French foreign legion travelling in france

>>1071328
I've thought about this, but unfortunately I thought too long because now I'm too old.

What is your plan for getting from Paris to Aubange?

>>1071328
>things to do in france

It depends, what do you like, how much can you spend on transportation or a car, and how much free time will you have ?

>>1071347
Im willing to spend max a couple grand. I am very cheap plan on staying in hostel/possibly camping. Flying into paris andtrying to decide if i should promptly leave to Marseille (close to aubange ) or spend time in france. Want to interact with people and have chance to practice my french. I am 24 and open to any suggestions looking to broaden my horizons.

>>1071339
They accept up until age 39.. Tentatively planning on taking a train i suppose. I know if you visit the recruiting center in paris they will give you a bus ticket to aubange but i think getting there on my own accord may reflect postively on me (plus gives me a chance to meander down there). Hoping to get there and appear as desperate and serious as possible. Generally I have read they don't take americans very seriously. What made you want to join? Where are you from? Have you visited western europe?

>>1071328
What does joining the foreign legion get you? Do you get a french visa for joining or something? Don't they send you to algeria for military training?

Get a taxi to Fort de Nogent its in the centre of Paris. You will be held there for two weeks until they check you out with interpol, to see you are not a wanted killer or anything.
From there you will be sent after two weeks to Aubagne with people from Lille, strasbourg etc. There you will be for another month or so then sent to Castelnaudary to begin basic training, after which you will be sent to a regiment, depending on your skills.
Be honestw ith them from the begining about any petty criminal record etc, they will help you out. If you lie they can't help you.
Good luck.

>>1071389
You dont think i should go strait to aubange? Do you say these things based on personal experience?

>>1071391
Yes, its where i joined.
No need to go to Aubagne, at Paris they will give you medicals there at Vincennes etc and then after a couple of weeks send you on the night train with other guys to Aubagne.
You can go to Aubagne if you like but there is no need.

>>1071393
What do you think my chances of getting in are if i meet all the physical/fitness requirements but my french is poor and i am american?

>>1071382
If you ask for French citizenship after five years service (with clean service history) they will give it to you using old French law about having shed or willing to shed blood for France. You can also ask for a name change and they will give you a different name, or you can make one up if its not too crazy.
You don't go to Algerie any more, though maybe Mali and some other African countries that have French interests to be protected. You could go to Guyana in south america as they have regiment down there, or Corsica where they have paratroop regiment. Also Djibouti on the horn of africa they have 13dble regiment.
Mainly you probably be in France, but if France sends troops to any conflict the legion is first to go alongside french marines and French paratroops.
don't turn up if you are regular drug user, even soft drugs as they will kick you out as soon as you fail drugs test.
Don't lie to them as they will find out everything about you anyway. If you want to change identity tell them why and it will be done, all your documents will be in new name and they can deny your presence under your old id.
Pay is shit at first, then goes up as you get rank. You can stay for 20 yrs for pension but nobody does.
Americans get treated ok, same as everyone else. Nobody gets special or worse treatment.

>>1071412
They will take you. As long as you pass drug tests which most peoples fail nowdays.
They will get you into shape and learn you French, hardly anyone speaks French except Canadians and Belgians, and French guys( lot of French guys in Legion). so they have French lessons. All you need to know is basic words like Corvèe (duty) right, left etc.They will speak to everyone in slow dumb French at first and keep repeating words until they stick in your head.
In Legion officers and nco's do all the thinking, you just hump the gear.
Slowly you will learn French. Its not too hard.

This is a real thing?

I think I found my calling

>>1071421
Thanks for the input! What should i bring when i report to the recruitmentcenter?

>>1071426
Nothing you want to keep. Everything you have will be taken away from you and i think given to homeless or something.
You can keep maybe a ring or watch if its good and necklace. Thats all, don't bring anything as all you need will be given to you. Don't bring too much money, maybe 500 euro's, then have more sent to you when you are in, they will open a bank account for you in basic training for your wages.
Just passport which they give you back after five years. Shaving kit, usual personal things.

>>1071382
>to algeria for military training?
lel, not since the 1950s.

You go to Mali, Mauritania, CAR or Djibouti or so for desert shit and French Guiana for jungle shit.

If you successfully complete several years of service, you get French citizenship and a new name. Probably easier to get in as a shitskin refugee these days, if you're a shitskin.

>>1071412
You MUST learn French within about a year or so. ALL instruction is in French, and ALL communication with other legionnaires is to be in French. If you don't learn French, you will be kicked out. You aren't expected to be the next Voltaire or even de Sade though.

>>1071431
Yeah i mean im not worried about learning it once I am there just curious how problematic it may be intially.

>>1071438
Not a problem at all, they know you have zero French. The guys will probably speak to you in English anyway, or a sort of English.

Spaniards stick together, Italians stick together, and English speaking people stick together as a rule. So you will help each other out a bit with language problems etc.
You'll be ok. A bit scary at first, and a huge culture shock, but that's normal. Its not as bad as people think. In fact its just like being in the normal French army desu.

>>1071425
Yes it is, the Legion was famous because its mean were from all over the world and mostly criminals of all kind, mostly the worse kind tho

Nowadays you can't just turn up at the door and say "hey I killed someone but I'll fight if you let it go" but it's still a good place to start a new life, you can be granted French citizenship, change your identity etc

>>1071449
>its mean

its men

Also yeah they teach you French

Its historically a haven where you can start afresh, although if you are wanted for serious crimes then they won't let you in.
Petty shit and some not so petty shit they don't worry about. They will give you the benefit of the doubt.

>>1071449
So you can't even be a mercenary these days without a polished resume.

It's probably harder to get an Academi job than joining the army.....

>>1071414
>>1071431
>>1071449
It seems like people do this to escape something back home and everyone is giving advice to people like "tell them any crime you've committed because they will find out." Does anybody do this just because they like france and want to be a citizen or is it specifically for people who fucked up back home?

In my experience a lot of the guys want to get away from the areas they are brought up in and away from bad company. If you want to be a soldier and make a fresh start its not possible these days as most armies have rules about people not being able to join who have criminal records or who have been in trouble with the police. So the legion accepts these people and gives them the benefit of the doubt.
There are many people who join also for different reasons not only for this.

>>1071458
France need soldiers and is willing to give anyone a new life that is fit, pass a drug screening and is ready to fight for them.
They don't care much about your intentions or your past. If you want the french passport that's okay. If you did some not so serious shit at home and need a new start that's okay.

>>1071456
No you can still go to the French Foreign Legion with 0 experience in field, as long as you are healthy
They just don't accept murderers on the run anymore

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>>1071458
Some people choose it on purpose even though they could go elsewhere, because the FFL is prestigious. It has taken part in famous battles, it has had legendary commanders (the wooden hand of Jean Danjou, a commander that resisted with 60 men against 2000 Mexicans, is paraded every year during the 14 July parade) so a lot of people are attracted by the whole "glorious" side of it. That's mostly for French recruits tho.
Foreigners are more people who fucked up one way or another, or from poor countries attracted by the "easy" citizenship and the free languages classes along

>>1071487
>in field

I meant in any* field

>>1071491
Link related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camar%C3%B3n

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>>1071491
Dem beards tho

>>1071328

Wait, you mean to tell me, as an American, I could join the French Foreign Legion with little to no military experience?

>>1071504
Yes

>>1071504
>>1071506
I kinda thought it was common knowledge but I'm French so we hear about it more often

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>french

>>1071504
About five years ago, I was seriously considering it, but everything I read online said that recruitment levels had mostly been met and they weren't taking people without combat experience anymore. That may have changed by now, though.

>>1071509
Rage pas l'angloy

>>1071514
They try to dissuade people who think its all beau geste and desert castles. Even when you turn up they will try to shoo you away. This is so they get only people who have determination to join.
They prefer people with military experience and if you have been in an elite unit in different army they rush you through selection process, you still do basic training but its possible after that they send you to peleton to become corporal. Depends on you.
Though without military experience they still accept you, no problem.

I've always wondered what your birth country thought of you joining the FFL. Do you get your citizenship revoked and shit? I mean, you are essentially selling yourself to another country's armed forces, not some mercenary group, but another country's military.

>>1071638
>I've always wondered what your birth country thought of you joining the FFL. Do you get your citizenship revoked and shit? I mean, you are essentially selling yourself to another country's armed forces, not some mercenary group, but another country's military.

Technically an offence in Australia but you'd never be prosecuted. Joining the Kurdish militia and fighting against Daesh will definitely get you prosecuted though and that's the same thing. Australian laws don't care who you're fighting for, only who you're fighting against and whether it's as a member of the Australian Army. They won't prosecute someone who's a member of a NATO army though.

Mostly, it would be the same as taking out citizenship of another country, you might lose your original depending on the country.

>>1071328
You'll be put through a series of interviews then most likely be sent on your way.

They have more than enough applicants with combat experience, violent backgrounds or 3rd-worlders who will put in the work for the citizenship.

1st-world Westerners have too high a desertion rate.

>>1071628

There does appear to be a selection process, and what >>1071939 said is backed up by this:

http://www.vice.com/read/i-tried-joining-the-french-foreign-legion

They don't seem to just take everybody who wants in.

Leaving this here, it's a pretty good article http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/12/french-foreign-legion-expendables

>>1071939
Yeah we will see i suppose. Without going into detail my bio I think I fit the bill and with all the happenings going down in france its my impression they are recruiting more then ever. I have my to have my ticket purchased for about a month out but the question is go strait there once i arrive in country or first spend some time getting to the know the country i am potentially preparing to put my life on the line for...

>>1071328
>Foreign Legion

kek

Enjoy being beaten the fuck up 24/7

>>1072097
The fact that you have the leisure of sightseeing means you will not be selected. That this is even a question means you are not desperate enough for France to invest in you. I'm sorry, but you are too well-off.

>>1072160
That logic doesnt seem very sound logic to me (gyspies or homeless people find ways too travel and sight see)..but I am sure you are more kmowledgable on this subject than i because you read the first article that comes up on google when you search ffl. Only one way to know for sure is to take a chance

>>1071328
I remember my father telling me about one of his customers who, as a young man after finishing school, got a trip to France paid by his father. after a heavy night out drinking in Marseille he found hisself again in the FFL, after he drunkenly signed up for it. He actually went through it and came back to Germany afterwards though.
Whole thing must have been about 40 years ago though.