To Brit's in France. Moving over to Brittany soon. Can I pick your Brains.?

Question

Hoping to move over to N.W.Brittany in the New Year. Would like to contact any brit's over there that can give us an idea of the pit-falls, The small things, is it worth bringing stuff over from england or buying local. Rough cost's on the basics of life.

Cost of laminate flooring, carpets, funishings and the like, compared to england...

Answer 1

Hi

This is a huge question with so many answers.  The bottom line is some things are more expensive and some things are cheaper.  It probably evens up in the end.    

Good stuff first - lager and wine are much cheaper, so the cost of grocery shopping is reasonable!  

Furniture, especially sofa's seem to be expensive.  

Laminate flooring - depends on what quality you buy - varies wildly accordingly.  I got a great bargain on sea grass recently.

Paint - expensive (and often not very good)!

Some tools like cement mixers are cheaper, but others are more (like drills).

If you are going to become resident here, the national insurance, health and tax is not cheap either.

You have to weigh up the cost of transportation of your goods, their current value and life left in them against the cost of buying new here before you decide whether to bring stuff or not.  Try pricerunnner.fr to compare the prices of electrical goods, but you can't beat wandering around the shops to know if you are going to find what you want - in taste as well as cost.

Not sure if this helps, but the very best of luck.

Answer 2

Bonsoir,

I've been living here (and married to a French lady) since 1993 so I can't really remember British prices but I'd agree with another person who's posted that some things cost more, some cost less and it all balances out in the end.

If you want to be a permanent resident you may still need a Carte de Séjour.  Officially as a European national you have the right to live anywhere but since the French use their national identity card a lot and you won't have one as they're for citizens only, a carte de séjour can be useful.  In my region for example I have to show it to be able to register a car.  You get them from your local Mairie or Sous-Préfecture, they take about two weeks to process and are not expensive BUT you will need I think six identical passport photos and a certified translation of your birth certificate (extrait de naissance).  Similarly if you decide to change to a French driving licence you'll need a load of photos at first.

The good news: I've lived all over the UK and I enjoyed it, but I've never lived anywhere as hospitable as northern France.  Maybe it's because people want to put on a good show for the foreigner in their midst but for whatever reason most of the French people I meet are "hyper-sympas".  I'd have thought as well that after fourteen years they might let the veneer slip a bit if it was all pretence but they don't so I guess they're sincere.

If you have any food fads you might want to bring some ingredients.  I'm always asked to bring back odd British things that I've introduced, latterly it's oven gloves (the type with two mitts joined together, impossible to find locally), good chilli powder, curry powder and HP sauce.  Other classics are Marmite, cheese biscuits,  nice tinned soup, cheddar cheese and anything in the way of prepared vegetarian food.  If you are one of the many UK veggies be prepared to explain that yes, bacon pieces (lardons) honestly are made from pigs even if they are in a salad and cut up really small!

As a previous person said, if you want more help feel free to email.

Answer 3

There might be savings to be made on particular items, but by and large prices for building and decoration materials are similar. One thing to note is that the dutch have a really bad reputation as "outsiders" in rural France because of their tendency to import things like building materials (and indeed builders) from the Netherlands, so finding good local suppliers will probably pay off in more ways than one.

Check prices on B&Q website agains Leroy Merlin, Bricorama, Castorama, etc. This will give you an idea if there's a big price difference on anything which is important to you. Check prices of electrical goods. Note that your warranty is not international, so any price advantage might evaporate if it breaks in the first year.

The cost of fuel is similar, as is the cost of food. Alcohol and tobacco are cheaper. Please feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.

Answer 4

There are a few moving to france websites with good advice on them.