carl1

edited

I'm taking the wife for a romantic weekend away from the kids in April... ahhh bliss.  We've got flights to Perpignan all sorted and I'm wondering if anyone knowns any really nice hotels on the coast a short drive from the airport. We looking for a hotel with lots of facilities - spa etc. :) Carl

We used these guys last year for a walking tour in Languedoc and it seems they cover Provence too.  I'm not sure if they book hotels only, but I think they'll be happy to point you in the right direction. http://enlightened-traveller.co.uk/

I'm looking at various French estage agents websites and keep coming across things like this... superbe appartement t4 and SUR LA MER POUR CE GRAND T3 What does the T4/T3 mean?

OK, this all sounds like great advice.  Obviously we will spend the next few months making our minds up, there's lots of other factors we've got to consider too.  I'm really looking forward to the whole experience and no doubt will be back here soon with more questions. Carl PS groslard, thanks for the PM, really interesting

Sorry, that wasn't quite what I meant :( What I should of said was is Provence a better area to look for what we're after? We do plan to come out and spend some time exploring, but as France is so huge, I'm trying to get as much info and opinions as I can so when we do search, the area's not too big.

Interesting comments about the Languedoc, and I must admit not really what I'd expereinced of it - although my expereince is quite limited. I've been thinking more about my Chichester analogy and maybe it was truer that I thought, it's a bit 'arty' and chilled and very relaxed...  So how much nicer is Provence etc?

I was really using a Chichester as a guide for town size to be honest, so a medium size town - maybe it was not really necessary.  Would anyone like to leap to the defense of Languedoc, as you've painted a fairly bleak picture.

So we’ve finally decided to dip our toes…. Our plan is to buy a small house/large apartment and live in it 3-4 months a year to see if we really like it.  We’re both in our 30s and have got 2 small kids (1 and 2 1/2 years old) and are looking for a busy vibrant town that will keep us all interested, an English equivalent  would be Chichester. What I’m interested in hearing is any suitable towns in the Languedoc that might fit our criteria Languedoc – seems to be much cheaper than ProvenceNo more than 30 mins from the seaInteresting and busy town   I’ve had a look at Montpellier, but it does seem rather expensive When we’ve zero’d down a few areas then we can start looking for estate agents and all the other stuff.  Thanks in advance Carl