Perfect location

[Natalie]

Hi there

My parents are considering relocating to France to retire early. They are realistic about there ability to pick up the language at the ages of 56 and 58 but want to live in a quiet rural community. We do not know France at all and were wondering if anyone could recommend areas to commence our search. Property needs to be reasonably priced and they ideally would like a town or village where there is a small expat contingent to ease their transition. They would like the opportunity to maybe rent the propert a few months a year when they visit my brother overseas so an area of interest for rental would be a bonus. They wil of course spend time in the area before buying but France is pretty big and we just dont know where to start. Any ideas?

Thanks for any advice

 

[Leschenauds]

We have been here 4 years and wouldn't dream of going back. The Creuse is probably the most rural part of France, property is still reasonably inexpensive and the local french welcome Brits with open arms. We came with just schoolkid french but we have managed to do everything including setting up a business thanks to the very helpful french. One of our local hotels is having a 'Fish & Chip night(with mushy peas) this Friday and is booked solid with Brits, French and Dutch. Our website gives a few pointers to the area.

During the past 18 months, visitors to our campsite have so loved the area that 22 of them have bought property here and 15 of them have moved here permanently. The only people who don't seem to be welcome here are Parisians!

www.leschenauds.com

[Stocky]

You will get hundreds of people saying that their area meets the requirements.  all will be very true but what is needed is your parents requirements.  Do they want heat or do they want a slightly better than UK climate.  Do they want to be near to the UK Ferries.  Do they want to explore France and Europe and therefore want a central location.  do they want beaches, scenery or culture.  We feel that we have met our criteria in a rural location within walking distance to shops, easy to reach Brittany, Normandy and the Loire valley.  Even paris is within reach.

My recommendation is for them to tour France and decide where they like rather than sift through personal preferences.

Best of luck to them.  We hope to move permanently to our house in Ceauce within the next six months.

Ian 

 

[Annabell]

Why don't you try using the Granny Network.  There are 14 of them now, dotted about all over France.

www.grannynetwork.info

Hope this helps

[Penny29]

Everything Ian says is very sensible and is good advice.

Where do your parent's live in the UK? Which UK city will they be flying back to for visits to family and friends? Which French airport flies direct to that UK city? This may help them narrow down the possibilities.

What climate suits them best - some parts of France are not much warmer than the UK even in the summer, some areas get very harsh winters coupled with very hot summers, some parts have above average rainfall.

I shouldn't imagine that they will have any trouble renting in any part of France & maybe a series of short rentals in different areas will help them make up their minds.

As one reply said - you will get nothing but unbiased advice from us guys (!!) as we all love our particular corner of France. Here in the Dordogne, of course, we have it all - friendly people, an ex-pat community if you want it, wide availability of French lessons, three airports within a few hours driving distance, short harsh winters, long dry summers (except for this year!), lots of rural villages and hamlets, a good choice of large towns within an hour or so's drive, scenery to die for etc. But prices are not cheap, over the border in the Haute Vienne or the Correze property prices are significantly lower. The drawbacks of our area are that it rains a lot (the price we pay for all the green fields and fertile forests), it is a long drive to the sea (I miss that soooo much) and it is an 8 hour long and boring drive to Calais. My friend's website has some info about the area and rentals in the locality - check out http://www.dordogne-on-line.info

Penny

 

[Tonyh]

Yes, like everyone else I live in the perfect location! My family moved to the Charente at the beginning of the year, and we have not looked back! People are lovely, scenery varies from woody hillsides(east), gently rolling open farmland (lots of fields of sunflowers- Centre), and miles of vineyards(west), easy reach of four airports and two TGV stations (london in 6 hrs), Climate wonderful,  the reasons for living here are endless. But the best idea is do as much homework as you can in the uk, visit websites, exhibitions like Vive La France, libraries etc. Then when you have narrowed your search, spend some time in your selected areas to get a feel for each

And most importantly, enjoy it

 

Tony 

[Evianers]

The area overlooking Lac Leman - wonderful! Near to international airport, wonderful views, mountains behind, lake in front, what more could one ask. International community already established.

[Pierre ZFP]

You can hardly go wrong, but I guess we have all bought in different places for as many different reasons.  Definitely go and stay in some regions, there is no substitute.  I was going to say take your time over choosing a property but then we took one look at ours and said Yes, fortunately we have never regretted a moment.

Why do you think your parents would have a problem with the language?  I'm 50 and mangle French with ease!  Without exception, people have been very kind and gently correct my syntax and grammer and had a few laughs on the way.  I went to local evening classes which were brilliant.  There were many retired people in the class who did just great, and why not?.  There is nothing like having an interest in the subject for making learning easy.  Also, as there are two of them, they can help each other out. My wife understands what is said more than I but I speak more, so we do a double act !!

Pierre ZFP