Written by: Paul
Fresh croissants, regular trips to Paris and three hundred days of sunshine – these were some of the things we envisioned when we boarded the plane from Toronto to Montpellier exactly one year ago today. We were anxious but excited – after selling everything we owned and leaving our home country behind, moving to France was a massive risk. But it’s a risk we were happy to take – life is too short not to go after the things that will make you happy.
So after one year would we judge it a success? Was the risk worth it? Did we get the croissants? The sunshine? The trips to Paris?
For those counting, that was five questions, and the answers are as follows: yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes!
It’s been an incredible year, full of highs and lows, challenges, dreams realized and goals completed. It’s also been a year of great French speaking opportunities (Angela), and terrible, awkward French gaffes (Paul, daily). It was a year of travel and new adventure, cultural learning, and striding on more cobblestones than you can shake a walking stick at.
With this in mind, here are some of the highs and lows of our first year in Montpellier!
HIGHS
Montpellier
The city of Montpellier has met all of our expectations. It’s a vibrant, picturesque city near the Mediterranean that really does deliver on their “300 days of sunshine” promise. It’s a gorgeous place – here are a few highlights, from the Promenade du Peyrou…
…to the quaint cobblestone streets and alleys in the heart of the old city…
…to the Christmas decorations…
…and quaint little restaurants.
Even the administrative buildings in this city are gorgeous.
I’ve always wanted to live in a place where snow was unheard of and shovels scarce. Angela always wanted to live in a city where she could practice her French daily and there’s a bakery within easy walking distance – check and check.
It’s a city full of interesting history and the people are extremely friendly. This is also a city that goes all-in on events and holidays – there’s never a boring season here. Montpellier punches above its weight when it comes to arts and culture, as well as sports – all things that were important to us when choosing a place to live.
Montpellier itself is one of the greatest highlights of our move so far, and we’re thankful we chose this city as our starting point in France.
Travel
In 2022 we travelled. A lot. After two years of Covid restrictions and a lifetime of of interest in European history, it felt amazing to be set loose in a part of the world we both love to explore.
One of our priorities was to visit Paris on as regular a basis as possible. Montpellier is almost 800 kms south of Paris, so it’s not exactly next door, but it’s an easy trip on high speed trains, usually completed in about three and a half hours. We made it to Paris in February, May (for Roland Garros!), June (for almost a month), and September. It’s a city that has flaws, but it definitely has a magic that no other city on the planet can match. We love it there, and can’t wait to explore it further in ’23.
Within France we made it a priority to explore the south. The walled medieval city of Carcassonne was one of our favourites, and we also enjoyed Narbonne, Sète (the Venice of France!), Aigues-Mortes, La Grande Motte, and Arles. From walled cities to gorgeous vineyards, and the beaches of the Mediterranean to the historic city centres, there is so much to see in southwestern France. Further east, we loved exploring Nice as well as Monte Carlo, although we were only in Monte Carlo for the ATP tennis event that was held there.
Outside France we were fortunate to visit Slovakia (Bratislava); Austria (Vienna); Spain (Barcelona); and Italy (Rome and Florence). Living in a centrally located European city means all of Europe is really at your doorstep, and travel opportunities like these were a big part of why we moved here. Vienna was spectacular, Barcelona magical (we’re heading back in Feburary). Visiting Rome was the realization of a lifelong dream for both of us…
…and Florence exceeded our expectations. We can’t wait to return to Italy.
Admin Wins
French administration can be – what’s the polite word here – cumbersome? So when you get a “win” it’s definitely a highlight! Highlights for us on the admin side were:
- Getting Angela’s carte de séjour (residence permit) sorted for year one – and then renewed already for year two!
- Securing our Carte Vitales and our acceptance into the French healthcare system
- Starting small businesses based here in Montpellier
- Exchanging our drivers’ licences – mine is complete and I should have a shiny new French licence this week. Angela is not too far behind. A friend told us the DL exchange is the pinnacle of French administrative wins, so we’re excited to be ahead of the game!
The amount of time we spend managing paperwork, setting up online accounts, answering mail, sending in forms, etc. is insane. As newcomers to France it’s something of a rite of passage, so I guess we’re being initiated into the culture here one registered letter at a time.
Food
The food in France is legendary, and Montpellier is no exception. We’ve found some amazing bistros that we hit on a regular basis, and there’s no shortage of food options within easy walking distance of our apartment. The baguettes, the butter, and the pastries are all next level, and we love shopping for food at our local markets. We’re eating more fresh food from local growers and butchers than ever before.
We’ve gotten to know all of the sellers at our market and we have a routine that makes us feel like locals. There’s even a border collie there every day the market’s on, and he’ll run all day chasing sticks that shoppers throw for him. I play with him a couple times a week, making it feel like I have an actual friend here in Montpellier…that dog is awesome, and he doesn’t care that my French is less than stellar.
Visitors
One highlight that will never get old is exploring this city and country with friends and family who come to visit. This year we had visits at various times throughout the year (let’s face it, the south of France is not exactly a hard sell when it comes to attracting people!). Sharing the experience with others makes the move here even more special, and we’re looking forward to seeing a heap of our friends and family in ’23!
LOWS
With highs come lows. Honestly, we haven’t had too many lows – I would say what we’ve had are more like challenges or inconveniences rather than lows. Here are a few:
- The language barrier is a bit of an issue for me. Angela’s French is amazing, and mine is improving, but in situations when we’re dealing with someone speaking really quickly or using technical jargon I definitely get a bit lost. I also find I don’t have the language skills to use my sense of humour very well, so I feel a bit more timid than I do when speaking in English. So I don’t feel like “French Paul” has the same outgoing personality as “English Paul”, and that’s an interesting phenomenon to experience. Improving my French is definitely a goal for year two here in France, if for no other reason than I’ll get my sense of humour back.
- No Canadian-style peanut butter. None. French peanut butter is either nowhere to be found or just not very good. The British brands are better, but they’re expensive for tiny little bottles. When our Canadian friends and family come visit us they bring peanut butter in their luggage and it buys them an extra day of room and board. 🙂
- No friends and family. It’s hard to make friends as an adult (except for border collies) – add in cultural and language barriers and it’s even tougher. Add in a pandemic (a major issue when we first moved here) and no former history here in southern France, and it can be a pretty lonely place. Everyone here is friendly, but we still don’t have any good friends yet. Maybe we need to start giving away some of our Canadian peanut butter to our neighbours. That should do it.
- While French food is amazing overall, the French really don’t like to add spice in their food. Ever. Even things that should be spicy really aren’t, and good luck finding spicy versions of salsa or other sauces in the grocery store (unless you go the international section or a specialty store). Not a problem for Angela, but I happen to love spicy food, so I’ve had to adapt. I know this doesn’t exactly fall into the category of major hardships, but when you love spice as much as I do, it takes some getting used to. I’ll survive, and I always have a few hot peppers and a bottle or two of hot sauce handy in the fridge for emergencies!
PLANS FOR YEAR TWO
Year one in France was truly incredible and we couldn’t be more excited going into year two. In our second year we plan to explore southern France more and get to places we had on our list but didn’t get to like Nîmes, Toulouse, and some of the areas around Nice. Further afield we’d like to get to Lyon and Annecy, and of course return to Paris as many times as we can! We also have plans to visit Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, and possibly Venice. So a busy year for sure.
We’ll both also continue to work on our French skills and we’ll join some social groups in an effort to expand our friend circle beyond the market dog. We’re also planning to ramp up our engagement here at Unlocking France by publishing more posts and posting more on social media. Year one was good from a content point of view but we’re going to move up a level in year two!
Thank you to everyone who has followed us on our journey for the past year! Angela and I have really enjoyed sharing our experiences with you, and we’ll continue to do so as long as we are living here. France has given us the experience of a lifetime and we’re happy to write about our adventures during our time here.
Our first year in France definitely started with a bang. Looking forward to connecting with all of you in 2023 and beyond!
Where would you like to explore if you lived in southern France? What places in this part of the world interest you? Comment below – cheers!