Villa in Ardeche, France

10 Tips for Living in France

By Betsy Burlingame

Summary: Expats offer tips on health insurance, renting in Paris, culture shock, meeting people and more.

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France Guide
Learn what members have to say about living in France.

France Forum
Talk with other digital nomads and expats in France on our France forum - meet people, get advice and help others.

France Index
An index of all of our site's France information.

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Help others in France by answering questions about the challenges and adventures of living in France.

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Comments

I just wanted to comment about dealing with bureaucracy and "customer service" in France. I think it helps enormously to know that there is a different understanding of these in France than in the US. In France, whether dealing with the government or private enterprises, you will have to go in armed with convincing arguments backed up with physical proof of your claim. The people you deal with will not offer any information that might help make your life easier, although an easier way may very well exist. It's your responsibility to find these things out by asking the right questions and calling all the right people. It's not enough to be patient. You have to present your case and advocate for yourself. As long as you have a strong case and physical proof, and you've presented your argument in a pleasant way, then you will get the service you deserve.

I have found reading this article very useful. We are in the early stages of looking to move to France. We are both keen to rekindle what we know about the french language, this will be started in September. We need to know what order to plan to do things, preparing an action plan (i am tick list person). We know the type of property we would like. Where to go next and so on is what we need to decide. I am sure that I will be asking lots of questions over time on here. I hope that's ok.

Are there any people from the UK that can comment on the issues that need to be addressed when wanting to move to France? Reading so far I have read from mainly people moving from the US to France.