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House Near The Montage Noire


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Hi All

We have been searching in the Tarn for a house and have found a comtender between Brassc and Vabre, it is at about 500 metera altitude. We have told a few people about the location and the immediate reaction is that the area will have long, cold, wet, foggy winters, none of them actually live there or near. Does anyone have experiacne of living there? We have only seen it on summer days when the temperature is about 3 - 4 degrees that say Castre

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Hi All

We have been searching in the Tarn for a house and have found a comtender between Brassc and Vabre, it is at about 500 metera altitude. We have told a few people about the location and the immediate reaction is that the area will have long, cold, wet, foggy winters, none of them actually live there or near. Does anyone have experiacne of living there? We have only seen it on summer days when the temperature is about 3 - 4 degrees that say Castre

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We used to live at 380 metres altitude on the slopes of the Montagnes Noires.  The locals reaction of "cold, wet, foggy" are relative terms.

It will be colder, wetter and foggier than on the Lauragais plane.  In the summer you will (probably) be glad of the cooler temperatures.  It depends what you are after ... all year round scorching heat-waves? Then it's not for you (try Dubai!)

We are Brits so for us we found it hot and dry enough.  Best wishes

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[quote user="Yvonne_Calling"] We have only seen it on summer days when the temperature is about 3 - 4 degrees that say Castre[/quote]

Sorry, I don't understand this bit ?

I can't help on the location, but if you go here http://www.wunderground.com/global/FR.html it may help.

I think Albi is the nearest town on the weather site, so if you scroll down and click it - then go to the left hand side and about halfway down is a history section.

It will give you the conditions in the town for the last umpteen years on any day - not exactly what you want but may give you an idea

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Hello

Im just over the boarder in Aude in a small village called Pradelles ... the winters are wetter and cooler than down on the plains but not by much... but it does mean in the summer the grass stays greener and in this weather it stays cooler at night.... In the winter I find its colder and crisper with real snow ... rather than the slush further down ... but it changes every year I have been there Dec/Jan when its been t/shirt weather in the day while walking loverly crispy sunny days ...  and of coarse the scenery is so much better ... but then Im bias as I love the Montage Noire[:D]   

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We are near Mazamet and the winters can be either cold and snowy............ or wet and dreary........... or mild and bright!  A bit like most places in the UK, you can't forecast it.  We tend to have a wet spell each spring but autumns can be fabulous.  Summers - well, we get the usual heat in July and August but our grass still stays green most of the year.  What clinched it for us is that the countryside is so beautiful here - no endless rows of vines, or Spanish-style brush.  We have lakes and woods and walking tracks all over the place.  Most of the agriculture is animal-based, rather than crop-based, so this is reflected in the green hills and hedgerows. 

Can't think of anything else, but hope this has helped a bit.

Chrissie (81)

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Just read the local freebie paper/magazine "Coulour Lauragais" and they have an article this month on the Montagnes Noires - including a bit on its high rainfall.

Right in the heart of the mountain range the annual rainfall is approx 1,500mm - this is about twice Manchester (UK) levels and a little less than three times Essex/Cambridgeshire levels. So it is wet ... thats why they build the big reservoirs here!

We experienced about 700mm per year on the Western fringes of the Montagnes - and this seemed to fall on fewer days than the frequently incessant drizzle of back home (UK). This we found to be just fine.

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We live in the Montagne Noire, South of Mazamet, at Miraval Cabardes  in Aude .400 meteres altitude.  I think the weather varies which side of the Mountain you are.  Here we get approx one week of snow, and some rain.  It is cold and sometimes misty.  However, in the Summer, the evenings are cool for sleeping - It is a beautiful place to be.....
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I know of a couple of people who have moved away from Montage Noire on account of bad weather. There is a figure that's banded around about SW France having 300 days of sunshine. If you dig deep to find the place they are talking about then its Montpelier where this was recorded. I live in or on the next mountain range south and so getter better weather but we still don't get anywhere near 300 days of sunshine, to be honest its more like 150 to 170 days of sunshine per year. Winters are hard with some snow (we are 385M altitude and the snowline is about 600M) but temps averaging -15 and at worse -18 but they are short. February to May in normally rains, its very damp and not much good for those with arthritis and rheumatism. Yet if you cross over to the other side then within a few kilometers the landscape changes dramatically and its much hotter and drier, rather like Spain. Mind you over the last couple of days the outside air temp has registered between 32 and 38 deg in the shade and in August we have hit 42 deg.

If you really are not sure then my best tip is forget buying a house, go and rent one for a year in that area and see how you get on. Compared to the UK renting here is as cheap as chips, you get a much bigger bang for your bucks.

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I live pretty close to Vabre, and the weather is one of the reasons I am looking to move. Most places get fog at some time, but here the fog is often very thick and will last for several days on end. Not being able to see more than 50 meters for up to a week can be very depressing indeed. The last couple of weeks have been nice weather, with temperatures in the 20`s and have touched 30 at times, but the period from November 2008 up till May this year was very grim indeed.Cold, wet and miserable. Im originally from the north of Scotland, so bad weather is not a surprise to me, but that period here was worse than anything I have seen in Scotland for a long time. The previous winter was pretty similar too. As for snow - we tend to get it a fair bit, but it doesnt last. This year it snowed several times, leaving between 2 and 15cm each time, which then melted over the following few days, leaving everywhere a sodden, slushy mess. Roads were rarely affected, and certainly not for any length of time. the most common probles were due to fallen trees blocking roads.

The countryside is very green here, compared with places further south due to higher rainfall. There are many, many places around this area where you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Scotland, rather than France as the views are so similar. Yet, a brief drive from Mazamet over the mountains towards Carcassonne reveals a completely dfferent countryside, much drier for a start.

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