Already learning moving to France isn't so easy

I've been doing a lot of research on my move to France, and there's a lot to learn!  I've found that most likely I'm going to have to apply for residency when the time comes as a self-employed person.   I want to continue doing my paintings until I can no longer hold a brush or see the canvas!  And of course, not being too keen on being a "starving artist," I want to continue to make my income.  I'll be contacting the French consulate here in Portland soon to be able to iron out a few more details about what's involved in applying for residency as a self-employed artist.  (I don't know if I'll be able to do my ceramic work there or not, so I'm just focusing on my paintings at this time.)

An aside:  I took a virtual tour of my so-far preferred city to live, Fougères, in Brittany, and it's a really, really great looking place.  I'll describe it in more detail in my next post since it's pretty late now.  But I'll say it's a rather small town, about 23,000 people.  It has a really fantastic medieval castle, the  Château de Fougères, (a link if you want to know more about the castle.)  But it also has pretty much everything else one would need on a day-to-day basis, including a train station in case I want to do some traveling.  I'm hoping to be able to do without a car if possible since I'll only be there 3 months this first time.  I expect to be renting a small house or apartment in or near the city so I can bike or walk everywhere.  And it's a clean, beautiful looking town.   Not too large, not too small, just right.

On to another subject now:  Regarding my ceramic artwork:  The holiday season is flying madly toward us, as usual, and I have to make some adjustments in how I take orders for ceramic pieces.  Currently, I have a general listing on Etsy, and you, the customer, have a lot of freedom in choosing how you want your particular piece to be made.  Unfortunately, it takes me about two weeks (or sometimes more) to make a new piece.  So sometime probably around Thanksgiving, I'll have to stop taking orders for pieces to be made (in time for Holiday delivery) and only list pieces that I've already made and have ready to ship.

So if you're thinking about having something made, be sure and place your order before the latter part of November -- and if I get too many orders earlier on, I'll have to stop taking them even earlier than I've stated here.