I’ve a Dutch friend, living nearby in the SE Cantal, who is very good at sniffing out properties in this area for international buyers and sellers. If you wish at some point, I can put you in touch with her.
If you are looking at the Célé, it’s worth knowing that immediately upstream of Figeac, the river narrows and the land rises steeply as you climb up onto the plateau. There’s an abrupt change in topography, climate, vegetation and architecture too.
OTOH Corn, just downstream from Figeac is an idyllic mediaeval village with beautiful mellow limestone buildings and landscape.
As Jane alluded, it’s tricky when you don’t have any French payslips or tax statements you can give to a potential landlord. They often take out insurance against tenants not paying rent, not least because it’s tricky to evict unwanted tenants.
None of the agencies we spoke to initially would accept us because my work contract and payslips were in English, despite me offering to pay 12 months’ rent in advance after having sold a house in the UK.
It was a catch-22 situation… I needed a French payslip to get a place to live, but I couldn’t get a place to live without the French payslip.
We eventually got lucky and found one landlord who was prepared to take a risk with us.
In my days as a battlefield guide, after the Normandy beaches I headed into Paris, from where my American group would fly home. I took ‘the scenic route’ of course which must include L’Étoile and Les Chs Élysées down to Pl Concorde.
Going round L’Étoile produced just the reaction I had hoped for. A 9-seater VW Caravalle was filled with screaming Americans all certain that their hour had come
“Chris, the insane guy on the right!” "Noooo! this guy on the left is gonna T-bone us to oblioooooon!" What fun…
As has already been suggested, it depends on what you’re looking for. I live to the West of Lyon. It is quite hilly, lots of walks in the Monts Lyonnais. It’s a great location if you are looking for culture, with Lyon (an excellent, historical city, often overlooked by people speeding southwards) very close by. If you enjoy skiing (whilst there’s still snow in Winter ), the nearest decent slopes are less than 2 hours away. If you need to work, lots of international companies. Great for exploring Italy, Switzerland, Germany etc. If you’re looking for an ex-pat ‘village’, however, you won’t find much here, even though there are many people of different nationalities, language clubs etc. Of course you have to drive for over 3 hours to get to the sea (I lived for 8 years near Hyeres in the Var, and I do miss the sea), though Lac du Bourget is an hour away and Lac d’Annecy less than 2 hours. Winters can be very grey, though are warmer than when I moved here 17 years ago. Summers can be very hot and getting dryer and dryer, as in many areas of France.
I passed through Lyon when youth hostelling many years ago, but didn’t get much of an appreciation of it - I don’t think the accommodation was very well-located, a bit out on the edge. Many people have praised it since, however. I enjoy a bit of culture!
I was interested when checking out a Cantal property online that it mentioned skiing 20 minutes away - I wonder how good the runs are. Supposedly cheaper than many other places. If the house was that near to a ski run, might be rather on the cold side in winter though!
Huge thanks to everyone for the wealth of replies received so far. By all means keep them coming! I don’t doubt there are very useful nuggets of info in here that others can use as well.
Hi Lalla, may I throw the Pyrénées-Atlantiques into the ring? It was an area I did not know at all before I moved here 5 years ago and it has so much to offer. Right in the far south west of France, with, as the name suggests, both mountains and the ocean. And Spain an hour away. We (usually) have our fair share of rain, especially in winter, but that does keep things green and bountiful… and the summers can be long and warm, although are of course becoming hotter, as with many places.
One thing that has become very important for me is that my small town has a choice of excellent doctors and there are world-class hospitals at Bayonne to the west and Pau to the east - I have had major surgeries at both! There is even a thermal spa and large centre de rééducation fonctionnelle (like a physical rehabilitation centre) in my home town.
A healthy supply of tourists, but not overrun with them. And unlike some places I’ve stayed in France, the area still feels lively even in the depths of winter. The French are lovely and I have been made to feel very welcome… though, to that end, speaking French can only have helped.
Sounds fantastic! It hadn’t been on my list, thinking it would be on the colder end of the spectrum. I recall, though, someone saying the summers didn’t get so ferociously hot as other places due to the altitude.
Ah well, depends where you are. I’m in the Béarn region but not in the mountains - they’re about an hour’s drive away - though some properties here still have fabulous views of them. It rarely goes below freezing here and has snowed only once overnight in 5 years, then it was 17C the same day!
It does tend to get hot here in summer, but usually not unbearably so. However last year there were about 3 days I think where the temps topped 40C.
I have two places in France. I live in Eure-et-Loir, just outside the Ile de France. Paris is an hour by train so going to the opera or an evening meetup is no problem. Our sous prefecture is Dreux, a lively town with a bit of a working class vibe, but a great mediatheque and conservatoire and lots of musical activities. Prefecture is Chartres, a bit less than an hour’s drive, much more genteel, with the cathedral, theatre, conservatoire, lots of concerts, great shopping.
Yet I live in a commune with less than a thousand inhabitants, in the middle of open fields and small woods, a landscape that reminds me of Norfolk. I get a ride in a combine harvester now and again and we have a dressage stables at the bottom of the road. Prices are lower than in Ile de France, though not bargain basement. Cosmopolitan - even in our village, Portuguese, African-origin, and Italian residents - but no other English for a long way.
My residence secondaire is in Limousin, 20 minutes from Limoges, again a small village (though not in a hamlet). Very different landscape, much more closed and more hilly, lots of woods, fairly humid, and can be quite parochial - comment on my notaire, “Good lord he’s not local, no no no, he’s from Magnac Bourg” - which is 14 km away!!! Lots of Brits around, and the parochialism doesn’t apply - the mayor is very pro getting the village lively again and welcomes what in Norfolk we call ‘incomers’.
But again, Limoges has all the big city facilities I need. Brive and Tulle are a little further away. Bought my mansion for less than a third of what I sold my two-up two-down terrace in Norwich for; that said it’s swallowing up money but my artisans are top notch and we will end up with a thoroughly beautiful house.
Hi Lalla,
Certain areas of the city have changed enormously during the last couple of decades. Extensive accommodation can be found in all areas and bus/metro/tram tickets are pretty cheap e.g
6.50 € for 24 hours unlimited bus/metro/tram travel.
One thing I will crave and stops me going too rural is the wish for some degree of cultural activity. I feel like a modest-sized town with some life in it is what I’m after. I’m not a big shopper, but I’d probably miss the convenience if it’s not there.
I’m inclining towards looking for a bit of a fixer-upper, and would do everything I’m physically able to myself, I’ve rewired/plumbed/remodelled three homes now on my home, I’m reasonably handy. Am wondering about the cost of materials as compared to the UK (they’ve shot up considerably here, probably the same everywhere). I see, for example, sub-100k properties with potential, and similar probably +100k the cost of the cheaper ones, but I wonder if the extra 100k in price genuinely reflects the cost of upgrading to that level.
Yes, I’m a city girl and the country can be a tad boring. You might like to look for small towns fairly close to a city - for instance Saint-Yrieix is a lovely town, but it’s also really close to Limoges. We’re out in the sticks but Anet, for instance, is a delightful small town and like us, relatively easy access to Paris/Dreux/Chartres.
Materials are up about 15% in the last year, I know because I have new devis for some work that couldn’t be carried out due to materials shortages. Ouch. If you do your own demolition and your own plastering the bills come down a lot. Also, there are quite a few places now that recycle building materials, or sell off odd ends and excess stock - our kitchen was remade from the ‘kitchen graveyard’ at about half the price we’d otherwise have paid.
Doing your own wiring - watch out if you’ve done it in the UK as the rules are very different here. You’ll need it signed off to get a connection.
We’re just over an hour from the ski resorts, but don’t ski (OH is S African and hates the cold).
However, lots of our friends do and normally there’s a wide variety of winter sports up there, but this winter’s been unusually mild, so less happening than usual. It’s also great walking country and you’re not far from Aurillac which has everything. But maybe better to be in or just south of Aurillac, a bit lower down but still only a short distance from the ski resorts.
Over years of holidays, we came to realise that we’re not countryside dwellers. We decided a smallish town - somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 people - would suit us best.
This resource is helpful (the current search is based on Tours):
), the nearest decent slopes are less than 2 hours away. If you need to work, lots of international companies. Great for exploring Italy, Switzerland, Germany etc. If you’re looking for an ex-pat ‘village’, however, you won’t find much here, even though there are many people of different nationalities, language clubs etc. Of course you have to drive for over 3 hours to get to the sea (I lived for 8 years near Hyeres in the Var, and I do miss the sea), though Lac du Bourget is an hour away and Lac d’Annecy less than 2 hours. Winters can be very grey, though are warmer than when I moved here 17 years ago. Summers can be very hot and getting dryer and dryer, as in many areas of France.
