Considering moving to bordeaux or near bordeaux area

Hi Francesca !

Welcome to Expat.com

Armand

Hi Francesca,

I made the plunge 8 weeks ago, after years of discussion with my husband. I took have an amazing family at home and a big group of friends that I do miss dearly, but after 8 weeks here, I think I can safely say that life will be better here and the children will have such a wonderful life, as will we.  I am lucky, my husband is French so I do have an advantage on an English couple coming here to live - and he has been wonderful and taken on all the French admin himself.  That in itself is probably a bigger hurdle than learning the language and I would definitely do the research on what you will need to do upon arrival.  There is a great book that will help you both, it's called "LIving and Working in France" by David Hampshire - I think it's worth getting.

We have 2 young children aged 2.5 and 6 months! So far, I haven't found somewhere for them to integrate and France will close for the summer shortly.  But supposedly there are groups for the little'uns to mingle with mini-Frenchies and I am starting my search for September now. We intend on sending them to French school, so they are fully integrated and we will have an English speaking family life, except when doing homework and French speakers are around.  I'm currently learning French, not from scratch and I'm desperately trying to find ways of practicing once the lessons stop.

It's a huge challenge moving to France, but a fabulous one!  Bordeaux is simply beautiful. We live just outside the Rocade (the ring road) in a tiny town called Cadaujac and have the bigger towns of Leognan, Villenave D'Ornon & Begles within 10min drive.  It's just so idyllic out here and I would thoroughly recommend the region for starting a new life.

Good luck with making your final decision.
So far, I haven't regretted mine, it's early days - but I can see just how happy we'll be.
All the best,
Vicki

Thank you for your lovely message.  It is definately looking more likely for us to move out in France but still unsure of which region.  My husband is more keen on normandy, brittany whereas i am more drawn to bordeaux.  We will have to make a few more enquiries and visit a few more times before we finally decide.  Will keep you updated with our decision.

thanks again!!!

Well it looks as though i am getting my own way and moving to bordeaux!!!  We are visiting in a few weeks time and going to look around at properties for sale.  I am starting to get really excited about the move, just need to learn the language now!

For my point of view living outside the city like Vicki is more ideal. Not only will you get more for your money out of the center of the city, you will also have the chilled out space of the country side. And really, a lot of people whinge about being so far away from Bordeaux when you live past the ring road but honestly I don't think 30mins (on a bad day?!) is unreasonable. There are a fair few Park and Ride parking stations so you can park your car and get the tram into town.

In saying all of this, I'm sure there are people that really love being in the thick of it. And if you can afford it, there are really some lovely properties around Mérignac, Cauderan and Pessac. And if you're looking for up and coming areas try La Bastide, Bacalan and Cenon.

Happy hunting!