Warmer/milder parts of France

The south west is a big place, Elaine, and you're in the mildest part! I've seen those temperatures most winters and a lot colder. 2009 saw a 55° difference between winter of -15° and summer high of 40°. 60cm of snow overnight in 2005 and that's not in the mountains either ;-)

Yes, the Algarve. That's the word I was searching for!! I have visited Carvoeira and the surrounding areas. Very lovely.

Maybe ID-S is a friend?

Well John, it must be correct then...

Well it must be correct then...

Tosh!
Sorry Brian but the weather here in Pyrenees Atlantiques is nowhere as cold as you are implying. It’s been no lower than -4 overnight but daytime it’s always been plus degrees. We did have some snow (a light dusting) yesterday but that is the first for 2 years.
Temperatures can get up to 40 in peak summer but most days there will be a breeze from the coast to temper the heat.
As far as swing is concerned it’s often more likely in late October … we went from the mid-twenties to low teens in a weekend.
I have mild asthma and have never used my inhaler since I have been here.

This is a bad time to be dog-sitting !

Just go back with the mutt and that NE wind is most disagreeable...even the mutt declared after 15 minutes !!!

Boy am I glad I had the woodburner installed last summer ...

Since writing half an hour ago that same wind has just blown in here. Back down to zero in the open already. Oh well, we had our moment for the day. Bleedin' taters innit!

Blinkin' heatwave where you are then !

Icy northeasterly here which is very reminiscent of Gt Yarmouth market place - fortunately the piping hot bag of chips were ample compensation...

So, the point of them being MPs who represent their electors is? Pull the other, they are all party jobsworths. Each and every party is chock full of them, except the Greens (who I consider a hobby rather than a party) so what else can anybody expect.

Yes, I went out for my kinesi with -8°C of balmy tropical climate this morning and now, although the sun is shining, we are close to today's top at +2°C.

12 degrees in our salon this morning!

The inner coterie of the coalition have basically closed ranks. My MP refused to sign the EDM as she is a minister as she says that ministers can't sign (must toe the line). A couple of years ago she told me that most of her constituents were not interested in the views of retired expats and that most young people in London (where the seat is) thought that pensioners had too much money anyway. That pretty well explains the disconnect between politicians and many of the voters which regrettable the politicians just don't get. Maybe most of the elderly who can still continue to vote there are extremely rich (like Mac the cartoonist who lives in a swish flat with pool etc and lampoons expats [maybe Charlie Hebdo?!]) or Lord Foster in his penthouse.

His CV alone qualifies him for most of that a couple of times over, so put the WFP on his account and the key would be well and truly thrown away. They say Neil Hamilton was a bad apple, well here is the maggot!

The thing about Switzerland and Ticino (Tessin) especially is that Locarno was originally a spa for people with a wide range of pulmonary things to the level of TB. There are still umpteen (very, very expensive) clinics thereabouts, especially around Ascona. My bro-in-law actually works in some of them as a physiotherapist when his specialism is needs, which is lumbar spondylosis that often makes breathing more difficult. The air is dry and usually mild as warmer air is drawn up the Alps from Italy, rarely seeing snow or even frost down there near Lago Maggiore. For any respiratory condition sufferers it is a great place.

Anywhere but Normandy for me Jacqueline. I spent five years south of Caen in the 'bocage' areas and it was blinkin' damp. That damp air got on my chest from about october through to april ! never again ...I would agree with the south-west. The south-east for me can be very windy and uncomfortable in the cooler months but the Cambo / Dax areas towards the Atlantic seems a lot more pleasant. Cool in winter of course but not so damp and unpleasant on the bones etc !

Hi

We moved to Aude in summer 2012.

I suffer from COPD since about 2005. I take the standard three inhalers every day but when living in the UK I usually had two bad attacks every year which would put me in bed for several days until the antibiotics and steroids took effect.

Since moving here I have only had two attacks both immediately following visits to the UK.

I still suffer from shortness of breath after short physical exertion (eg digging the garden) but I can now climb a flight of stairs without problem,whereas I used to take the lift when available in the UK. I can now take gentle walks in the hills whereas I sometimes had problems crossing the road in the UK

The temperatures here are quite high in summer (upper 20's to low mid 30's).

In a cold spell during winter (eg now) they can be as low as zero at night and 4 during the day but somehow this does not effect me as much as in the UK. We actually had snow yesterday but I do not feel any problem which may be due to the fact that because I can have more exercise here I am fitter and can manage better.

Overall I think that my life expectancy has increased by ten years since moving here so I can only strongly recommend it.

David,

a definition from the SFO - Serious Fraud Office of the UK

“The general criminal offence of fraud can include:

  • deception whereby someone knowingly makes false representation
  • or they fail to disclose information
  • or they abuse a position.”

    I believe Iain Duncan Smith has knowingly made ‘false representations’, he has ‘failed to disclose information’, and he has most definitely ‘abused his position’.

Good stuff Roger. I can't understand how they say they want to increase the number of people voting and then deny expats the votes. They then falsify the statistics to favour their WFP policy and continue to give WFP to retirees in the UK living in huge mansions or spending their winters skiing or on cruises. I think that there is a case for means testing all benefits (including WFP). I have good friends in the UK who are well off and whilst their main residence is in Sussex (they get WFP) they spend most of their winter in the French Alps or Dubai. Meanwhile some Expats who are not at all well off are being denied. Most MPs are just not interested. They have ring fenced overseas aid but ignored the retired taxpayers. Like me many are already fed up with the General Election campaign. Has anybody out there got a time machine? As for the election results if there is eventually a Brexit on unfavourable terms then many expats will return to the UK. That will collapse parts of the local French property market and wreak havoc on the wobbly NHS back home, as most of the returnees will be aged and requiring healthcare at some sort of level.

As others have suggested, Corsica is a good choice for year round positive temperatures, at least on the coast. You don't need to take a ferry from Nice, there are/were daily flights from Marseille, and Nice, from what I recall, and twice weekly flights from Lyon (EasyJet anyone ?) via AirCorsica. Like many internal flights in France though, they are not exactly cheap. Of course, in the summer holiday season, you also get the charter flights. the southern and northern tips tend to be quite windy, even in the summer months, but the plains around Aleria (east coast), or the bays of St. Florent or Calvi (north western coast) can be fairly calm, except when the "Libecciu" is blowing (this is the equivalent to the "tramontane" on the mainland).

One big advantage I found when living there was the possibility of going skiing in the morning in the mountains, and then sunbathing/swimming in the sea in the afternoons, especially from about March onwards. I was also fortunate enough to be able to swim in the sea in November in Ajaccio, with air temperatures up to a modest 25°C !

EDM 695 is still ongoing to try and stop the Government's Statutory Instrument - now with 17 signatures - with notables like Graham Brady, Chairman of the 1922 Committee, joining Sir Roger Gale and Sir Peter Bottomley as the main sponsors. Still time to get your MP to add his/her signature. There is an interesting all-Party spread - 7 Conservatives, 5 LibDems, 4 Labour & 1 Green. Meantime there is now evidence that a 'standard' reply letter has been circualting via the Tory Whips' Office - a letter which contains a so-called 'fact' which Steve Webb, the Minister for Pensions has admitted is a 'misunderstanding'.

Sorry Jacqueline, I couldn't resist adding this in, because those of us campaigning to save the Winter Fuel Payment for us ageing British Pensioners, know that most of France is colder than most of the UK during the winter months. Once you get south of the Masif Central, the weather definitely improves as you move further south, with more days of sunshine in the Summer. In my research into the validity of the Government's claim that all of France is 'hot' I have learnt of something called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and research into that by the experts has produced evidence that it does influence the weather south of it substantially, and the NAO tends to sit across the middle of France.