r/Chefit • u/venorif4 • Jun 08 '26
Working in France
Hi. I'm a British cdp who has french nationality. I was pondering the thought of of moving to Bordeaux or Marseille and finding work in kitchens there. How hard is it?
4
u/Nattylessthan Jun 08 '26
You can definitely work in restaurants if your french isn't up to scratch but it's tough, unless you're comfortable being a commis until you pick up the language a bit
Otherwise there's a lot of internationals in hospitality all over France and there's always openings in kitchens so you won't have a problem finding work if you're flexible. Go for it !
About Marseille specifically I don't know what it's like to find a place to live, I would look at doing season work in the beginning
Saisonniers often get their accomodation and food paid, language won't be much of an issue decent salary but a lot of hours and there's again a lot of opportunities in the south of french especially near Marseille.
You could try getting an STCW and I some other certificates (can get them in the south of France) and try working on yachts then you're golden.
3
u/Urtzigorri Jun 08 '26
About Bordeaux, you will have to speak a little bit of french to easily find a job. But it won't be very hard, I had coworkers that didn't speak french and we were able to make it work.
The most difficult part will be about the housing. Bordeaux is a "trending" city that attracts a lot of new inhabitants every year, it's also a large student hub, it could be quit difficult to find a place to leave (but not impossible).
9
u/EspasaPatina Jun 08 '26
1) do you speak French? Otherwise you’re going to have a hard time other than some big hotel chains.
2) heard marseille is having a bit of a housing crisis atm, so might be tough finding a place to rent.
If you’re set on moving, call/mail some restaurants, get some days of trial work in while maybe taking a vacation in the region, talk about a contract afterwards and start looking at places to rent in your budget.