Reader experiences

From years of caravan travels to settling in Pas-de-Calais

‘We have never been tempted to move back,’ says Beryl Taylor

France Travail sign mounted on a modern office building in Grenoble beneath a clear blue sky.

Changing career in France in your 60s and beyond

Age is an advantage, not a curse, and it is never too late to transform your life

British women turn creative passions into a business in rural France

Friends open creative space 'Cou-Cou' in Creuse

reader experiences

How I quit the Premier League to run a health non-profit in France

Reader Denise Stevenson was in a sales role at Norwich City Football Club

France's Brexit approach contrasts sharply with Swedish expulsions

How support and and simpler procedures helped British residents

Ancient stone buildings and a winding path in a sunlit rural village

I hate my new life in France and feel trapped

Reader says what was peaceful to begin with is now deathly dull

A view of a phone with an ‘unknown number’ on the screen

Unwanted calls persist in France say Connexion readers

Cold-calling rules adopted in August have not necessarily limited spam and scam phone calls

Cropped,Photo,Of,Happy,Pensioner,Grandmother,Elderly,Patient,With,Walking

How can I set boundaries with a demanding elderly French neighbour?

Columnist Cynthia Spillman helps with a reader's dilemma

British couple brings French village together with bilingual pantomime

Christmas show supported by local mairie

French couple share free plans for €40,000 modular eco-home

Couple share building plans for Haute-Vienne home free online

How I imported right-hand-drive vehicles to France – and sold them without a loss

‘Judging by the number of people who rang there is no shortage of British buyers’

Keeping chickens and geese in France: one family's experience

Former marketing manager Sunita McDonald moved to France - and got chickens - in 2020

Border checks at Charles de Gaulle airport

‘Absolutely no problem’: readers share their experiences of travelling in and out of France with a récépissé

Cross-border travel is permitted while waiting for an expired titre de séjour to be renewed - with appropriate proof

How electronic darts helped me become a French champion

Former sales manager Lian Blackshaw, 43, moved from Derby, UK, to a village near Cherbourg in 2005

Family conflict in France: should I cut off my cousin?

A reader considers ending a difficult family relationship

Readers’ feedback on Orange two-step authentication issues

Reader Peter Cracknell recently wrote to The Connexion sharing his frustration with accessing his orange.fr emails while visiting the UK. A wave of readers quickly came to his aid

Moving to France – what we wish we had known

Readers who have already made the move share their experiences

I moved to France and became an online art teacher with more than 44,000 students

Reader Nicola Blakemore, 72, explains how online courses made web lessons viable

Nantes,Aerial,Panoramic,View.,Nantes,Is,A,City,In,Loire-atlantique

Why I love where I live... in Nantes

Reader Sue Alouche, 66, and her French husband set up 'Knowing Nantes', a network for the anglophone community in the city

From civil servant to vacataire, clinical psychologist and super mum in France

Reader Flavia Campos, 44, explains how a move to Lille brought the variety she craved

Sam Barcham takes one of her horses for a ride

Why we bought horses after moving to France – and what it taught us

When reader Sam Barcham, 48, moved from England to the south of France, she never anticipated that riding lessons would lead to buying three horses of her own

How joining a choir in rural France helped me build a new life after retirement

Connexion reader Abigail Gammie explains how singing offered a fun way to make friends – and learn the language

'I moved to the French countryside and became manager of a dog kennel to save my soul'

Connexion reader Anita Rhoden shares her experiences after leaving a high-pressure banking job in the UK

'I love living in Metz, at the heart of Europe'

Connexion reader, Matthew, enjoys supporting the city's football team, going boating, and admiring the historic architecture

Why I love where I live in... Chamonix

Sophie Nolan, 34, from Wales, moved to Chamonix in 2023 and helps travellers explore the region on multi-day hiking tours

Why I love living in... Lyon

Jonathan Davis has enjoyed living in the city since he moved there in 2021

I started playing netball again and made new friends after moving to France

Reader Michelle Bailey, 46, and her partner Paul Parrington moved from Lancashire, UK to Vasles, a village near Parthenay in Deux-Sèvres, in 2009

Updated: EES and France travel: readers share experiences

Some readers report border police taking fingerprints and photos of faces

How I got involved in dog shows after moving to France

It all began when Connexion reader, Jacqueline Reddin-Williams, got a pair of Yorkies as pets

image of Loraine Dennison with a glass of wine outside, smiling

'I became a photographer and pet portraitist after moving to France'

Connexion reader Loraine Dennison has moved to France from the UK twice

How I became an interior designer after moving to France

Reader Sylvana Delvalle used her creative background to carve out a new career redesigning people's homes

How I became an online English teacher after moving to France

Former community safety officer John Mainland, 53, tells how his love of helping others led him in a new direction

Our French gîte: we swapped UK traffic jams for a simpler life in Burgundy

Caroline and Richard Williams transformed their lives by relocating to run a guesthouse in rural France

Our French gîte: Couple combine farming with tourism in Burgundy

Owner Ghislaine Bentley explains why juggling a beef farm and popular chambre d’hôtes is worth the hard work

'I moved to France and took up pottery'

Former head teacher Sarah Patterson found a new home and a new passion in her 50s

Experiences: Why I love living in Lot-et-Garonne

Connexion reader Richard Hall explains why he and his wife Maria settled on the banks of the river Lot

'I became a ghostwriter after moving to France'

We hear how a Briton living in France went from working as a risk specialist in London to leading a successful career in the publishing industry

'We founded a musical theatre for young people in France'

A couple of professional classical singers moved to Strasbourg from Seattle with their two children in 2011, intending only to stay for a year...

Why I love where I live... in north-west France

Roger Mew relocated from London to near Derval (Loire-Atlantique) in 2001 after he had to give up work

How I became a life coach after moving to France

Discover how Patricia Brooks, 57, transformed her life by moving to France and starting a successful coaching business for aspiring expats.

'I built my own natural pool in France for only €8,000'

Alex Wells explains how she discovered the health benefits of water free from chemicals

'I moved to France and became an estate agent for luxury homes'

Former probation officier and mum-of-three Leila Bodross, 44, now sells premium properties on the Bretagne coast

Bob Hope, who repurposes objects, sat at a table smiling

Career change in France: from plastics to creative recycling

Bob Hope explains his decision to leave a job in the chemicals industry to breathe new life into everyday objects

How to navigate the dynamics with a French stepfamily

Columnist Cynthia Spillman explains how to survive and thrive in a new-formed family

'I found my voice when I joined a French choir'

Hannah Pickup from Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher) got involved in 2013 and is now its secretary and treasurer

'We moved from the US to France to restore a château'

Mark Goff and Phillip Engel swapped the California wine country of Napa Valley for a new life at Château d’Avensac

How I became a beautician after moving to France

When Teri Fox, 55, relocated in 2007, she mastered lots of new skills including fitness and aesthetics courses, as well as managing beauty salons – before going on to open her own

Experiences: Why I love where I live in Brittany

Connexion reader recounts how she found her haven in Saint-Servan, Ille-et-Vilaine

I volunteered as a firefighter in France - and you can too

Along with running a gîte in Charente, Chloe Elliston, 47, also helps out at her caserne

Career change in France: lawyer to musician

Connexion reader Martine Soukal, 54, tells how she returned to her first love of music while juggling her family and settling into life France

Experiences: Why I love living on the Côte d’Azur

Connexion reader highlights the community spirit of his home in Alpes-Maritimes and the surprising lack of crowds

How I became a hat designer after retiring to France

A village festival inspired this former business director to train as a milliner

Letters: France wrong to stop some people working after retirement age

Connexion reader says training schemes are unavailable at age 67

Career change in France: from credit controler to running a food truck

Mel Jones, 50, tells how she came to set up a mobile catering business

Letters: Vaccination campaigns are not straightforward in rural France

Connexion reader says that local GP needed to convince enough patients before setting a date

Letters: I'm American but my English is more British since move to France

Connexion reader says being around so many Britons while trying to speak more clearly to French people is having an effect

Letters: France needs to support Ukraine or I will with my credit card

Connexion reader says individuals feel increasingly pressured to support the fight

Letters: Is France lagging behind UK in banking security?

Connexion reader says phone call from bank seemed more like a scam

Letters: Bordeaux airport is struggling for good reason

Connexion reader says it deserves its bad reputation and should concentrate on improving safety

A view of an elderly person’s hands driving a car

Letters: 'France's aggressive drivers make me shudder'

Connexion reader says French drivers are 'more reckless' than those in Germany

Letters: HRT in France and osteoporosis

Reader says pharmacists were surprised by this treatment as it is not standard here

Letters: France should do more to support Ukraine

Connexion reader wants to start crowdfunding campaign to help war effort

Letters: French tax problems easier to resolve than UK issues

Connexion reader says that their attempts to contact HMRC have proved frustrating

Election posters in Paris, France ahead of the European elections on June 9

Letters: far right win was a shock but no surprise - like Brexit

Connexion reader with UK/French dual nationality says she is faced with a voting conundrum

Letters: Amazon UK is too expensive in France

Connexion reader says the reasons behind rising prices are unclear

Letters: Britons in France wrestle with bank account closures

Connexion readers say letter from Crédit Agricole was 'alarming'

A vintage French car driving along a road

Letters: high death toll on French roads is no surprise

'France is a wonderful country to live in except for the drivers!' says Connexion reader

Letters: postal vote delays could deny France residents UK vote

Connexion reader says service limits voting rights

Letters: pensioners in rural France fight digital life certificates

Connexion reader says providers presume that everyone has access to online services

Letters: patients face six-month wait to see doctor in parts of France

Connexion reader says that nobody seems to be tackling the problem of medical deserts

Letters: check your receipt at supermarket till in France

Connexion reader says overcharging is commonplace and staff rarely apologise for mistakes

Letters: French visa application complicated by inferior software

Connexion reader says applicants must pay more for insurance due to limitations of embassy computer

'Lacking’ ‘nice’ 'pointless': your view on no-alcohol wine in France

Updated: mixed responses from readers, who believe industry still has a way to go

How I moved to France and turned my craft hobbies into income

Karen Corbridge, 58, talks about her journey from project management to arts and drafts

Is French cuisine really the best in the world?

A Connexion reader challenges the country’s gastronomic credentials