[Andrew Francese]

Hello,
For France, you could make an appointment with a doctor when you arrive on the website Doctolib (check the box they have for “English speaking” as needed). You’d pay €25 for the visit, then come away with a prescription to take to the pharmacy. As you can perhaps imagine, even paying full price for the medication wouldn’t be that expensive in France.

-Tuula Rampont, IL France Correspondent

[Andrew Francese]

Hello, The Mistral wind is a bit of a fact of life in the south of France. Unfortunately, it’s present and every city I can think of along the coast and inland. It usually comes in threes – 3 or 6 days of wind. It’s a bit of a hassle, but I find it’s a small price to pay for living in this beautiful region.

[Andrew Francese]

Hello Ilee,

Obtaining a French long stay visa – which is not difficult (as the article states) is the path to residency or citizenship – which is, in fact, more difficult to obtain but not impossible.

I’ve never heard mention of not contributing financially as an obstacle. In fact, you will be contributing to the economy just by living there. It’s been confirmed that you can work on the regular long stay visa as long as you are working remotely for a company that is outside of France. French immigration expert and lawyer Daniel Tostado confirmed with the French authorities that this is possible.

This IL video will give you detailed instructions on applying for the long stay visa:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qrBAMyZBEbE

-Tuula, IL France Correspondent

[Andrew Francese]

Bonjour!
Those are all great spots – for different reasons. A scouting trip is a good idea to check off all your “must-haves” and see what the local community is like.
Toulon and Hyeres have very few North American expats, just a quick FYI.
A lot of people like Antibes and, surprisingly, Cannes.
Also, you could check out Nice “adjacent” cities along the coast like Villefranche-sur-Mer.

-Tuula, IL France Correspondent

[Andrew Francese]

Hi Keith,
That is a good budget for a long-term rental in Nice so you will have a lot of options. In the center, you could look around the Gambetta neighborhood, or near the Beaux-Arts museum. Try the Le Bon Coin website to get an idea of rental prices. Real estate expert Adrian Leeds is based in Nice and has great tips for the city on her website.

Tuula Rampont, IL France Correspondent

[Andrew Francese]

Hello! You can set up a Wise account before you leave to France. You don’t need a French bank account to apply for the visa. With a Wise account you have a European routing number so you can secure a short term or long-term rental, set up utilities, and mobile phone service, etc. Then when you arrive in France, you can walk into an establishment to set up a brick and mortar French account.

I hope that is helpful, please let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Tuula Rampont, IL France Correspondent

[Andrew Francese]

Hi Cheri,

That is very cool! And actually great timing… I wrote a comprehensive guide to the Olympics that is going to be published in the June edition of IL. Keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to post them, or email me directly: france@internationalliving.com.

IL France Correspondent, Tuula Rampont

[Author]

Posts