Alexis Stratfold

Alexis Goldberg

Alexis loved visiting France as a child and always dreamed of living there one day. Fortunately she met a man who had the same dream! So they married, then bought a beautiful 300-year-old character house in a pretty village in the Languedoc Roussillon. Alexis has been writing about France for a decade, inspiring and helping hundreds of British people to move there. She says: "Our only regret is that we did not move to France earlier! The lifestyle is tranquil, the summers are long and hot and the sun shines almost every day (or seems like it does!). We’ve made friends of many nationalities here."

The pros and cons of the French healthcare system

The French healthcare system is amongst the best in the world. The hospitals are well funded, modern and well equipped, village GP’s offer a great service, and there is little, if any, waiting time for an appointment.

Solar panels to be installed over the next 5 years on French motorways

French roads will be covered with 1,000km of solar panels over the next five years and it is said that each kilometre will give enough power to light a village of 1,000 inhabitants!

Changes to the French language

In a bid to simplify the French language, the Ministry of Education has reminded schools to implement a series of spelling changes dating back to 1990 that appear to have gone under the radar until now. There are 2,400 spelling changes in total, which were recommended by the Académie Française, the guardians of the French language, 26 years ago. The Académie Française was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis X111. It was suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution but reinstated in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is basically France’s offici

Is now a good time to buy property in France?

Although the pound has taken a bit of a beating from the euro in recent weeks, it is improving, and rates are still more favourable than they were until their height in 2015, so all is not lost for those buying a property in euros. Many people we speak to are also keen to buy their French property and ensure they have their European assets all tied up before the result of the EU Referendum in June. These factors, in addition to the still low property prices in France and low interest rates meaning that French mortgages are well worth considering at the moment, are making 2016 look like a good

The big merger of regions in France

The beginning of 2016 heralded new change for France, with a new map being rolled out across the country. There has not been a great deal of publication about these plans outside of the country but it has been talked about a lot over the last couple of years in France itself and it is true: as of 1 January this year, France’s 22 regions have been whittled down to 13 in an effort to streamline the bureaucracy of this country.