The Zoom Calls
If you appreciate the community knowledge and support of our Zoom calls, consider joining us in real life in Angers for a month of experiencing life– not vacation — as a new expat might. We’ll have the same friendly, informative camraderie as in our calls. We’ll meet lots of French people and newly arrived expats. We’ll build the practical life skills and friendships you’ll need to thrive in life in France. NOT a tourist experience; this is month-long seminar on how to live here. and the only trip of its kind. All profits go to the Bibliotheque Anglophone of Angers. Learn more here
July 6th, 2024 – Housing for Part-timers at Tryer-Outers in France: Year-round Renting, Fractional Ownership and Purchase
Invited Guests: Jo Anna Carre, Ginny Blackwell and Dennelle Taylor Nizoux
July 21, 2024, Part 2: Great Websites for Finding Your French Town: villedereve.fr
August 4, 2024: Aix-en-Provence, Nimes, Uzes
Invited Guests: RyanGreen, Jeff Weihl, Paula Matos & Rich Stentons
August 17, 2024: Toulouse & Montpellier
Invited Guests: Lisa Hamilton & Dennelle Taylor Nizoux
BONUS: August 25, 2024: Am I too old to try to do this in France? (an unplanned conversation worth having & listening to)
Conversation at the end of our group call: Junko & Marilee
Sept. 21:
Towns around Toulouse + Marilee Reports from the Road
October 6:
Bordeaux & Environs
November 24:
Brittany and Normandy
December 15th:
Strasbourg, with Trina Burfield
To get notification ahead of time for all Zoom calls, and receive the replay and the written chat/summary, subscribe here.
January 19th, 2025:
Angers!
February 16th, 2025:
Renting in France:
- Jo Carre from Property Finder France
- 3 ‘civilian renters’ tell their “war storiies” on finding longer term rentals in France.
March 30th, 2025:
French Culture: 2 insiders & 2 (Francophile and culture nerdish) outsiders
- France Dubin (see her bilingual books at francedubin.com)
- Beatrice Nanty
- Linda Williams
April 27th, 2025:
French Politics, with Marilee Taussig
May 18th, 2025:
May 18th – Managing French Healthcare (through the lens of someone moving from another country)
Our Facilitator: Michael Sugarman
Our Guests
1.An & Jeff Scott (An is a YouTuber with her husband Jeff with a channel called Postcards from Our Golden Years.
2. John and Kat Hill : willing to tell stories about their health care experiences and had a healthy set of experiences
+ Janice Wang (on American expats and “free healthcare”)and Paul Schraeder, (which health/travel insurance to choose) regular attendees, experts in all things French both had several superb points to add.
June 1st, 2025:
This Week’s Call: Managing French Faux Pas and Other Cultural Calamities
- On ‘egalité’ and why it means you must say ‘Bonjour’
- On customer service culture in France
- Tbe magic words when you need help
- Acceptable topics of conversation in France (vs. US)
- Normal in France = good. Extraordinary in US = good
- A trick to help start getting the small things right ( like ordeing the lemon tart in the boulangerie in a way that makes the lady smile!)
June 29th, 2025:
How an English-speaking newcomer to France makes French friends.
Most people who’ve made France their home will tell you that making close friendships with French people has been perhaps one of their biggest long-term challenges. Mandy Torsey-Guillet, the director of the English Speaking Library in Angers,along with several other experienced expats who’ve managed to surmount the considerable barrier of making FRENCH friends are our guests.
July 13th: Learning French after 60 and not hating it
Try and take the quiz thate Deborah Pham van Xua from Feel Good French made just for this session to test your French.
Some highlights of the call:
- Tips for remembering when your memory is not young
- Average prices and class sizes for online tutors
- Finding the fun in making mistakes
- What to say to a French-speaker when you didn’t get what they said.
July 27th: Managing Your Money as a Relative Newcomer to France
- Credit cards w low fees
- Open accounts in expat-friendly US banks
- Brokerage services may reduce your privileges or shut you down; IBKR
- Opening FR bank acct, Carte Bleue
- Paying bills in FR
- WISE for exchanges/transfers
- Declaring FR taxes
- Paying FR admin govt fees (timbre fiscal)
- Any way of earning interest for Euros sitting in a bank
October 11, 2025 : Town Talk: Dijon
July 21, 2024, Part 1: Great Websites for Finding Your French Town: Weatherspark.com
July 21, 2024, Part 3: Great Websites for Finding Your French Town: Latter portion
August 11, 2024: Dordogne!
Invited guests: Susan Thorington and Cris & Serge
August 25, 2024: A writer moves to Aix-en-Provence
Invited Guest: Jenny Van Stone. Read her wonderful blog at hexagon-home.com
Sept. 8: The city of Nice, with Paul Schrader (long time Nice/CA part-timer)
Sept. 29:
Antibes
October 20:
Mont-de-Marsan & Pau
November 10:
How To Do a Scouting Trip to France
December 8th:
The Best Towns and the Best Places To Rent (For Longer Stays)
January 4th, 2025:
Beziers, with Nicole Hammond
February 2nd, 2025:
A No Car Life in France
March 17th, 2025:
Finances & taxes in France:
- Jake Barber: Book a free call to hear more at Sjb-global.com
April 13th, 2025:
A Town Talk: Marseille
with Lisa Hamilton
May 4th, 2025:
Town Talk: Avignon
With Michael D. Sugarman
Featuring Michael D. Sugarman
June 15th, 2025:
This Week’s Call: French and American Taxes
With Jonathan Hadida, hadtax.com, for consultation hello@hadtax.com
- Tax Residency and why it matters
- Tax liability in France
- How to avoid double taxation
- Filing Considerations
- What to watch out for (including before you move)
July 6th: Aging in France, or “Thriving in Later Life as a Transplant in France”
We heard the direct experience of:
- Patricia Pedditzi, (who also runs a highly reputable relocation service in Nice called www.frenchrivieraexpatservices.com) talked about the different experiences of care of her mother and father and the services France offers for the elderly. For a FULL report on all the options (there are a LOT) check out her hour long Youtube here: https://youtu.be/K_45vf-xuRM?si=gAwXtLwyrcmtkdp1
- Kim Del Rance who moved three years ago to a smaller town in Normandy at 64, with her mom, 84. She talks about the challenges and pluses of a life there, vs. her prior life in Florida., their options and decisions for what lies ahead.
- Fred S. was not able to join us live joined me insan incredible and inspiring conversation of his direct experience of having a serious stroke not long after having moved here, and his 5 years since, living in an EHPAD (medically supported residence for seniors)in Montpellier, as an American, with limited French. The second video is my conversation with him, (which for technical reasons, couldn’t be shared during the Zoom call) but which is very, very worthwhile. If nothing else, Fred is an incredible example of intelligence resilience when the dream doesn’t exactly turn out as you expected.