Expats wishing to settle in France often choose Brittany as their new home due to the region's pleasant temperature and breathtaking coastline.
Brittany is a common destination for people moving to France to settle permanently, as a second home, after retirement, or as an expatriate.
It is not difficult to comprehend the allure of relocating one's residence to Brittany. It has a beautiful coastline that stretches for 2,700 kilometers and a verdant interior that is crisscrossed with rivers and canals and populated with quaint little settlements. Even while the temperatures aren't as sweltering as those found farther south, the days are bright and pleasant (although windy), and it snows very seldom.
Getting to Brittany
The proximity of Brittany to the United Kingdom makes it simple to maintain relationships with one's family and friends. Ferry services departing from Poole, Portsmouth, and Southampton that travel to Saint Malo and Roscoff. Additionally, there is the high-speed TGV train that travels from Paris to Rennes in just two hours. In addition, there are numerous flights departing from all over the United Kingdom to the regional airports in Brittany.
The coastal strip
The coastal strip of Brittany is home to almost half of the region's population due to its abundance of fishing villages, harbor-side restaurants, and white sandy beaches; however, the region's housing costs are typically higher because residents pay for the privilege of living next to the water. Inland offers a wide variety of attractions, including weekly markets, picturesque landscapes, castles, megaliths, and properties such as traditional Breton farmhouses, which often include a significant amount of additional land.
After an unsuccessful search for a home suitable for a family in the southwestern region of England, Sarah, her husband Nigel, and their two small children made the move to a hamlet in eastern Brittany not far from the city of Rennes more than three years ago. "We picked Brittany because it was simple to travel there by boat from Dorset, where the majority of my family lives," Nigel explains. "Part of the reason for our decision was that I was quite familiar with the area from years of spending time there on family vacations." We wanted to raise a few sheep and some chickens, so we acquired a dilapidated home that had a lot of promise and a little land to go along with it.
The Brittany lifestyle
Because Sarah is both a certified nurse and a native French speaker, she was able to get a position as a school nurse with very little difficulty, in contrast to a good many of the other expatriates living in this region. Although the majority of her female acquaintances who live in another country do not work, many of their spouses or husbands continue to find a job in the UK.
The young children of the couple enrolled in the public schools in the neighborhood. Because the instruction was delivered entirely in French, it was particularly challenging for our eldest child. I made it a point to attend school every day so that I could review the material with the instructor and then reinforce it with him at home. "In the end, he had to start all over again," explains Sarah. "But my younger kid went into the maternelle (French for kindergarten), so she spent her first year in France playing – and subconsciously learning French. " Both are now able to communicate perfectly in both languages and are doing well in school.
At the very least, they are both genuinely happy in Brittany: "I love the speed of life here, it's so laid back and slow, especially compared to the rural region in England that we've left," says Nigel. "It's so relaxed back and slow," adds Nigel. "You wouldn't come to Brittany for the nightlife," adds Sarah. "But it affords us a quality of life that we simply couldn't afford in the UK – and the kids are now bi-lingual, which is a major advantage." "You wouldn't come to Brittany for the nightlife," agrees Sarah.
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