Which department?

it all depends on your needs and likes ... France is a beautiful country and there's something to every one's taste ...

I live in Nièvre and life out here fits me perfect. Less tourists, plenty of beautiful nature and historic sites, typical old villages .. speed of life is slower here and that's a great thing. Housing is way more cheap but not a lot of jobs.

@kthaye2 I live in Montbrison,the "dead centre" of France. I'm an Aussie but in fact I lived in StEtienne many years ago. Montbrison is a nice old medieval town but " quiet". Not a lot happening but a terrific Saturday market. Despite its almost continuous bad press, St Etienne was a much more interesting place to live.

Paris is wornderful city,

Thanks for responding.  This is the sort of input I was wanting.  We are Americans who are planning a big move next year.  We used to live in Germany with our jobs and have been to France quite a few times.  We like many parts but are now on fixed income so looking for inexpensive housing.  Loved Provence, Aix, played golf at Cabra D'Or a number of years ago (outside of Marseille).  Luberon is very lovely.  We first went to Strasbourg and were thrilled with the place.  Colmar is similar and lovely.  Paris is wonderful with plenty of things to keep you busy but I would rather visit than live there.

We are looking around Beziers.  If anyone lives in the vicinity could you let me know about housing prices?

Thought this may help: https://immobilier.lefigaro.fr/prix-imm … ille-34032

I get the impression that when a person posts on this (or any chat site for expats) that there's a bot running to sweep the input and respond.  Most of the answers on this site are days if not weeks old.  If there are any "people" out there wishing to comment please do so.  Not including the ones looking for jobs from various places around the world.  Do moderators actually moderate or is that AI as well?

Your comment is very accurate, and not without reason. Firstly,it seems the overall mangement of this site is poor, and that seems to stem from the fact the software they use is substandard, at least compared to what I'm used to in Australia. You place an ad,say,for an English class. You get an email saying it's "unclear"( never a reason why) so you edit it. The original version remains. So you delete and rewrite. THIS time you realise you've used the wrong French vocab, so you try to edit, using their tool. Once again, the original text remains. So you give up and dont bother checking it. Who cares? A similar problem with other French websites like Leboncoin and Wannonce- difficult to navigate and slow to respond to error- correction. So....nobody bothers to read them, hence no really timely responses to your posts. This lack of " general usability" seems to be a generic problem here, but,with this site in particular, you have to wonder who are the moderators, and do they have a " hands on" approach to their job. Or are the just hobbyist expats, doing it in their spare time?

Hello everyone,

@kthaye2, Indeed there are moderators on the website. I am one of them.  We don't use any AI technology to reach out to members. Anyone from the team  has a tag attached to his/her photo, like I do > Team/moderator. We are on the website to make sure that the FRANCE FORUM CODE OF CONDUCT is respected. Otherwise, we don't intervene. All the members who have provided you some feedback in a form or another on this thread are genuine.

@Robster Oconnor, You have a different issue from the OP. If you are facing any difficulties in creating or editing an advert on Expat.com, you may send a message to the Team, they will contact you and guide you https://www.expat.com/en/contact.html

All the best

Bhavna

@Robster OConnor

I agree with your overall assessment.  Sometimes moderators will remove posts but without knowing what the actual post said they could be making it up.  One has no way of knowing.  Many people from various parts of the planet use this as a jobs board... or perhaps a social engineering board.  One would think the 'expat' community would be more active and informative but not so.  With AI making inroads these day it's hard not to believe that that is what's going on here.

Hello everyone,

I would like to point out that stating that moderators on Expat.com might be AI etc is very disrespectful to our job.

In regards to Moderators I have already replied. We have a tag on our profiles. If you need more info, you can send a mail through the contact us form https://www.expat.com/en/contact.html

Concerning members, all accounts need to be verified and validated through email before being given access. The website has also it's own security system to verify accounts.

I suggest that you discuss on the topic launched. If you wish to talk about mod, please refer to the Help us improve the website as the France forum is meant to discuss only about expatriation.

All the best

Bhavna

@kthaye2

I did respond with a link containing a lot of info re: real estate in Beziers, including median rent price (11 euro per square meter with breakdown for studios, appartments etc.).

Not sure what else you are looking for.

So no, I am not a bot.  But it's also a little discouraging when you take time to try to help someone and your answer is not even acknowledged.

@Tanuki714

Well, I can't really say that you answered my question and was not aware you were looking for acknowledgement.  Thank you for taking the time to send the link with the information.  I was more looking for opinions and what a person thinks of the surroundings and environment, maybe where they eat, hangout, socialize.

In any event I apologize for not acknowledging your efforts.

We are looking around Beziers. If anyone lives in the vicinity could you let me know about housing prices?
-@kthaye2

I was specifically answering this.

”Which place is great to live” is a very personal and subjective answer. So it may help if you include in your question what your priorities / criteria are. France, like everywhere, is not a homogeneous mass and I can list “good” things about pretty much any region, just like I can list “bad” things about any of them.

The more specifics you can provide, the more likely people will be to answer. Questions like “where in France should I live” only lead to “well, it depends”. If you're looking for cheap housing, I would actually recommend central France. Larger cities and the coasts have seen a significant increase in prices. Southern France is not a cheap area.

If you're looking for an active cultural life (live theater, museums etc.), the next question would be what kind, if you're looking for Michelin star gastronomy those are all going to lead to bigger cities. If you want history, peace and quiet, still different. If you need easy access to international flights, that's another factor.

If you want a “sell me on living in Beziers” pitch, check the tourist office.

Also note this is probably not a place where “locals” hang out. And no offense but not sure Beziers is a hub of expats so not surprising there are few answers. People here (including moderators) are all volunteers. So yeah, it's not perfect. But honestly the comments stung.

And last thought:

If you're thinking of moving to Beziers (or anywhere else for that matter), don't take a forum's participant word for it and instead go spend a few weeks there to see for yourself.

Maybe try opening a new thread with “feed-back on living in Beziers”

You can also check this: “quality of life in Beziers”

https://www.ville-ideale.fr/beziers_34032

well, we have spent more than a few days in France but not in the particular region of Beziers.  We love Provence (believe I've stated that before) and the Cote d'Azur, Strasbourg, Colmar, Metz, Paris, and many other places.  We're not sold on Beziers but it seems nice.  We'd like Aix-en-Provence but haven't seen much there.  We have intentions of renting short term while looking for long term accommodations.  The strategy is not lost on us.  We have lived in Germany, England, Mexico, and Portugal as well as all over the US.  Just looking for some simple feedback on what people think of a particular location.  I will check your link.  Thanks.

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