Goldie

Hello Ian and thankyou for your response. Your absolutely right. People have varying degrees and perceptions of what they call a city. Our idea of a fabulous city is Cambridge. Bustling with beautiful architecture, history, wonderful pubs and restaurants, quaint cobbled streets, and fabulous shops providing all the necessary things you could ever want. Its also nice to grab something to eat on a Sunday if you want to. We have visited Montpellier and Avignon which we thought were both very nice. We are yet to visit Toulouse and Bordeaux, which we are planning to take in on our next visit in February. Thanks again G  

Hello Panda and thankyou for your response. Actually we are considering Bordeaux and have heard that it is a lovely bustling place as you have described. What I think is nice is that is has all the seasons too.  We are visiting it next month, so fingers crossed, we shall find our dream business there. I shall let you get back to your bamboo and thanks again!

My husband and I are planning to make the move to France and have visited lots of potential businesses [b&b / Gite operations/ campsite] in the Langedoc area of France. Having move recently visited the area in January [just come back] we noticed that the villages [Olonzac, Azzile etc] were like ghost towns, with little or nothing to do. We also noticed that on a Saturday or Sunday it is virtually impossible to buy anything to eat. We were expecting this as we have read many articles about how rural France comes to a standstill in winter, but we are wondering if this is the right option for us. We are wondering if it would be better for us to look at an area on the outskirts of a big city such as Montpellier or Bordeaux. We would still like to be in the country but nearer to a bit of life for when we needed it. Can anyone comment on what it is like in these big cities in the winter - and would it give us the perfect balance? Many thanks