天美麻豆

Hello Chef Aaron,

Welcome to 天美麻豆 馃榾

Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself.

Just to let you know, your thread has been moved to the Toulouse forum to help you connect more easily with other expats in the area. This should make it simpler for members to see your post and engage with you directly.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have about specific topics, members will gladly assist you.

Cheers,

Cheryl

天美麻豆 team

Chef Aaron,

I鈥檓 a huge fan of the Occitanie and am planning for retirement in Beziers.聽 Toulouse has become the tourist jewel for France.聽 Where jumping in with both feet with regard to purchasing housing isn鈥檛 advised, my let鈥檚 make a deal self is using public auction websites for search for housing.聽 It鈥檚 just a thought.聽 Real estate never gets cheaper, nor does rent.聽 Also, planning for the exchange rate is not easily done.聽 Good luck on your retirement plan!

Regards,

Kathyna

@Chef Aaron

We've always loved France travel mostly to Paris and the southwest of France. Last year we decided to explore the southeastern part and fell in love with Toulouse. We're retired and I decided I wanted to move there. My wife is still not convinced (she loves Brooklyn, where we live).聽 I haven't given up yet and am using all my persuasive abilities to convince her.

If you decide to move there, I think you'll be very happy with your choice. Best of luck.

Tariq Osman聽 聽

@Cheryl

Excellent,聽 thank you!

@KatWillie

Thank you very much! We look forward to life en France....4 years will feel like forever and around the corner at the same time.

A

@tosman66

Thank you!

I hope you are able to convince her...my wife needs no convincing..she'd have us move now if possible. Then again,聽 so would I if it was the right time.

We've spent the last 5 vacations in Paris....we're addicted!

Keep me posted on your desire to retire in Toulouse/Southern France.

A

@KatWillie

I聽 am curious,聽 what made you pick Beziers?

One more question if you don't mind...are you fluent?

Thanks

A

@Chef Aaron

Will keep in touch. Maybe we'll meet up in Toulose some day.

@tosman66

Sounds like a plan!

Bonjour Aaron. Perhaps you could include why you like the look and feel of Toulouse, so much? That will inform us about your choices and perhaps some alternatives could be offered too. Have you done much travel in France as a whole?

Might I suggest that you do some house-sitting in different parts of France before settling on one place. We found it to be very informative (did this for three years) and our final choice聽 (now 7 yrs+) was a surprise to us, but we love it. The south of France has many challenges, not the least the various winds and the extreme heat. Having said that, Climate Change is real and all of France is getting high summer heat now, so there is no getting away from it, but you can choose high sunshine hours elsewhere.

You might like to check out the Charente (we are in the south) and Charente Maritime, which have the 2nd most sunshine hours to Marseille which apparently has the highest. If a big city is your goal, there are plenty to choose from and you might look to the south west (Bordeaux - little Paris) and even La Rochelle. Good healthcare is essential as we age, and I would do some searches on the best hospitals and where the most Doctors are per capita. If you want to live in a city, you may find apartment rentals hard to find (in good neighbourhoods) and expensive, both to rent (always a challenge for expats) and the pace of life, while exhilarating, can often become too busy as we age. Great goals, and excellent that you have the language in progress already! Well done . It's a ways off yet, but doing your homework is well worth it. I would just caution you that the political landscape could change drastically when Macron bows out, and of course a Plan B is always a good idea. Bon Chance.