Long Term French Visa

I assume by SF you mean San Francisco, CA? You should go to the San Francisco French consulate website. There you will find their requirements for the Long Term Visa. I believe they require only one housing address to start off. You will be receiving mail there a week or 2 after you arrive, from French immigration. You will have to register with them -- they will want information about your address also. I had a permanent address for the entire year when I was in France. I don't know how they handle a situation where you live in several different places.

You must have proof of your own medical insurance, but I don't think there is any deductible requirement. I don't know about asking questions, since I just provided them with the documentation they required, turned it in and in a few weeks I got the VISA. But I'm sure you can.
Good Luck.

when I looked into this I was told that the insurance had to be equivalent to what the French health care system provides for its citizens and when I looked into policies that seemed to fulfill that they were incredibly expensive (especially since we would have to keep paying for medicare in the US during that period so as not to lose that without huge additional fees. We decided not to proceed so can't be helpful otherwise. It was not enough to have catastrophic coverage.

I am fortunate enough to have continuing medical coverage from my employer, City of San Francisco, which offers several medical plans to employees and retirees. One of them covers you overseas, so I switched to it during the enrollment period prior to my stay in France. This option made it possible for me to spend a year in France - don't think I would have been able to otherwise.
You may not have this option, but if you do -- check it out.

I have friends who paid for medical insurance on their own, for a long stay, and it was quite expensive.

Thank you for the helpful information. I will only live in one place, just wanted to know how long I had to rent an apartment for purposes of the application. The medical insurance is very expensive, and I do believe you are correct about needing to have the equivalent of French co enrage. The cheapest I can find is through a company called Seven Corners, recommended by an expat and with good re iews. Several people also said their Blue Cross MediGap insurance covered them for this purpose. I checked with Blue Cross (of Michigan) and this is correct. The coverage is much less expensive but I am still not convinced it meets the equivalency requirements. It seems to have worked for at least several people. I am finding the process challenging but am determined to try.

Check out the Kaiser Senior Advantage plan. It's extremely comprehensive, and does cover you outside the U.S. The price for Kaiser membership tends to be a lot lower than other health insurance.

Thanks, For the information. I'll look It up tomorrow.

Thanks, For the information. I'll look It up tomorrow.

I wish you the very best in this endeavor. I have a similar plan to live in Paris for one year after I retire. Please keep us informed of the process.