A word of warning to anyone planning on staying in Europe for more than 90 days. Our original dream was to spend almost 4 months predominately in France with some side trips to other European countries. However if you want to spend more than 90 days in any one of a large number of European countries (or a number of them cumulatively) you need to apply for a Visa for the country you are spending the most time in.
If that country is France and you are Australian then each person travelling must apply for a long term stay Visa. This means each of you flying to Sydney as the Visas are biometric. The cost of the application alone for 4 people is over $600 plus airfares. Plus you need to provide a lot of personal information about your finances and undergo a special medical examination.
In the end we decided it simply wasn't worth it. it was going to cost us up to $1,500 and the invasion of privacy was just too high.
So sadly we won't have the time in France we wanted and will miss celebrating Christmas there with our wonderful friends.
But we keep planning and it opens the door for new adventures - possibly in the UK at the end of our trip - watch this space!
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