"Working, physiotherapist, France" ...
I typed these words into Google last year after we had brainstormed a few evenings. We had already extensively put on paper which way we wanted with our life in the future and we wanted to add words to word. That is how the ball began to roll through werkeninfrankrijk.com.
The couple Peter Van der Linden (physiotherapist and manual therapist) and Maaike Engbersen (leisure professional) moved in April 2012 from Breda to a village "à la campagne" not far from Autun in Burgundy. The intention is to start a Chambre d'Hôtes and / or camping in France.
However, it turned out to be too difficult to enter France in this way, because there are already so many people who want to start a camp site, that the bank hardly ever lends more loans to newcomers. Moreover, it would be a waste of our courses.
However, there is a huge shortage of physiotherapists in large parts of France and, especially when you speak 5 languages, there is always work to be found in France in tourism. An ideal base to start ...
We decided to go camping for a week to explore the Burgundy region together and to feel what it is like to live there. Although we already knew Burgundy and also had a clear preference for this environment, it had been a while since we were there.
Through Jan van der Lee of Works in France, I came in contact with physiotherapy practice "Cabinet de la Grille" in Autun, where two previously established Dutchmen sought a third associate. More than a month later, this time alone, I went back a week to work in the everyday French kinésithérapie practice. Eventually, after this week, we made the decision to go for it.
Then we went half a year with a lot of administrative registration and translation, a mandatory language test, etc ... Fortunately, we were accompanied by work in France.
In the meantime Maaike had applied for a job at the VVV, Autun's "Office de Tourisme" and was recruited from 75 applicants!
And voilà, here we are. Our provisional house is nicely furnished, we have good contact with the neighbors and I have even created a real vegetable garden. We go shopping 14 km away in Autun, where they have everything we are used to in our modern Netherlands. Many large supermarkets, hardware stores, garden centers, clothing stores, etc ...
Maaike is very busy with her work in Autun and soon found her way. She is busy in the summer with the many international tourists who visit Autun. She likes that her language skills come in handy here and helps people (also many local people) with the most diverse questions. Actually, she has become a bit of a walking Google. Her ultimate goal is still running a Chambre d'Hôtes, but as long as we have not found the perfect home, we are completely fine.
I am fully active in my own physiotherapy practice and initially had some more starting problems due to lack of the finer points of the French language, unfamiliarity with the routes in Autun and the old-fashioned way of thinking about patient care: it looked like 10 years ago in physiotherapy time. Unfortunately, they did not know manual therapy and a corresponding rate, so I am working hard to get this off the ground and with success!
So emigration offers many opportunities and it goes fast: one-on-one with patients in a treatment room, my French quickly advances; you me débrouille bien alors. And when I drive through the Burgundian landscape, the on-home visits are more like holidays than work. The backlog in (para) medical field is also very noticeable after getting acquainted with and attending a few meetings in ultra-modern French clinics.
Our Chambre d'Hôtes and the Thérapie Manuelle will be there!
And the modernization is now going on: www.cabinetdelagrille.fr
Greetings, Peter and Maaike