities they offer - races, tennis clubs, etc. or even non-sporting events like classes, whether they be language classes, art classes, or cooking classes. I always recommend going to wine tastings! Hope this helps somewhat. If not, you can always try starting your own expat organization! Good luck! Diana "

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" I think I qualify. I live in cannes, I''m 32, and I work here. I don''t have any trouble meeting french people, but I am rather shy about it because I would like my french to be better. I don''t seek expats to hang out with because I''m doing the immersion thing. I''ve noticed that if I speak to english-speaking people, the french people are less willing to speak to me. I also tried to do the expat thing when I lived in England, but it was hard to establish any relationships. I plan on being here a long time, so I''m willing to give it another try. If you would like to hook up, you can email me at: wykoffkb@yahoo.com btw: you didn''t mention where you are from, but i launched myself overseas from denver. "

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" Hi, I am 32 living and working in the Valbonne-Sophia Antipolis Technology Park with my wife whom is French. We arrived here in September 2000. We also lived in Antibes and know the area relatively well. I am a native Californian (San Francisco Bay Area)and I work in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural setting where English is the 1st language, then French, German, Nordic, and Turkish... "

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" Hi Melcom. Than you for writing and letting me know that you are out there. Since you work in a large work environment, (I am guessing you are at Amadeus?) it is much easier for you to meet people and in addition, your wife is French, again a big plus! And so,.... how is it going for you and your wife in terms of meeting and making worth while freindships? Where have you met your French friends? "

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" Hi Kim, I think you''re right, french people prefer when you talk french to them. On the other hand, I think Sophia Antipolis is quite special and easier for foreigners than in the rest of France (except Paris..). I''m french, I work in an international company and I really like to meet non french people, but I know lots of people who don''t speak english so they''re quite afraid of it. But isn''t it the same for any country ? By the way, how many americans speak a foreigner language :-) "

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" Hey Melcom: I''m an American (31) living in SF Bay and was thinking about going over there to work at some point. I''ve been married for 5 years to a frenchie, whom I met in Paris (she doesn''t give a rat''s *** about France - but that''s another story). Last summer I stayed at a friend''s place in a the small town of Les Adrets (up in the hills - Var) and came to enjoy it quite a bit. In reference to ""jermyn""''s post I was wondering, are there a bit of Americans over in that area? I am currently working at Nortel Networks in Santa Clara and was wondering what the climate is american-wise, business/job-wise for Sophie-Antipolis and neighboring environs. Honestly, I would hang out with other ""Amerloc"" any day, but being fluent, I would prefer those who can also speak the language. It helps not with not being so obvious sometimes. cheers et salut, denis "

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" Hi again. I actually work in a small environment (about 20 people) for an American B2B E-Commerce company w/ HQ in SF Bay Area. I would say more than 1/2 of us are from counties other than France (I''m the only American). Because of this, we build relationships with each other outside of work as well, since we are all learning about the region and settling down at the same time. All of us seem to have come to the South of France for the same reasons, especially quality of life! As far as meeting quality, meaningful French friends, in the Winter I went snow hiking with the Sophia Ski club (all french, all very nice people) as the only non-fluent French speaker, and came away with a couple of contacts whom with more effort on my part can become good friends. Therefore Clubs, Associations, etc..- MC "

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" Bonjour Denis, So you''re back in the BAY- that''s great. I was born in Oakland, and lived in the Bay Area most all my life, except for a 6 month spell in London, UK while back. You know, for being marketed as the ""Silicon Valley"" of Europe, Sophia in not populated with many Americans at all. In fact, I have not met one yet! My wife (French)feels the same way about France as your wife sometimes - it''s funny! Business wise - this place has a long way to go. Job wise - hey, there''s a Nortel Networks office here! Otherwise, good luck. My feeling is that there are not many jobs, and pay is very low compared to what you are used to. - MC "

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" Melcom, Thanxs for the info. I actually took a walk down to the club Jeune in anitbes and they have some really great activities, unfortunately I will have to wait till summer is over as the club takes a holiday during the holidays! What type of B2B e-commerce products does your company produce/sell? I am going to be bold and ask you if they are looking to hire anyone with strong international sales experience ( in information technology) and human resources background. I am currently a kindergarten teacher at the Internaitonal School in Nice but my contract is up in 2 weeks! Yikes unemployment here I come. "

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" Melcom: Yo - thanks for the feedback on the haps down south. I guess I could go over and take an ""extended"" holiday and work a little for the hell of it (thune pour la biere/pastaga et pommes frites - toujours!). Hopefully it won''t be like charity. :) The biz thing with Nortel will be just a CV entry. I guess it helps, but one never knows. Guess I shouldn''t be pessimistic. Perhaps it would be better to start with somethin in Paris just to get a little more french CV action (metro-boulot-dodo). With the wife thing, ""grass is always greener..."" might ring true. :)) Just want to eat well and meet interesting people, just like any normal bloke. ciao-caio, denis from sf/fogland mrfrog@100palm.com (btw: haight st. festival was rockin on sunday, hardly any fog/very sunny/warm, music coming from everywhere, blinding smoke from cooking food, and street so packed that it was hard to walk) sh!t this server is slow - what are they using a 486 and WFW 3.11 !? "

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" Hey Denis, good stuff, and wish I could have been at the Haight St. festival (I used to live on Haight and Scott in Lower Haight). Anyway, I''m having a child next month which is holding me (:->) back from going back home before December. So, no Reggae in the parks for me at Golden Gate Park this year. Peace and take care. - MC "

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" Hi Denis, I''ve only been here 2.5 months and I''m already finding that there seem to be many americans here. Maybe most of them are tourists, but whenever I go out to Nice or Cannes, they are all I hear (I''m not including the British). I think also there are some english-speaking hangouts. I''ve gone to an english pub in Biot and an irish pub in antibes that seem to have many english-speaking regulars. From what I can gather, there aren''t as many Americans as there were a few years ago when the IT businesses started booming here, but I''ve run into enough without trying. I guess when I''m really comfortable with French, I might make an effort to hang around some English-speakers. If you''ve got skills in engineering, it is quite easy to settle here given that you''ve got a job offer. The immigration paperwork has been relaxed and expedited for engineer positions. I just went through this if you would like more information. kim "

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" Hi Isabelle, Actually, I see it more of a problem that there are so many anglophones here. I''m jealous of french people who go to the US to learn English because they do it fast since they have to. I know it will take me much longer to learn french because I can find plenty of people who speak english. <p>The problem is that I have to force people to speak french to me. Whenever I speak french, people immediately detect that i''m english-speaking and switch to english. But to me, this is a step backward on my path to french fluency. <p>Maybe Paris would be better with the french-speakers who are unwilling to speak english - ok, no, I can live with an extended learning period as long as I have the beach to wake up to everyday :) <p>kim "

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" kim, thanks for the offer of info. I''m married to a french woman, and thus- I spoke to a woman at the prefecture in Paris, and have already figured out what it takes to get ""working"" papers. it''s quite a simple process. The hard part is just getting around to doing it. The catch is that i have to be over there in France to do it. Can''t do it through the local San Francisco consulate, I''ve already tried. Jobs here are sucking. I''m considering making the move, but first i''d have to make the decision and just *wake-up* SUPER early and start making phone calls to see what''s going on on Paris, job-wise. After that, it should be easy (a. get ticket, b. call up freinds, c. go on a few interviews, d. rent flat e. eat) d. "

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I have been in Nice for nearly 2 years and find it hard to meet other English speakers! (I''m British). My boyfriend is from Senegal and I have only really met French speakers through him. If it weren''t for my job I''d hardly ever speak English! I find it''s hard to meet other Anglophones as noone seems to stay in the area for very long eg students & tourists.

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" Hi Zoe, I would be happy to meet with you. I met up with leslie (the original poster of this thread) in antibes and that was good. it being the summer, i''m quite busy with visitors, but i''m sure I can find some time. I lived in england(Reading) for 1.5 years before coming here. I plan on staying in this area for at least 5 years and in france forever. send me an email and let''s hook up. kim "

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" hmm. the web site doesn''t seem to be working very well. the email button didn''t show up. here it is in plain english: <a href=""mailto:wykoffkb@yahoo.com"">ME</a> "

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Hi, there,

These are quite old postings, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I am also from San Francisco (originally from the Washington area) & moved here in Dec 2001--not long. I live with my French boyfriend in Marseille and was wondering if anyone knows of any English-speakers closer this way. We may be moving somewhere around Antibes or even Nice in the next year but we aren't sure yet. In the meantime, I would love to get involved in some kind of group or even just to meet others & hopefully make some friends. (I'm only at the basic conversational level right now, so meeting anyone who only speaks French is somewhat difficult.) Since I am not working yet, I don't have as much interaction as I am used to, also!

Anyway, it was great for me to see the info on the Haight-Ashbury fest and see where others lived--I used to live on Church St overlooking Dolores Park.

Thanks for any input!
Sarah

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The US has a consulate general in Marseille so there must be a decent sized American population in the region. I don't know for British and other anglos.

Anyway, the consulate is a great place to start. Here in Paris they have a great list of clubs and organizations. Give them a call at 04 91 54 92 00.

And definitely let us all know what you've found!

Diana

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Hi Sarah,

When (or if) you move to the nice/antibes area, you can let me know. I live in cannes.

for a young person who likes music, this area may be far from ideal. The closest most bands come is marseille (unless you really like variete francaise). I haven't found many cd outlets either, just the big chains: FNAC, Carrefour.

As for the language thing, I don't have any advice except for latch onto someone who speaks french and is willing to suffer through your learning curve. curiously, my boyfriend wasn't helpful in this; I had to find my own way although now he is very willing to speak to me in french.

i don't make it west of cannes very often (ok, let's say never), although I did recently take a day trip all the way to st. tropez. but I'm very willing to meet up when you arrive here.

kim

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Thanks for the input, Diana & Kim--

I am in the States now, waiting for my long-stay visa so once I get back, I will plan to contact the consulate to see what they know, and I will certainly update the site.

Since my boyfriend is French, I have met a lot of his friends and have been learning French through them. I would say I can have a basic conversation at this point and don't really have too many problems asking questions while shopping alone now. I usually speak English with my boyfriend, but really only because he doesn't have the patience to wait for my sentence construction!

Practicing my French in Marseille is not hard, given I never hear English spoken. I would just like to get into an English-speaking group so that I can do regular things such as maybe start a book club or just have a reprieve from speaking French all the time!

Kim, I will email you when I make plans to get out your way this summer. Since my boyfriend's band plays around Cannes, St. Tropez, Nice, & Monaco, I'm sure I'll be out there sometime soon.

Talk soon,
Sarah

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Do you know any good primary schools in the south of france Cannes, Frejus areas. I am looking for a teaching support post working with special needs children. Would love to move to the area but need to find job first.

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Do you know any good schools for english speaking teaching supports for special needs children. I am currently in a primary schoolbut looking to move to south france as soon as find work there.

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