This American expatriate couple dreamed of living in France, their experience was “a nightmare”

LA VIE EN ROSE – Some Americans may want to leave their country following the election results, but this expatriate couple in France wants to come home. Joanna McIsaac-Kierklo and Ed Kierklo, septuagenarians from San Francisco, moved to the south of France in 2023 and quickly became disillusioned. Their main complaints? Bureaucracy, lack of social connection and… food.

The couple, who planned to retire in France and had already lived in London, chose to settle in Nîmes to escape “the political climate of the United States”according to CNNwho paints their portrait. They were looking for “civility, consideration, and little or no gun violence”. But their experience quickly turned into ” nightmare “confides Joanna McIsaac-Circle.

French gastronomy, not that good

First pitfall: the visa, not as easy to obtain as they had imagined. French-style bureaucracy quickly frustrated them. Opening a bank account is complicated, finding a doctor is just as complicated. Especially since the couple, who also complain about the costs necessary to repatriate their cat by plane, do not speak French. Their breaking point? The time they tried to bring their car from the United States. A process too laborious for their taste.

But it is on food that the American is, surprisingly, the most severe. Far from being impressed by the local gastronomy, she is surprised by the quality of the celery in the supermarket (“so soft, old and horrible, who would eat that?” ») and believes that French food is only good “if you want to eat brie, pâté, pastries and bread all day”. She would like to be able to taste frozen yogurts and order martinis in bars, rather than the required drinks “in the small menus”.

Not too surprisingly, the language barrier also harmed the couple's social life, which still has not taken off, even after their move to Montpellier, after a few months in Nîmes. Joanna McIsaac-Kierklo swears, however, that she and her partner would not have “honestly couldn’t make more effort to acclimatize to the French lifestyle”… Maybe a little more flexibility and curiosity could help?

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