Daily touch of France - Sunday 3 April 2022 - Cafe views

[GoneOffShore]

I went back in the archives for these, though all of these pictures have been taken since we moved to France in 2018.

Stylish shopping on Place Richelme -


Lunchtime conversation


Sunlit smoke

[MLAA]

1. My husband and I have loved going to Paris over the years.

We’ve wanted to get to the south of France. We have been to Paris so many times that just walking around and stopping at outdoor cafes qualify as wonderful days, though I do find new places/attractions to go to each visit and you just can’t go to the Louve, Pompidou Center or Sacre Couer too many times! These photos make me want to mask up and endure the 16 hours in a mask during transit (we live in a city of 1m with an airport that requires we fly to Chicago, Dallas, LA hubs to get anywhere).

What part of the country do you live in? Did you move there for work or retirement, if you don’t mind my asking.

[GoneOffShore]

2. We live in Aix-en-Provence, about 45 minutes north of Marseilles.

We bought a flat here in 2017, and then immigrated in September 2018. We're retired. We had been visiting France since the mid 1980's.

We live just outside the centre of Aix, an easy 15-minute walk to town.

Aix is very convenient for travel to Spain and Italy - 4 hours to Barcelona by car and the same amount of time to Genoa. Lyon is an hour 30 minutes by train, and Paris three hours. Flights to London are easy.

[MLAA]

3. Wow, sounds perfect.

We lived a year in Madrid for my work and loved living there. South of France is officially on the trip list! Thank you and so glad you have found such a glorious place to live. Did you buy into the French healthcare program? Or how do you handle medical insurance, again if you are comfortable sharing.🙂

[GoneOffShore]

4. Not a problem.

We're on the French system. Eligible after 90 days in the country. They take into account your worldwide income, and charge you 6%, unless you're under a certain threshold. We also have a private top-up policy (Mutuelle) which is based on age and covers costs on dental, optical, and private rooms in a hospital. Age is the only pre-existing condition that they are interested in, and premiums seem to be based on your age when you start the policy, as we haven't seen an increase in 4 years.

We're paying much less than we were in the US. Even if we weren't on the system, our charges, unless there was something catastrophic, would be reasonable. And cancer seems to be treated as something that the state will cover, even if you don't have insurance through the system. Doctor's visits are 25€, specialist's 65€, dentist's 65€, and most prescriptions very reasonable. I was charged 200€ for a 20 km ambulance ride and emergency room visit a couple of years ago.

My only complaint about the French system is that it doesn't do well with dental, optical, and hearing problems as far as cost coverage.

[MLAA]

5. Thank you!

I loved the pharmacies in Madrid and what you could get there with no hassle. I had company provided insurance but one time I needed a very small mole removed and a Spanish coworker called his acquaintance who was a dermatologist. I got in quickly, no paperwork she just took care of it in a few minutes and told me not to worry about payment etc. Probably a $400 bill here.