Family of Four Upends Silicon Valley for French Pool and Multi-Generational Drama
KEY POINTS
- •Lin Koh and her husband Adalbert moved from California's Bay Area to France in 2023 to care for her mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer's.
- •They initially rented a five-bedroom house with a pool near Aix-en-Provence for €2,200 monthly before buying a home in Fuveau.
- •Their two kids quickly learned French after transferring to public school while the family adjusted to multi-generational living and local culture.
In a 2023 plot twist straight from a French soap opera, Lin Koh, Bay Area tech alum (Facebook and Adobe, fancy!), uprooted her husband Adalbert—himself a tech dude—and their two kids aged 5 and 7, trading Santa Clara’s 'cheaper' cost of living for a €2,200/month pool villa in Saint-Savournin. Why? Alzheimer’s threw a franco-family curveball. The 'vie privée et familiale' visa gave her legit work rights and a starring role in navigating 'livret de famille' paperwork, because marriage means you get paperwork, lots of it. They sold a car, stuffed stuff in storage, and boarded the family dog for travel. Oh, and the kids ditched private international school for French public school immersion, achieving near fluency in six months while being reminded to speak English at home, preventing their brains from turning into baguettes. French life means tiny fridges, fresh markets, and cooking for everyone including in-laws now sharing the roof. Lin even snagged a home office while dealing with the jolts of multi-generational living and navigating daily life via husband-virus battery boost (aka French fluency imbalance). The hardest goodbye? Friends and families back in the US, proof that emotional baggage still flies free even on international moves.
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Moved entire family from Silicon Valley to France for Alzheimer’s care but ended up juggling French bureaucracy, multi-generational roommates, and tiny fridges worthy of a sardine challenge. Welcome to living la vie complicated.
Who knew chasing French lavender fields meant swapping tech hustle for daddy dearest du jour and fridge Tetris? Spoiler: no one mentions the dog’s jetlag.
Sold a car, boxed 20 years of life, and got an office to work remotely amid random in-law cameos. Silicon Valley wish this was in the job perks.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/11/2026 | Author: Alcynna Lloyd
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