Have you ever thought about retiring in France, but worried about hidden challenges?
Those certain things nobody tells you, either because they are afraid, or ashamed, or because it is not politically correct?
Here is the thing: you should be concerned, you really should. There is a big chance you will be disappointed.
Unless you’re a Brit moving to Bordeaux -because most Brits somehow manage to live happily in that part of France
Today you will discover the main reasons foreigners who move to retire in France regret their choice.
We will also understand the curious case of success between Bordeaux and the Brits.
What is their secret?
I’ve gathered the stories of dozens of foreigners who lived in France for years and uncovered the 7 common regrets they never expected.
What you are about to see is eye-opening – not only for those planning to move to France but for many European countries.
The first 4 causes for regrets are small things that are easy for you to avoid – they just require some adaptations. The last 3, however, are more dangerous, and often people are afraid to talk about them.
And the first regret is…
In certain areas, it will be very difficult for you to socialize.
The most important thing here is to NOT compare the French way of socialization to the American way.
In the US, you can easily interact with friendly employees at the local Wal-Mart and exchange fishing stories. In France, that is way more difficult.
For example, if you ask Americans about their holidays, they might say, “Oh, it was amazing! It was wonderful!”
By contrast, a French person might just say,, “c’est vraiment pas mal,” which means, “not really bad.”
And that is interesting because the French spend a lot of time socializing….
In Europe, they are in the 4th place among the nationalities that spend more time socializing per week.
But… Most of this socialization happens within circles that aren’t easily accessible to outsiders.
This is what a foreign resident in France told us about his experience:
“I’m in Poitiers, west center. It is horribly cold in terms of social contact. Everything is happening behind closed doors and you need to be part of the inner circle to get to it. You may never reach it if you don’t know someone inside.”
Of course, there are other European countries where it is even more difficult to make friends, like, for example… well, better I stay quiet here.
There is also another very, very big obstacle to socializing and making friends in France, but that we will reveal in a few minutes because now it’s time for the second reason foreigners regret moving to France.
The day-to-day cultural differences that exist in many regions.
Have you ever heard of Chinese water torture?
Apparently, in the past, they let a drop of water fall on the head of a tied person for days and days, and that drove the poor person crazy.
For some expats, the little cultural differences you will find in France sometimes feel like this little drop of water that, if it drops only once or twice, does not bother you
But when it starts happening every day, during weeks, months, and years… it becomes a huge burden. I’m not talking about big things here, but small daily contrasts – the way street vendors talk to you, or the general sense of humor.
This is what a British living in France told us.
“I just can’t stand so many little aspects of French culture that seem worse compared to the UK culture I’m used to. Rude and unhelpful retail staff. No banter. Very little sense of humor in people you meet on a daily basis.”
And the very concept of joking is quite peculiar in France.
While British humor, like Monty Python, is based on absurdity, French humor relies on the subtleties of the “Second degré”, which is based on irony, and sarcasm, and very often difficult to realize that it is a joke if you are not used to it.
And since we are talking about obstacles for expats living in France, the third cause for regret is to…
…ignore and disrespect certain things that the French are very proud of.
Be aware that certain behaviors might make it hard for the locals to accept you.
And I prefer to explain this with a very peculiar – but not surprising – story from a local resident in France.
“The last American I talked to asked me where the nearest McDonalds was. He asked me that IN FRONT of a boulangerie with way better sandwiches. And when I told him that I didn’t think if there was one at walking distance, he sarcastically said “You mean you don’t know where the McDonalds is?!…”
You might be saying by now “What is the problem? People have the right to eat wherever they want”.
I get it, I also thought that before – but imagine going to a family dinner at your mother-in-law’s house.
When she starts serving everyone, you take a Bigmac from your bag and eat in front of the other guests at the table instead of eating her food.
Maybe she would get offended if you rejected her food, right?
That comparison might sound absurd but I think is the best way to explain how many French feel when a foreigner comes, rejects all the things the French are famous for, and keeps behaving as if he was still in Cleveland.
This advice of going local also applies to wine, cognac, etc. Here’s what a French person told us.
“I lived in 4 different regions in France, and food and booze is our common identity. If you keep telling French people the food(and everything else) in your country is better, they’ll tell you to go back home.”
Going local also means learning as much as possible of the local language, and that is exactly what the next point is about. Because the fourth cause of regret for expats who retire in France…
…is the language barrier.
First of all, if you are coming to stay for a very short time, it is understandable that you will not have time enough to comprehend the language
However, if you are coming for longer, it is extremely advisable to learn French. This is what a man married to a French told us:
“Lived in France with a French wife, from East Asia myself. Not having C1 level French is a huge disadvantage”
If you are moving to Paris, you can survive without speaking French, but this would limit your interactions with locals. Although Parisians have fame to be more intolerant if you speak broken French, as a foreign residing there told us:
“People in second and third-tier cities were so much nicer and more helpful when I used the wrong word or didn’t conjugate correctly. Parisians on the other hand were dicks about it.”
In these smaller cities, English speakers are not that common – in France, only 39% of all people speak English and they are concentrated in large metropolitan areas.
In little towns, simple daily tasks like grocery shopping, visiting the doctor, or dealing with utilities become challenging, and essential services are not offered in English.
Furthermore, the language barrier often hinders social integration. This isolation can lead to loneliness, as making friends becomes difficult.
“I am French and I used to work with thousands of US expats for years moving to Paris. All I can say is learning French should be your top priority. Over the years, the ones who learned the language are the ones who integrated without problems. Especially if you are not in Paris.”
Another consequence of the language barrier is the impact on administrative tasks. Navigating France’s complex bureaucracy is challenging even for native speakers.
So here is one thing that I ALWAYS recommend:
If you plan to move to France, especially to smaller cities, be prepared to learn French. The method I use to learn new languages which I recommend is this one (by using this link we both get a Bonus!): https://www.lingq.com/?referral=LevideSouza
And this is the secret of so many Brits that live in Bordeaux: they speak French.
So, these 4 causes of regret we mentioned so far might be relatively easier to avoid, but the next 3 are way more complicated, and in many cases, more serious.
The Biggest Cons of Living and Retiring in France
So we will enter now into the real deal breakers for many expats who moved to retire in France.
We start with the increasing cost of living.
France nowadays is the 13th most expensive country in the world.
It is more expensive than richer countries like Sweden or Germany. It is even more expensive than Luxemburg, the richest country in the world.
How is that possible?
The answer is simple: in Germany or Sweden, the cost of living is not that different between cities.
The most expensive cities in Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt) are only 36.7% more expensive than “cheap” cities like Dresden.
Meanwhile, in France, the differences are humongous: cities like Paris or Lyon can have costs that are almost twice the average costs of medium cities like Perpignan. Other big cities like Toulouse and Strasbourg are also surprisingly expensive. These urban areas are what push the average cost of living in France higher than the average in Germany. The price of an apartment in these cities will cost double the price of an apartment in most of the country.
While outside the areas surrounding these big cities, you have enormous swathes and hundreds of cities with very low prices. That is because countryside living in France can be remarkably cheap.
In Nimes, a medium city with 150 thousand residents located in the Occitanie region, not far from the Mediterranean coast, you can buy a 2-bedroom apartment for 99000 euros, or only 110 thousand dollars.
You can find even LOWER prices in departments like Creuze, Haute-Vienne, or Corrèze.
But the problem is: most of the foreigners, including expat retirees, will not move to those places but guess where?
Expensive cities like Bordeaux or Lyon, and then regret it when they realize these cities are more expensive than Germany, and have costs similar to Florida.
Even those who go to live in smaller, cheaper cities, still might be surprised by another thing.
Which is the next cause of regret for those who decide to retire in France.
The French tax system…
…which for many expats is the second worst thing about France, only losing to the one you’ll discover soon.
I won’t spend much time here, but rather just compare France with a few other countries we already covered.
Let’s imagine you earn $50000 per year on income from abroad, like pensions.
If instead of France you move to Sciacca, a beautiful coastal town in Sicily that we covered recently, you will pay $3500 per year in income tax, only 7% of your income.
The same applies to Thessaloniki, in Greece. There you will also pay $3500 per year, or only 7% of income tax on your pensions from abroad.
If you decide to move to retire in Portugal, you will pay $5000 per year in income tax. 10% of the total income.
In France, however, your income tax including social contributions will be $19550 per year. 39% of your entire pension will be taken by the French government.
Sounds nightmarish? Well…
But the high taxes are not the last thing that causes retirees in France to regret – the last and, in some cases, the biggest reason for regret for some expats who moved to France is the…
Increasing violence.
Before jumping into numbers, I want to tell you the personal story of a foreigner in France.
“I had quite some dodgy encounters and was even beaten up for my phone once at 9 pm in a dark street by 6 men. I know a lot of women who were harassed or catcalled on the streets. It’s not Brazil for sure, but still, even I as a man was scared to walk back home after bars closed.”
It is not news that violence increased in France.
But…
The mistake most foreigners make is talking about violence in France in general terms.
Crime in France is VERY location-specific.
More location-specific than in the US, and more than in most European countries, except maybe for Belgium. That means that most of the violence and criminal occurrences in France occur only in certain places.
It is just that in larger cities in France, you have a much, much bigger chance of being a victim of crime than in small cities.
This is what a resident in Toulouse, another large French city, told us.
“I lived in Toulouse for about 10 years and left for the Netherlands partly because of how unsafe France has become.”
And Paris is even worse because, in the French capital, you’re 19 times more likely to be the victim of a crime than in the countryside.
Even in Paris, however, there are some relatively safe areas. If you want to understand more about what happened there, and how Paris became as dangerous as some parts of Latin America, check this article.
And remember: avoid the Gare du Nord during the night.
Levi Borba is the founder of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. You can find him on X here.
