Hi Peter
We are familiar with this area having looked at several houses in the Haute Vienne, near Bellac and St Junien. What do you mean about the climate not being too 'Limousin' and harsh? Is it appreciably harsher as you head east and higher? Depending on who you we have spoken to, some people have said to avoid the eastern side of Limoges as it is too cold and wet? Others have said the climate is amazing? Depends what you want really I suppose. Don't mind a dramatic landscape though. In fact where we are in the Charente is way too bland for our taste. Lots of Brits seem to love it though, judging by the number living here and in Deux Sevres!! It will probably be Brits that we sell our completed house to.
Interesting information, thank you. Do you have any issues with the chasse in your area? We have had some indirect issues locally.
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Hello Paul, far east of the Dept. Near the border to Puy de DĂ´me. Nearest Big town is called Auzances.
Altitude is about 600 metres.
The climate for me has been a joy so far. Decent snow in the winter. Can be wet during the summer which explains why itâs so green. Like other areas has been hot recently.
Very rural. With a succession of small fields, rolling hills well balanced amount of trees. Agricultural here is of the small scale with mostly geared up for cows and feeding of the animals.
Minus points- You need a car. We need to survive to go to the local town to get food, as an example.
CinÊma or thÊâtre you need to travel at least 40 km to a bigger town.
If you canât cope with isolation than it could be an issue.
Postive points - Housing probably the most affordable you can get for such a lovely landscape.
Privacy -You can find easily places to live where you are by yourself and quiet can be deafing 
. People - Generalisation but they are very friendly.
In summary, do not regret one second in moving here. Have the avantage of been isolated but surrounded by countryside which is not boring to my eye. Been able to experience the seasons properly for the first time in my life. Living next to a road and only traffic is tractors. Seeing a car go by is now quite exciting
The western Haute Vienne is great, decent climate without it being too 'Limousin' and harsh. Plenty of quiet areas around Saint Junien wwhich has everything you need when required including a superb hospital. Limoges airport is twenty minutes away.
We live in Haute-Vienne but right on the Creuse border. Creuse is still the cheapest department in France I think so you can get loads of house and land for your money.
It is very quiet and green as people have said, and people are friendly if you ma keep an effort. Also the hills, lakes and forests mean there are lots of lovely views. A couple of things to watch out for: some winters can be quite harsh, depending on how high up you are. And Iâm told that some areas are used quite a lot for practice flights by military jets. We get one about once a month, which is fine, but it would get a bit noisy if it was all day every day, so check before you buy.
Overall though itâs great.
I moved here in 2009 when I was 21 with my boyfriend.
We bought 2 house in a hamlet and there is only one other house which used to belong to the one family who owned our houses and we have 11 acres of land and a lake. So we are pretty much self-sufficient now.
I love making homemade wine espeically lol !
He works in England still for his main job and I work here on our farm now.
I love living here. The Creuse is my home now and I love all the friends I have made. Mainly French and I never spoke French before I came here and have taught myself with the help of others.
I love waking up here everyday and going out and feeding my dog Yorky and the animals etc and taking here the forest all around me and the magnificent views,
There are so many lovely lakes around here too, so I either go in mine or explore and find others to swim in :-D
A lot of wildlife here and no people. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way now :-D
The photo is looking east across to where the sun rises. Beautiful to wake up with a bowl of coffee and a croissant and watch the sun rise each morning weather permitting.
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We had a holiday home on the Indre/Creuse border. Beautiful countryside, peaceful, agricultural; however, not a lot going on in winter and temperatures are more temperate. On wet and cool days we would look at the meteo which usually showed the Lot&Garonne as sunnier and drier, hence our move. But I remember the Creuse with affection particularly as everything, including property, was a lot lot cheaper!
Hi Martin
Thanks for your reply. Whereabouts are you in the Creuse? What's the climate like in summer and in winter? What sort of altitude is your property at?
Cheers Paul
Hi John
Thank you for your reply. Having lived in some very quiet places in the UK (Cairngorms; Snowdonia; Mid Wales) to me our particular location in the Charente does not offer the level of peace and tranquillity we are looking for. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of buying our house next to the D26!! This is before we realised the D26 is a quite busy road. Especially for tractors, combine harvesters, grain lorries and regular traffic going to and from Ruffec. We were just a bit naive and believed the estate agent when she said it was a quiet rural lane!!
It's not the level of quiet we were after, but we have been spoiled in the past!
Hi Paul, we moved here just under a year ago after travelling & checking many other parts of France.
Managed to buy a house with 3 fields and a wood for not very much money. In a small hamlet of only 4 houses but far enough away to be private.
As you stated, beautiful countryside with rolling hills and loads of trees. Everytime you look, my eyes are pleased with what I can see.
Locals are very friendly if you make the effort.
Would recommended this Dept.
If peace and quiet is what you want you will certainly find that in the Creuse. Mind you, few people would agree that you live in a âbusyâ place. Quiet backwater would be the more frequent observation. Regarding the summer temperatures, this summer has been warmer and drier than the norm and this is a situation which the Creuse has experienced as well.
You are well placed to visit the Limousin for day trips to search out locations and properties and I hope that you find what you require. Your âŹuros will certainly go further there.
Hello John. I thought I would update the thread, by replying to your comment directly, almost a year to the day.
Seems our unconventional approach has borne plenty of fruit afterall!!
We sold our renovated Charentaise longere within three weeks of putting the on the market back in June 2016. Sold to private buyers (British) who were already living and renting in France. The compromise has been signed, deposit received and the cooling off period passed several weeks back. We are looking to exchange at the end of September.
We have organised a place to stay for a few months and will use this time to explore the areas we are interested in. Having visited the Creuse a few times now we are blown away by the stunning green landscapes, numerous lakes and widespread hills, forests, and scattered villages. The Creuse in particular has a lot in common landscape-wise to areas of Wales/Scotland we have lived and we are fully prepared to live in a cooler and wetter climate. Given the excellent value presented by the houses it is high on our list of possible destinations. We are also checking out Correze and parts of Auvergne. We also really like the eastern part of the Haute Vienne especially the bit south of Limoges. It seems that all our hard work and determination has paid off and we can now look forward to our next adventure.
my hubby went to a training course in Gueret financed and administrated by the state He came back days later.
The a accommodation. The food. The support all were below standards and his trainee colleagues yobs or addicts.
Creuse may be cheap but the services are below standard too and you will find yourself trapped with backward people
Been all around France and found the people of Creuse to be one of the friendliest which was one of the reasons to live here.
Apart from the lovely countryside.
Def not backward!
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Itâs horseâs for courses Claudia. We have visited the Creuse many times now and absolutely love it. If we are talking about backwards people there are 17 million Brits who voted for BrexitâŚnow thatâs what I would call backwards!!
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Yes if you like
When life is hard people are friendly
When life is ok people are indifferentâŚ
Looks like you are going to live a monastic life away from doctors dentists etc but surrounded by friends. Itâs ok if you are young and healthy. Old and sick itâs like euthanasia. Not obliged to go to Switzerland for that. Quite a bargain!
I have seen too many with starry eyes from UK putting dreams and expectations before hard facts
Do your research on Creuse before moving in.
A colleague of mine wants Creuse because the taxes are low taxe fonciere âŚ
Do you know why they are low? I said.
Nevermind here in 87 I am paying too much of it.
Well my friend in Creuse you are paying for economic disaster. Only the starry eyes brits stay. The french have moved away.Not daftâŚ
Hi Claudia. You are entitled to your opinion but you clearly do not want
the same things out of your French life as we do. We will maybe take our
chances and die old and lonely in La Creuse. 30,000 Brits love the
Charente, but I donât want to live there anymore! Horses for courses isnât
it. Thank god we are not all wanting the same things! We would rather be
surrounded by honest and decent poor folk and good friends than
indifference brought on by wealth!
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Claudia, we have doctors & dentists. If you want, I can take you on a tour to see them? ( Before I pop back into my monastery and do a few chants and think about death).
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ha ha ha good lines
They must have improved drastically. But what is the future for Creuse? What the economic basis for this carnival of doctors?
Your wonderful life depends on the generosity of the state and department. Once the finances dry up watch the damage
True very true
I just think about the difficulty in haute vienne to find an ophtalmo and I think in Creuse itâs worse.
We visited a house for sale once and it was so out of the way 5kms from departmental road or more.
Creuse has been hard hit by ww1 and before that the builders of the Creuse 19c deserted it to build Haussman perspectives in Paris so you graft your precious selves upon a feeble department without the influx of the young generation.
There is the wealth created by the retired. O k but thatâs about all. Crozant wonât drive international tourism. Itâs not marketed enough.
What is the economy of Creuse I wonder? Please tell us! Creuse depends on Limousin. SubsidiesâŚ
Unstable basis that is.