Moving back to Europe

Update:

I arrived in France last week, just in time to spend Christmas with my family. I currently live in temporary (furnished) housing. I already signed up for a French cell phone number (all done online, the SIM card came by mail already and I activated it yesterday). I chose a plan with the leading local provider featuring unlimited voice and text anywhere in Europe plus 50GB of data for 20 euros a month. Yesterday, I bought myself a "new" car (a 1-year old Audi A3 Quattro). It should be delivered around mid-January as it needs to be shipped from another part of France. I also purchased four snow tires to handle the roads up to the nearby Alpine ski resorts (the car I chose even comes with a "ski hatch" in the back seat). I am now shopping for car insurance (first estimate is around 45 euros per month for full coverage).
 
Good to hear that you are settling in well.
 
FIREd said:
Update:

I arrived in France last week, just in time to spend Christmas with my family. I currently live in temporary (furnished) housing. I already signed up for a French cell phone number (all done online, the SIM card came by mail already and I activated it yesterday). I chose a plan with the leading local provider featuring unlimited voice and text anywhere in Europe plus 50GB of data for 20 euros a month. Yesterday, I bought myself a "new" car (a 1-year old Audi A3 Quattro). It should be delivered around mid-January as it needs to be shipped from another part of France. I also purchased four snow tires to handle the roads up to the nearby Alpine ski resorts (the car I chose even comes with a "ski hatch" in the back seat). I am now shopping for car insurance (first estimate is around 45 euros per month for full coverage).
Click to expand...

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together! :)
 
Good update and Happy New Year FIREd, I hope 2019 is a better, happier year for you.
 
FIREd said:
Update:

I arrived in France last week, just in time to spend Christmas with my family. I currently live in temporary (furnished) housing. I already signed up for a French cell phone number (all done online, the SIM card came by mail already and I activated it yesterday). I chose a plan with the leading local provider featuring unlimited voice and text anywhere in Europe plus 50GB of data for 20 euros a month. Yesterday, I bought myself a "new" car (a 1-year old Audi A3 Quattro). It should be delivered around mid-January as it needs to be shipped from another part of France. I also purchased four snow tires to handle the roads up to the nearby Alpine ski resorts (the car I chose even comes with a "ski hatch" in the back seat). I am now shopping for car insurance (first estimate is around 45 euros per month for full coverage).
Click to expand...
This is the best post of the month! So happy to read that you completed this huge move back to France. What a huge accomplishment. Not only that, but you also found and purchased a nearly new Audi! That's wonderful too. I hope you can manage to get around somehow for the next couple of weeks or so until it is delivered. Glad you found some temporary housing, enjoyed Christmas with your family, and have a local cell phone now.
 
Glad to hear all is going well!

Congrats on the transition and enjoy the Alps!
 
Wow...sounds like your plan is falling (has fallen?) into place perfectly!

So, so happy for you. :dance:

omni
 
Update:

I will be taking delivery of my new car this afternoon. The car buying process is quite a bit longer in France than in the US. In the US, for the last 3 cars I purchased, I walked into a dealership, picked a car, paid for it by check, and drove off the lot a few hours later. In France, payment can only be made with a cashier's check or bank transfer. I selected to pay with a bank transfer because the fee was lower (€4 vs €15 for a cashier's check) . But the transfer had to occur a full 5 days before the delivery date (due to increasing bank transfer fraud I am told). I also had to secure insurance at least 2 days before delivery. I was asked to provide proof of address as well as full banking information even though I paid for the car outright. But the process was still very simple.

I ended up contracting a kind of umbrella insurance policy (coverage up tp €1M) at the same time as I contracted the auto insurance (full coverage, €500 deductible). I was told that €1M was more than enough coverage for the umbrella as seven figure judgements are exceedingly rare in France. Overall I will be paying about €75 a month for auto and umbrella insurance.

I have started looking for a condo. I visited my first one on Monday and I have another visit lined up for this afternoon (a 550 sqft, 1-bedroom condo with large windows and a terrific view on the mountains). There are no buyer's agents in France. Sellers list their property for sale with a real estate agency and potential buyers must contact that agency directly to make an appointment for a visit. So it takes more time to visit properties, as the buyer has to arrange each visit separately. The area that I am targeting has a very dynamic real estate market and properties are often already under contract by the time I try to make the appointment for a visit. So it has been a bit frustrating.

I have been in France for almost a month, and so far I have done very well on my food budget (€400 a month). On that budget, I can buy plenty of organic fruits and veggies. I can buy meat from a traditional butcher shop, perfectly aged cheese from an independent cheesemonger, and bread from an artisan bakery. And I have plenty left over for wine.
 
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Good progress.

Thanks for the detail on buying a car. In England it was very much like the USA. We went through this in 2016 and I helped our son in 2017 go round the dealers. Find a car, leave a deposit and return 2 or 3 days later after it has been detailed and you have arranged insurance. Pay the balance when picking it up with either bank to bank or can use your debit card, either way the money arrives at the dealer in minutes.
 
I love France Fired; You mentioned a view of the mountains. Where in France do you live now?

PS: We were in France for two weeks in September. It had been many years since we last visited France. We travelled down the Rhone through Beaujolais country. It was delightful. We spent the last several days in Nice. I love that city.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
Sounds like you are starting well the your new environment. Glad to hear your budget includes wine and good cheese!
 
Pretty sure I’m not alone in wanting to know what car :LOL:. Great progress! Good luck on the condo!
 
FIREd said:
... I have been in France for almost a month, and so far I have done very well on my food budget (€400 a month). On that budget, I can buy plenty of organic fruits and veggies. I can buy meat from a traditional butcher shop, perfectly aged cheese from an independent cheesemonger, and bread from an artisan bakery. And I have plenty left over for wine.
Click to expand...

In our most recent visit to France, it was a longer stay than previous trips, and we stayed in Airbnb so had the chance to do a bit of grocery shopping, and we enjoyed it. Some food items were not expensive at all; of course everything looks cheap when you compare to what one pays in restaurants. I was impressed with what wine one could get for 5 to 10 euros. And we liked all kinds of pâté and terrine, and they were so inexpensive.

You have been away for almost 20 years, I think. Has much changed? I know you have been back to visit every year, but perhaps there are changes that only reveal themselves in everyday's life.
 
FIREd said:
Update:

[snip]

I have started looking for a condo. I visited my first one on Monday and I have another visit lined up for this afternoon (a 550 sqft, 1-bedroom condo with large windows and a terrific view on the mountains).
Click to expand...

I’m a big fan of simplification & downsizing (we cut our living space in half during each of the last two moves so, we’re now living in 25% of the space from 8 yrs earlier). I don’t know what European residential decor is like these days (it’s been 25 yrs since I lived there) but, you would likely benefit from watching lots of episodes of “Tiny House Nation.” The space saving and multipurpose ideas they employ are brilliant! It’s available on YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=tiny+house+nation+
 
Congratulations on taking possession of your new car this afternoon! And good luck on finding just the right condo.

A new life, a new car, a new condo.... so glad everything is coming together for you.
 
I made an offer on the condo and it was accepted! I got it for a very good price for the area but it is a project... It looks a bit scary at the moment. And I took delivery of my car. I am so happy with it!
 

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