Winning the IT Lottery

Well, after a rather lengthy wait for the news I'd been hoping to hear, I found out today I'd got a new job in Antibes. I had a telephone only interview for this over a week ago, and it seemed to be in the bag at the time, although plenty can go wrong between the tech lead's interview and the accountant's abacus. This job hasn't come a moment too soon either, as I have bugger all in the bank to see me out of the recession, and I really need to be working at least semi-regularly.

The position is in Antibes, which is well over 300 miles from Toulouse, and is located on The Riviera between Cannes and Nice. I'll say that again - it's located on The Riviera. I'm still pinching myself, as it is everything I could have hoped for when I moved to France. The company is actually based in Sophia Antipolis, which is a very large science park set in a forest a few miles inland. For those who know, think 'Kista'. Except with scenery. There are apparently 20,000 people working in IT there.

There are 2 only downsides as far as I can tell:

1/. The initial contract is only 2 months. This makes life very difficult to rent in France, as the rental market is heavily regulated, and two months won't impress many landlords. This suggests a house share will again be the likely option.

2/. The two month contract overlaps almost precisely the two most expensive months in The Riviera holiday season. During July and August, Antibes is the most expensive town in France. This will pretty much guarantee that a house share is the likely option.

I'll know more when I get there in a week or so.

But for now, dead bloody chuffed :-)