Originally Posted by
TallTourist
Hi
Long story short: I want to go touring in Europe again but I would also like to try living in France for a time (maybe). I just found out France has this weird rule for travelers that you have to leave the country after 90 days unless you have a visa of one kind or another and me being the lazy, not fond of planning guy that I am, I don't want to bother with that. Since one can move throughout mainland Europe without getting their passport stamped and thus proving you left France, is there a way I could circumvent that law somehow? I want to stay in a smallish town (preferrably) where people are friendly but it needs to have a language school where I can go to improve my French and meet people, advice on that front? I've only ridden from Calais to Bordeaux along the coast (skipping Brittanny) so I don't really know where I could go. The towns I liked were all too small for the aforementioned activities. Perhaps, with the exception of Dieppe.
Anyone else had any experience doing something like this? Even if you lived in another country while on a tour I'd like to hear about it. Sure seems a lot better than coming back to North America to work
I'm also interested in hearing advice for places to go on this tour. I think I'm pretty unusual when it comes to touring in that I like to avoid large cities like the plague. I LOVED the mild temperatures and WW2 historical places along the coast, friendly small-town people and charming buildings but I didn't really stop too much to check out art galleries an museums and all that normal tourist stuff. I kind of like to sightsee as I roll. I never even went to a proper French restaurant while I was there, it was either Carrefour or MacDo, lol. Or Kebab huts (what is with the French aversion to spice?). But yeah, those long empty secondary highways with heat shimmering the surface of the road ahead and a town every 20 kms or so with a Bar Tabac Presse shop...super charming
Maybe might want to go into the Southern Coast area and mountains next time too. Love those high speed descents.
1) If you are under 30, you might be able to work in other countries. If you are over 30 ... nope.
2) Look up the information on the Schengen zone. We toured Europe for about 4 months fairly recently ... spent about 3 weeks in the UK (mostly Scotland), then just under 90 days in the Schengen zone, then back to the UK again. If you find out which countries are part of the Schengen zone and which are not, you'll be able to go back and forth as necessary. Governments don't like lazy people who want to circumvent the law.
3) If you rode Calais to Bordeaux along the coast, you do know where to find a language school. Next time you do that, stop to check things out. Have a look around.
4) I am Canadian ... I've done a lot of travelling ... and I've been living in Australia for the last 6 years. Legally, of course.