It's Ian Duncan-Smith wot done it along with Webb- O level geography fail. Here in the Monts d'Arree in Brittany it's basically like Cornwall maybe a little warmer. However big winds and plenty of precipitation in winter but mostly in small drops. Snow is relatively rare. Being a sufferer myself i was always advised that a dry atmosphere was the best- even if it was cold. Therefore Switzerland is often recommended. Maybe Italy or Spain might be best for you?
Hi Jacqueline
Down here near Perpignan we seem to have a microclimate. Cold here is rarely much below 5degrees. We left our Aude house yesterday covered in snow in just 30 mins and saw 9 snowploughs on our return to PO (strong response to snow in the Languedoc). Back here it was 5degrees and sunny! Yes we have wind but it serves to blow wind and cold away!
Hi Jaqueline,
We live in SW France, near Agen and the freezing, wet winters have driven us to spend our time, December to March, in Alicante province on the Costa Blanca, Spain. This week we have been fortunate to experience 21 degrees with a warm wind. The worst has been 8 degrees and TWO wet days since December 14. Highly recommend it for a winter warmer.
Hi Jacqueline, I used to live in Antibes and it never seemed to go below 0 degrees. The difference there, as compared to the SW of France, is that there seemed to be many more days of sunshine throughout winter. Often winter days could be about 15 degrees and you could eat outside, as we often did. The Gers is a lot colder during winter (it has been down to -16), but when the sun is out, it can be as low as 10 degrees and you can still eat outside, as we often do :)
I think you would have to treat it as a second home Brian, as it is on a very narrow street which is the main one way lead into the centre if Cluny. No views, lots of traffic.
Well, yes and no. Marx used 'theft' (Diebstahl) which is the crime of stealing in his interpretation, whereas it should be robbery (Raub) which is the action of robbing a person or place if the rest of Proudhon's relevant paragraph is examined. The broader rather than specific interpretation. So citing Marx (translated, of course) is not incorrect and is often done. That such thinkers take from one and the other is normal, indeed if one did not cite other authors no editor would accept any of their work because original thought without substance to support it and how its derivation is not trusted (so much for Socrates, etc....).
Which has nothing to do with nice climates. More like evil winds. Anyway, lots of possibilities in there. French forecasts at present do not show any sunny, warm climes at all. So perhaps France is not the best place.
I am up for it Jane, he is one of my great heroes after all and to live in 'his' house ;-)
Proudhon’s house has just had the facade done up, no one lives in the house at the moment.
Thus Marx stole the property of Proudhon.
Love the way history screws up one's preconceived ideas of what is morally right.
Actually, you are right, Marx cites it in Das Kapital in his introduction. It is from 'What is Property?' by Proudhon, 1840, the first chapter 'Method Pursued in this Work — The Idea of a Revolution', correct translation is Property is robbery! La propriété, c'est le vol !
Nonetheless our winter fuel payment was stolen, we were robbed!
Somebody suggested Portugal. The Algarve is brilliant, I was forced to live there for a year (poor me) and have always wanted to make that my home. I like France for my sins... Trouble is that it is not the best climate for people with pulmonary problems, Saharan dust and Atlantic humidity!
I am sorry it was Proudhon who said that property is theft. I walked past the house in which he was born just this morning. Rue Proudhon in Cluny.
If Marx also said this he was quoting Proudhon.
How about the Canaries?
Maybe you should consider one of the French islands, perhaps Guadeloupe or Reunion. Both are a long way from the UK but they are both French speaking. If you don't want to go that far then I would suggest you consider southern Portugal. One of the loveliest places I've visited in Europe (after France of course).
But the Canaries and the people wot go there fer a knees up...
My doctor recommends Morocco for his asthmatic patients in the winter and he has one who takes a campervan over for three months during the winter.
The Canaries also have a very mild winter climate and are more "European".
My asthma has also improved by not lighting our wood burner and keeping it for emergencies only. The particulates in the smoke aggravate already sensitive lungs.
I hope you find somewhere to suit you.
Menton always used to be a winter retreat for the English. Warmer than either Nice or Monaco and not subject to the Mistral.
Most Genoa lows remain still or leave a residual trace from Genoa up to the southern Alps. They often carry rain, sometimes really heavy, on the western half and round to the hills of Tuscany right across to the Adriatic. However, for some reason the depressione ligure least of all affect that part of Liguria below Genoa which is why the cousin's husband goes there particularly. As for southern Italy in the north, too right but without the blistering dry summer.
Yes, Brian, I love Liguria, the two halves are quite different and both have their merits but watch out for the depressione ligure or genoa lows - deep lows that get trapped in the Ligurian sea, blocked by the appenini - very humid :-O But climatically it's a piece of southern Italy in the north!
Liguria is a sweet climate most of the year round, between Genoa and La Spezia there are some really fantastic places. My OH's relatives often do the three or four hour drive down there if they want to be by the sea. It is easy to get to from the UK, Genoa normally, Milano at worst. Lots of people with pulmonary problems go to Liguria because it is maritime but a bit sheltered by mountains and therefore has a 'dry' air. Certainly one of our family who has quite serious health problems goes three or four times a year when the going gets too tough in the Alps.
To be honest, Jacqueline, the vast majority of France is colder or wetter (or both!) than London in winter. As has already been said, you need to go for the pourtour méditerrannéen, mildest in the côte d'azur, languedoc, western provence and especially the roussillon are far windier with the mistral and tramontane blowing and cold spells are not unknown - heavy snow forecast today. Also, yes it's nice and warm in the daytime but often freezing at night. I was at uni in Aix-en-Provence and the swimming pool behind my flat was frozen for most of winter even though it was often 15+° on sunny afternoons. You mention Corsica - one of the best bets really but you need to stay on the coast, as soon as you go inland into the mountains it's often freezing! Brian's suggestion of the Ticino region of Switzerland is well worth thinking about + it's a beautiful region but there again we're both biased there...!
Jacqueline, if you look at climate charts (and weather reports recently), the SE corner just around Nice is the warmest. See attached pic from meteo.fr I took just a minute ago. For this reason it is also the most expensive. There can still be 4C nights in Nice - but at least looking down from our mountain residence above Nice where it frequently freezes during winter nights, it is definitely sweet. Daytime temperatures are rarely below 10C, and lots of sunshine.
On a wider look though, what does everyone think about the Ligur seashore in Italy or Greece of for that matter Florida? These are warmer.