Hi Patrick
Thanks for posting those maps I have downloaded them! Mind you it seems the weather is all over the place now so how much longer those maps remain relevant is open to question!
yes, i think the long term climate change prediction is for the warm dry bits to move north. But if the "gulf stream" diminishes it could mean the ameliorated west coast micro climate vanishes. But hey the maps are long term averages. We ended up in a wetter bit anyway, despite my geographical intentions. A house in Haute Vienne that we love. And that is what counts. We remember the good weather!
We like the Haute Vienne, in fact we like a lot of Limousin. In hindsight I wish we had bought a house somewhere over that way. The landscape is more reminiscent of places we have lived in the UK, such as Wales and Scotland. I guess the climate in the Limousin is closer to what you get in Scotland and Wales, although possibly with better summers. It will be interesting to see how this summer pans out across France. Our first year here we were spoilt somewhat with masses of sunshine and long hot spells in June and July. Unfortunately we were so busy renovating, we didn't get to enjoy much of it!
The Limousin is fab!
Well we are actually visiting there next week to check out some parts of La Creuse. Correze is another area we wish to check out. We have spent a fair bit of time checking out the Haute Vienne already. Our Charente house is attracting a fair bit of interest so hopefully it won't take for ever to sell! Fingers crossed! Wherever we end up next in France we will do MUCH more research before buying again!
The wind isn't generally an issue in my part of the Var Martin, nothing like the Mistral anyway. The weather is generally very good and even December is short sleeve weather between 10:00 and 16:00. January and February are a bit grim and we even had snow four years ago but otherwise nothing to complain about. I don't think I'd live anywhe else. I lived in and really liked Grenoble thirty odd years ago but I think I'm a bit too old for the cold now :-)
Whilst in the Limousin Paul, why not carry on a few Kms more and look at the Auvergne?
i met someone the other day from Sweden who said that with all the lakes and forests the Perigord Vert makes her feel at home but warmer
Oh yes I dare say. The regions are big and can include wide variations in climate. Not all PACA is subject to the mistral, but it can be nasty for those places particularly subject to it.
Hi Graham. Auvergne is definately on our list of regions to check out. We have realised that having lived in hilly and mountainous arts of the UK for many years that we miss having hills and mountains in our vicinity. Auvergne certainly ticks the mountainous box! Lots of the Limousin is reminiscent of the rolling hills of mid Wales and from what I have seen Auvergne has proper big mountain ranges such as Le Monts Dore. Apparenty property prices are reasonable over that way too. As much as we like some parts of the Charente, where we actually are is just too flat and agricultural (arable) and also too busy for us! We like the Haute Charente and the lakes and the Nanteuil valley is pretty too.