The heatwave didn't stop at the French borders, it was hot with no AC in Germany, Italy, Spain, England etc,,,

The "Silence" Yep, as new home owner in the Charente, I'm getting used to this. I'm even starting to embrace it. No one is holding my hand and they expect me to struggle through it. I'm starting to like it, and I'm learning a lot.

Wherever you go…you know. There YOU are. Thanks Ben.

My husband and I moved to Austin from Denver and couldn’t make friends. We moved to Greenville SC and it’s been a year and haven’t made friends. Adults rarely make friends. Everyone has their circle already and newcomers are strange. If I had a friend group and met a new person, it wouldn’t surprise me if my group struggled to let them in. I frankly think friend groups are the weird part. Cliches are strange and I can assure you, they’re everywhere.

I've lived in France for 53 years with my French wife I met in London. We haven't been back to Blighty for over 20 years and no desire, especially now.
I have dual nationality and still have my Eeengleesh accent. Most of my friends are French and some Americans, the English have all died!

All you need is determination😊

We change our environment because we want to change our experience of life. Yet the only way this happens is if we use the relocation as a catalyst to change ourselves. Keep the good bits and gradually (but deliberately) strip off the attitudes and anxieties that are now foreign and don’t belong in this new French life.

Good advice. Moved here from the UK 25 years ago. Now a naturalised Frenchman and would not go back. You have to persevere. It's not always an easy ride. The rental thing, God I've been there. Take anything to start with (we lived in a studio as a couple) and once you're working with your CDI,  your French payslips and French avis d'imposition it's much easier. Agree about the ex-pat bubble. It's a comfort but don't rely on it. My French friends are largely ex-colleagues who became friends, though I did meet one close friend chatting in a bar, so it does happen. France is wonderful and very worth it, just be real and don't come with flowery "A Year in Provence" crap in your head. That's not most people's reality.
I've had a great career here - largely in French institutions. I'm now retired, a property owner, and have some great friends. Integrating is an effort and takes several years, but really worth it.

Wonderful place to live wouldn't change it for anything 29 years in now👍

Lots of sound advice there. Here are a few of my own tips (Note: for rural areas particularly).
When we moved here 22 years ago, we had snow and reasonable summers, not any more. It's been a hellishly hot summer.
Stone houses with shutters stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter (once heated), but they can also be money pits. Don't take on more land than you can cope with. Collect rainwater (we're currently not allowed to use our well for the garden due to drought). A septic tank could end up being a boon not a hindrance.
Keep a folder of certified translated documents (though often they'll ask for more recent translations) - if you get something translated ask for several copies of it. Don't get married or do anything else requiring translations in August when a lot of translators are on holiday! If you're moving permanently, pay attention to inheritance laws.
Home & Parents - I brought my mum over here so that solved that. I do miss being able to get chicken kyiv though!
To make social connections easier, help out at a local event/organisation.
Try to move somewhere without any English speaking immediate neighbours, it will help your French immensely, even if you end up learning more colloquialisms/dialects than is good for you. We were lucky having a reasonable level of French, but even so, it was years before I was comfortable using the telephone and I'm still hopeless at writing it. I'm an introvert so I'm in my element!
PS Check out the availability of doctors/medical facilities in the area, and whether they are taking on new patients. there's a big shortage of doctors in rural areas, facilities have become more centralised so you have to travel further for a consultant for example, and there's an even bigger shortage of dentists.

My apartment search was seamless simply because I used Ibanista. Im in the us and have a 1 year lease on the most lovely new home in france because of you, dear Ben.

Love you in this space more than other space

Number Seven is very real .. one learns to moderate their expectations. -Daniel (Paris)

Great points. Agree that something can be very challenging but also worthwhile.

I,m just happy to live here after 25 years.😂

Frenchman here: People with a positive attitude like you are most welcome in France, as we need some fresh perspective from knowledgeable outsiders.

Very good points. But France is not unique in being difficult for a newcomer to settle in. The USA is the same if not worse. Even after 30 years and being a citizen, I’m still treated like an outsider. Americans call themselves friendly, but they are not as friendly as they think. They are friendly in that they will talk to you, but breaking into their circle is also extremely difficult. You have to understand that they grew up together, watched the same tv shows , listened to the same music and shared many experiences we did not. I see that as also being the case in France, language aside. I have found that those Americans who have travelled a lot are wayyyy more open. This is where expat groups are helpful. It is at least one major shared experience. I still have friends from the original group I met when I landed here from South Africa 30 years ago. We learned a lot from each other. My friends include people from most of the anglophone countries, plus a Swede and well travelled Americans.
I’m going to retire in France and I am under no illusion of any “welcome mat”. However having an expat group or association that you can ask questions of share books and experiences with etc. I also imagine that those French people who have travelled will be more interested in speaking with you.

Best advice re: the printer/scanner. It was literally my second purchase after moving to France, 2 days in. Here, 16 months later, I cannot overestimate how often I use it. Weekly, for everything you can imagine.

Rituals: they are the superglue of life, wherever you live. People you see over and again - the Netto cashier, the locksmith who we discovered  lives three doors down from me and who I have spent WAY too much money with in the past year(don't ask!), my MT and his assistant, the Saturday market florist.  Doing laundry on Tuesday afternoons, pétanque Thursday afternoon, French class Friday mornings. Daily dog walks.  All the things that create happy anchors.

And, at the end of this video - the friendship piece - spot on. People are in your life three ways: a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Most relationships I've developed here in "our circle" so far are still in the reason stage = we're all Americans (except for a Welsh couple and a Canadian/American couple) in the same boat. Some may move to season status, i.e., for me, retirement and related interests. I hold little expectation that any will move to lifetime - but then again, I may die sooner than I think and then all relationships at that time will be lifetime now, won't they 😉  Just like true friendships "back home" wherever that is, very few of us have more than a handful of  deep sustained relationships apart from family that we're nourished throughout life.

Thanks again, Ben. And so happy that my friends Jeff and Julie are working with you for their French home here in Albi!

Learn French. Don't just have expat friends. Vive la difference. I've been in France for over twenty years. I feel very, very lucky.

Well said. I know you have to be holding back but you always get the point across! 😂 Every day I have a different opinion but I just keep it moving. I have troubles sometimes looking for what I need but I KNOW it will all work out. Good thing I am a laid back person.  Sometimes, good things come to those who wait. I am one month in! HAHA. Have a good one.