About 125,000 Americans are resident in France, not by any means the largest expat community in France, but still one of the largest American expat communities in the world once you get past Mexico, Canada and the UK. We live in a rural community of about 1,600 souls in the south of France without any particular geographical or touristic attraction and a couple of dozen Americans either live in the village permanently or spend considerable vacation time in property that they own here. In cities like Paris and Bordeaux and Marseilles, large and thriving American communities exist, sometimes to the consternation of long-term expats who would prefer that Americans be less insistent on broadcasting their heritage.
For those of you considering making the move to France, there are books and books and magazine articles and books and books and newsletters and consultants and books and books. By all means, do your due diligence. I spent 15 years studying before we moved and we've lived here for 12 years. I've made many mistakes and continue making mistakes. But I have found the one piece of advice that is the most important. Two words. Get Frenchified.
Get Frenchified? What the hell does that mean?
To be Frenchified is to mimic being native French. I first used the term in connection with my car, a trusty Renault diesel-powered wagon that was 13 years old when I bought it and that ran faithfully for 8 years and 100,000 kilometers thereafter. I would be driving it today if I hadn't had a late-night conversation with a wild boar. I was initially attracted to the Renault's perfect-looking body. In my view, cars are disposable drivetrains. That is, if the body is solid and rust free, pretty much everything else is replaceable. In short order after purchase, driving down one of the narrow village streets designed more for horse carts than motorized vehicles, I swiped the corner of a garden wall taking a turn. I was mortified until I began taking serious notice of the cars parked adjacent to mine. Each, even the newest of them, had a scratch or a ding or a dent. They had been Frenchified. Now my Renault had been properly Frenchified too.
What does being Frenchified mean in a discussion about moving to France?
Learn the language. You don't have to be fluent, but it's a Romance language. It's just not that hard to learn the basics. Learn your address and phone number in French. We carry little cards with us that have our names and address and phone numbers and email addresses. We give them out to avoid confusion if we must. But rattling off your address and phone number is a necessary part of daily life in France.
Say Good Morning. Please and Thank You would be nice. You don't have to do the cheek-kissing thing. But everybody gets a Bonjour. Your waitress. The shopkeeper. EVERYBODY.
Drive European. A Renault. A VW is acceptable. Even a Dacia will do. (A Romanian maker but owned by Renault.) Ford has a European presence. Don't. Just don't.
Get a French bank account. Get a French phone number. Read a French newspaper. Listen to Radio Classique. If you must, watch France 24 - English-language TV news - instead of CNN or BBC.
Learn the basics of football (soccer) and rugby and pétanque. The Western Europeans aren't sending armies after each other any more, but they do meet regularly in more structured, and usually less fatal competitions. Your favorite bar will extend hours and/or open on days normally closed to accommodate fans. And if you are serious about becoming Frenchified, you will definitely have a favorite bar.
You will never be mistaken for native French. Cathey and I, dressed from head to toe in clothing bought in France, without uttering a single word in any language, are consistently greeted with an English Hello as soon as we walk through a shop door. Can't be helped. We've done everything that we can to get Frenchified. We've mostly succeeded. The effort is as important as the result.
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