 Poster: A snowHead
|
Hi there,
I lurk here a lot but dont post much!
Just wondering if anyone here has any experience of spending a season or in fact moving out to the alps with a toddler in tow (3 and half next winter).. current recession.. possible lucrative redundancy is making us seriously consider a complete life change.. we certainly dont have the cash to buy out there given current property prices but feel if we could make a living and ski/spend times in the mountains daily or regularly all would be good. Also feel it may well be a better environment to bring up a family than uk.
however just dont know how possible or not (i guess the season is possible) a new life in the alps is.
Our background is a couple of seasons in the alps in our younger days, not fluent in french/german though .. however one us is a skilled IT bod(oracle ebus suite consultancy bkgd) the other an engineer.
any thoughts (positive/negative) much appreciated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
lcw, do it............ we did 2 seasons ago and have never looked back!!
AT the end of the day the downside/risk is that it doesn't work out so you go back to the UK after a 6 month career break having been made redundant.... but at least you'd know what it was like and not wonder what would it have been like.
Happy for you to pick my brains anytime...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
thanks for the reply marcellus.. all info is much appreciated especially from anyone who has done it.
i think we could do the season thing, but wonder if we are being realistic about being able to make a new life in or as close to the mountains as possible, especially with a toddler in tow.(although we expect that said toddler would probably just go with the flow as long as mum and dad were about).
Did you guys plan your move for quite some time? Did you know the area you moved to etc, Did you plan on running a chalet from the start (i had a look at the website.. the chalet looks lovely btw).
We are thinking that the bourg st maurice/les arcs/peisey/st foy area as that is the area of the alps we know the best..I guess we need to work out exactly what we would do once we got there to make a living and also about actually living out there as prices of property there appear to be very high compared to what they were before eurostar/paradiski
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
I would have thought that the little one would do very well because at that age he'd pick up French easily - a priceless asset in future years. Ma and Pa would no doubt have to work harder on the French, but that would be a vital first step.
Spending a season initially, in rented accommodation, would seem like the best idea - see the thread at http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=47053#1171450 where annie is writing, fascinatingly, about doing exactly that. Letting out your house in the UK would be a key - you should be able to rent somewhere out there for what you get for your UK house. Being in a "proper town" - such as St Gervais - rather than in a purpose built place would probably be more agreeable, and cheaper, and good for access to schools etc. all year round.
Good luck. Please tell us about it. We spend seasons - and other parts of the year - out in France but it's easy for us because we are retired. The basic cost is met by rent from a lodger (we converted one of our rooms to a studio flat, after the kids had left home to go to university).
We took our small kids all over the world (job took us) and they never had any problems settling down - it's when they get bigger, with ideas of their own, that it gets much harder. So do it now!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
The IT bod should have a look at the area around Gronoble - is the silicon valley of The Alps there may be some job opportunities. Our friends live and work there and now ski every weekend in the smaller resorts around Grenoble.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
lcw, we had a rough plan......... and enough cash to fund it for a few years with a reserve to go back to the UK if it didn't work out and juts thought nothing ventured nothing gained..............for about a year we earnt very little and now are just about breaking even!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
lcw, don't forget France isn't the only alpine country, though 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
lcw, We are thinking along the same lines as yourself and are currently looking to spend next season with our little one who will be 3 in December. No lucrative redundancy looming (I hope!) but we have a place in France so that helps. We would both take a sabbatical from work - mine is my own company so may have to do a few days here and there but the goal is to have quality family time.
A long term thought is would we want to move permanently so we think doing a season would help with our thinking here.
We are planning next season as little one will be ready for ski lessons (he already skis with us) and timing is good as the following season he will be going to the nursery attached to the school he will attend. We also have tickets for Olympics so a long trip to Canada was always on the cards in Feb.
Let me know how your thinking progresses and who knows if you choose BSm you will be 15 mins from us!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
lcw, go for it! I came out to France with OH about 4 years ago. No definite long term plans then, but we were aiming to do up a derelict property that we'd bought a few years before. Since then we've settled here for good, founded an architecture practice and expecting our first child this summer. It wasn't that easy, particularly learning to speak french and dealing with all the administration!! but absolutely worthwhile, and the lifestyle here is so much more fulfilling than the mad London world we used to live in. I think it's also a great place for kids to grow up in, at least it seems to be from the experiences of other people we've met out here. I agree with Pam w re choosing a 'real' town rather than a resort as it's much better for year round living.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
We live out in the Alps all year round with a 9 year old and nearly 4 year old and have done for the last 3 1/2 years. Once we'd made up our mind to do it, it was easy. I was on maternity leave and my husband's firm reorganised his job away and gave him several options, one of which was redundancy, so it was a good time to go.
The 9 year old is now fluent in French and the 3 yr old is just learning at Ecole maternelle (nursery school). We live in the mountains on the La Plagne domain in a ski village, which has a school and it's own life outside of the season. It's about 10k from Bourg. We love it and the kids have an amazing life. The little one skied from here to Arcs 2000 and back yesterday and loved it.
My French was GCSE standard when we moved out here and although I wouldn't say I was fluent - it's pretty good now.
I would highly recommend it - it's a fantastic life, for both mum and dad and the kids. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
I'm an American and lived in Bourg last school year with my wife who grew up in the SW of France and our (at the time) 4 year old daughter. My daughter and I were very happy and I wanted to stay on, but my wife, who has lived most of the last 20 years in the US wanted to return to the States.
I also have fond memories of BSM and want to return at some point, but finding work may be the biggest challenge. I was fortunate enough to be working at home for a Florida company, but did come across a few Brits who lived in the area. One ran the Trading Post and another had an online ski rental operation. Some of the younger Brits worked at Chalets or Pubs, but it seemed that the ones with families were doing more entrepreurial stuff (as mentioned above, or like owning a Chalet).
I am not sure of the status of it, but there was some talk that they may be closing the BSM military base at some point. My understanding is that the military population, including family, is something like 2,000, so this could put some downward pressure on rent and home prices if this closes...may also open up some opportunities to redevelop the land the base currently occupies.
Practice your french and go for it if you can...Matt
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> The IT bod should have a look at the area around Gronoble - is the silicon valley of The Alps
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
thanks for the replies everyone, had a look at jobs in grenoble .. based on my ability to read french (which is better than my ability to speak it at the moment!) there are definately jobs in that area in the type of work that i do.. If the redundancy comes through (knowing my luck it wont) then we will definately head out to the bourg area for a season.. i guess we could go somewhere else but we have a connection to the place having spent a couple of seasons there a while ago.
i guess, like most folk have suggested, living there longer term may be dependant on our ability to start and a run a reasonably successful business and that idea is a bit daunting in the current economic climate..
does anyone have any links to any website where commercial businesses are for sale and any advice on pitfalls of potentially starting/buying a business in france.
my other idea is/was to IT contract in europe for part of the year and live in the alps for the rest of the year (but that would mean working away from home during the week which isnt what i want to do really, i expect. Unless the europeans are a bit more open to the whole working from home thing ).. they are quite backward about that up here in scotland (well certainly the companies I have worked for).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
I started another thread, having missed this one.
We're looking at doing this, but only for a ski season, not a year or more (though you never know...).
Have 3 kids, 2 at primary school - what is best for them in terms of school etc if we are only going for a few months? No doubt they'd pick up French easily enough, but given we're only planning to be there 4-5 months, it seems like they'd spend most of it adjusting rather than learning? What happens if they arrive totally non-French speaking, is there a compromise solution?
I'm keen on French speaking, because it's the one other language I'm ok in. Probably somewhere near to an airport for infrequent flights back to Scotland for business. Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| Quote: |
No doubt they'd pick up French easily enough,
|
depends on their age, and the child. It's not a foregone conclusion. Friends of ours came back from France because their girl (around 8 at the time I think) was very unhappy and had set her face against French and everything to do with it. The younger the better. You'd probably want to find somewhere where the kids could get to and from school easily - preferably on foot. In smaller places (like the one we have our apartment) kids are bussed to school - it would be a mission to have to drive them every day, but to just chuck them on a bus full of French children might be a bit tough on them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
The friends that live in Grenoble went there with their 2 year old - she is now 6 and totally fluent in French as she went straight into the French state nursery system. She is so fluent that she dislikes her mother reading stories to her in French as she says her mum has a funny accent! Our friend that works there in IT does not speak fluent French - and after 4 years of living out there he still has only basic French as he doesn't need to speak it at work. His wife, on the other hand, has a much better fluency level as she is the one who HAS to speak it every day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| lcw wrote: |
| Unless the europeans are a bit more open to the whole working from home thing . |
bwahahahahahaha. Not a chance in a French company.
At the moment I would rate your chances of getting an IT job in the Grenoble area as very close to zero. Kelkoo (Yahoo!) has problems and will probably be laying off rather than recruiting. Ditto for Sun and HP who were the big IT employers. Catepillar is looking to lay off 700 people ST in Crolles, who were a big ex-pat employer at one time is going to put the whole fab on "chomage technique". The only people who seem to be hiring are the SSIIs like Teamlog and Unilog- think Roman slave galley without the benefit of sea air!
I think your idea of contracting away from home or setting up your own business sounds better, at least in the current climate.
Have you looked at Geneva? Apart from the question about banking secrecy the area doesn't seem to have been affected by the credit crunch. Check jobup.ch for vacancies.
Hope that helps a bit. Be very careful about jacking in the UK to live in France, most Brits last until the savings run out unless they have a business idea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
How about Munich or Zurich, lots of skiing near to both cities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
tbh i thought grenoble would not be the easiest of places in the this climate.. mind you where is..
i reckon the contracting thing (if even that is poss in current climate) is the most realistic thing to consider... however if redundancy comes off (it would be good if it did as it is a very good package) then we could at least spend 6 months out in the alps and not be close to spending our savings, I have no qualms about contracting if it financed the lifestyle I suppose but would want to properly assess what is available where..and wouldnt want to turn into a money obsessed contractor and forget why i was doing it in the first place. Also contracting only appeals short term as the whole point is to spend more time together as a family not less..
have looked at geneva as a possibility.. there are always jobs advertised out there in the area i work, would like to get away from big city living i sppse and the dream is to actually live in the mountains.. (obv geneva is in the alps), i guess it might be possible to combine the two.
the other thing for us is the price of property .. it is just a bit mental (more than a bit) i wonder how anyone can afford to buy anything in the bourg area judging by some of the prices we have been looking at... is long term renting a reasonable option?
it sounds mad but all we want to be able to do is afford to live somewhere, live in reasonable comfort (not have all the latest toys) ski/snowboard in the winter and just get outdoors all summer as well..a lifestyle that isnt easy to come buy in rainy old scotland!
if we are talking about renting for a season, does anyone have any tips on getting a nice (not too pricey) 6 month rental? (has to have 3 bedrooms).?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
oh and internet access is an absolute must.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
we honestly hadn't thought of anywhere outside france/geneva really.. though it definately makes sense to consider every possibility. 
we also know how easy it could be to move out there, enjoy the life and run of savings.. we definately do not want that to happen. i think if we do it we are going into it with our eyes fully open. We definately see the benefit of doing the move but know the pitfalls could be massive if we get it wrong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
