Good point. We looked at houses in St. Beat Lez in the Pyrenees and in one street the houses marks with dates on the doorframes showing how high the floodwater had risen.
Sadly there are a lot of abandoned houses there now.
Except that when the occupant can no longer get up those stairs and sadly the first floor falls into neglect with no cleaning or heating or ventilation taking place. Arguments for and against on both sides but having moved to a bungalow from a house, I don’t miss having to go up and down stairs at all and I bought a stepping machine for less than €50 from Decathlon that does the same exercise without wearing out wooden treads.
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Coming from a flat with 30 odd steps up from the road and another 20 odd up to the first floor we didn’t actually look for a bungalow but, happily, that is what we ended up with mainly due to Fran’s inexplicable love for a 3 room shack the agent we got friendly with sent us.
Now we have just 3 steps up from the garden and one in the house where, for some reason, the firm that extended for us decided we needed one. 
I get my exercise with daily walks in field and forest with Jules and, almost daily, swims in the pond, which I have to walk up the 10 metre slope to get to. 
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We found a house we could easily afford (!) to be our second home. Bought it in a rural village so there would be neighbours to keep an eye on it during the long periods it would be empty. Needed to be within so many hours of Calais 
Meant to use it as a base to seek our permanent home nearer to our Retirement. Somewhere with land (so cheap) why not!
Found we thoroughly enjoyed village life and our glorious natural surroundings. So glad we don’t have land.. had enough of that in UK..
Anyway, when things went haywire in UK there was no dispute… early retirement… and we settled permanently into our “holiday home”… and have never regretted it.
Our small patch is enough and we have the pleasure of the magnificent natural environment without any of the work.
We’ve met Brits locally who did buy property with lots of land (so cheap) and many admit it takes a lot of work and they are not overjoyed at being isolated. Some have gone back to UK, some have downsized etc.. some are simply sticking it out with a good support from other Brits in similar situations.
Personally, I’d rent or buy (very cheaply) and check things out… before settling
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A comment by the husband of a couple in our village who own a house with significant land in Brittany - all I ever do is cut the grass and fix the garden.
I feel that between 500 and 2000m2 is probably ok, but not more than that.
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That was our life in UK, tending the grass, hedges, orchards… etc etc… at weekends.
Now, it’s fun and frolicking.. 
Trouble is, land is so cheap compared to UK, it’s easy to get carried away… aaargh
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Thanks again, everyone. This has basically done what I’d hoped - reinforced our plans. We’re looking for a town house with a very small garden, in a village that has some amenities and is close to medical, close but not too close to a toll road, with lots going on, with a gare in town and a TGV station fairly close by. We have other criteria as well that are probably not the norm, but, as they say, it is what it is. I’ve found at least two towns that work, with a possible third (and, weirdly, our absolutely perfect town that ticks every single box and more, and we just…don’t like it. Cannot figure out why), so I guess I’ll just keep narrowing it down. We do plan to rent before we buy, but both of the prospective towns have very few rentals right now, and they’re quite a bit more expensive than what we’re paying now (more desirable areas). I’ll keep searching for rentals, as we have time.
Also, I’ve “friended” some people on FB who live in those towns, so I’m madly picking brains. As I said, we’re not in a hurry, as our current rental suits us just fine, it’s just the area that doesn’t.
Thanks again!
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I’m a far from Warren Buffet as someone still standing upright could be but even I can work out for myself, on info readily and frequently published, that the demographics of all European countries, Japan and others indicate that a reducing number of workers are paying for the pensions of an increasing number of pensioners.
You’re such a tease! I can’t be the only one wondering where these are - especially the third 
I know the general wisdom always says “rent before you buy” but I think that’s mainly useful in areas which may close down for the winter (and often given to over-enthusiastic Brits who risk their hearts ruling their heads). With your experience, you’ll know what nasties to look for already.
PS You’ve done well, finding a village with a station. Ours was closed 20 years ago, and that’s a town with 7.000 people!
PPS I found this website useful: Communes "\_tri-2" entre 500 et 2 000 habitants
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Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out.
The third town is Saumur. We even have friends who live there. We’re going to give it a second look, but…idk, it just doesn’t feel right for us. Anyone, feel free to try to talk me into it.
Just 45 mins south is on eof my favorite places to visit in France
And the wine’s good and not too high in alcohol.
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I’d always work from the premise that you can change the property but not the village….
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I don’t know if it’s the same elsewhere, but in the US, it’s, “The three most important things about a property: location, location, location.”
There’s a TV programme in the UK called exactly that. 
Not sure if you have mentioned a regional preference, but we live in a small village at the centre of a triangle bounded at 15 kms to each by 3 large size towns. One of these is Thiviers which is on the N21 between Perigueux and Limoges. It has a mainline station and is not far from the cross country A89 at Perigueux and the North/South A20 at Limoges. The town is mainly on high ground and I know some of the houses have good views as a result. Forgot to say that there is at least one supermarket, possibly more, there too and a fairly good shopping area in the centre.
Just a thought.
Saumur is great for a visit. I love walking round the island, too, while Madame is at the kiné: there are some striking houses there, as well as the less-striking campsite. You get a great view of the chateau from there.
But everyone I know would say the Saumurois in general are not very welcoming. Maybe it’s the military history?
Is that the size of town you’re looking at?
We visited in February. The exhibition we saw was mad as a box of frogs. But we had the guide’s sole attention for an hour as she explained everything. (Our non-French-speaking friend was not so impressed.) Definitely worth a visit.
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My nurse comes to the house for my injection, if I lived in the town I would probably have to go to the surgery.
When you live in the country you get used to having a mini supermarket in the pantry.
Ah well, that probably sums up my taste in art! But those who don’t like contemporary art and site specific installations like those of Iain Hamilton Finlay and Christian Boltanski should probably go elsewhere.
How did you get treated when you fell off the castle then, George1? Was it Urgences only ?
I have a bumpy 500sqm and that’s bad enough. Also not too much to pay someone to keep in trim once or twice a year if it became really necessary.
Meanwhile I’ve been able to compare how long a local French cobbled-together débroussailleuse lawnmower, a Honda lawnmower, a Scheppach lawnmower (the heavy duty big 7Hp engine one also sold under many Brico brands and Aldi), and a battery Lidl lawnmower (well actually 2 Lidl battery lawnmowers : the second being a recent guarantee replacement), have each lasted. Basically the older and uglier the lawnmower, and I’ve put them oldest to newest above, the longer they’ve lasted.
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