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Ribérac and beyond


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Just thought I'd ask all you knowledgeable people out there about living in Ribérac.

I will take a drive there to have a look soon.  But, could anyone living near there please give their impression of what it is like (and I mean for living and not just for the odd holiday)?

Regulars on the forum will know that I am interested in moving house and Ribérac has come into the equation because I have seen a couple of houses near there on the internet that might be suitable.

Don't really want to live in a Brit enclave, but do want some life and "things to do".  All thoughts, impressions, etc. would be gratefully received.

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Nothing, really, Wooly.  Except that the village is pretty "laid", there is damn all going on, the neighbours are OK but I would prefer them further away, etc. etc.  You don't want to know, honest, because I am in a whinging mood.

Any road(as they say so endearingly, oop North) I'm glad you like your new place.  I looked it up on my big-scale map, just to be sure that I could keep an eye on any "happenings" up your way![kiss]

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Mainly kids in lakes here and the full story of the corrupt local mayor. But it does have a buzz about it. And the coast is close so as soon as there is a desent wind I'm off there to get blown away.

Somewhere just down the road they make gigantic catamarans which are then moved along the road to go somewhere or other. Police outriders forcing everyone into a ditch. Then the thing stops and magically lifts itself several metres higher so it can get over road signs ans roundabouts....

I wouldnt want that deep quiet again Sweet 17. How about you develop an internet business or run a How to Live in France website with a forum and all[6]

Getting another house round Rubberneck might only put off the evil day again. Or move into say Saintes whichy seems a lively little place.

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Thanks for the advice, mon chér Wooly.  Actually, I think you're right.  I have looked to be nearer Saintes.

It's live music more than anything else that I miss.  Stepson has just done something in Aldeburgh and he played at a "music cruise" last month, Lille to near Avignon.

You wouldn't believe how I missed the proms last year and even London (though I moved here from Wales).

I guess I'm just missing the things that I never thought much about, if only because I took them so much for granted.  I shall call it "new to France syndrome".

Have you found out anymore about the history course at Nantes?  God, that's the sort of thing that I envy you for!  I'm struggling not to become brain dead here but, it is an almighty struggle, I can tell you!

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Having got the move out of the way I am slowly beginning to turn back to other activities that are important to me. The history degree is one of them. I'll dig up details asap.

Do what I did and write a book for example. Do an OU course maybe?

I am lucky as I am very self sufficient and have too much to do in my life, a large part of which is internal. And there is now more than enough to keep me busy otherwise, with the dogs and smaller garden, so that it does not become oppressive. And a couple of good book ideas, and ..... I could go on. The real problem is limiting myself to a small number of things. And spending less time on forums.

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Dogs!  I thought you only had the one!  Or has Christine persuaded you to have another?

I, too, am pretty much self-sufficient.  There's always the piano and new music to learn and, how can I forget, the French lessons?!

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Hello

I live near to Riberac (about 15km) and this whole area is packed with Brits mostly second homes though so they start arriving anytime now and fill the supermarket car parks with UK plated vehicles.  The reason why I think is there are loads of Brit focused estate agents here.  Even in the depths of winter you will see a UK plated car every day whereas when I was in the Viennne I never met another Brit in 4 years.  It's close to Dordogneshire of course too so there is that draw as well.  I do like it here and have got used to having British friends again something I missed so it's not all bad, my french is suffering though as I don't get to use it so much, the announcements in the super market are even repeated in english here!

Panda

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Hm.............Panda, so it's like the proverbial curate's egg then?

It's not that I am against having Brit friends and neighbours as such; it's just that one of the biggest reasons for moving here was to learn a new language and get to grips with a new culture. 

There are quite a few Brits near me and, so far, I have managed to befriend the ones I like and keep out of the way of the ones I don't.

(have also made some interesting French friends, which has been a bonus as we didn't expect to make local friends in such a short space of time)

It's taken a bit of manouevring, but we have avoided the British golfing lot and the British dinner parties circa 1970s contingent.

I have been somehow feeling very subdued recently.  I think it could be the weather or because I feel restless and unsettled on account of wanting to move house.

Just trying to think my way around things but it can get a bit distracting when you have an internal debate with yourself everytime you want to do something "biggish" like tidying up the old ruin (a building, not the OH) and wondering if it's worth the effort if you're going to move anyway.

But, thanks for the post.  That's the sort of subjective information that is most useful to me.

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There's a really good Thai restaurant in Ribérac that I went to recently.  There was an ad posted on the door looking for staff.  It said that applicants should 'have a good level of English' [8-)] Say's it all really.

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Lisleoise, do you think some of the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages?  I mean that Thai restaurant is probably the nearest one to me, where I live in the Southern Charente Maritime![:-))]
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Hi sweet17,

Hmm, what to say - I've lived around Ribérac almost 17 years so I have pretty established views by now. Firstly it's a town of only about 6,000 people but it serves a very large surrounding area of villages so is often quite busy. It's not a lovely town but it's not unattractive and does have quite a lot of interesting features. It's true there are a lot of Brits living in the surrounding communes both residents and second home owners however a British enclave is hardly correct, that would be far more in the Bergerac region although it's true to say that on market day in Ribérac in July and August you are more likely to hear English spoken than French - well from about 11 o'clock onwards! So, although Ribérac is a working town it's also considerably swelled at tourist times and there are plenty of events going on of one sort or another - not too much live music though. The problem comes outside of tourist time - like virtually all country areas it's really very quiet and you have to travel to find much choice of entertainment - approx driving times: Bordeaux 75 mins, Angouleme 60 mins, Perigueux 30 mins. Hope that helps a bit [:)]

Lisleoise - "There's a really good Thai restaurant in Ribérac that I went to

recently.  There was an ad posted on the door looking for staff.  It

said that applicants should 'have a good level of English' Say's it all really."  - My son is just taking his Bac this week and still looking for work for the summer so having read your post I suggested he went to the Thai restaurant and asked. He just came back and said he spoke to the owners in French and they didn't understand him so he said would you like me to speak in English and they said "oh yes please" -  [:P]

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Nice post, Gemini, made me laugh and made me think quite a bit.  Funny story about your son.  If they employed him, he'd be the lynch-pin around which the restraurant would revolve.  Unless, of course, it is a resto almost exclusively patronised by Brits!

The house I was interested in was in a village just outside Ribérac but, on investigating further, I've decided that it's not really for us.

I wish to be ultra careful choosing where to move to this time around.  We knew from the outset our present house is not a "forever" home, nor is our area necessarily the place where we want to be.  We bought with all this in mind.  It's a long story, but we had our reasons and we remain glad we bought when we did where we did.

We don't absolutely dislike it or anything near that.  In fact, OH is probably quite happy; it's me who is keen to move.  And the lack of music is a very big gap in our lives...

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Have you thought about Provence? We are located in Dordogne near Sarlat and love the area, however, my favourite part of France is still Vaucluse in Provence. If you like music, living within driving distance to some of the larger towns in the area would certainly give you plenty of choice.

There are loads of internationals and culture in the area but I personally feel that it is still very French, beautiful and has kept it's character even more so than some of the areas mentioned in Dordogne that can be very English. Riberac and many other areas of Dordogne including ours are quite rural and not very near a largish town, so by the sound of it very similar to where you are located now.

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There is live music every Saturday during the summer at Renamont which is about 15-20k from Riberac.  We went last Saturday and there were 3 bands and it was fantastic.  Entry fee was 7 euros.  It is usually 4 euros but because they had 3 bands it was more. 

This weekend it is the music festival in perigueux and the standard of the groups, bands, solo performers is outstanding.  We went last year and were stunned by the quality.

We live about 15k from Riberac and we love it here.  There are lots of Brits but you dont have to talk to them if you dont want to.  We are very rural and are surrounded by French.  We certainly wouldnt move from this area if we ever decided to downsize.

Why dont you come down for a few days and try it out?

Gail

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[quote user="sweet 17"]

I have been somehow feeling very subdued recently.  I think it could be the weather or because I feel restless and unsettled on account of wanting to move house.

[/quote]

If the weather in Charente Maritime is adding to your restlessness & making you subdued heading to the Dordogne could make it worse.  The rainfall level is higher (hard to believe after the last month here!!) & the number of hours of sunshine are lower (not that I believe the "2nd sunniest region in France" statement anymore!).  It seems that nowhere is guaranteed sunshine anymore - but hopefully it's on it's way & with a lot of music festivals starting soon, it may help lift your spirits. [:)]

 

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[quote user="sweet 17"]Thanks WJT but I think we'll have to win the lottery to afford the Provence![/quote]

Sweet17, I guess it would depend on your budget and what you were looking for in a property but there are parts of the Vaucluse that are much more affordable than others. The area north of Avignon for example has much lower prices. I did a very quick search in the lovely bustling village Vaison la Romaine and the below link shows a few examples. I know most are quite small, but it is a popular village in the cheap area. [:)]

http://www.fnaim.fr/?call=resultslittle_biens&category=vente&type=maison&FNAIM_Little_Input_Ville=vaison+la+romaine&prix_min=0&prix_max=318190&resultats.x=91&resultats.y=10

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Hi Sweet 17,

I think you'd like our town - Vienne. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhône, 30 km south of Lyon. Population 30,000. It is a prosperous town full of Roman artefacts including an ampitheatre regularly used for concerts. There is an annual 2 week jazz festival when the whole town is buzzing and full of all types of music (not just jazz). Last year the town renamed some of the streets with the names of famous musicians but I don't know if they do that every year. The cafes and restaurants stay open late and the town is alive until the early hours. Here is the program for this year - http://www.jazzavienne.com/  - you're still in time for a visit! We live on the southern borders 1km from the town centre. We moved into our house just in time for last year's jazz festival and my husband walked down most evenings.

It takes just 30mins on the train to be in the centre of Lyon where you would be bound to be able to top-up on any cultural or intellectual activities that you can't find locally. There are very few British people here and our local French community have been friendly and welcoming. Although some like to practise their English most encourage us to speak French. On the other side of the river there is the Pilat regional park which is also a centre for winter sports.

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Bonjour, Lorna

Your town sounds very good indeed!  My musician stepson was playing on a boat only about a couple of weeks ago in different towns along the Rhone.  I think they played in Dijon, Tournus, Mâcon, Vienne, then down south towards Avignon and Arles.

Must say we haven't considered the eastern side of the country.  I have to confess we mostly know just the northern areas like Brittany and Normandy and then down the western coast.  Mostly I think it was because we could take very limited time off work (in those far off days) in order to househunt and it was easier for us to get around the western side.

Certainly, you have suggested possibilities I haven't even considered.  Thank you for your input.[:D]

 

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