Why PERPIGNAN is My Top Choice in Southern France

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In this video I cover the reason why I ended up in Perpignan, France as my landing point for my move to France.

The links/connections with resources that I used to get my health insurance, translations, and finding a place to live are provided below.

Thank you to everyone who is watching my videos and commenting! I am working to create videos that address your questions.
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Language Learning
👉I use italki to improve my French but they cover many languages—1-on-1 w/a native speaker and scheduled at your convenience. You get a $10 credit if you sign up using my link: https://www.italki.com/affshare?ref=af27926719

Expat Insurance Needs in France
👉 I used this company for my initial 12-month expat insurance policy required to obtain a long-stay visa to enter France. I also use them now for my mutuelle and other insurance needs. They handle home, auto, and rental insurance, too. They are a great group of folks, and they guarantee that their health insurance packages will be approved for your visa application.
👉 Fab Insurance – Email JEFF@FABEXPAT.COM requesting a quote or to talk with someone about insurance options. No fees are associated with getting insurance quotes. And they speak excellent English. To clarify, you are not emailing me, and I do not work for them. This was the simplest way for them to track where the request came from.

Official French Translation Needs
👉 Several documents need to be translated into French for obtaining your Carte Vitale and exchanging your driver’s license, and potentially other tasks like setting up a bank account (needs vary). This company is one of the officially licensed translators accepted by the French government and local government agencies. And they also speak excellent English. My necessary documents were translated with no issues.
👉 Go to https://www.trad24.com and use the coupon code “ExpatJeff” for 3€ off your translation quote.

Real Estate Concierge in France
👉 Send an email to Valérie Jenkins at VILLAIN623@GMAIL.COM. Val speaks excellent English, and she has been my resource for finding rental properties here in Perpignan. She knows the trouble foreigners can have with obtaining a rental and works hard to find something that will work for you. She can tap into her network around France if it turns out that you are not looking for this region of the country. All I ask is that you mention that Jeff the Expat sent you so she knows I am working to help her grow her business.

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yep Bonjour y’all This is uh Jeff coming in from the south of France in Parol Uh today just wanted to cover and apologize about the delay in getting uh this video out Just a bunch of admin things that need to be addressed So I’ve just been working on those this week And uh um in case you might notice in the background uh we got a bit of a breeze going on today So it’s a it’s a beautiful day out just very very windy Um so hopefully it doesn’t pick up too much of that with this But the um uh did want to at least get another video out here Uh I got a bunch of questions coming in and thanks so much to everybody for for uh you know asking the questions on comments I’m happy to do what I can to to answer these So uh today I’m going to talk about uh why paranol Um that seems to be the most common question that’s coming through right now Um and I’m going to say it’s it’s a little anticlimatic um other than uh you know I’d explored looking at other countries here in Europe and uh you know Italy uh Spain Portugal Germany um and uh just none of those it just for my circumstances uh the visas would have been a little difficult to obtain that uh it was just uh a lot that didn’t really have like a kind of a retiree sort of uh plan that wasn’t like unless you were buying a house or or doing you know buying some property there And I just didn’t you know I don’t want to move someplace especially you know 9,000 mi away and then you know look to have to buy something right away So I’d rather just I knew I’d wanted to rent I knew that I just wanted to to live in an area that had you know more sunshine than uh than than certainly no snow And uh so anyway that’s why that kind of ruled out uh Germany I actually had talked to uh let’s see I looked at Berlin for quite a while uh just cuz it looked like a really cool city and I’m sure it is a very cool city Uh but it just uh um had talked to the folks at uh because Berlin which is an organization that that helps people um you know make connections within you know making network connections uh if you’re looking to start a business uh things of that sort and uh very very very nice people very very helpful lots of information Um but they really were more focused on uh attracting like a tech or biotech uh sort of companies much more technology based uh you know rather than doing something that was going to be more the speed that I wanted to do which was more of a um you know maybe more retailish sort of thing where it’s uh you know kind of going through and doing the um you know sourcing uh vintage and antique pieces and then uh shipping them back to the US or selling them there uh type thing So so in any case Germany Germany didn’t work and plus you know not that it took very long to come to the realization but it’s like it’s it’s all cold and it’s like I don’t know that I really wanted to to deal with that So you know I just I figured it the sun was becoming much more important to me I’m not a sun person I’m not one that just you know have to be at a beach I’m going to read a book or I’m hanging out by a pool or doing something like that That’s never been uh never been anything that’s high on my priority list but I did want to at least not have to deal with snow even though I’m not necessarily commuting in it Uh just didn’t want to have to deal with that that sort of thing So uh that kind of that ruled out Germany Although the people were the folks I connected with there were super super nice and very very helpful Um but they really were more geared toward wanting to be helpful to uh startups that were doing more tech uh techbased work and uh not my thing I did that for 40 years That’s that’s that’s my past So in any case um worked in Italy uh especially when they were starting up those you know one year homes things like that and it’s like oh well that’s kind of cool Um but the process just was so significant and I it and it just seemed to be very um a lot of bureaucracy that goes with it And so I I just and then it could take up to a year to get the visa and and uh at that point I just thought it’s like I I I don’t want to mess around that long I don’t that’s that’s not important to me So the uh but I spent quite a bit of time looking at uh you know like central central Italy kind of around Tuskanyany and then uh maybe like Genoa looked like it had some really good uh year round weather sort of thing and uh so any case but that kind of petered out after um after it turned out it’s like oh this is going to be really a headache to try to get uh to get my situation through to to that So uh then looked to Spain and Portugal and those turned out to be very similar Um I didn’t you know I didn’t like I said I didn’t want to just go in and buy look to to buy a place and and uh um and then like with um they just had some strange requirements for uh you know I thought well maybe I’ll try digital nomad but then a lot of the digital nomad uh especially in Europe seems like they require like a $3,000 a month minimum of and and again you you have to check what the current requirements are but at the time I was looking it was like $3,000 a month in demonstrable client invoicing type things like okay well I’m not I’m not I’m not a digital nomad so that that’s not going to work for me either So then just uh really focused on France and uh um I mean if I’m going to be if I’m going to be fully transparent with this I would have loved to have uh moved to Scotland That uh that would that was always been my my my dream is to live there my my family heritage is primarily Scottish and uh like you just yeah I think most of my family mo most of the family is that that background so it’s just um you know I just that that was that’s always been a dream but then Brexit happened and and it’s like oh I don’t want to I don’t really want to mess with that and then of course the weather’s not certainly ever going to be a draw for Scotland but it just seemed like you know the people are so nice the um you just so much to do all that sort of thing but it just was going to just you know just wasn’t going to play out for what I’m going to be looking for for my my retirement And so started looking more in earnest at France And I knew I didn’t really want to do like the northern side uh just because it was that’s just to me it’s just going to be more um you know cloudy rainy um you know just not not my thing I’m sure beautiful villages beautiful pe you know just all that sort of thing but not uh not not my cup of tea for for um long term So I looked at the south of France and I reached out to a company um about getting the insurance and that and and it’s a they’re called Fab Insurance and they’re out of uh the Beritz area uh Bayon uh France and Southwest France uh on the on the Atlantic coast and uh um and I’ll leave their information down below uh so you can reach out to them as well But I talked to Fabian who’s the the owner of that insurance agency and I’d gone I’d attended a couple of his webinars on you know so you want to move to France sort of thing and and uh um just really very very insightful as to to what to look for and uh so I I worked with them and got my uh health insurance through them for the for the first year You do as a as an expat you do have to have private insurance coverage for the first year And uh um I got it through them I’m not going to say that they were the least expensive They probably not but uh they do guarantee that their insurance would to be approved for the visa process and it was you know so I I had zero zero issues with that Um and through the webinar process I was introduced to another fellow uh who a a British a British fellow that um uh was doing some sort of a similar thing for helping people relocate to France and had connections and so you know like for a estate agents and that So I reached out to him and uh uh he put me in contact with three realtors because I was targeting u Melier Bezier and um well I mean what he suggested was Melier Bezier and Pepin were the the three references he had for this area that was not Marseilles and East uh because he said those are just those would be more expensive areas type thing So especially once you get to like Nice and you know Monaco and all that sort of thing And I I didn’t I didn’t want to I didn’t want to be the move over here was just going to be like “Oh I’m gonna live on the Kot Dazu and all that.” And it’s like I Yeah beautiful area all that sort of thing but just not not in my budget So in any case um he put me in contact with these three these three agents And so I reached out to them Uh the agent in Melier responded uh to me and she indicated that her thing was more of you know you come here uh I will show you and and she had two rates and and the thing is when when you’re looking for properties here in in France and it might be the same in other countries but in France at least um if you’re if you’re if you’re hiring an estate agent to come in to help you with this process which you probably should since they’re going to know the areas um they they get a fee and you pay the fee It’s not paid by the landlord So it’s it’s different than it is in the United States So expect that if you’re going to be coming over here looking for a rental and or looking for a house uh you’re going to be paying the fees for the for the real estate agent that you have And so anyway she had a fee setup structure that it was like um €800 to show uh up to six properties and then you would choose one of those and you know she would be there to help work up the lease and do all that that type of stuff to get the formalities done If you’re looking for a house it was going to be €1,200 Um and then she would show you up to six properties which also means that it could be one You know it just it just there’s no guarantee Again it’s it’s really tough for um Americans and I don’t know if it’s other immigrants as well but for uh for Americans that especially if you don’t have a French job with a French income uh for French landlords to be interested in taking you on as a tenant So it’s just it’s just the reality of what what it is So um but in any case that uh that’s how that would work out with her But she was very insistent on like I would I would have to go to Melier see the properties and then decide from there and then make the decision and then go back to the United States And all I could think was like I don’t it wasn’t that important to me uh for for a rental property that unless you know I don’t want to be in which I’m would imagine the estate agent understands that but you know I’m not looking to be in some sort of like a really rough area or you know I’m not looking for the nicest place I’m not looking for total luxury I’m not looking for any of that But you know I just wanted a a nice place and all that to to be able to to base while I’m trying to find maybe a more permanent location that that I would like to be in So um but I didn’t want to spend you know a couple thousand dollars flying over here and then to do a property surge which I know that there are people that do that and you know and good on you But to me it wasn’t that important to be like you know okay I could I could stay in a place for a few months and I that that’ll be okay you know whatever it is it’ll it’ll be okay you know type thing So sort of I guess one of the benefits of being single is that you know I’m not having to take care you know like okay what is it going to do for kids you know what it do for you know spouse what are we going to do for all this stuff it’s like it’s just me so you know basic basic needs are are going to be covered with that So but I didn’t want to spend an extra $2,000 or $3,000 to come over here spend a week here two weeks here and then you know just to find a a rental that’s not going to be that terribly important to me So in any case um that was that for Melier Uh for Bezier never heard back from the person at all And then here in Perpin uh the the estate agent that I contacted fantastic I mean just she was on it to make sure she could find me something here And uh uh and she did I you know adjusted you know within probably a week or two something like that had something identified where you know it wasn’t ideal you know and I knew that you know just it’s it’s you know it was like a fourth floor walk up which in the United States would be a fifth floor so no no elevator no lift just you know just stairs and uh and like oh I you know that’s it’s like that’s not a that’s not something that’s a big plus for me but a lot of buildings here that way they you know especially in an older building they’re not going necessarily have a lift So so in any case it didn’t have air conditioning and you know all that sort of thing So but it was like look it’s just going to be a livable space for some period of time and then you know I’ll I’ll look for some while I’m here I can look for something else if it’s really that bad So in any case um worked it all out got it all lined up and um that was that So so Parinon wasn’t really on my target list but it you know I I really don’t have any issues at all with I mean it’s it’s it’s a nice size little city Um I think Pepin’s around 130,000 people something like that And I don’t know if that includes some of the villages and the surrounding kind of metro area but um but the bus system here is really nice It’s just you know it’s convenient um get you around You still do a lot of walking type thing with if you don’t have a car and uh but I’m fine with that you know I just I need the exercise and I’m just I’m happy to to uh to take that on and not have the additional expense of having a vehicle and that So right now my restrictions just more are you know am I close to a bus stop or at least reasonable distance to a bus stop and or a grocery store you know things like that So um so anyway that’s why perpon it’s not um and as you can tell from the little bit of a breeze going on back there I don’t know if if I shift it up a little bit if you can maybe see the avocado tree moving around a little bit more And and this is this is a you know there three walls around the the the back patio area So this is you know the effects of the winds with that with the with the walls I don’t know how vertical those would be if they didn’t have the wall up but um but the thing is is that it is breezy here and it’s known to be breezy here It’s not I can’t get this back down There we go Um so but it’s just one of the things you know it’s close to the Mediterranean um and Pyrenees and so just somewhere along kind of a topographically it just happens to be a very windy area um of France So it’s not it’s not all the time uh but especially now that spring’s kicking in and uh and I know over the summer uh it does get very very breezy and some of the times it’s like just you could get you know practically blown across the street but uh but it’s really not that bad I don’t you know I I you know look I lived in Chicago for a number of years Uh you know lived in Florida for a number of years I lived in you know Austin Texas for a number of years It’s uh you know it’s just one of those things that you just it’s it’s it’s part of the deal of being here So if you are looking at parinon just know that there there is a you know a breeze of some sort normally gentle but uh but sometimes it can be a little bit more uh high power and so that’s uh just part of living in this part of the of the country So um you know so if you’re not really into that sort of thing then this may not be the area for you But um but honestly it’s really not that that big of a deal Sometimes it’s like the other day when I was standing at the bus stop Um I really did feel like I could I could just be blown down the street sort of thing if I you know just it caught my jacket right But uh but aside from that it’s really you know it’s not that bad It’s not like people are flying around It’s not like uh you know the twister uh tornado sort of thing So it’s just it’s prevalent you know it’s here and uh you know you just either deal with it or you don’t And uh um but you know and I know that there are lots of other areas in France that are not quite this breezy And it just must be something with the situation where it’s a you know location close to the the the mountains and as well as you know close to the sea So um but no I don’t have any regrets moving to Perpon It’s very convenient for the train uh train connections and that to get to the you know other areas of France and even you know obviously down to Spain since we’re so close here to Spain But um anyway that’s how I ended up here in Pinñon It just was and and it’s also nice I guess in some respects that um it’s it’s very close proximity to Barcelona So it’s about an hour and a half TGV train ride from Barcelona to Perpon um and maybe two hours if you take a regional train between the two and um maybe 2 and 1/2 hours or so something like that It was about a three two and a half to three hour drive depending on where you’re going obviously but uh to Barcel well to the airport in Barcelona Um so getting back to the United States is you know pretty easy to do It’s you know the direct flights to Atlanta from you know from Barcelona with Delta Um but uh you know and of course Pepinon does have an airport as well So it’s a small airport but I think I think they actually have flights to Tangiers to Tangier Morocco and I think they have one to Algeria and then of course you know just many other flights they have it’s not like it’s a dinky dinky little airport but um but they do have flights obviously within France as well So um you know you’re able to get around without having to always take the train but I just really want to focus on taking the train I don’t want to focus on having to fly around And so it’s nice that Perpin has an airport Um it’s reachable by bus Um you know so you know not bad And I like I said I don’t I don’t mind Perpon It’s just you know it’s a it’s a nice size small city Um you know but people have been asking about why Perpin and that’s kind of why it just was default that you know it’s the only realtor that really responded to me that uh uh really focused on like her her goal was to get me something to to to to get a long-term lease here for for my visas So um that’s what happened So anyway appreciate you everybody that uh you know been been watching the videos Thank you so much I’m absolutely still astounded by how connected people are getting with this and the comments that are coming through and really appreciate the kind comments and and uh you know I try to respond to people as much as I can Um I know in time as more videos get out that’s just going to be less and less possible to do But uh but just understand that I I read through as many of them as I possibly can So you know whatever questions y’all have just you know feel free to leave them in the comments and I will do my best to get a video up about what uh you know what we can do to address that So anyway hope you all are doing well and uh just uh look forward to uh seeing you in the next video Thanks so much of one