Hello, this is my first post on the forum. My wife and I will be moving to France permanently in January of 2016. I have just returned from a house buying trip that at least showed us where we did not want to live, as remote can really mean remote. Unfortunately, we are ploughing the same old furrow. House with gite, family and friends and somewhere to wind down, but knowing the South East regions as we do, there are too few reasons not to do it.
We are looking in quite a large geographical area South of Limoges towards the Dordogne. The area is roughly from Le Buisson de Dordogne (where I lost the key to my hire car), and north as far as Brantome , then East as far as Argentat (roughly 2 hours away). During our first visit we stayed with an English couple who live in the Correze very close to Arnac-Pompadour. We were out all day but on a couple of evenings we met, had a drink and exchanged information, it was a huge help and very encouraging for my wife and I.
On my next trip,11th to 15th October I am going to be on my own but once again will be looking for somewhere to stay for 4 nights. I am quite happy to pay, buy dinner, wine, beer or what ever...I will be out for most of the day but it would once again be very helpful to meet a family or couple who may be living in a similar geographical area to ourselves.
The rough geographical area that I would like to stay is bordered to the North by the A89 and to the east by the A20. If anyone on the forum has a room to rent or suitable accommodation on whatever terms suit them best, then could they please let me know? I am flexible and the area that I have indicated as a base probably won’t be more than an hour away from any of the regions that I am planning to visit.
I will respond to everyone or anyone who may possibly be able to make an offer (if any).
Not sure what income has to do with it! Champagne is a wine and I was making the point that it's often cheaper to buy it outside of France even though it's produced here!
I don't drink that 'petrol pump' style wine any more (my 76 year old Mum does though!) - it's gut rot. As for the 12,50€ meals with wine - come on....it's rubbish food - normally from Brake Brothers or some other reheated gunk. Ask yourself how on Earth any business can offer a 12,50€ meal with wine (and staff serving it) and not be cutting corners- it's rubbish!
Oh and, for the record, I'd never go back to the UK .....
i obviously dont have your income, your very lucky that you drink champagne, we find Wine is fine and a hell of a lot cheaper, and our local places to eat offer five course with wine for 12.5 euro, and for your info is far better than where ive lived in the uk, london, pembrokeshire,manchester, tamworth ,warwickshire, northampton to name a few, tell yo what im glad to be here seems you are a bit down about the finantial side perhaps you need to move back to the uk and enjoy life
House prices where Joseph? Are you comparing like for like - e.g. Paris and London are pretty much the same when you take into account exorbitant estate agent fees, notary charges and taxes in France. Food? You're kidding - which foods are cheaper in France than in the UK and Spain? And as for choice of foods (especially in supermarkets) - France is positively third world. Wine - rubbish, most Champagne is cheaper outside France! Meals out - get real - Tapas, Pubs....come on...those 'Early Bird' deals are unbeatable value....
i find the limousin far cheaper than the uk in every respect apart from second hand cars, you must be living in the wrong place Simon. house prices,food, wine meals out...no comparison, perhaps you need to move area
Just out of interest (well sort of...) - I wonder how many of the thousands of Brits who have returned to the UK have kept LHD cars and then run them into the ground - their can't be a market for them over there can there?
Paul - put a photo up please! This thread has become so massive that I'm sure there are many of us who are keen to 'meet' you properly! Cheers Catharine
Hi Joseph, thank you. I guess that I do have more questions than answers at the moment but, there are plenty of resources out there and the forums have been a great source of info. I am trying to exhaust this line of enquiry first before asking too many new questions. By the way, UK has a bit of an Indian Summer 18 to 22 degrees every day for the last week and a half up here in York.
House prices do vary considerably, but trying to buy in an area where , if I had to, I could sell again relatively quickly. We have no plans to move on, but who knows?
Enjoy your break in the UK and I hope the weather holds out for you.
No problem, if you need to pass by our way in the future look us up, well worth a visit if you need help in our area, will be open for guests from 24th November, going to uk for a month after the summer , need to rest good luck with your house hunt, it’s still excellent value for money here prices reflect that there is not a lot of work in the region
Hi Hilary, I was advised to bring my Land Rover due to the high cost of second hand cars in France. My car was first registered in 1999, so its quite old but I service and maintain it myself. It will be MOT`d in the UK, I have a French Certificate of Conformity and due to its age it does not attract a high import tax. I am also using it to bring over the dogs and a big trailer. Like you, I do not intend to burn up the French Roads. Not in a hurry these days, at least I don't think I am! Off season Brantome should be quiet-ish, heaving during , but I will just stay away from the heavy traffic areas during those times.
There aren't many, if any salaried agents in France. Some work as I used to do by receiving a commission and having the commission paid as a salary with the parent company paying a share of the social contributions which gave me all the Social Security rights as any other salaried employee.