Weather - Mayenne v Sarthe

[tonyinfrance]

I know there are lots of forum members in the region and your advice will be much appreciated.

We've been looking for a house in the vicinity of La Fleche (about an hour south of Le Mans) as we know the area well but we haven't found the house we want (at least, not at the right price).  In May we looked around the Mayenne/Orne region and saw some good houses at significantly lower prices.  Now the question - is the weather much different here than in Sarthe?  We certainly saw much more dairy farming - which is our preference - but this often indicates more rain.....

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Tony

[cooperlola]

The Sarthois think it's wetter further North but I don't know about the evidence for this!  Have a look at the Meteo France website because there is lots of archive material there.  It's also much cheaper North of LM than South, btw.  La Fleche's relative proximity to the Loir and Loire valleys does push the prices up.  Try Mortagne au Perche, Belleme and La Ferte Bernard/Nogent le Rotrou etc.

[mint]

I apologise for butting in and I do feel very bad-mannered.

Coops, please read the thread about insect repellents as I want to order stuff from your chemist and need to check the postal charges?

Forgive me, OP.  I did look for property both in Mayenne and the Sarthe.  Weatherwise, I don't think that there is much difference but I did love the area between Le Mans and Paris.

[Doodle]

We live in North Mayenne about 7 km from the normandy border. Our french neighbours who have a second home in Laval always say that the weather there is usually a little warmer and dryer than here and we have several friends who say once you are south of Laval it is a couple of degrees warmer as for rain, not a lot of difference.

Both departments are beautiful and Mayenne is the cheaper of the two departments for property. That said there are some reasonably priced properties around Ferte Mace.

Good luck with your search. Chris

[Judie]

[quote user="knee gel"]We live in North Mayenne about 7 km from the normandy border.

 That said there are some reasonably priced properties around Ferte Mace.

Good luck with your search. Chris[/quote]

But La Ferté Macé is in the Orne.

[mint]

Yes, indeed, in 61, and not the most attractive town I could think of in that departement.

[Doodle]

'But La Ferté Macé is in the Orne.'

Hi Judie, Tony said he'd been looking in the Mayenne/Orne area that is why I mentioned Ferte Mace where prices are much cheaper than say Bagnoles, Alencon etc.

Chris

[Doodle]

[quote user="sweet 17"]Yes, indeed, in 61, and not the most attractive town I could think of in that departement.[/quote]

Too right, the town is not the most attractive but there is some very pretty countryside on the outskirts of the town and of course it depends on how much you want to spend and how much property/land you want for your money and how 'snobby' people are about where they live (not meant to offend anyone here). That said, there are some pretty awful towns/villages in the Mayenne department, personally I think Mayenne town not particularly attractive but then I'm not not a 'towny' anyway.

But then we are all moving this thread from the original question by Tony which was to do with the weather in these areas.

Chris

[tonyinfrance]

Guys - many thanks for your comments.  On our last trip to this area in May we focussed on the region around Gorron - seemed quite tranquil which is just what we want.  We looked at several properties through Gorron Immobilier and liked their service:  are there any recommendations for other agents in this part of the world?

We'll also widen our search to look at some of the towns mentioned by Cooperlola above.  Meantime any hints and tips on purchasing in this region will be gratefully received.

Thanks again

Tony

[cooperlola]

These are the Notaires who dealt with our purchase.  Should give you some idea of prices on the Sarthe/Orne border:

http://www.notaires-mamers.fr/liste_annonces.php?init=TRUE&alertimmo=FALSE&PHPSESSID=c2524bd359ba6fa0ca17a72d244f14c3#titreRubrique

Were you thinking of farming? 

[Doodle]

[quote user="tonyinfrance"]

Guys - many thanks for your comments.  On our last trip to this area in May we focussed on the region around Gorron - seemed quite tranquil which is just what we want.  We looked at several properties through Gorron Immobilier and liked their service:  are there any recommendations for other agents in this part of the world?

We'll also widen our search to look at some of the towns mentioned by Cooperlola above.  Meantime any hints and tips on purchasing in this region will be gratefully received.

Thanks again

Tony

[/quote]

Not sure how you feel about being with lots of english but if you are OK with it then Gorron is a good place to be - local french call it little england! There is a good supermarket. There is also a good place to learn the french language (if you want to and don't already speak the language) at a very reasonable cost from beginners to advanced learners. There used to be/still is? a very good estate agent in Gorron 'Eurim' but I believe someone else has taken over the business. She drove us for miles when we were looking and spent the whole day with us. There is also 'Splendid Isolation', Fraser has contacts with other agents in this area so it may be worth looking at his website which is www.buyingpropertiesinfrance.com - I have no interests with this company except that we bought our house through Fraser.

Hope this is of some help. Chris

[tonyinfrance]

Oh dear!  We'd rather avoid a preponderence of English people - I suppose we should have realised there might be a heightened rosbif  presence when we passed The Red Lion pub in a village not far from Gorron.  This being the case can anyone recommend an area which is not overly anglicised?

[cooperlola]

Here's the thing I was telling you about re the weather:

http://france.meteofrance.com/france/climat_france?66222.path=climatnormales%252FFRANCE

As far as I can tell there aren't loads of Brits round here but then I can't say I seek them out.

[Doodle]

Mayenne was pretty unknown until one particular french magazine in January 2007 did a supplement on 'buying hotspots' one of them being Mayenne. It was classed as a passing through point for visitors on their way to the coast. In their section 'Where to Buy Now' they listed Pre en Pail, Domfront and Lassay Les Chateaux.

We live a couple of miles from Lassay which was described as ' a peach of a location with a small but growing expat community' and then added that the prices on average were 20% to 30% less expensive than the surrounding departments and believe me when I say we saw the flood gates open and the brits sail in.

That said, if you are buying a holiday home then the mayenne is not far to travel to/from ports which is one of the reasons we originally bought here and if you choose a place in the countryside you will possibly avoid too many brits nearby.

Chris

[tonyinfrance]

Thanks Chris - fair point.

Cooperlola - thanks for the Notaires link - very interesting and I'll look at it some more over the weekend.  BTW, no we're not into farming ouselves but we do like to see lots of cows!

[mint]

I do agree about some of the villages and towns not being very attractive.

Other thing is that if the property is on high ground, the wind is very strong and it's not particularly pleasant to be outdoors even when the sun is shining.

Weedon, where are you and why don't you come here and give the OP some info as you are practically one of the natives by now?[:D]

[cooperlola]

I think the Perche is beautiful and I could live in nearly every village I go through but then if you don't like the area you live in I guess you're probably a bit weird or why would you live there in the first place?  Plenty of cows and almost as many dobbins (Percherons of course.)

I take Sweet's point about hilltop properties as I've lived in one for the last 35 years.  But I do love being able to look out of the window and be able to see for miles.  Easy enough to make a sheltered spot (or several, as we have here for different times of the day/year etc) in the garden.

 I spent a good few days in the Mayenne also when I was house hunting and saw some attractive and some fairly grotty places but there's lots to chose from.  Some of the towns certainly did seem to be full of Brits and English speaking immobiliers.  Not that that's a bad thing but it was not what we wanted.  It was also too far from LM which as well as having the motor racing, of course, is a lovely city and just an hour by train to Paris to boot.

I admit to being very biased though - I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but it suits us - doesn't mean it would suit anybody else though does it?

[Doodle]

The Swiss Normande area is beautiful especially if you enjoy outdoor activities.

Chris

[Weedon]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Weedon, where are you and why don't you come here and give the OP some info as you are practically one of the natives by now?[:D]

[/quote]

Keeping my head down sweet cos I heard English voices mentioning Mayenne and so far I am the only English in my village. Whilst out walking I have taken to staring closely at every car that approaches, continuing to stare as they vanish into the distance AND when driving I switch my indicator on and only switch it off when I reach my destination, so I guess I am one of the natives.

Now then.

In my view Mayenne is a really lovely area to live in with lots of quiet little villages and the big (well big to me) towns of Laval and Mayenne with their ancient parts fitting in nicely with the modern for when you feel the need to mix with the wider society.

If it's cows you want it is said that there are more cows than people in Mayenne, or is that Normandy...I forget, anyway the department of Mayenne is known for its agriculture with the weather being very similar to the south east of England only just a little warmer and a little earlier in the year to warm up. Maybe being 2 or 3 hours from the channel we don't have the influence of the sea affecting our weather so summer temperatures of the upper 20s and into the 30s are plenty warm enough for me.

From here you can easily get to Brittany or to the Loire Valley and for me it is the ideal area. I have my house on the market for sale and intend to buy something else in the same area, that's how much I like it here.