 So I am starting to make some long term plans to move to France, so would like to know from those already there, which cities or areas are likely to give good access to mountains, and employment. I was thinking Lyon and Toulouse look suitable, probable large centres of employment, within striking distance of the Alps or Pyrenees. Any views on these cities? any other cities or major towns worth considering that are not so obvious or well known?
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Toulouse yes Lyon no. Grenoble would be my choice for the Alps.
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| Edited: 23/11/09 10:08 |
Why not Lyon, only 120k from alpe d'huez? Grenoble would be good for the mountains, but how big a town/city is it, would the employment opportunities match the recreational opportunities?
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I'm assuming that you can speak (near) fluent French - if not you are limiting your employment 'choices' a bit...
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No I can't, I am starting french lessons in the new year. As I said these are long term plans. But even so, there are still jobs available even with basic French skills, I know there are employers in Toulouse I would stand a good chance with.
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 Do you mean large centres of employment or unemployment?  You'll need to speak French pretty well to get a good job unlike in Germany where English is often good enough to get you started. However, you'll find something that's hard work but only paid the SMIC almost anywhere - whether you'll manage to live on the SMIC is another matter. When Barbara and I looked 20 years ago we dismissed the bigger towns and looked at places with a population in the 100 000 to 250 000 range. Grenoble is an industrial and university town that completely fills the bottom of a u-shaped valley with urban sprawl and pollution. Gap is a nice town with a pleasant climate in the Alps but I have no idea what you could do there apart from teach English. Pau was the other town on our short list and we're happy with our choice 18 years on. If you're a geologist, geophysicist or have any skills of use in the oil industry you stand a chance of finding work. It'll be a bit of a culture shock after Germany.
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 cadarache? SPl Where they are building the new ITER machine, Language of the project is english.
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You've never revealed what you do MSP but an interest in Toulouse suggests an aerospace connection.
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i would guess its something to do with space.
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It'll be a bit of a culture shock after Germany. Well the problem with Germany is that although there is very little wrong with German society, there is also not much that is very good. It all works but is rather faceless and uninspiring. It doesn't beat you down the way Britain does (or did to me for the past 10 years), but it also never lifts you up. I may be looking for something that doesn't exist, but why not, lifes an adventure. I think I have an opportunity to move on and see another country, and if it doesn't work out I could probably get a job back where I currently work in a couple of years. Pau is an interesting suggestion, and the kind of info I was looking for, I will set up some email filters on job websites to see what kind of stuff is coming up. Do you know any decent French job websites?
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You've never revealed what you do MSP but an interest in Toulouse suggests an aerospace connection. I currently work for ESA, in an IT role. Obviously IT can kind of take me anywhere, but having a background with ESA opens up the possibility of the French space agency and related industries around Toulouse.
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I don't. All the usual staff agencies operate here and big companies use them paying a buyout fee if they want to own the employee. I would feel confident of finding a job quickly if I walked into Vediorbis and Manpower looking like you do in your avatar pic.
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Hmm, Toulouse is a lot like Stuttgart but with sprawling anarchistic urbanisation. In IT jobs the language is much less of an issue. Total and their subcontractors in Pau are big IT employers and quite a few Brits work for them.
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Why not Lyon, only 120k from alpe d'huez? Grenoble would be good for the mountains, but how big a town/city is it, would the employment opportunities match the recreational opportunities?
Lyon is a V Busy shithole, Toulouse I like, I worked in France with some one from Toulouse and use to stay with him. There was climbing in the city centre and easy access to the Pyrenees where we also use to go climbing. Wasnt into MTBing then as it didnt really exist. Grenoble is a nice city IMHO and it has a lot of Technology based companies there. Any alpine town/city will always be in a valley and as such will suffer from pollution. One area I have spent some time is the French Jura which has everything you need for outdoor sports. Also its not far from the Alps.
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 Go for it MSP. I've always dreamed of working and living on the continent.
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I already live and work on the continent, just fancy another country now 
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 South West of France is the nicest bit IMO, but I'm biased I visit every year. I know I'd like to live in the region and Mrs Wephen would like to return there (it's where she's from), but jobs are the issue, we're better catered for in the north of europe.
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 After yet another weekend of freezing rain and gale force winds my thoughts are turning to moving somewhere warmer and drier (Though this happens every Autumn)... What's the easiest way to get a language reasonably fluent in preparation to moving to a country where its spoken as that I'd guess is the single biggest obstacle to people moving? I presume lessons are the obvious place to start, but my experience has been that conversational vocabulary and style is missing from a lot of the classes I've been to, so I learn the more formal written version of a phrase rather than the one native speakers tend to use.
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Well I moved to Belgium only being able to ask for a cheese and ham sandwhich and the directions to the train station. I took lessons here, it makes more difference if you actually have to use the language outside of the classroom situation. Worked well for me.
Also the most important word in any language is the word for 'thingy', always, always learn the word for a 'thingy'.
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| Edited: 23/11/09 15:16 |
