Adapting to the climate in France

Hi everyone
I have been here now for the last two years.
I used to live in very warm country (the UAE). I was lucky to live in Lyon which is not radically cold, but anyway, it was a really big move from 40s and 50s in Dubai into -5 in Lyon usually during winter time and a relatively moderate summer except three or four weeks when the weather gets really crazy...up to 40 last year.
I think the country is amazing all in all to live at and many people are really nice ...French are normally helpful and supporting...so when you come to France look for the positives and you will see that adjusting to the weather is not difficult.
You need warm clothes in the morning starting from September or October....all during the day in January, February, March and maybe April as well..then only in the morning and late evenings until June. July and August are the two summer time where temperatures are moderate 30s usually but cooler at night
Enjoy your life in one of the most beautiful countries in the whole world
Ahmed

Hi ahmed me i live near lyon in  france  and i am coming from a tropical african country which is warm like 28 to 30 degreed through out the year i moved here one year ago and i must say it was qjiet a change for me to adjust to the cold temperatures of -4 to -5 degrees it was a challenge but i am glad i was able to adjust to it and i think about nothing but being positive i love france its a lovely country !

Exactly lovesab
It is always good to be positive
I became adjusted to the extend that I feel warm above 5 degrees and cold bellow....
I once had to experience the -18 in Kazakhstan and of course that was too much for me ....but only for a couple of days
I guess now it is normal to me hearing the degree -5 .....before.....it was just on TV where I happened to see snow

Been here nine years. I would describe the experience as being very similar to what was written in 'A Year in the Merde'. Forget customer service...completely. Went to Top Office to get a print cartridge. Advised by a store employee. Told him the number didn't correspond with my printer. Was assured that this was the correct part. Took it home and OPENED the package, tried to install, no good. Went back and was told that they can not accept a return as the package was opened. Explained I would certainly not have opened the package if THIER employee, wearing the Top Office shirt and name tag, hadn't insisted it was correct. Not a care in the world was given for any amount of logic or reason. Imagine yourself as a fat, juicy, domestic cow wandering through the African Serengeti. There are entities and people everywhere looking for a bite. At every turn and every moment, you owe some unknown government agency money. Your very existence is taxed. There's taxes for the pleasure of being taxed. I don't think they still tax you for the number of windows in the walls of your house (apparently a sign of inappropriate wealth), but TV's, yes (!). France removes the humor from the Tax Man character in the movie 'Popeye' staring Robin Williams. The unimaginably extreme taxation represented by this character is no longer a funny concept, but becomes a harsh and swift reality. Unfortunately, if you are working on any type of project, there is no tax for getting questions answered. This is unfortunate, because they just aren't answered and your left hopelessly searching on your own to find out what forms and what certificates of many, you are inevitably missing.

Bon courage les nouveaux!!! Hehehe

Why not read your printer manual to find out what cartridge it needs before going out to buy a replacement?
I'm sorry but if "A Year in the Merde" is your benchmark I feel sorry for you.
I set up as an auto-entrepreneur and worked as a technical translator for 4 years and I had zero - I repeat zero - problems..
Why do you stay if your experience of France is so unpleasant?

It's not a benchmark at all. But the vast majority of experiences the author describes are dead-on with my own. I stay because I have a child here. Nothing more mysterious than that.

The climate in France is as you would expect in any European country....colder in the north, warmer in the south. If you live in Paris you can expect mid-European weather...actual seasons, winter, spring, summer and autumn. In Marseille where I live the climate is mostly warm....there's no real winter to talk about...the spring is mild, except for this year when it became very cold for a while in April...summer is sometimes very hot, we're already up to 33C at the beginning of July and expect high 30's in August. Autumn is marvellous...soft, bright, long evenings, high 20's. The only problem with Marseille and this area of the Med. is the "MISTRAL", very strong driving winds/gales (without rain) which bring red sand from the Sahara to dump on your newly washed car.....if strong costal winds are not your thing then Marseille is NOT for you.
However the pros far outweigh the cons, the atmosphere here is great, particularly now that France is still in EURO 2016.

... Hi. Since i came from the Middle East specifically at UAE, the extremes of thw temperatures from 50 degrees cel to even -5 i had experienced here in Paris had definitely given me on and off bad cough and colds..

Sadfully, i had never adjusted yet from the climate change..but as i may share that of course I anticipate everyday checking of weather forecasts and simply prepare cold gears or sometimes rain gears to adjust and prepare for the day's weather... And staying positive that whatever is the weather condition this day will be a nice and fine day😎