We live in the haut Var, and in the UK. We built our house in the Var outside a village called Aups, in 2001, when we were living in Poland, so it was a challenging undertaking. Aups is near the Gorges du Verdon, the French equivalent to the Grand Canyon, and 65 ks from the coast. Lunch in Italy is easy!
you must come on the wrong days ...its so hot up here but the air stays fresh which is nice and no mossies ... I swim in the lac from may normally and trust me if it was cold you would not catch me in there ...I love it here ...even in the snow ...
Angela and I moved to Sornac 19290 population about 900, three years ago and love the limousin bought a six bed house with nearly 3 acres of land that had been empty for thirty years, it’s now brought back to life and we opened a Chambre d hotes two years ago, we are the first English to live here , hate going back to UK people are wonderful here even if my french is poor
...and if you have people staying and there's only one toilet, one bathroom...then the kitchen sink? ;)
We used to have an apartment in Cannes, Lis, a new build, which was lovely, but very small. We had holidayed in Cannes for a few years and thought it would be great to buy there. We realised that it wasn't the right place for us, so started looking Westwards from there.
The place in la Roque was a new build apartment complex, not sure of the address now, but finally looked even further West and saw 13 houses in the Aude/Herault, plumping for number 13!!
Where was the B&B in Olonac, Lis? Not the one up from the Cafe de la Poste, by any chance?
There are so many lovely areas of France, but we love the "real" South of France. I suppose it goes back to Peter Mayle and all that, who set many of us on the road South!
Cheers, Phil
because you go into the bathroom to wash your hands ;-)
This is our place - half way between Linards and Chateauneuf la Foret (Dept 87). Small hamlet mostly of holiday homes. Population around 1065 in the commune of Linards (I think). Very quiet beautiful surroundings and great walks both on and off the country lanes. Love it here :)
Well done, James. This has proved a most interesting topic. Far from there being a preponderance of SFN members in any one area, we seem to be well distributed, apart from none in the far North-East and few in Lorraine. Perhaps more in the Dordogne/Charente and the Aude than elsewhere, but we seem to be an adventurous lot. And of course, each of us lives in the best place. We live in the commune of Puylaurens [81700] in the very south of the Tarn. Lovely, tranquil, rolling, unspectacular countryside. The locals are amazingly welcoming; there is a good sprinkling of outsiders as well as Tarnais [Irish, British, Belgian, Dutch, Parisian...] who on the whole have integrated into the community. I am a keen cyclist but not expert having only started 5 years ago at the age of 60. But I do manage to get up the Pic de Nore every now and then.
We have a small house in the country built in 1722 with about an acre of very rough "garden". We love it here.
We asked exactly the same question, why was there not a swash basin in the toile...the answer was, ah, this is how the French build! (Think I read somewhere that the French use very little soap...so maybe that's the answer)...when we bought our apartment at Pont Royal, Mallemort (13) back in 2009 - not very hygienic at all. Later we had a small wash basin put in at a astronomical cost... :)
Wow Phil - that was a move a bit far away from La Roque...wonder where about and what you were looking for in La Roque + what made you move over to the Languedoc-Roussillon region?
We have good English friends who owned a B&B in Olonzac, they finally sold this after a very long time on the market, but they still have their house in Cesseras (which they bought years before the B&B)...so we know the area quiet well...and some very good wines around there... :)
We have only looked around here, as we just have to be close to Aix, which we absolutely love, and we feel sooo lucky to have found a wonderful 18th century house less than 10min away from Pont Royal, so we can do the 'meet & greet' ourselves, and we are now looking for a cleaner, as I have too much on in the Summer months with the B&B)... Lis :)
In our case, de-Frenchification [new word...] involved putting a shower and loo upstairs. After 10 years of lunking downstairs in the night to go to the loo, we decided our old bones deserve looking after!
Ha, ha Ian. Yes, I can never understand why the French install loos with no wash basins. Even in new-builds.
And did you? [Put it on the market]. How could you bear to?
Gosh, you must be hardy. It's FREEZING up ther in winter [and sometimes in summer too!]. I cycle up there occasionally but prefer to live down in the valleys!
We live on the Isle of Man, but have a second home in Pepieux, a small village of about 1000 population, in the Aude, near the small town of Olonzac. We are midway between Carcassonne and Narbonne, in the Minervois wine growing area! Quite a few English speakers from British, Irish, American, New Zealanders etc, both full time residents and second home buyers. It's a fantastic spot.
The Canal du Midi is just a couple of miles away at Homps basin and we are about 40 minutes from the coast, our favourite spot being Gruissan and the Plage des Chalets.
Liz, coincidentally, before we bought our house here in 2010, we looked seriously at buying a place in la Roque d'Antheron!!
Hi Sheelagh,
Just to say we've just had an offer accepted on a house at Caumont in 33 so not too far from you I think. From 1 April 2015 (yes I know!) we will be back at Le Cabri campsite. So if you see a couple in the restaurant there with a miniature Schnauzer puppy called Rocco-that's us!
Realise this is an old thread & find the 'replies' peculiar (!), however, just thought I'd say 'hello'.
All the best,
Roger
We live in Mirabel aux Baronnies (26, on the border of 84) population is 1800 but it is a lively village. A few non French around but our immediate neighbours are all French. Good climate here (except today, cold & wet) and we have a View of Mt Ventoux from the garden
Noellet, maine et loire
Mine is Antonella who I believe has met Jane and whose 'patches' touch each other. I'm a bit further out between Lalinde and Le Buisson.
Paris, 75006.