Chateauneuf La Foret in Haute Vienne

Any members live in or close to Chateauneuf la Foret? We're considering buying a permanent property here and would appreciate some insider knowledge of the area and people.


For example, is it a nice place to live? Friendly, etc?


Is there much to do...clubs, societies, etc?


What' the weather like? I'm from near Manchester....I'm hoping it doesn't rain quite as much?


What's the Mairie like? Helpful or hard work?


Any advice most welcome.

Whoops! Sorry, my mistake.

Very kind of you to invite me round. If I get time, I will come visit you next week (obviously, I will phone you first), but I'm on a very tight schedule, so if it's not possible, it may have to be when we next visit in April.

I must say, that I've had a number of people contact me, who have seen our conversation online and all have been very welcoming and keen to extol the virtues of life in ClF. It's giving us a really good feel for the place....and we've never even been there yet! I can hardly wait to visit next week :-)

Ah, Lavaud not Levaud.... that's about five minutes away from us. We live in the Hamlet of Vaux, Chateauneuf la Foret off the D15 down a little road named C5. If you have time to pop in you'll find us by starting at SuperU (with the shop on your left and the lake on your right), go straight up in the direction of Linards (away from town) and take the left turn marked A20, St. Germain les Belles. Continue up the hill until you see a stone house on your right with a white wire fence round the garden. On the opposite side of the road is a tiny turning marked C5 and we are straight down that road until you see the back of our stone house with a barn attached (yellow house on the left). Come round the front of the barn and park. Tel: 0033 555692542.

No, it's South East of ClF on the D111A. Just a mile or so out of town. Small hamlet of around 10 houses.

Interesting to hear of the couple making the goats cheese. Something we fancy having a go at too.

no problem, good luck with the viewing. Levaud - is that the hamlet near Rosiers St. Georges ? If so, we know a very nice couple who live there, stayed with us while looking and now happily settled in and breeding goats, making cheese etc. !

Thanks Denise, I might just take you up on that offer of a cuppa :-)

I'm actually viewing the property next Friday....bit of a whistle-stop visit though. If we feel we want to progress further, then we'll be back the first week of April. If so, we'll let you know and maybe we can pick your brains then.

I have no complaints at all about living here - our web site is www.chambredhote-chateauneuflaforet.com why not give us a call when you are here, pop in for a cuppa and pick our brains. We'd be glad to pass on any information which might be of help. Chateauneuf la Foret is made up of five cantons and in those cantons there are over 60 British families now who pick who they make friends with just as you would in UK. We have now about half French and half British friends with a smattering of Dutch and Belgian...

Many thanks for your reply Denise...I was getting worried that maybe there was no one in the locality.

Your words are very encouraging. We're looking forward to exploring the area in the not too distant future. The place we are looking at is in a hamlet called Levaud. It too, is around 2km out of the town.

Regards, Bob

Hello Bob, we live in a hamlet 2 kms from Chaeauneuf la Foret so are under the Mairie there. We have lived here since 2002 and have found everyone here really friendly and helpful. When we came here there were few English people but soon found friends. We were always determined to integrate here and it helped for one of us to speak French (albeit it pretty poor at the beginning). In Chateauneuf we have good support in the way of doctors, pharmacy, banks etc all of whom will speak English to you if they see you are struggling. It depends what clubs or societies you are after but there are options which you could find out about either at the Mairie (who are always helpful) or the Tourist Office (again very helpful). Weather here at the moment is a bit "Manchester" but that's normal and is the reason why it is so green here. However, we do have four seasons and it can get very warm in the summer - we find we have to shut the shutters and go indoors when it's up in the high 30's or 40° It's rural here so the countryside is beautiful; I don't know what you like to do but you will find it all very relaxed here. We run a small B&B (one room in our house) and often have house hunters as well as holiday makers. If we can be of any help, let us know. Denise