Difficult - to move to FRANCE??

Hi,we are trying to learn some of the pitfalls we may encounter starting with the"long stay visa"for non working.,and if we make it to france,what problems we may have obtaining carte de sejour.

My husband,american 53,retired early (sans ret.income),but has enough savings to stay in france for some years (if we live the austere lifestyle ...

I am filipina 36,(sans US passport)We're legally married here in phils.,where we now live.

At the moment we're trying to find a small apartment ( can't be hotel says the french embassy)as one of the visa requirements.(we need 2 or 3 mos.lease doc.or "promise to lease"somewhere in the south but don't want to pay for a vacation "gite" on the sea,(maybe small village near the rail)

We're a little paranoid that for the CDS,they will ask for obscure documents impossible to acquire such as,US long form birth cert.,vaccination records,my husband has'nt file tax returns (legally) for 5 years,the type of medical insurance we must have for non-EU CDS.(if its diff.than what the french embassy needs.

And also we have no idea, what the stipend is for re:language course,we both have pretty good beginner skills... 

Also if anyone has a very small room studio anywhere bet.italy and spain w/in 30km of the Med.coast.near the 500euros monthly.We can only sign a short term as we dont have CDS yet.

Any details would be appreciated.
Thanks,aubri and ric