I'm cold

I second Helen's suggestion...this soon-to-be-retired American has pretty much narrowed it down to Bordeaux or the Dordogne (still can't decide if I'm a city girl or a country girl!). There is a brand new Les Seniorales community in a suburb of Bordeaux, just a few minutes from downtown by tram that I want to look into.

You're all mad!!!

Bordeaux in thé winter!!! Sideways rain. Bay of Biscay!

I give up but stop suggesting to a 70 year old lady who's looking for winter sun, places on the west coast or near the pyrenees.

Think about her, not yourself.

Whoooa ! Michael....23 operations later......93% death rate...what was this ?

Ebola ?

Well, I too am attracted by the idea of warmth, sunshine (and good medical care)....

So although I have been thinking about relocation to the Charente, possibly La Vienne...I thoght I'd just google the Languedoc.....found this...see below.....nice but not alot of space for your money...OK I suppose if you haven't accumulated much stuff and are not going to be putting anyone up...

http://www.green-acres.com/en/properties/12848a-re68899-1703.htm

Well said! The météo statistics speak for themselves, it's all there, just take a look, but look at winter stats only not summer ones ;-)

Gangrene de Forniea. That's spelt wrong. Caused scepcis in my upper leg spread fast to undercarriage area. 2 weeks intensive care then 7 more weeks of cleaning up and skin grafts etc.

3 months with a catheter. 6 months with a colostomy bag.

Got friendly with all the surgeons. Lovely people. Still send them a tin of biscuits now and again.

I could cure the NHS. I know the difference. UK hospitals are cleaner and more comfortable but Montpellier has better front line equipment, higher skilled surgeons and faster access to diagnostics.

Anyway, yes property is more expensive. Pretty clear why. There are other ways. I live off grid for example. Only heating is a wood burner. Only been lit about 10 times this winter for a few hours. Bought €70 of wood in November and got more than half left.

I got hot water and cook by gas bottle. My dogs drink the water but I don't. Filter for washing etc. Sat TV gets all the UK channels. Fridge, washing machine, microwave and lighting solar powered. Decent garden. Bit clogged up with building tools etc.

Depends what you want. I got friends in Limoges with massive house. Boiling hot summer, 10ft of snow in winter. Nothing to do.

I wouldn't swap.

Property prices vary wildly in Languedoc. Coastal properties (naturally) can be very expensive - move inland 5 minutes and there are some great bargains to be had.

I would add that Languedoc is certainly not just about climate (although that is the focus of this thread). It has as much culture and history as you can stomach, some really great wines (despite what you might read), great transport links, beautiful architecture, Sports mad locals, and within an hours drive, mountains/lakes/hunting/beaches/vibrant cities/tiny hamlets/skiing/Andorra/Spain/ etc etc.

Truly.. personally I find it hard to beat.

Languedoc for me everytime. The Charente, Dordogne etc with their green fields, for me, look too much like the UK, albeit with better weather. The Languedoc, with vineyards are far as the eye can see, plus the mountains, be they the Montaigne Noire or the foothills of the Pyrenees and also the Corbieres. Not forgetting the Canal du Midi, all go to make this area just fantastic!

Keep looking at the Languedoc Hilary, some great prpoerties at very reasonable prices. Maybe look inland - Minervois, Corbieres etc, not very far from the coast. Gruissan Plage and village and Peyriac sur Mer are our favourite coastal spots

So you were fairly seriously ill....Sorry to here that, it must have been a worrying time for you and your family....Hope you are fully recovered...

I cant agree about the NHS versus France.Nor does Paul Hipp and the World health Organisation...see the link below...

I have had two hospitalisations here. One was for acute Pancreatis (from my ignoring a rumbling gall-stone, that had rumbled just once in the UK)......and I had terrific treatment..Very clean hospital, sharing a room with just one occupant with our own en-suite. Nil by mouth, intravenous antibiotics skillfully delivered through one branched canula (very unlike the UK). Quietly spoken professional nurses and a Doctor who had an excellent level of English.

No early morning wake ups by nurses 'crashing about' with noisy equipment...no listening for long periods to buzzers, people moaning and groaning (needing bed pans probably), waiting for the elusive nurse....No having my canular redone (painfully & ineptly),over and over ( blaming my lack of a decent vein) because it had ceased to function....

No lack of privacy (which meant I couldn't avoid hearing through the drawn curtain, a 'not so old' patient being told, that they had decided not to persue the 'treatment option' for her cancer...leaving her in a somewhat perplexed state, because they didn't spell it out to her what this meant and seeing the knowing glances exchanged by her friends when she told them, during their next visit)...This combined with the poor treatment over the years, received by members of my family over the years, means it's no contest for me....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4

Thanks to both yourselves and Paul Rupa..

I've done a bit of surfing via Google maps relating to what I have seen on the property sites...

Will bear it in mind. but I am feeling that if I go that far south I would need a pool, so space to put one in or one already there, which might be a strain on my budget...

I do love the tiled floors that I have seen on older properties...I do wish that people wouldn't over-restore places and get rid of the nice features...they go for a 'bland modernity; which could be anywhere in the world...

We've got Lac Jouarres, just round the corner from us, which is a swimming lake, with a lovely grassed area and wooded backdrop, so maybe you'd not need a pool. Plus the beach at Gruissan is only 30 minutes away. Have you looked at Leggett's Immobilier? English owned and through whom we bought our house. They have plenty of representatives all over France and readily in the Minervois/Corbieres area. Bon chance, where ever you choose Hilary!

But Bordeaux does have a fairly high rainfall...

The Meteo France website has a neat tool for comparing the climate of two French cities. "Comparateur de climat".