If you go to the UK, do you need any special paperwork now apart from your British passport if still a national? Also what happens if they stamp it to come back into France, is that a problem down the line? Brexit has confused so many and I don’t know what is the norm now. This would be travelling by air.
No if you hold a British passport you just pass through in the normal way.
Take your french residency permit and they shouldnt stamp your passport on your way back into France.
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And even if the passport is stamped it is meaningless as having a carte de séjour trumps a passport stamp.
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Yep, although if you travel frequently it could lead to you unnecessarily needing to replace it. Appreciate that might not affect too many people though.
I’ll now be travelling back in 3 weeks for a couple of weeks. Alot of work to do over the first few days then will be relaxing, but although looking forward to visiting friends, not really looking forward to the weather, after having been basking in the sun for the past weeks 
I have the same problem because I have very few warm clothes now left as I have found them not needed like previously further north and binned many. Its been shorts/teeshirts indoors for weeks now and no coat outside. You never see my son in anything other than flipflops and shorts all year apart from when he is at work. Anyway think the best thing is to keep an eye on the UK weathr forecast for the region you want to visit and pack accordingly. I am going to Decathlon to see if they have any fleecy things left before the summer stock is put out.
Interesting comments Shiba. Has this past winter been exceptional because when we lived in the Minervois it could be bitterly cold in the winter. In fact I have never experienced such cold outside of Canada and the USA.
The edges of our local ‘C’ road which we take to and from work, and which sees a significant amount of HGV traffic and farm vehicles, are being redone with earth that is then compacted. Unfortunately, the DDE, in their greatest of wisdom, decided that road closure was not the thing to do. As a result, and the piecemeal way in which the edges are being “rafistolés”, the lorry they are using blocks the carriageway almost completely, forcing any passing vehicles onto the edge they have just repaired…
I live in the PO not far from Shiba. But for the past couple of weeks I have been in the UK. I went to Decathlon before I left France and bought warm and water proof outer garments. And boy do I need them. It never stops raining and temperatures have dropped close to zero a couple of times. This on the south coast. Fortunately I did bring waterproof hiking boots.
Over a quarter of a century I have become acclimatised to living within spitting distance of the Med. As far as I am concerned anything less than 15 degrees C is tantamount to freezing. If I want low temperatures and snow a quick drive into the mountains does the trick.
Gus
Thanks Gus, you confirmed my thoughts about buying some warmer clothes. When I opened the shutters earlier it was 25°C in my lounge already and the sun dosn’t get there until midday! See the Canigou had a good covering yesterday again and a lot further along the chain too.
Pop into a charity shop in the UK and buy a warm item for a few £££s. There are charity shops everywhere! Then donate it back when you leave,
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Not very keen on that to be honest. Prefer to support locally here and do not have any sterling anyway. Thanks for the idea though.
Just to be clear, as we are planning to move back to the south having had enough of the damp in Brittany, are you saying that unlike in the Minervois where the winters could be freezing, the coastal strip of 66 is always mild.
I know that winters inland are cold for obvious reasons so I assume we would have to find a property within about ten kms of the ocean?
What I do when I visit is borrow clothes from family so all I need to carry is underwear.
We’ve kept all our cold (by U.K. standards) gear and were very glad of it on the damp days in the SW where it’s 5-6°C, you can see 50 metres and the air is wet without it raining.
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Well I have had two winters here now (from Feb 22 until house was finished in June 22) and have not even used the radiator in my bedroom or the third bedroom and very rarely the reverse climatisation for the big living area. I have a huge window on the west side which gets the sun from midday until dark and the house is built 1.5m above the ground so the heat inside is maintained on a regular temperature I have found. I am 15mins from the beach and have never seen any frost yet and any rain we have had has been very little since March 22. A few miles further inland, you have the smaller mountains and we saw snow on them earlier in the year and of course the Pyrénées overlooking us down here have lots on them currently but at high altitude. Property here is very expensive compared to Brittany and currently in short supply being snapped up as soon as its on the market if its desirable enough. New build in some communes has come to a halt for now because they cannot take on any more water connections due to the secheresse restricting supplies and some communes higher up have been on rationing for months. Don’t underestimate the Tramontine though, I have got a bit used to it now but it blows for days and they say after three days and it hasn’t stopped, it will go on for many more and it does get vry rough so you have to anchor everything down even in summer it can blow up from nowhere. I had rheumatism in my wrist and my damaged knee used to swell up in the Breton damp but here, it has completely disappeared.
Depends where in the Minervois you’re talking about. I’m just next door in Cabardès over 400m in altitude and our winters are not cold and we only get the occasional frost. The Southern part of the Minervois in the valley has even milder winters than us and it’s only if you stray above 500m in the northern Minervois that you can get snow/frost in the winter. The coastal area between Narbonne and the Spanish border is even milder in winter of course.
Edit : Like @Shiba we have a very well insulated modern house and I find that this makes any bad weather much less noticeable. If you have a draughty, cold house that needs lots of heating in the winter then that can contribute greatly to the feeling of misery due to cold weather 
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Hi Hairbear,
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
The Minervois can be absolutely freezing in winter and I remember being in a snow drift around Narbonne. Irtunately we had a Jeep but loads of cars were stuck. That was about 2005 or 2006. Exceptional I agree but many memories of absolutely freezing worksites in and around Olonzac. I’m not too keen to repeat that hence my question about the coastal plain on 66.
Are you in Pradelles Cabardes or Cabardes Puylaurens? Either way I agree it’s colder there than the southern Minervois but I know from years of experience that the winters can be bitter with that Tranmontagne whipping down the Aude valley.
Cheers
I fully understand that sufferers of arthritis will be much better away from the rain and humidity of Brittany which is why we have been planning to move to the Lot et Garonne.
Your comments regarding the PO region made me think again. Property prices in Brittany have strengthened considerably in the last few years and it is questionable which of the two areas is now the most expensive. As with the PO region the prices along the coast are very rich and they moderate the further you move inland.
I think that to find the type of substantial old house that we would like with at least 2000 m2 of land within our budget would mean that we would be quite some way into the Corbieres where (I believe) the winters are cold and the beach and civilisation is over an hour away.
On that basis I think our monies will be better spent in Lot et Garonne. Admittedly most of that region is even further from the ocean but land is more available and the short cold winters are complemented by long, hot summers. There is also no risk of having to deal with the Tranmontane which really irked me when we lived in the Minervois.
I’m always flexible and open minded enough to consider any possibilities and meanwhile thank you again for your advice and wish you continued contentment in your new home away from damp Brittany.
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SW 47 here.
While you’re correct that we don’t have cold winters compared to the rest of France, we do get our share of damp and often foggy days over the winter.
Some parts of 47 have seen crazy amounts of rainfall in recent years, so make sure you check to see if any area you’re interested in is prone to flooding.