When Brian and I were like, “Heyyyy so we should move abroad, right? Let’s do the dang thing,” we quickly narrowed it down to Italy and France. (France had the reciprocal tax agreement and simpler visa processes, but that’s boring stuff for another time.)

To narrow it down further from there, we had to do the challenging work of finding a spot within France that was dog-friendly, close to a big airport (Paris!), and, ideally, welcoming to international folks.

Put that list into the Google machine and Saint-Germain-en-Laye rises to the top.

It’s SUPER dog-friendly — our dog poops at a castle! — and on a train line that gets us to both Paris and two international airports without much fuss. It’s also quite diverse, which feels good to see, and very friendly, despite all the kids. (Expats love this place for the good international schools. Teenagers have always scared me, though, and that’s my problem.)

And here we are, nearly two years later, doing it! No regrets.

Check out more of what we've learned:
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