Is Margot the original owner of her home. I bet she has some stories to tell about the French Revolution!!
Margot Bimler is the oldest person on SFN. 225 years in Savoie and the rest! Congratulations!
We bought a house in Reuilly in the 36 district about 20 miles from Bourge. It is a medieval village of about 2000 people and is a market town. We are on the town square. Our house is over 400 years old and is completely renovated and fully furnished with first class furniture (stained glass windows, crystal, china, vacumn cleaner, iron, etc). We are across from the church which was built in 1186 and next door to a building owned by the Knights Templar with gargoyles hanging off the roof. The house came with a car and a garage and we have a river running by our town. The best part is that we are next to one of the bakeries in town. It is paradise and we got it all for under $100,000 USD. Such a departure from Washington DC.
We live in delightful, peaceful, rolling countryside between Castres and Lavaur in the southern Tarn. It may not be as spectacular as the Pyrenees or the Gorges du Tarn, or as twee as Gaillac/Cordes. But Castres is a great service centre and authentic without being touristy. Our neighbours [mainly farmers] have welcomed us and we have as many French friends as British and have even had the great pleasure of bringing French and Britsh neighbours together round the same table and forging new friendships. When we first bought the house as a holiday home in2004, we thought there were no Brits in this area - they were all in Gaillac or Revel - but we now know that there is a healthy "immigrant" population of British, Dutch, Belgians, even Americans and Swedes dotted around in the small villages and old farmhouses. But, they have all gone native rather than staying in anglophone ghettos.
We love the peace and beauty of the surroundings, the friendliness of the locals, the excellent local markets and good public services. Airports [Castres for Paris; Toulouse and Carcassonne for UK] are nearby and there are good train and bus connections.
i would have to say Nantes, not just for the reason i live here, but we are lucky enough not to have many brits here, they chose Brittany(the Eastbourne of France) or south to Dordogneshire both chocoblock full of middle class snooty types Lawyers, solicitors and merchant bankers(as a Londoner can't say the last one with out a little smile). Where these people are "more French" than the locals, but always try and out-do the latest arrivals and keep up with the Jones's(Le Jones's) so, come to Nantes, but don't be an average brit, come here for all the city offers
Before Nice, I was near Montpellier - with around 300 days of sunshine a year, need I say more? Admittedly, you can get more bang for your buck in other beautiful areas of France, but for me, weather is a major factor. (24/7 in France)
We have a house in the village of Pepieux, population about 1000, in Aude dept 11, very close to Olonzac our local "town", just across the boreder in Herault dept 34. The area is called the Minervois and is very much a wine growing plain between the Montagne Noire to the north and the Corbieres range to the south with the Pyrenees beyond.
20 mins from Narbonne and another 10-15 mins to the beautiful beaches such as Gruissan Plage,my personal favourite, to the east and 20 mins from the amazing Cite of Carcassonne to the west. Also an hour to the west is Toulouse and just over the hour to the East is Montpellier.
The village is perfectly rural, but at the bullseye of a magnificent circumference of places to visit and enjoy.
The Canal du Midi, Cathar Castles, beaches, Carcassonne la Cite, plus beau village of Minerve, Lagrasse etc etc.
All in all, just a superb place to call home.
Oh and lots and lots of sunshine!!!!
We started looking in "40", at the coast, near my brother's house. For our project we had a list of "must-have" tick boxes. The estate agents told us we would never find such a place. It took a year, but we did. We fanned out the search and ended up here in "64", west of Pau, north of Oloron, east of Orthez. It's one hour to the Spanish border (and the ski stations), one hour to the beach. Toulouse and Bordeaux are both about 2.5 hrs. It's funny to think that we are nearer Madrid than Paris. Monein is a very pleasant village full of friendly, welcoming people and I can see myself being based here for the duration.
We live in Pezenas in l'Herault - in what I like to describe as the "Real" south of France. Not as posh as the east of the Rhone and Provence - so cheaper and less flashy. More authentic too - dull coast line - just sandy beaches but the hinterland is a delight and varied. We are within half an hour of the Med in one direction or the Mountains Noire with cattle grazing at pasture in the other. We reckon to get over 300 days of sun a year - 322 last year - though there can be days when it gets down to -9. The people are lovely and welcoming and put up with my awful French. I reckon we have 30,000 anglophones in the departement.
It is civilised - Montpellier is a great cultural centre but most of the other big towns offer interest and culture.
Other bonuses - 5 lo cost airports - Beziers, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Perpignan and Nimes within 2 hours. Beziers and Montpellier in less than 45 mins plus TGV from Montpellier via Lille to London. What seems so odd is it costs much less to fly to London than the Great Western from Tiverton - barmy eh?
Lived in Paris, both in the 13th Arr, and out in the 'burbs (Gif Sur Yvette). Wasn't my cup of tea, hustle and bustle doesn't float my boat. i can see the plus sides though...
Then we moved to Lusignan, not far from Poitiers... which was "the country-just as you wanted", as said by OH as soon as I griped about not having... well, anything really within walking distance.
For the past three years we've been in Haute Savoie, a place called Thones, it is perfect for me, as I can work summer season in a hotel on Lake Annecy, and winter season in a hotel in the ski village of La CLusaz. It's also perfect for our bees, during the season.Thones suits me down to the ground, we have everything we need, the people are a lot nicer, and more welcoming than I found in Paris, or Poitiers, and there is always something nice being organised by the village, be it the tartiflette geante, or the easter egg hunt, organised by the firemen.
I first came to France in the 60s for my month's school exchange to Mont de Marsan and loved the Landes area, where we went for picnics each weekend and through the Easter holidays. Since 1963 there have only been two years when I didn't visit France. In the 70s I continued to come here each year visiting friends, setting up offices for a Dutch company, doing a ten day hot air ballooning trip for the London Evening Standard, staying with friends in the Jura etc. etc. and in the 80s I brought my children on holiday in gites or camping in Brittany. The 90s saw me visiting friends near Grasse and Avignon which I loved, a village near Niort and Bonen in Brittany. Finally, after the millenium and only visiting Brittany for holidays, I bought what was going to be my holiday home here, but couldn't seem to leave it and go back to the UK. I never decided to live here - it just happened - I've been here since my birthday, 12 April 2006. I love Brittany and live in 22. (http://livingin22.blogspot.com). Having lived in Cornwall the previous ten years, it just seems like French Cornwall to me. There's so much space, very little traffic, lots of countryside, coasts within easy reach, peace and quiet, lakes and streams, fauna and flora - it's perfect.
Hi
we have just bought a house in Premorin near Aubigne in 79 (Deux Sevres) as a renovation project and holiday home (at the moment). We stayed our first nights in it last week after my step son had done the rewiring :) i just love the peace and quiet and can't wait to go back. Apparently the deux sevres region has the 2nd best climate in France .... so we were told!
I forgot to add the snow in winter, we get seasons here something which the uk seems to have lost, ok we do have to stock up on various items living halfway up a mountain and have been snowed in twice but having sent photos of 2foot icicles back to family in the uk some think we are mad
I have lived permanently in Sud Vendee for 6 years. It took a while to settle down, but I just love it here. There is beautiful scenery, lovely places to visit - Fontenay le Comte 20 minutes, Niort 40 minutes, and wonderful La Rochelle only one hour away. The breathtaking Mervent forest is on my doorstep, which is a lovely place for walks, gathering Cepes and chestnuts in autumn and sightseeing, or if one is very brave - a canoe or pedalo trip down the river. This area is full of history. It is also within easy reach of three airports to connect to the UK - which so far I have only visited once, since I emigrated here. I have super get togethers with my French friends, whose evening meals last for hours, with lots of laughter and plenty of wine. Who could ask for more ?
We holidayed in each region over 5 years before deciding we liked the Cantal department and moved here from UK. We also liked several other areas like Haut Savoie however the Cantal suited us for three main reasons: house prices were amongst the lowest in France, the countryside is beautiful and not unlike our home county of N Yorkshire, and finally very few Brits live here so it encouraged us to integrate better with the locals. Having said all that there is one down side to the Cantal and that is the climate - we are now considering a move to the Aude/Ariege border around Foix as the countryside around there is also beautifull but a better climate.
After 30 years of holidays with the kids then touring on the bike seen pretty much all of France we wanted the Narbonne area and had been looking for about 5 years but visiting friends in the Tarn one rainy day in late May IN 2003 came over the Montagne Noir and thought this is the place this is the area even in the rain it looked good, having always lived in the country back in the uk we were used to village life and living in a city would slowly kill me looking out of any window in the house the view is of forest and mountain with a lake just up the road, soon be roast chestnut time so a walk in the forest very soon
Lozère.
Why? Peace. Recent visitors were astonished. It's so quiet, they said. Wide open spaces where nobody lives. Beautiful, varied scenery. Not too hot, not too cold. Clean fresh air at an average altitude of 1,000 metres (the highest average altitude of any department in France).
Why not? Transport. Good motorway access but Montpellier is 90 minutes one way, Clermont Ferrand 90 minutes the other. Rodez an hour and a bit. No airport, poor train service, mainly buses which take for ever and certainly no TGV! It's quicker to drive to Paris than go by train. If you want top flight cultural events you'll have to travel -- Clermont, Montpellier or even Paris or Lyon.
Would I change? Don't think so, though the Angers area is very tempting. Angers rated among the top most pleasant towns to live in.
Why would you not want to live in 33, Bordeaux Wine growing region, Pitted with bastide (fortified) villages nestling on top of hills with rolling green vineyards and woods and within an hour or the vibrant city of Bordeaux. perfect :D
My wife & I settled in the Manche almost 8 years ago now and don't regret a minute of it. Excepting the obvious benefits of living in France, the Manche gives us good access to the rest of France, north to south, not quite so good to the east towards Strasbourg and is perfect for family visiting from all over the UK with good access to all the channel ports and Brittany as well as a good few airports although we have only used Dinard. Wouldn't change it for the world.
We are in dept 82 and moved here from the south of the UK for better weather and way of life just under 3 years ago. We love the countryside here with Quercy stone houses, bastide villages as well as vineyards and rolling farm land. We chose the house initially rather than the exact location as it had all we needed and more. However, after being here a while now we realise how well we are placed. 2 hours from most things in the SW and just 50 mins from Toulouse. Currently we feel we have "found our spot" so to speak and would not want to be anywhere else.