UKC

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this but here we go.

Having talked about it for a while myself and my girlfriend have decided to move to the alps woop woop. She is taking a sabbatical initially so we can see how it works out with a safety blanket of running home if things turn tits up.

We have not decided on a destination yet so was going to quiz the collective ukc brain.

Criteria
•close to an airport with easy access to south east as i will still be working in the uk
•lots of skiing and climbing
• opportunity of work for my gf she is a biology teacher in a secondary school

Chamonix is the obvious choice but not sure that i would want to live there?

Cheers

In reply to ffati:

Briançon?

Ecrins on the doorstep, airports in Grenoble, Geneva, Turin, Lyon, Nice... Smaller ones at Meribel etc.
Loads of skiing around Serre Chevalier (lifts from the town), Montgenevre, Vialattea, Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Risoul, La Grave...
Plenty of climbing. Italy just over the border too.

In reply to ffati:

Sigh. Another brexit thread.

In reply to ffati:

Geneva?

Direct flights to London City Airport - just over an hour's flight

About an hour's drive (even less depending on where you live) to numerous ski resorts in Haute Savoie and Jura, loads of climbing and walking. If you want bigger stuff Chamonix is only a little bit further.

I'm not in education but I suspect there must be loads of teaching opportunities in the area with the large population of UN , WHO, Red Cross and Cerne staff families there.

In reply to ffati:

Now, on a serious note: I wish you all the very best!

In reply to Trangia:


Monumentally expensive, surely. This article makes it sound pretty attractive, but seems to be aimed at those who either end up in the banking sector or benefit from relocation packages provided by their company.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160823-is-upscale-expat-life-in-geneva-w...

In reply to planetmarshall:

Must admit city living and moving to the alps are not two equally compatible bedfellows for me, and the inner tramp in me woulp pass out at the cost of geneva!

Briançon is a great idea as would somewhere a bit more mellow my Friday night is now more a stroll with the dogs and a glass of wine rather than Friday night and go to bed on a Monday morning weekends of my early 20's.

Thanks for the ideas anyone else done something similar?

In reply to ffati:

What languages do you speak ? might have a massive bearing on finding somewhere for your gf to work.

In reply to ffati:


In that case the villages of Vallouise, Puy-Saint-Vincent or Les Vigneaux just up the road from Briançon would be perfect.

I was in Vallouise years back in 2006, quite pretty, very French... Streetview suggests it hasn't changed a bit.

In reply to ffati:

If you want to fly and ski in the future they may be incompatible as your skiing opportunities will reduce as a result of the flying you will be doing. Why not just move, cut out the damaging flights, and improve the prospects of good powder.

In reply to GrahamD:

I speak a very fluent form of pointing and saying things in a bad french accent version of the french language. Gf speaks conversational French and German (she is the intelligent one i just carry things) not sure she has the language skills for a job in a French school. Have a few friends who work in international schools but these tend to be in Swiss, these might also be a option

In reply to planetmarshall:


Agreed, but compensated by high salaries - no idea though about education salaries

The secret is to do your shopping in France! Or even live just over the border in France.

Anyway, it seems the op doesn't want city life.

In reply to Trangia:

Definitely no city life want to be able to ski everyday with minimal amount of driving!

In reply to ffati:

What about Leysin?

Has international school which maybe useful for job options, skiing from the doorstep and lots of other resorts easy drive away, good rock climbing in summer, higher stuff just across the Rhone Valley.

Access to Geneva airport not too bad, depends how often you are making the trip I guess (also can be reached by public transport).

Again in Switzerland bit as mentioned above any locally earned wages may compensate, although I have no direct experience of that.

In reply to GarethSL:

Much as I like Briançon (& have discussed moving to somewhere nearby with my partner) it's pretty poorly placed if you need regular access to an airport - without checking I think the options are Lyon, Grenoble or Turin, none very close.

In reply to MCass:

Now that is a good suggestion, travel would be every couple of weeks so not too daunting have to drive all the time from North Wales.

In reply to Doug:

+ Marseille, to which there is a train link from Briancon and regular cheap flights.

There is now also a direct bus in winter from Briancon to Turin airport (at weekends).

In reply to tjhare1:


maybe its changed but it used to be a very slow service (4 to 5 hours ?)

In reply to ffati:

If Germany's an option Munich is only an hour from the alps and has Easyjet / Ryanair flights to Gatwick & Stansted.

In reply to ffati:

I moved here almost 5 years ago to the day. At the time I was contracting for a company in London and my wife doing the same but we're still 90 minutes drive from Lyon airport so it maybe wasn't the best location - but we fell in love with the place and what we could get for our money.

Now work for a multinational with offices in every country (except Syria and North Korea apparently) and still Lyon is my only realistic hub. Geneva has more choice but it's an extra 30-45 minutes drive and can often get snarled up in the border crossing. Lyon is so small but with enough connections that it strikes the right balance.

I live in a small hamlet in a fairly touristy area (with the French at least) south of Grenoble in the southern end of the Vercors. The only professions here are farming, logging and tourism so working from home is essential. I travel roughly every other week so it's worth the commute for the work-life balance the rest of the time.

I think your biggest issue will be work - especially if the other half needs to work in a local school as the French famously have lots of hoops to jump through when it comes to employment (in fact with everything). If it wasn't for the guy who offered me the job being based in the London office and pushing for my employment by our Paris office, I don't think would ever have managed to get on a French contract.

Its not been easy - life all year round in the mountains is pretty hard especially if you're buying a fixer-upper like we did. Integrating into a foreign culture is tough too, but we're glad we didn't end up moving to some G&T/bacon-sandwich infested Brit diaspora.

In reply to yorkshireman:
Thanks for this, the work thing for me won't be an issue as I'm self employed doing contract work and have worked all over the world just south east based for the foreseeable future.

In terms of work for the gf think it's just getting something that she will enjoy as much as she slags off teaching she loves it more.

Think we may rent at first just to see how we feel and would need to sell our current house I'm guessing, but it's definitely an aim not to get into the expat scene can't think of anything worse.

In reply to Doug:

Yes it is slow (4+ hours, as you say), but the ryanair flight to stansted is usually early afternoon so it isn't usually a problem.

In reply to ffati:

We've just made this move and ended up buying a place in Saint Gervais, less than an hour from Geneva. Skiing and climbing on the doorstep and chamonix not far either.

In reply to ffati:

I looked at this a few years ago.

I was looking at Bourg D'Osians and then towards Beaufort / Albertville. the intention was to work/ study at Grenoble.

It's a longer trek to Geneva airport, but in the ski season Chambery airport extends it's flights, plus there's Lyon within a reasonable distance.

Grenoble is not the most beautiful of cities - think of it as being like Sheffield - an acceptable shit hole that's close to the hills.

In reply to ffati:

Hi

moving to the alps is a good plan, me and my girlfriend move out a few years ago and love it, we are based in the Vallouise valley near Briancon, quite happy to help if you want advice about the area or just the experience of moving out here?

drop me a email on rob@dream-trails.com or through here

cheers

In reply to ffati:

if german & english is an option, why not look a little further east? Innsbruck? Salzburg? Ljubljana? each with an airport linking into major networks, skiing on the doorstep (20' drive), rock to feed many climbing careers ...

to many people on here, the alps are made up by chamonix & ailefroide it seems.