tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27913624336681559662011-09-12T16:29:33.072+02:00This blog brings you touches of humour from my various living abroad experiences as well as news of an incredibly useful book The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World. Not to be missed should you even be thinking of moving abroad, but absolutely invaluable if you really intend to make the move one day.Words with JAMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595838458076154912noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-14250112011395445922010-01-04T14:27:00.000+01:002010-01-04T14:27:27.145+01:00

This is a great blog for (mainly non-fiction) writers living abroad who are looking for markets. EuroWriter -- The European Writer's Market Lowdown

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-16831649321696131072009-12-02T22:41:00.000+01:002009-12-02T22:41:15.827+01:00

If you're thinking about making the move abroad, but have a particular question, why not ask it here? Or, if you'd rather ask privately, send me an email via my website contact http://www.lorrainemace.com/ and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-78674717767229312042009-11-20T15:57:00.000+01:002009-11-20T15:57:35.232+01:00

Following on from my last post about life just after the hurricane hit, everything just about ground to a halt. Living in rural France means nothing gets done and no one goes anywhere without using a car or farm vehicle. In the aftermath of the storm, petrol stations were out of operation for several days. So when word spread that petrol was finally available at Le Clerc in Ribérac, people

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-84830788535306257122009-11-15T20:14:00.000+01:002009-11-15T20:14:39.262+01:00

A hurricane swept across France in the dying days of 1999, leaving such a trail of devastation in its wake that the government declared a national disaster. The wind had risen earlier in the evening, but a sudden crashing sound made us realise that things were getting a bit serious. We peered out into the gloom and saw our white plastic garden chairs swirling through the air. Glad we didn’t have

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-32284190264788254412009-11-09T13:02:00.000+01:002009-11-09T13:02:26.932+01:00

A procession of courses followed until the oysters were merely a dim and distant memory. Three different types of pâté, fish, sorbet and fillet of beef, each dish accompanied by a superb selection of wines, left us feeling contented and more than a little merry. Our accents improved, and our vocabulary grew in direct proportion to the quantity of wine consumed. Jacques, our host, was determined

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-11250075703594500832009-11-06T11:12:00.000+01:002009-11-06T11:12:07.900+01:00

The months passed, Christmas arrived and we still hadn’t found a house to buy. Living in the gîte was starting to pall, but we were determined to hold out until we discovered the right place. In the meantime one of the estate agents had taken pity on us and invited us to have our Christmas meal with her family. We were lounging around in our sloppy clothes late on Christmas Eve when the phone

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-53129113331449231682009-11-05T11:40:00.000+01:002009-11-05T11:40:16.333+01:00

Bringing our howling dogs through the tunnel had been harrowing enough, but the French countryside has diversions not found in Britain. One way of leaving Laudibertie took us past a small farm with chickens, ducks and geese roaming the track, giving a new twist to the term free-range. Our hounds were very interested in a closer acquaintance with this exciting form of fast food, which didn’t make

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-63047418735492188782009-11-03T09:46:00.000+01:002009-11-03T09:46:53.610+01:00

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-6461802294197289022009-10-31T15:51:00.000+01:002009-10-31T15:51:52.562+01:00

Taking your animals with you when you move abroad can be almost as costly as all the rest of your move’s expenses combined. But if you decide the pain of leaving them behind is too great, and choose to relocate with your hairy, furry or feathery friends, it requires careful planning. The following tips come from the Pets and Vets chapter of The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World. Timing is

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-33623001332828443972009-10-29T17:17:00.000+01:002009-10-29T17:17:46.950+01:00

We returned to the UK without buying a house in France, but full of determination to move as soon as possible. Once our UK property was sold, we set off. The gîte we were heading for had been recommended by one of the estate agents we’d seen a few months earlier – which should have been enough to warn us that all might not be quite as it seemed. We packed the car as full as it could hold, making

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-64484199593581489872009-10-19T17:32:00.000+02:002009-10-19T17:32:14.847+02:00

Before continuing with the (hopefully amusing) tale of our  relocation to France, I thought it would be good to give a flavour of what The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World is really all about. I've been moving from country to country for thirty years and I know that moving abroad can be as daunting as it is exciting. The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World was written to help

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-69839848398251050652009-10-15T18:14:00.000+02:002009-10-15T18:14:32.282+02:00

Following on from yesterday's post about our search for property in France, this is what happened on day three. Moving abroad can be such fun ... We approached the final appointment with fatalistic despair. Handing over our surviving dream pages, we waited for (and received) the information that all three had been sold. This last outing was not as dreadful as the preceding two, as this time we

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-86733293702043938142009-10-14T20:26:00.000+02:002009-10-14T20:26:21.527+02:00

The next morning we woke in our red tomb and wondered where on earth we were. I don’t think Derek and I have ever got ready as quickly. We were far too early for our first appointment, but the alternative was spending more time in the red flock nightmare. We decided to do as the locals do and find a bar for coffee and croissants to while away an hour. Armed with information gleaned from the

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-60895120275109472202009-10-13T18:05:00.000+02:002009-10-13T18:05:03.753+02:00

Having decided our next trip to France would be to look for a property in earnest, we booked to stay in a hotel in St Foy-la-grande, a market town on the river Dordogne. We were determined to make the most of our stay, so did masses of research before leaving the UK. The properties available on the Internet were incredibly cheap. Visions of lounging poolside, sipping ice-cold champagne in the

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-91737391277329622692009-10-12T15:14:00.000+02:002009-10-12T15:14:17.487+02:00

I've lived abroad for most of the past thirty years, but ten years ago my husband and I thought we’d finally found somewhere to settle for good. We’ve moved country three times since then, but, at the time, we truly did believe we’d cracked it back in 1999. This is how the story began: “What is it with you and Derek?” my daughter, Michelle, demanded, justly incensed. “Other people go on holiday

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-5784688971467274922009-10-09T16:47:00.000+02:002009-10-09T16:47:59.421+02:00

When living abroad, a bar can be one of the best places to go if embracing the local way of life is your goal. In small Spanish villages, for example, you’ll find elderly men drinking brandy with coffee for breakfast. They’ll probably still be there when the office workers arrive to eat tapas with their beer at lunchtime. The camaraderie engendered over the course of a very long morning chatting

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-89935933453876908742009-10-09T10:03:00.000+02:002009-10-09T10:03:21.587+02:00

And now for a bedtime story Reading foreign books and newspapers is hard when your vocabulary is limited. Why not buy a couple of children’s books, preferably ones you’ve either read in English as a child or read to your own children? Knowing the gist of the story will help you to understand what is going on and stop you from reaching for the dictionary every second word. Another good source of

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-11832640951605386542009-10-06T23:00:00.000+02:002009-10-06T23:00:52.083+02:00

The chateau in Villebois-Lavalette has an interesting and varied history, but not as diverse as I’d made it sound when we lived in the town. Constructed in the 12th century, it stands on the site of much older fortifications. A palace, added in the 17th century, is currently undergoing a transformation from ruin to something resembling its former glory. All in all, it’s a wonderful place to

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-44270473032803711082009-10-05T15:04:00.000+02:002009-10-05T15:04:36.077+02:00

While living in Spain I found out that I don’t exist, which came as something of a shock. According to the Spanish health authorities I was a non-person. We’d arrived in Spain after living in France for five years and thought we knew all about bureaucracy, but we’d yet to encounter the Spanish version. Knowing one of our priorities was to register with the Spanish health service, we went to

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-18368319979114484532009-10-05T10:35:00.000+02:002009-10-05T10:35:05.591+02:00

Whether moving abroad to retire or relocating to take up the challenge of a new job, your healthcare is something that needs to be considered long before you set out on your journey. Check it out Have a full medical before you leave, including (for lady readers) a mammogram and visit to a gynaecologist. Go to the dentist and have any necessary work done. If you wear glasses or contact lenses,

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-2629162769992116502009-10-02T10:36:00.000+02:002009-10-02T10:36:45.490+02:00

Moving abroad is only the first stage of your new life – learning to live abroad is the next. Relocating to a foreign country can (often does) mean learning a new language. Below are two tips from The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World which could help to improve your vocabulary and comprehension. Talking TV A great way of improving fluency in a foreign language is through watching the

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-3600473741552792009-09-30T11:02:00.000+02:002009-09-30T11:02:37.056+02:00

One of the delights of living abroad is taking part in different or unusual cultural occasions. Moving abroad means grasping opportunities whenever and wherever they appear, which is how I came to take part in a prestigious French wine tasting event. I should state up front that my qualifications to judge wine could be written in large letters on the back of a very small wine label. But when

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-70066886496275314972009-09-29T07:50:00.000+02:002009-09-29T07:50:55.851+02:00

A few photos, taken within a five minute walk of where I lived in Spain, to illustrate yesterdays's blog. The local substation which powered most of the town - not nicely tucked away somewhere safe and secluded, but on a residential street. Frighteningly, this power supply was in use. As was this ... ... and this ... with power delivered by these cables. Not surprisingly, when

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-39234930507403620232009-09-28T07:42:00.002+02:002009-09-28T08:23:15.513+02:00

If ever you’re told the weather in the Mediterranean is always perfect, don’t believe it. On the island of Gozo, one of the Maltese islands, it often rains non-stop for days. Not just a light pitter-patter either, but the type of heavy rainfall that has the unwary dodging buckets, cats and Maltese poodles as they fall from the sky. Knowing the island’s propensity for rain, you’d think their

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-75274904786334126762009-09-25T10:04:00.000+02:002009-09-25T10:04:00.818+02:00

The excitement in the Mace household was intense. After living in furnished accommodation for six months on the Mediterranean island of Gozo, we were going to be reunited with our belongings. Although, if we’d known the chaos this would cause, we mightn’t have been so ecstatic. We’d anticipated having our goods in storage for a couple of months, but hold-ups in getting the essentials connected

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-53729672296664376252009-09-24T07:45:00.000+02:002009-09-24T07:45:08.391+02:00

As yesterday's post shows, registering a car abroad can be a complex nightmare of red tape. This short tip comes from the Highways and Byways section of The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World. Before you leave your home country, it is essential that you gather together everything you might need to prove ownership and value of the vehicle. Make sure you have: The receipt to show how much

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-92172380184846211562009-09-23T07:04:00.001+02:002009-09-23T14:10:22.852+02:00

Moving abroad for people is hard enough, but when your car has moved abroad and then returned to its country of manufacture, you'd think it would be easy to register it, wouldn't you? Huh! That's all I can say. Huh! My Peugeot 306 first saw the light of day in Paris, manufactured by French technicians and mechanics. I have no doubt they parlezed to my little treasure in between renditions of the

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-75240479252295973152009-09-22T11:36:00.005+02:002009-09-23T14:10:59.593+02:00

It's a question I've been asked many times: Why did I write The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World? The answer is simple: I thought I'd help to prevent others from making some of the costly errors I've made myself during my many moves abroad. In recent years the numbers of people moving abroad has escalated enormously. It used to be mainly retirees who made the most of their autumn years

Lorraine Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972798144640312770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791362433668155966.post-20265062100592519642009-09-21T15:28:00.001+02:002009-09-23T14:08:55.063+02:00

This blog brings you news of an incredibly useful book The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World. Not to be missed should you even be thinking of moving abroad, but absolutely invaluable if you really intend to make the move one day. The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World is available from Amazon and all good book stores.

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