I think there are quite enough of you lot in the area and that you should all move to sunny Dax to keep me company…
Please?!!
Thank you … will check it out and pass onto the missus.
Ah ok. David which towns do you favor outside of Montpellier (or are they the ones you listed?
Good to know about the traffic. We are considering living car free for a spell. Do you guys think it’s realistic to consider life in LR without a vehicle?
Out here, it would be hellish to not have a car or truck given the lack of public transport and the distances you have to drive to get anywhere. At least half the vehicles on the road in our area off road pick-up trucks and 4x4 cars like Subarus.
you might find this useful: http://kids-and-montpellier.blogspot.com/
Alright that’s all very positive, thank you. Unlike other towns in LR that get many positive words, Beziers, more than any other town in LR seems to polarize opinions on the web (forums etc.). I’m curious to check it out for this very reason. Is there some major redevelopment going on?
Thanks, we’re really looking forward to it! I hear Roquebrun is quite special.
Dodgy as in poor and at risk. La Paillade has high rise flats full of drug dealers.
There are loads of nice places in and around Montpellier full of local colour. Just avoid the challenging ones like those I mentioned.
Felicity when you say look at his pages, is there a website? Thanks for the connection to Peter, cheers!
Hi Sarah. Ah ok, nice. I will shortlist the areas you mentioned around Montpellier. Great to have this local knowledge in our thoughts as we explore and perhaps seek to plant roots.
Also, thanks for the insight about the dodgy places so we can plan accordingly. Out of curiosity, what kind of dodgy are we talking about and to what extent?
Hey Sheila.
Appreciate the insight, cheers.
Yes, it’s time for us to “gear up”! I love sleepy rural settings for all the reasons people do. The peace and quiet is lovely yet comes with a kind of innate “boredom tax” due to the lack of things to see and do. We loved that about the area when we first got here. The sleepiness of it all charms you quite fast.
Perhaps in France, where things are so much closer to each other, living rural isn’t such a big deal as you have easier access to urban energy when you need it. I look at Google maps for south of France and there are towns scattered everywhere with a good sprinkling of larger towns/cities in Languedoc.
Out here in BC, the distances between things are massive. The biggest town in our area Nelson which is 10,000 people. After that, a person would have to drive 3-4 hours (depending on the season and how much snow is on the highways) to hit a larger town. BC at a glance looks about as big as France and has a population of only 4 million people … 2 million of which are packed into Vancouver.
So yeah, we’re done 
Hey Rachel. We live in Nelson, BC. It’s a great little town but yeah … much too gray in winter for my liking. Without a drop of exaggeration, we had 5 days of sunshine from the end of November to beginning of April. The lack of sunlight is doing my head in and was one of the main reason for us looking at the south of France.
The centre of Montpellier is very nice, but in my opinion its suburbs aren’t that great,but then again some small towns just outside are very nice. We live in Les Matelles, which is 15 minutes drive to Occitanie, where there’s a simple park and ride (tram) into town. Traffic is atrocious in Montpellier - and made much worse by all the new tram lines being built. Of those places mentioned I should say that Jacou, St Jean de Vedas are concrete/briezeblock modernist suburbs. The best market towns in the area are Ganges - 45 mins north, Uzes 1 hour north east and Sommiere, about 45 minutes NE too. Ganges is the cheapest and least nice, but amazing location for the Cevennes.
Hi
It’s a great move to live around Montpellier, it has a real buzz & the beaches are excellent. We’re about 40mins away closer to Beziers which is going to be the next big sun city in the South once all the redevelopment plans are complete & it has a fab little airport.
If you go for a small village you might want to check how far away from the internet hub you are, we suffer from slow speeds as we’re in a small village which sometimes means half a day without a connection. I understand bigger towns or villages on the main web highways are ok, otherwise its private line which is pricey.
Have a great time in St Chinian, visit Roquebrun, the wine from the cave co-op is excellent value/quality.
Suz
Hey Dan- look at my friend’s Languedoc- Roussillon Pages - he is peter@peterhornby.com. Anything you want to know -he will know, I promise you!!! Fx
Hi Dan,
I live just outside Montpellier. If you don’t want to live in the centre (horrible traffic) you might consider the agglomeration in areas such as Clapiers - very lively and hot on bikes/ecological living, Jacou - next door, Castelnau le Lez, Lattes (south of Montpellier), Perols (ditto). I think St Jean de Vedas is okay too, plus Juvignac. Most of the villages next to Montpellier are fine.
Dodgy places to avoid in Montpellier are le Petit Bard, and La Paillade. Nicer residential parts of the city include Les Beaux Arts, Aiguelongue, Euromedecine.
I would avoid places like Palavas and Carnon which are on the coast for the simple reason that come the tourist season they are hell on earth and you can’t move for cars. Better to live in Lattes or Perols and cycle there or take the soon to be finished tram.
Hope this helps.
Hi Dan. I agree with Rachel. I would add that Beziers and Narbonne are also worth a visit. I am from Ireland, living in Lagrasse (Aude) and being that bit older than you and your wife, don’t mind village life (have yet to try it in the winter though). If you are intent on visiting Provence, I recommend Aix-en-Provence. It is served by a good SNCF train station, and is now part of the Marseilles conglommeration which means there are buses every few minutes to and from Marseilles. Yes, you will find Provence much more expensive - more conspicuous consumption - which put me off. Montpellier is a lively university city, and their third and fourth tramlines are due for completion this year, I believe. We spent a week there in November, and stayed in Ibis hotel. Very friendly staff and centrally located. We joined the loyalty programme, called Accord, where you rack up points for each night stayed, etc. Hope this is of some use. Sheila