Ian

My wife and I regularly canoe with one car ... Park at "the top". Cruise down river and  Kate set's up base camp (tent or B&B), while I hitchhike back to the car - never had a problem, never had to wait for more than 15 mins (and a buoyancy aid or such like tells people you're a paddler) Though your hire company idea would be worth a try in the more popular venues/seasons. Have a good one!

We are all making choices everyday - for me the key part of your choice is ACTION.  Others may have stayed and grumbled or even never have made the move and grumbled some more.  You are taking action based on your circumstances. I have been asked many times "Is your French move permanent?" ... who can possibly say yes?!?  Who knows what opportunities lie around the corner?  Who can tell who they will become as they grow and learn? Good for you and best of luck

No - bon voyage! (Ooops just misread the date on this .... hope it was a good trip!)

Just read the local freebie paper/magazine "Coulour Lauragais" and they have an article this month on the Montagnes Noires - including a bit on its high rainfall. Right in the heart of the mountain range the annual rainfall is approx 1,500mm - this is about twice Manchester (UK) levels and a little less than three times Essex/Cambridgeshire levels. So it is wet ... thats why they build the big reservoirs here! We experienced about 700mm per year on the Western fringes of the Montagnes - and this seemed to fall on fewer days than the frequently incessant drizzle of back home (UK). This we found to be just fine.

I've just read "Who's Your City?" by Richard Florida and I'd recommend it if you are pondering where to live. The book outlines how where we live affects many aspects of our life: the people we meet (and marry!), the networks we tap into, the work opportunities we have, the fun available to us.  So far so obvious I hear you say ... but Florida's approach makes our choices smarter. The first half of the book explains why "where" is so important (how populations are clustering and becoming more defined) and the second half explores how you can best choose an area right for you: your personality, goals, stage of life etc The latest edition is international so covers great swathes of the western world: USA, Canada, Europe and also some Asian countries in outline profile - so this book wont help you pick one farmhouse in the Dordogne from another 5 minutes up the road but it should help you pinpoint which region or sort of town/city/village would suit you best.

We used to live at 380 metres altitude on the slopes of the Montagnes Noires.  The locals reaction of "cold, wet, foggy" are relative terms. It will be colder, wetter and foggier than on the Lauragais plane.  In the summer you will (probably) be glad of the cooler temperatures.  It depends what you are after ... all year round scorching heat-waves? Then it's not for you (try Dubai!) We are Brits so for us we found it hot and dry enough.  Best wishes

Far from "selling the dream" I figured I was helping the OP who searches for a warm French winter retreat. Arguably European France doesn't really posses one - maybe head for Guadalupe or Martinique. But to the best of my knowledge the cote d'azur and Corsica come closest to ticking that box (along with coastal Roussillon which had already been suggested)

Googling is a good tip ... but if you google using google.fr (or google.co.uk for Brit renters) you'll get a different top ten than if you google with google.pt, google.de or google.it etc etc. If you want multilingual renters (as Lenny suugested) you will also need to know your keywords in various languages. This of course is all feasible and as I said IS a good idea ... it's a wee bit more work than it may first appear.  Many of the big advertising sites have invested seriously on multilingual and multi-google SEO. As a measure of a site's traffic you can use alexa rankings or google Page Rank.  Lenny wanted suggestions of sites so I offered mine - I'm sorry if you struggle with them nimpq.

I was replying to th OP who is looking for part of France with mild winters. Sorry for the confusion. As for recommending an estate agent in France ... I have limited (but recent) experience having bought and/or sold 6 times in the last 5 years here .... no I can't think of an estate agent I would recommend. Sorry. Again.

Hi Lenny, welcome to the forum,  from speaking to (quite) a considerable number of Gite owners the 2 most highly recommended for French Gites are: http://www.abritel.fr/ and http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/ I could go on to list another 10 or so "good 'uns" - but each of which would be someone else's "don't bother". The 2 above are good solid options. There are literally hundreds to chose from. Including several dozen that are free to advertise on: these typically will only get you the odd booking but are FREE and may allow you to have a (valuable) link to your own website (thereby aiding in Search Engine Optimization). As with all advertising: Take out the smallest (cheapest) ad you can with each ad-provider and track results. If the ad works take out the next biggest ad ... track results and so on. When a bigger/flashier ad no longer seems justified scale back to the one you had before. best of luck!

How about the cote d'azur or (coastal) Corsica.

I wanted a reply to this question and have therefore resurected this thread.  From reading the variety of replies I have (kind of) deduced that one can: Walk wherever one wishes within the law provided that one doesn't damage any property (crops, gates etc), enter dwellings/buildings and leaves the property if instructed to do so by the owner. After the passing of nearly 4 years - has anyone anything further to add...? Thanks

You are right Cat it's a daft way to run an industry. Real Estate Sales in France seems ripe for reform to me. That said, that is how the system is ("We'll give you free publicity, as will a dozen other "professionals" but if you sell it yourself you'll save tens of thousands of euros and be able to cut your buyer a good deal": bonkers surely?)- but who am I to fight the system. When in Rome ...

We are hunting for our next place right now - and really enjoying the process. We particularly like spotting something on the web (seloger et al) or in an immo's window and then trying to work out where it is and find it ourselves. It's quite an adventure! We have drawn up a "logical" wish list: must haves and nice to haves etc, but that gut feeling of falling in love with a place will always win out for me. Bonne Annee

A panel slipped between an external wall and your radiator also works well

Aldi Lidl Netto ??????

Instead of having the heating on full blast while you sit in your home office - invest in an electric heated seat pad. They can be bought online and are sold for the camping/sports spectator market. A good one will cost you about €40 euros and can be charged up and will warm you for 7 hours at a go. Brilliant!

I reckon at least 75% of kitchen roll/towel "applications" require less than a whole sheet. So .... I cut my rolls in half. I KNOW this is saving me money! BTW Intermarche is currently selling a 12 pack of kitchen rolls for €3.55 (this beats my usual supplier Lidl - who sell a 4 roll pack for €1.59)

Follow Clair's instructive links earlier in the thread - I have just done so after 7 robotic calls this evening. Hope it works!

There are many illegal activities tenants can get up to while renting.  And that includes but is not limited to stuff over the web.  As owners we have to trust our guests to a certain extent. I don't have shotguns available (!) but do have internet connection.  There are drug smugglers, internet fraudsters and bomb-making terrorists out there (who like a week in the sun) but I have to say I have met more dodgy property managers than I have gite-renters. Back to Dave's excellent initial posting topic... my recipe for low(er) stress gite-ing is: Have your gites a 5 hour drive away from your home (this is excessive - 1-2 hours would be better)Employ a professional and reputable property management company to run them (easier said than done but still possible)Manage the managers and take several "holidays" in your gites each year to keep an eye on them. Enjoy your September Dave.

Great post Dave21478, well written and also accurate - gotta look closely before taking the plunge. Like everywhere one tatty postcode can be right next door to somewhere quite wonderful.

Is there anything to stop an English (or Welsh) house seller drawing up a contract and having their potential buyer sign it (adding any suspensive clauses should they wish) when they agree a price, fixtures, fittings and completion date? I guess a cooling off period would be needed like in double glazing or timeshare sales. But otherwise would that be considered OK?

I live about 30 minutes south of Castres and life's great here. Med' just over an hour, likewise the Pyrenees, Black Mountains a walk away, likewise lakes. Carcassone a 40 minute drive, Toulouse an hour away (will be quicker when the new autoroute opens). Castres airport is reportedly about to start flights to international destinations: such holiday hotspots as Marrakech, Porto and errr Manchester are currently being mooted.  This will (well it usually does) boost property prices nearby.  While a fortnight in Manchester is not my idea of a holiday (and I LIKE Coronation Street), many locals expect the "Cheshire-Set" to boost the real estate market here. The local countryside has been described as The Cotswolds meets Tuscany ... which perhaps makes it sound a little more manicured than it actually is. However it is undoubtedly beautiful. The local towns and villages are charming (like the famously friendly locals) and there is a good chance that whatever you seek (vibrant life and hi-tech jobs or tranquility and back to nature escapism) you could find it within striking distance of Castres. Good luck!

[quote user="Jacqui Too "][quote user="Ian"]I can now state that UK house-selling bureaucracy is without doubt the greater (Congratulations Chairman Brown).  [/quote] I disagree because (follow the link) http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1325951/ShowPost.aspx  numbers 4,5,11,12,18,[;-)][Www]   [/quote] Fantastic- glad to have helped Jacqui Too!  (And you are quite right Danny - my UK house is in England.)

Obviously I am always right [;-)] That said, if a fellow forum member disagrees with me on a matter of personal taste (e.g. best restaurant in the Lauragais) I am happy to accept their point of view and often feel enriched by their perspective. However on certain issues I often feel other members have made an error in their judgement. I don't always feel like explaining (or typing) where they have gone wrong. So I am writing this post so that in the future I can simply state a number and provide the link to this thread. I think it will cut down on my typing.  Other members can use this shorthand as they see fit. I will simply be able to say "You are wrong because Point 5" and pop a link to this page to explain. Lack of Logic 1. Logic disconnect e.g. "Moving to France is difficult because I struggle to get a good service from my phone supplier" 2. Bad analogy e.g. "Just as a fish can't survive out of water, as a Londoner you'll never settle in the Gers" 3. Incompletion as proof of defect e.g. "you didn't differentiate between tax and real estate paperwork so your comments on French bureauocracy are false" 4. Proof by lack of evidence e.g."I don't know any successful young ex-pat entrepreneurial millionaires on this forum - they just don't exist in France" 5. Judge the whole by one selected quality e.g."Last nights guests on Amanda Lambs programme were terribly naive - her programmes are for idiots!" 6. Circular logic e.g. "I've lived here for many years because I really understand the French. I really understand the French because I've lived here for many years" 7. Overuse of Occam's razor / failure to realise that things can have many causes e.g. "My gite business is struggling - it's all down to the exchange rate" or "You only had one viewing on your house for sale and they didn't offer - it must be too expensive" 8. Running to illogical conclusions e.g."If I move to France and start enjoying that cheap wine and good cheese, I'll becaome an obese alcoholic!" Lack of Sense 9. Ignored everything we know about the human brain and condition e.g. "Pursuing your goals and dreams will not make you happy - stick to something else." 10. Following the advice of known idiots e.g. "My skint and struggling neighbour suggested I invest in ..." or taking happiness advice from the grumpiest forum members! 11. Ignore the advice of known experts e.g. "All the experts suggest that the weather is better, the economy more vibrant and the travel connections more convenient in Provence but I'm looking around ... " 12. Ignore strong anecdotal evidence e.g. "everyone says it'll be harder to sell the four properties as a gite complex rather than as seperate dwellings - but we're gonna hold out for the full asking price on the lot" 13. Missing a pattern e.g."We've had freezing wet winters for the last 8 years, they make me so miserable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this year" 14. Missing what's important e.g. "The response to our gite marketing has been poor - so I've stopped spending on advertising" 15. Not understanding "sunk costs" e.g. "I've spent hundreds of pounds advertising in this magazine without a single lead - if I stop advertising in it now I may miss that one hot prospect!" 16. Blame the tool e.g. "I tried to make friends by learning more French from these audio CDs - and I'm still unpopular with the locals .. those CDs were a real rubbish waste of money!" Lack of Context 17. Ignore the downside risk e.g. "Just jumping on a plane with the kids, no language skills or finance and buying a ruin in France on my first visit sounds risky - but what fun!" 18. Poor and irrelevant comparisons e.g. "That is a very high rent for a 5 bed riverside central Paris penthouse when you compare it to the average wages of farmers in the Aude" Generalisation 19. I am the World and the World is me e.g. "I can't make my business work therefore all new businesses fail" 20. Anything I don't understand must be easy e.g. "With the right equipment and paperwork, how difficult can it be to start your own pharmaceutical company in France?!" 21. Flashes of stating the blinking obvious e.g. "If you speak fluent French, have a strong marriage, vibrant good health, have plenty of good local contacts, great social skills and pots of money - you have little to worry about!"