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 Received all the information I needed, thanks everyone.  The baguette is mine, all mine!! Pachinko fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 10:05
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You're moving... in a few years? So you're looking at Lille? Strasbourg is also a great university town. Many of the cities you mention may very well have universities, but I can't say I've ever heard of them except for Burgundy in Dijon. I moved to Switzerland for school several years ago, and had previously done the same in Germany. Getting EU/Schengen residence permits is almost trivial if you're enrolled in a university, and you don't have to "interview at the embassy" for a student visa, which is presumably what you would be getting if you're moving there to complete a degree. Also "we"? You'll either need to marry your partner before you go, or s/he'll have to also enroll in school (or somehow get a job).
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Oct 29, 2014 11:01
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Dead thread. Thanks for info.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 11:38
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Pachinko posted:I remember reading that people have to go in for interview in order to get a long stay visa... I could be wrong, and you have just saved the trip of going to the embassy 5 hours away. No, you're right. I misunderstood your intent. I thought you and your SO would be going over while you finished your master's thesis / doctoral thesis / something like that over in France. These visas are pretty trivial to get (if you're enrolled in a French school). The visas you're trying to get are not so trivial, although based on your finances, you both speaking French, you both being not Arab, etc, it should be feasible, especially since your mom might even have tentative claims to French citizenship (?). I don't know exactly how the French interview system works, but often they'll have someone "nearby" at a consular office or other foreign appointment who can do this. I'm American and these are all over but only in major cities (LA, Houston, Atlanta, ...) so you might still have to travel, but you shouldn't have to go to the embassy in Ottawa. I had to do an "interview" for my German scientific visa, but it was (a) a joke (b) in English and (c) the city where I lived had a consulate so it was like a 15 minute drive. Your case will probably be a little trickier, especially for your mom, since they don't typically want people moving over there to retire, unless you are rich. Also I came back to post this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11191626/Evil-clowns-stalk-France.html The Article posted:'Evil clowns' stalk France Saladman fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Oct 29, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 12:16
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La France c'est pas super grand, et les trains/autoroutes pas super décentralisés, donc si t'as besoin d'aller à Paris les trajets sont plutot courts en général, où qu't'habites (si la proximité de Paris pour des conf' est la seule chose qui t'importe). J'ai des origines bretonnes donc ca m'influence probablement, mais la Bretagne ça peut etre assez calme aussi, c'est pas trop loin de Paname, il fait meilleur que dans le ch'nord et les plages sont plus agréables en été. Perso, je préfère aller vers Angers si je veux rester pas trop loin de Paris, c'est 2h de train. Après c'est sûr qu'Evreux c'est quand même deux fois plus près et y'a les plages de Normandie à côté. Y'a des marchés hebdomadaires dans toutes les villes que je connais, et toujours un rayon produit frais aux supermarchés sinon. Puis les boucheries pour la viande. Pour ce qui est du visa, là j'y connais rien, désolé. ========== France isn't really that big, and trains/roads aren't really decentralized, so going to Paris is a pretty short ride usually, wherever you live (if being able to attend conferences in Paris is the only thing you care about). I have Breton origins so I'm probably biased, but Brittany can be quiet too, it's not too far from Paris and the weather and beaches are nicer than in the North. If I wanted to stay close to Paris I'd rather head towards Angers, it's 2 hours away by train. That said, Evreux is twice as close and still near the beaches of Normandy. All the cities I know have weekly open air markets to buy fresh vegetables/fruit/cheese/meat, and all supermarkets have a fresh produce aisle. Head to a butcher's for meat. Can't help you with the visa stuff, sorry. ^^^^ e: saw that clown stuff on the news yesterday I think, it's not related to a TV show and not actually dangerous, just kids reenacting those youtube "killer clown" pranks. pylb fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Oct 29, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 12:53
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 13:30
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Yeah, Arab was a little sweeping, and it's more about your passport / country of birth than anything else, especially now that FN (the right wing anti-immigrant party) is massively on the rise. Even most of the European nationalist parties aren't particularly against all immigrants, just "the wrong ones" (eastern Europeans, blacks, Arabs, Turks, Muslims). OTOH, due to the anti-immigrant push, there could be visa changes at any point which affect everyone. Switzerland for example massively tightened theirs earlier this year, for example, but it affected only EU citizens, and if anything made it easier for Americans to come since now they're on equally bad footing. By "rich" I mean "would not attempt to make use of French healthcare and would not want to attempt to get on any French social services". I know for the UK the law is something like for the first 5 years -- maybe even 10 years? -- you are not allowed to get local prices with the national health service. But despite my experience with Swiss and German immigrations, France seems to be completely different despite them all being Schengen. The permis/titres des séjours are totally different in France, and it looks like there's even a specific retirement visa: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_s%C3%A9jour_retrait%C3%A9_en_France but you have to already obtain a regular carte de résident before you can get the retraité version. It's probably worth flipping through the actual legislation, which is surprisingly easy to understand and absent of excessive legalese : http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affic...eTexte=20141029 There are a couple people in T&T who immigrated to France, although I think they all did it through student or working visas, so like me, they may also not be able to help you particularly well.
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Oct 29, 2014 14:12
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Oct 29, 2014 14:33
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Did you grow up in Quebec, or elsewhere in Canada? If the former, you will not be understood by a lot of people in France, so be prepared for that. When my aunts and grandparents came to visit when I was born they went and visited Montreal and Quebec for a few weeks, and they had a huge language barrier problem as they were completely incapable of understanding the Quebecois accent, and I know from experiences with others that this is pretty much normal in France as well. If you grew up elsewhere and learned France French, depending on how good it is people will either try and reply to you in English (they used to do this to me when I was a little kid), or will not be able to figure out where you're from and still speak to you in French, but they will realize you're from elsewhere. That's what I get now, usually people will ask if I'm from Belgium or Switzerland as they can tell I'm CLOSE to France French, but not quite there. I grew up in BC speaking French with my mom, who was born and raised Parisian. So yeah, just be prepared that even if you speak fluent French in Canada you won't necessarily be understood all the time in France.
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Oct 29, 2014 20:26
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Oct 30, 2014 01:24
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I lived in France from 1996-98 on a student visa, spending almost the entire time in Montpellier. Unless things have changed since then, you will not be permitted to work, and it's very difficult to change to another kind of visa without a local spouse or an employer willing to sponsor you. As far as student life, it would be hard to top Montpellier. It's one of the sunniest regions of France, although doesn't get the tourist hordes that you encounter on the other side of Marseille. The city has tens of thousands of university students, and one of the oldest universities in Europe. It's a city bus ride from the Mediterranean beaches. Being in the middle of the Cotes du Languedoc wine region, wine can be cheaper than Coca Cola there. It's not as close to Paris as you might like, but still only about 3.5 hours by TGV.
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Nov 3, 2014 17:13
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 03:31
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Pachinko posted:If I could get some info on how to look for real estate, that would be welcome. I'm not sure this is what you're asking for but leboncoin.fr has a real estate section which is a quick and easy no bullshit way to look for a rental or anything really.
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Nov 4, 2014 10:02
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Also OP I kind of worry that you romanticize France a bit too much. I mean France is a lovely country but so is Canada, and France has its fair share of significant problems, especially for young people with liberal arts degrees that don't come from les grandes écoles. I also live in Switzerland, so all the French people who come here talk like they're refugees from a dying nation, especially now with Hollande in power. Probably it is dramatized but still based in reality.
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Nov 4, 2014 11:06
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 13:33
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Pachinko posted:the prices for immobilier are incredibly low. I noticed in France the houses are either in brick, or concrete, which is totally awesome. They say now is the best time to buy in France. The real estate market has really calmed down. You're also not looking at metropolitan or touristy areas that are more sought after either so you probably shouldn't worry about finding a place.
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Nov 4, 2014 15:00
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 17:11
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What Saladman is telling you is that you're romanticizing it to the point that you're going to get to France, nothing is going to live up to your expectations, and you're going to hate it. Not everyone is a Voltaire, or a Sartre or a Descartes, most French people do not give a poo poo about trying new things, and in fact a significant portion of the population is interested in going back to the way things were rather than being progressive. If you move to Paris, see how many times people tell you to avoid the 93, and it's not because it's a "poor" area, it's because it's a "black people/arab" area. You grew up in Quebec (or Ontario, given the Franco-Ontarien comments?), no matter how many teachers tell you that you speak French "properly", you're not going to be understood by chunks of the population. Unemployment is high, immigration is frowned upon more and more (and yes, you will be considered an immigrant, especially since as a Marionite you likely look somewhat Arabic) and France does have a racism problem that cannot be explained away by "Oh well I'm a Marionite", because you can't say that to literally every single person you meet. Also small town France is VERY insular, and not very welcoming of outsiders, which is why you find most immigrants gravitating to the cities. Hell, my aunt moved to a village an hour outside of Paris, near Fontainebleau, a few years ago, and it took YEARS before she and her partner were accepted as members of the community, they were originally looked upon with suspicion, no one would talk to them, etc. I'm not saying travel sucks don't do it. I'm not saying France sucks don't do it. I'm saying that if you keep coming in here thinking France is this magical fairy land where everything is perfect you're going to be horrendously disappointed, disallusioned, and you'll hate it.
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Nov 4, 2014 18:03
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 19:32
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No offense and you've probably heard this a lot, but you're pretty weird, OP. It's also pretty odd that you insult someone for misspelling Maronite, and then you repeatedly call Arabs "Ahabs".
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Nov 4, 2014 23:16
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Saladman posted:No offense and you've probably heard this a lot, but you're pretty weird, OP. Pachinko fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Nov 6, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 23:28
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Dude I think Saladman and Hookshot are just concerned with you getting Paris Syndrome because you sound pretty emotionally invested and France may not live up to your expectations. Hookshot also brought up a valid concern about racism in France but if you actually look like the picture you posted no one will bat an eye at you, you'll probably be the guy with the funny accent and it's fine, we don't get francophones from Canada often. At worst people will think you're from belgium and ask you if a Maronite is a chocolate thing. I'm not sure about France being a magical land of culture and philosophy but it sure is a pretty place with decent people all around. If your plan is to come here to finish school, make friends, get a job and settle I don't really see what can go wrong.
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Nov 4, 2014 23:29
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 5, 2014 00:04
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I re-read the post I made early this morning and it definitely reads douchier than I meant it to be, I know no one complained about that (or edited it out if so) but still, sorry, it wasn't supposed to come off like that, I blame the lack of coffee in my system. It sounds like you haven't done much travelling in your life. As someone who has, and has moved countries, including having lived in France, I can tell you this: it does take a lot of energy and effort to move somewhere else, but ignoring the bad stuff can be very detrimental to the eventual enjoyment of your trip. Don't let it put you off to the point where you don't do it, but accept that not everything will be perfect, you can't plan for everything, some things won't be what you expect, but at the same time you will experience a new culture, meet new people and have life experiences that you will remember for the rest of your life. Believe me, if you go in knowing about the bad stuff, and knowing that not everything is going to be perfect and super fun, you will overall enjoy yourself a LOT more when you're there than if you fantasize about it being this perfect wonderland while you're still in Canada. No one here wants to discourage you from going to France in any way, absolutely not. We just don't want you to over excite yourself to the point where it's impossible for the country to live up to your expectations.
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Nov 5, 2014 04:08
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 5, 2014 05:01
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Practical question here, and apologies if it's already been asked and answered. What do you plan on doing for money? France doesn't exactly hand out work authorization to North Americans like candy, and even if it did, unemployment is already quite high for young people.
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Nov 5, 2014 05:42
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Pachinko posted:It's fine, I apologize for my overbearing humor, and neglect of the fact that France is just like all other countries, but with specifics that make it what it is. Nevertheless, it's my fault for assuming that you knew how to insult a Maronite. Ah, nah, I'm completely atheist, it's just seeing as I've typed "marionettes" a lot more in my life than "Maronite", I think my brain just added the 'i' automatically, again going back to the whole early-morning-no-coffee thing.
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Nov 5, 2014 06:38
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 01:47 |
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Dead thread.
Pachinko fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Nov 19, 2014 |
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Nov 5, 2014 14:55
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