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Hi All

The wife and I are planning to move to pas de calais Jan/Feb 2007, currently scouting out places to live, there seems to be a lot of property for sale in or near Hesdin, does anyone live there or have experience of living there and could you give me your thoughts, upsides, downsides etc

Many thanks in advance

Mark

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Hi Marky! I'm not quite sure what you're looking for, but can tell you that you are VERY lucky indeed if you are able to go & live near Hesdin! We have a little holiday house in a village near there, and it is heaven on earth except that we have to leave it and come back to foul London! What sort of house are you looking for? What do you plan to do when you get here? Do you speak French - pretty much essential as no one speaks English in the villages around here - quite rightly, too, in our view - who wants all that 'cup of tea' rubbish? The villages of the 'Sept vallees' are what England was like in the 1950s, and really are the real France - totally unspoilt. Hesdin itself is a great little town with a market to rival any down South.

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Hi Eskenazi

Glad to hear you like Hesdin.  Luckily for me I am able to work 4 days in London and spend 3 days in France, gradually hoping to curtail trips to the UK and start working on continent.  The wife will not miss me too much (I hope) as I will leave early Monday and return late Thursday.  We both speak enough French to get by.  We have been thinking about it ever since we went to Cherbourg as Uni Students for Valentines day 93 but now finally have enough capital to buy a fair sized house and the ability to work initially 4 days in London, go to France at least 2 to 3 times a year.  You are right, we want high streets that are not "pre packaged" - Next/M&S/Boots etc and we also want to immerse ourselves in French Life - we had to do it when we moved to a small village in Hampshire - its the only way to get to know people and make friends....

We cant wait to finally make the move, of course we will rent for about 6 months to ensure we do like living in France, there are a lot of posts warning people not to leave their home towns thinking life is better in France (frying pan/fire etc), we love where we live in the UK (reminds me of Dibley) but there is so much we want to learn about France and the French way of life and people.....

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Hello Marky,

I, too, am hoping to relocate to the Hesdin area. I have been looking at houses via websites and am coming to Hesdin in 4 weeks time to have a proper look. And if my house sells before then I may be in a position to SERIOUSLY look for one to buy. Checking out websites about the 7 vallees area it looks wonderful and the history and countryside are very appealing. Plus if you should need to get back to the UK (family, friends etc) you are nearer to all the major ports. My only problem is a question asked so many times on this forum, houses I like and can afford are featured on 4,5 or more websites sometimes at vastly different prices. So when I am in Hesdin I think I shall check out the local immobiliers and maybe choose one or two who I can get on with!!

good luck and we may meet there someday!

roseysan

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Hi,

I live in the 7 Vallees of Pas de Calais about 15km from Hesdin.

It is a lovely town and reasonable supplied with a variety of shops.

If you need help with your french there are French lessons held in a café in Hesdin. Although it is not teaching I have recieved it is good for meeting other people in the area and getting to know useful snipetts about the area.

Downsides It will get cold in the winter. You will see -10 in the evenings regulary and tank gas is very expensive as I am not sure if Hesdin is one of the lucky few to be connected to mains supply gas. Ask when you see the agents. If you do get tank gas  then through autumn and winter expect bills of around 700 euros every 4 months.[:'(]

Upsides everyone is nice friendly and will take the time to listen to you babbling on trying to get the sentances out.

Regards travelling to and from London Speedferries is quickest to get to from Hesdin about 40 mins to Boulogne.  My Husband works away in London 4 days a week aswell.  He uses them predominantly.

If you have any other questions I will try to help.

Regards.

Sarah.

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Hi,

Good to read your post about Hesdin. I am looking at Hesdin, Fruges, Frevent, Auxi le Chateau and other towns nearby but lots of properties are 'near' Hesdin. Did you use a french immobilier or one based in UK. If you have come across good or bad one(s) can you pm me with their names. Some I have had recommended to me but it would also be advantageous to rule out others who weren't so good. You sound as though you are happy there, I only hope that as a single lady retiring to France I can fit in and integrate into the local area. (Any golf courses close by?) The cafe for French lessons has featured in French Property News once and I can see why you found it useful to make contact with other like minded people. My French is a bit rusty [:(] but with a bit of polishing I could get up to speed hopefully.

cheers

roseysan

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We bought through VEF who provided us with an english speaking intermediary agent who works mostly with the Opei group of agents. ( I think that is their name)  They are quite a big chain throughout france I think.  They have an office in Hesdin and have since then employed and expat to handle the growing number of english buyers from that office.

If you look in the St pol sur Ternoise area the is angent there who speaks good english also and will translate all documents for you aswell should you buy through him. His name is Francois if I remember right it is the A.C  Immobilier.

Hope this helps.

Sarah.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello

We are moving over permanently in October of this year.  Have owned our house in Ligny-sur-Canche for nearly three years.  There is a good immobilier in Hesdin, Maggie Kelly, she is British - L'Abri-Tanique.  She is very efficient.  Also Agence d'Authie - Auxi-le-Chateaux - Gary Hollister.

We love the area, so peaceful, so unspoilt.  Just like stepping back thirty years with the attitudes of the teenagers.

Good luck

Suey

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi,

Just returned from a lovely week staying in Hesdin. I did all the local towns within a 15-20 mile radius but I just loved Hesdin. So I contacted all the Immobiliers in the town including the aforesaid L'Abri tanique agency run by the lovely Maggie Kelly. I have now sold my house here in the Uk and am looking forward to movinh out there in late spring/early summer next year. Sueyh, I went past Ligny de Canche where you are moving to. I expect you are up to your ears in packing boxes at present, I do hope the move goes well.

Maybe this next question may seem trivial , but here goes. As an avid reader, I have loads of good quality books by popular authors (John Grishm, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell etc) and I wondered if I bought them all with me maybe some of the ex-pat Brits in that area would like to borrow them. Or are there English books available? Failing that it might have to be a boot fair or charity shop, along with a load of otther stuff. Moving house is so therapeutic when it comes to off loading stuff!![:D]

roseysan

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Hi All,

 

We purchased our home in the Hesdin area just over 1 year ago, we used AC Immobilier in Hesdin, Jean Pierre is your contact, French by birth, but lived in the UK for 30+ years.

 

Orpi Imm, contact is Christina, they have links with Hexgone UK (Folkestone)

 

As mentioned Maggie Kelly is also a good contact.

 

There is a fairly large ex-pat community in the area, all very helpfull, also some English B&B's who would be a good source of Info and help.

 

a bientot

Lily et Jim

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

We have owned a house in this area of France for the last 7 years.  Maggie Kelly (mentioned above) found our first house for us and helped enormously when we were novices.  When we decided to move we found a house advertised privately on the internet which was 5 miles from Hesdin.  It is a wonderful area and we are still finding new places to visit after all this time.  Also, if anyone needs a builder I can thoroughly recommend an English speaking builder who helped us with our present house and has been invaluable.  He's polite, courteous, hard working and has helped us with other artisans when needed.  Please PM me if you require further details.

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Hi Roseyan,

Our move went really well, been here a month now, still love it.  Re: books - I would say bring them with you and do swaps, I have also heard that they have book swap clubs here.  If I find out more I will let you know.

Good hunting.

Suey

 

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