Introduction : I have lived in France for 12 years

Thank you mate for sharing your thoughts over here . I really appreciate it.

Very sound advice. I can say from my own personal experience of living here for 7 years, the biggest mistake I made was not integrating myself more with French acquaintances. I settled into a comfortable rhythm of existence with ex-pats (and French friends who prefer to speak English!). Now I find myself struggling to speak the language proficiently. I'm working on it, but I wish I was more aware of this when I arrived. To be fair though, I didn't think I would be here for more than 2 years. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it here.

Greetings Pam,

Thank you for posting.  You are living the life I am working to achieve.  It sounds lovely.

I am my mother's full-time caregiver (in year nine) so day-to-day life presents plenty of challenges.  Any advice you could offer, I would greatly welcome and appreciate.

Salut,

Michelle

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Thank you very much for sharing your personal experience and for encouraging yourself not to be too much to yourself.  We are moving to Charente Maritime this December and are looking forward to it.  We are still busy with work every day, but we will stop in mid-November.  We long for the quiet of the countryside and the quieter way of life.  Over the years we have already built up some social contacts and are eager to continue working on this.  Greetings to all.  Danny and Lieve

@pampelleymounter My wife and I retired in 2022 and made the decision to relocate to the country, where we had enjoyed many happy vacations. We began looking for a home and eventually found the one we are in now. We also moved with six rescue guinea pigs, who have since all passed away and are buried in our garden with a lovely rose at their graves.