Integration in France

After relocating to France, you might find a bit lonely having left friends and family behind. Don’t just stay at home! There is a completely new life out there!

There are many ways you can take to integrate into your new community:

- You can join local clubs and associations. To find out about the different activities offered in your village visit your local mairie. See this post here about joining an association.

- If you wish to share your hobby, you can also set up your own club or association. See this post here for information.

- Invite your neighbours for an aperitif. It is a great way to meet your neighbours. Aperitifs are served around 11.45 am – 12.30 pm or in the evening around 6 – 8 pm. French people will only have 1 or 2 drinks and go home so don’t panic you won’t have to hold a conversation for the whole evening! Or bake a cake and invite them round for tea one afternoon. French people do like English cakes! Sponge cakes, coffee walnut, carrot cakes, etc. They all taste lovely and in France we don’t have any equivalent ones.

- Attending local events! Most villages or towns organised different events all year round. The Telethon (charity equivalent to the UK Children in Need) is always looking for volunteers to help or to take part! See my future post about Telethon!

- If you have children, why not invite the parents of your childrens’ friends for a drink? Again bake a cake and invite them round whilst your children are playing. You might find some people do speak a little English and might like to improve their language.

All the above ideas will help ease you into French life...

Why not set up an association in France to share your hobby?

If you have a hobby or a particular interest which you would like to share with other people or if you just want to make friends in your locality why not start an association?

June and Philip set up their association in France in 2009 and here is what they think:

"We started our association because although there are dance classes in our area they take place in the evening and in the dark winter months we did not want to venture out so we decided to start a class during the afternoon.

Here is the procedure we had to follow to set up our association in Brittany:

We contacted our local sous-préfecture and they supplied us with the forms and an information booklet which explained in details all the various aspects of an association, e.g. finance, insurance, advertising and the rules governing an association in France. Although our French is good we had to ask Rachel Gallard for assistance with the paperwork as all the forms are in French! Red tape is well known in France even for setting up an association!

An association must be non-profit making and requires at least two people to implement it. The association must have a title and this has to be decided upon immediately as it is required on the application form. Be careful what name you choose as it could be rejected if another association has the same or similar name.

After submitting your application you will be invoiced for approximately 40 euros. This is for your association to be included in the government’s official weekly paper “Journal Officiel”. You will be sent a copy.

When we first thought of starting an association it appeared rather daunting but in the end it proved to be very easy. It is also a great way to integrate in France".