Where to live next?

[Lori]

Well, it is pouring rain and I have little to do.

So, we have 2.5 years to live where we are.  I'm fairly sure we will not remain here after our lease ends.  Of course we want to remain in France.

The question is; where to go.  We can pretty much rule out the Northern areas.  Even though there are many we enjoy visiting, the weather isn't particularly nice.

Middle of France can be very similar, weather wise, but open to suggestions.

So, it will likely be somewhere South where weather is better.  That covers a large area.  Lots of which we have never seen.  Or seen in limitation.

Where do you suggest we look?  Once the Pandemic subsides (assuming it does), we want to visit the potential places, assuming we do not already know them.  We would do this over the next two years.

If we don't know the area, we will want to rent a place first to make sure we like the area.  We would like this location to be for the longer term.  The usual preferences - near decent health facilities, near a train station or airport, not overly remote, not overly touristed, good weather and not in the cost range of the Paris region.

Our thoughts often end up back in the Southeast region as we know it so well.  However, most (not all) of this area is over-priced.

Any ideas?  Thank you !

[alittlebitfrench]

Well...your decision should be based on climate change but also delinquency/crime....which is out of control all over France.

In terms of weather, France is having catastrophic weather events every year now. Raging heat and drought in the summer and flooding in the winter.

I personally would not move to the South East or South West on that basis. Throw in delinquency and crime, even more so.

Go central France is my advice.

Southern Bourgogne is a good shout because it is half way. It is not the South and it is not the North.

With a carte blance and having the choice to live anywhere in France....I would probably go for Scandinavia.

If it had to be France, I guess I would stay where I am because the weather is stable and there is less crime/delinquency than other areas.

Choose wisely OP.

[chessfou2]

I would suggest looking SW, say between Albi and a bit East of the A75. An hour or so North of the Med (thus avoiding worst of flooding, crime etc.). If the airport is very important, then probably nearer to (but probably not in) Albi (to be reasonably close to Toulouse) unless Montpellier (readily accessible from A75) is adequate, which also has the benefit of TGV. (4-4.5 hrs to CDG).

Weather generally much better than North (brrr!), Centre (brrr & snow), Med (arguably too hot).

Much fine countryside and many truly beautiful villages (et la fibre arrive!).

[alittlebitfrench]

Chessfou...

Touraine/Loiret/Loire Valley (region centre) is one of the warmest regions (all year round) in France.

Why do you think the kings of France built their Chateaux there.

If you want good weather....that is where you move to.

Just thought I mention that.

[plod]

Albi is a lovely town, quite touristy, and not too far from Toulouse with motorway all the way. We lived nearby. The Tarn can get very hot in summer and very cold in winter, albeit short-lived cold usually. Gaillac is nice, even closer to Toulouse and has a station too. Too much choice!

[AnOther]

We moved to the Costa Blanca, no regrets.

Got fed up with 6 month long Winters and 'France est fermée'

[Lehaut]

We looked at several areas before we moved to Nantes. Reasonable weather all year and as we live on the 5th floor, a good breeze during the night to keep the bedroom cool. Rumour has it that those rich with second homes in the south are now buying on the coast in Brittany to avoid the heat in the south. Everything is within walking distance, 15 mins by Uber to the airport. Great culture, transport and walks.

Two guys blew the doors off the local mayor office last year, explosion heard all over the city. Regular shootings, stabbing, drug related crime, homeless people and immigrants. But not much where we live. All adds to the charm

[woolybanana]

Maybe live somewhere where the Loire turns south (check the map, you will see what I mean). This will enable you to explore the loveliest parts of France in and off the river valley with minimum effort from the west coast to St.Etienne.

[Lori]

Thank you all for the suggestions.  Most of which are areas I never would have thought you'd suggest.

Most of the areas are places we have either never been to or only visited briefly - and a long time ago.  So, they will require lots of research.

I always thought the center of France had some of the wettest and coolest weather.  Guess I might be wrong about that.  I remember being in Montauban one year at the end of June and had to go out to buy a sweatshirt as I was freezing to death !

Know nothing about Nantes.  Did a bit of looking around at rentals in that area.  I just don't know enough about where to avoid and where not to.  Lehaut you did have me laughing.  I'd always laugh when people would say Avignon was picture perfect with no crime problems, etc.  These were tourists.  Ha ha.  No place is perfect.

I looked a bit around Albi too.  Here again, I just don't know where to avoid.  So far, I haven't seen any rentals that are calling my name and since we don't know this area, we'd have to rent first. 

Perhaps visits to Albi and Nantes, when the Pandemic subsides, will be in order.  I'll keep looking.

Anyone know anything about Orléans, Clermont-Ferrand or Tours?

[NickP]

Orleans is a lovely town, very sophisticated, nice shops and good restaurants, neat clean tidy. We always take visitors there for a day out. As for Tours we shop there, but ALBF is the local expert. We are probably biased like most people about the area they know and live, so we love the Loir et Cher.??

[alittlebitfrench]

Orleans is OK...that used to be my local city. French sister in law still lives there.

Some refer to Orleans as the '93' of the Loire Valley. You probably get that living in Paris.

If you want rural but not rural and living near Orleans then Sologne is the place to look at. Just google. Sologne is beautiful.

Tours is better....where I live. Very Paris but not Paris.

Good schools, universities, shops, medical facilities and all that. Quite prosperous.Very difficult to buy house here because of is popularity.

Blois, Amboise and Angers are equally as nice.

Nantes is very big with the worlds worse road network. But you are on the doorstep of Brittany which makes up for it..

Hire a car and drive from Orleans to Nantes on the back roads and pick a spot.

Closer to a city is better.

[NormanH]

I think that the first thing to explore is yourself. I know a lot of people who move from place to place but always take themselves and their own dissatisfaction with them.

I would not recommend the town I live in to anyone else but I have been here for 25 years, can see all the warts on its face it has many of the things that I want, and of course I have developed some networks which I would not be able to replace elsewhere.

More generally you get older different things start to become more important. Easy access to a range of good health care is important for me, and I know I am a big town boy who lives who needs to live close to small shops pharmacies and markets who offer personal service, not to mention a range of small restaurants and cafes.

This might be of interest:

https://www.ville-ideale.fr/

[Catalpa]

We really like Alsace - particularly the Colmar area. More prosperous and culturally varied than most of central / northern rural France because of its proximity to Germany and Switzerland. I like the wine too. [:D] It is supposed to be one of the sunniest parts of France though higher altitudes usually have plenty of snow in winter.

Downside if you like seaside visits is its location so far from all coasts. Other possible negative is it's a prosperous area so property is not cheap. But cheap property isn't everyone's nr 1 priority.

e2a:

Clermont-Ferrand - I'd probably look at Vichy rather than C-F, though Vichy is much smaller. When choosing a location to live, you'll want to look at the things you might be interested in doing. Living anywhere is part location, environment, etc, but also availability of things that interest you and enrich your life, particularly if retired.

Many remoter areas in the middle of France are losing people, particularly 'the youth' to places where there is better employment and career possibilities. I love Le Puy-en-Velay and for years intended to retire just south of Le Puy but we've now decided it is too remote and certainly, the population is gradually declining.

[Lehaut]

albf wrote

"Nantes is very big with the worlds worse road network. But you are on the doorstep of Brittany which makes up for it."

We live next to the river; south side of the island. We can walk from the flat to the other side of Nantes to the North in 90 mins, through parks, gardens and the Erdre. Not too big in our book.

We only go out in the car once a week to do a big shop, the rest we take our pick of the 3 supermarkets/markets/shops close by on foot. The pubic transport system is very good, priority is given to the bus lane and the trams. Nearly every week a car/bike looses a competition with the red flashing lights end ends up under a tram!

Its true that Nantes wants to get rid of cars in the centre, 30km limit throughout, complicated one way systems and priority bike lanes. There is a ring road if you want to go round the city. So don't think these are the worst road networks in the world. Try Naples or Genoa.

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Chessfou suggsts an interesting region, one I'd consider indeed, even living futher south, but also I have a preference for the area around the north and east of Bordeaux, but not the Dordogne .. (sorry Mint!), getnlert climate, usually, but  again, not alwasy. But as NormanH as, weather is no longer a reliable indicator.  Slightly out of the Med basin would seem sensible, it has its limitations of heat, wind, and flooding, plus you can honestly only go in 2 / 3 instead of 4 directions.

I also agree that as you age what is important to you changes.  And it always is a compromise between what you'd like, and what is actually available .. like we had to have things in this house and location which were not perfect, but which filled about 75% of our (then) requirements (I get a feel they might now be changing as we age further, hence that statement). If you rent, of course, some of these difficulties are less problematic.

Just seen your second post, Lori, I personally would not now live in any town, but having a firend who does live onthe outskirts of Nantes, pretty village, but accesibleto the centte of Nantes which does have good tranport, some thing to look out foe, most villhges do not .. here included.  Byt still the weather "up north" can rarely be considered warm in comparision to the southern half whererever you are. 

Why not travel joyfully and peripatetically over the next 2 years and just go exploring first, rather than having one or two targets in mind.  You never know what might tempt!  Bonne chance!

[pomme]

I would also agree with NE France, Alsace or the other side of the Vosges, both wine-growing areas so the weather is pleasant. Just avoid the Rhine plain which can be oppressively hot in summer.

Plenty of good major hospitals within easy access, Strasbourg, Colmar and Nancy, as well.

[Lori]

Judith - we hope to do just that, explore.  We would have already started that if the Pandemic hadn't disturbed the world !  Now, I'm not sure when we'll be able to feel comfortable traveling about. 

A bit of searching around Nantes indicates that if might be above our desired budget.

A bit of searching in Sologne indicates it has some very expensive properties. Or course these are way too big, with way too much property, but they are impressive.  The lesser expensive ones don't seem to have the appeal.  It also looks very rural, but very pretty.  Any area that green must get a lot of rain.

Albi and Vichy seem so rural, but then perhaps feet on the ground might give a different impression.  I noted that many of these rural homes were fairly old and that makes me wonder about an aged septic tank.  Many also do not note the age or quality of the heating system. Of course these things are not as critically important if we are renting.

We are very aware of how needs change as we age.  When we lived in Bédoin, we were 45 minutes from the major hospitals in Avignon.  Then, the hospital in Carpentras expanded during our time there and it was about 20 minutes away.  Still most of the better doctors were located in Avignon - too far and traffic just got worse each year.  We also hated the tourist season - which was the better part of the year there.  We coped with the mistral, but it does cause damage to homes/properties and makes walking less than pleasant.

We sold a huge house in the U.S. before we returned to France.  There is no way we would buy or rent anything that big again.  We know we don't need that much space.  We don't need much garden space either.  However, after living here, I would like to be far enough from my nearest neighbor that I can't reach out and touch their facade.  THAT appears to be the biggest challenge, no matter where we look.