'How I moved from the US to France alone aged 70'

In 2021, US schoolteacher Janice Deerwester had a realisation. She had retired from teaching in 2018, and had subsequently been tutoring and working in retail.

“One day I just came home and thought ‘Is this it?’. I mean, seriously, I am too young for this to just be it. I thought, if I could do anything in the world, what would I do? I’d move to France. So I started making plans, and eight months later, I was here.”

She moved with three suitcases, a cat and a dog, helped by her daughter Jennifer, 24, who still lives in the US.

Love for France

Ms Deerwester had first visited Paris in 1988 on a holiday from Cameroon, where she and her husband, who died in 2012, were posted for his job.

“I would come back every two years, and think to myself if I just had a little more money, I’d stay another week.

“I was always in tears when I left because I felt I had left a part of me behind,” she says.

In February 2022, she moved to an apartment in Fontainebleau, south-east of Paris, known for its opulent palace. She had first heard of the town while watching a Netflix programme.

“When I rode up in the bus, I knew. This is it, done deal, finished.”

She credits her stubbornness as the driving force for going through with the move. “Bravery had nothing to do with it,” she insists.

The move had a bumpy start: “I was exhausted. The first night I couldn’t even sleep in the bedroom because I just felt like it wasn’t a home.”

It was a trip to Ikea for some new furnishings for her apartment that helped Ms Deerwester make the transition. “I just needed some personal touches to put in here to show that it was me.”

YouTube channel

It was a friend who suggested she document her move on YouTube, and the channel Janice in France was born.

“I’ve been doing it for two years and have almost 28,000 subscribers. I’m really proud of myself,” she says.

Her typical viewers are women over the age of 50: “Women who are at a crossroads, empty nesters, trying to figure out what they want to do.”

Benefits of France

What does Ms Deerwester love about her new life in France?

“Number one, I love Fontainebleau because it’s safe,” she says. “The other night, the last bus home had gone but I just changed into my tennis shoes and walked back. And I love to go to Paris. I just pinch myself and go: Darn, girl, you’re in Paris!”

In terms of differences between France and the US, she pinpoints everyday manners as a major one: “The politeness here is just lovely.”

Ms Deerwester has no plans to return to the US permanently and has a podcast in the pipeline next.

Her advice for others contemplating a move? “Do all the research. And don’t be scared of the language.”