carte de sejour after brexit – Our Normandy Life

How To Find A French Friend

Sep 12, 2020Sep 12, 2020 ournormandylife

**Possibly my least favourite Beatles track. Sorry!**

Oh do shut up! I hear you say. Are you really doing album fillers now? No. And yes, on the face of it, you would think this was bloody easy to do given that you live in France. How hard is it to find a French friend? Well, strap in and I shall tell you.

You’re in France right? You speak a bit of French or have the illusion you can speak right? Well, it would follow that you will make French ‘friends’ at a drop of a hat. Erm not quite. This is my take on it, as ever, and I’m sure there are lots of twenty-somethings/students in major French cities making French friends left, right and centre. But, alas, unfortunately I am not in that bracket. Mental note to previous self in a different life – move to a foreign country when you’re young, free and single!

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Our French Life

A French v An English Car Salesperson

Feb 20, 2020Feb 20, 2020 ournormandylife

For those of you that are my die hard Normandy Lifers you may recall a few posts whereby I have told to never assume anything. Or assume the total opposite to what you knew in your previous life. Living here can sometimes make you feel you are in a real life pantomime or in some sick game show called “Total Opposites” only there is no prize. Nope. Just costly mistakes as no one tapped you on the shoulder when you got off the boat and said “oh by the way, everything you have come to think of as normal and logical eg car breakdown, insurance, tyre tracking and anything else related to living and breathing is defunct”. “Now on your way and enjoy!”. To read more about this warped game I find myself occasionally in and yes, I did say occasionally, as folks I got wise. I’ve graduated to a bit part role in the France Panto that is my life or as I like to call it affectionately (?!) “France. The lost years” you can read about it here. Continue reading “A French v An English Car Salesperson” →

Our French Life

Why I Won’t Be Getting A Carte De Séjour

Aug 22, 2018

don't care

Nope. You’re not going to make me. Surely this is the sensible option I hear you say? Surely you’d be mad not to, you know, just in case you need one post Brexit?

Nope. I didn’t get the memo on the sensible thing. Clearly I am not that way inclined. As the sensible thing would have been to hang fire on selling the family home in South London, hang fire on that moving the kids to a country where they couldn’t speak the language (or at best had the illusion of speaking it!), waited until the pound recovered from falling off a cliff edge and waited to see what would happen post Brexit. But where would the fun in that be?! Continue reading “Why I Won’t Be Getting A Carte De Séjour” →