Since our move in mid-February, Nik, Koval the dog, and I have finally settled in Nice and are starting to feel at home. We used The Adrian Leeds Group to assist in the apartment search, which you can read about more in depth here.
Short Stay in Barcelona
We technically arrived in Europe back in the fall, mid-September to be exact. After traveling through Nice, Antibes and Aix-en-Provence over the course of two weeks, we arrived in Barcelona where we stayed for a few months. It was great to see our friends again, build on those relationships meeting new people as well and making some great memories.
The Move to Nice
Nice is about a six-hour drive from Barcelona, so moving with all our stuff didn’t seem too daunting. Instead of renting a car in Barcelona and returning it in Nice, we found it more cost-effective to book a cheap flight to Nice, pick up a rental car there, and then drive to Barcelona for our final two nights. After loading up the car, we made the return drive to Nice to start the next stage of our life abroad.
Once the rental car was unloaded, we took advantage of having it to shop at Ikea for a few household items and to stop at Ubaldi, an electronics store. The TV was one of the delayed items at the apartment and we were not going to wait a few weeks for the TV to arrive. Luckily for us, after the one for the apartment arrived, we were able to sell the TV we bought to another couple that recently moved to Nice.
Residency Process
Since I have Austrian citizenship and passport, neither of us needed a Visa ahead of time to make this move. Nik, as the spouse of an EU citizen, has the right to move with me. Without getting too technical, anyone can stay in the Schengen Zone, an area that encompasses 29 European countries, for 90 days within a 180 day period. For Nik to legally stay longer without issue, he has to file for French residency. (We did this same process when we lived in Barcelona for 13 months.) Nik’s French application is currently in progress and soon we’ll both apply to get into the French health care system that is provided to all legal residents.
Related: My Path to Dual Citizenship
Our Nice Community
Since The Adrian Leeds Group has been in the relocation business geared towards Americans for many years, there’s a large community of people that have been living in Nice. The day we met our search consultant Katie at the apartment for the keys and to move in, she told us about a weekly Friday apéro where many of those people get together around 6pm at a different location each week around the city. It’s sort of like what we would call a happy hour in the States.
Nik and I didn’t go to the first one after we arrived since we were getting settled and had a lot of running around to do. We went the following Friday and had a great time. It helped that one of our neighbors from the building moved in a couple weeks before us, so she introduced us around a bit.
Over the last few months of going to apéro, both Nik and I have connected with a variety of people who have since become our friends. We’ve had some fun times with our new friends, even though we’re among the youngest in the group.
In addition to being friendly, many of the people we’ve met have also been incredibly helpful—offering great recommendations for a vet, doctors, and more. We’ve even randomly bumped into people while out and about on our own. Nice is very much a small-large city.
We’ve also joined a nearby gym that reminds us of the one we belonged to in Chicago. Very modern and updated with amazing views of the surrounding area. All that the gym is missing is a pool. But it does have a fabulous outdoor workout area with lounge chairs if you so choose to relax for a few.
The Koval Section
Koval the dog is doing pretty well, considering he seems to have aged a lot over the last six-plus months of being in Europe.
That picture above? We are so lucky to have two parks nearby perfect for walking Koval and letting him get his sniffs in. He’s even made a few friends at one of the parks that we frequent. Nice is smaller and cleaner than Barcelona, which has made walks for us and with Koval more pleasurable.
We finally have a good handle on his health, and I’ll be writing more about the vet care we’ve experienced in Europe. (Hint, just as good as in the states and far more affordable.) Looking back to the spring and summer of 2024 in Chicago, there were some early signs that he was beginning to change a bit.
A short 15 minute walk straight down our block to the gorgeous Promenade des Anglais and the beach allows for pictures like this:
Overall, we’ve settled in Nice pretty well and are very happy and excited to experience more of this great area.
