Looking to buy in Languedoc

[carl1]

So we’ve finally decided to dip our toes….

Our plan is to buy a small house/large apartment and live in

it 3-4 months a year to see if we really like it.  We’re both in our 30s and have got 2 small

kids (1 and 2 1/2 years old) and are looking for a busy vibrant town that will

keep us all interested, an English equivalent  would be Chichester.

What I’m interested in hearing is any suitable towns in the Languedoc that might fit

our criteria

• Languedoc – seems to be
  much cheaper than Provence
• No more than 30 mins from the sea
• Interesting and busy town

 

I’ve had a look at Montpellier,

but it does seem rather expensive

When we’ve zero’d down a few areas then we can start looking

for estate agents and all the other stuff.  Thanks in advance

Carl

[groslard]

The problem is that you start with the English perception of South/North.  Chichester is on the south coast of England, so there must be somewhere similar in the Languedoc.

In fact apart from Montpellier which is only superficially booming, the region is one of the very poorest in France, and the least cultivated, not a bit like West Sussex. It is known for cheap plonk and cheap camping holidays for the working class.

The local 'culture' is bullfighting and rugby

Towns like Béziers  Nîmes and Perpignan are the focus of many of the  social problems of the Mediterranean, including racial tension illegal immigration and drug dealing. For example today: http://www.midilibre.com/articles/2008/01/17/20080117-NIMES-Enquete-Prise-record-de-coke-par-les-policiers-des-stups-Officiellement-maraicher-mais-l-39-homme-est-suspecte-de-dealer-de-la-cocaine.php5

If you read French have a look at the MIDILIBRE

the local newspaper to get a feel of the area.

Don't be too impressed by those who try to sell the area to you; they often have hidden agendas, such as connections to estate agents!

You would be better looking at Aix-en Provence, but it is probably even more expensive than Montpellier.

[5-element]

Chichester is quite a genteel place, if I remember rightly. It would be hard to find an equivalent in Languedoc, although the town of Pezenas comes to mind - not quite by the sea though, but has some cultural activities, being a town closely associated with French 17th century playwright Moliere.

But basically, groslard is right: most of Languedoc is pretty downmarket - there is a lot going on in Montpellier, but this is mainly due to its huge student population (70,000 approx.).

[carl1]

I was really using a Chichester as a guide for town size to be honest, so a medium size town - maybe it was not really necessary.  Would anyone like to leap to the defense of Languedoc, as you've painted a fairly bleak picture.

[groslard]

Yes Pezenas might be ok

It's main street has the nickname Guildford High Street!

The Climate isn't bad here, and there are some nice drives out into the mountains.

In the summer the area is swamped with tourists, especially on the roads to the coast.

[Baz]

When we bought our property in Languedoc in 1989 we spent some time in the area before deciding. Languedoc covers an enormous area so you really need to visit so you can see for yourself.

Baz

[raindog]

Yes, this can be a rather primitive place to live. Really depends on what you're looking for. Have you ever visited the area at all? Perhaps a good idea would be to spend some time here in various different places to get an idea of what it's like.

(too many Brits hanging round in Pezenas for my taste.......oops [:D])

[carl1]

Interesting comments about the Languedoc, and I must admit not really what I'd expereinced of it - although my expereince is quite limited.

I've been thinking more about my Chichester analogy and maybe it was truer that I thought, it's a bit 'arty' and chilled and very relaxed...  So how much nicer is Provence etc?

[raindog]

Who said Provence was nicer? Now you're insulting us [:D]

[carl1]

Sorry, that wasn't quite what I meant :(

What I should of said was is Provence a better area to look for what we're after?

We do plan to come out and spend some time exploring, but as France is so huge, I'm trying to get as much info and opinions as I can so when we do search, the area's not too big.

[groslard]

If you want to know what the French themselves say about their towns you can look on:

http://www.linternaute.com/ville/

just put in the name of the town you are interested in:

For  example, for Béziers:

Ce que j'aime à Beziers : Le cadre, la région, l'histoire et les monuments.

Ce que je n'aime pas à Beziers :

La paupérisation du centre ville, le manque de dynamisme, l'absence de

propreté, l'habitat en manque de rénovation, les difficultés de

circulation, le manque d'animation, l'aspect culturel négligé, la

disparité sociale, l'élitisme ambiant. 

(25/11/2007)

Nimes Je suis heureux de partir à Montpellier. Ce que j'aime à Nimes : Les concerts aux arènes une fois par an, le calme des Jardins de la Fontaine. Ce que je n'aime pas à Nimes : L'insécurité, les taxes excessives par rapport aux prestations, l'esprit  nimois fait de culture et de frime, le communautarisme, les embouteillages, le manque de propreté de la ville.  (25/12/2007)

[raindog]

It really is dificult to know what you're after.

As groslard has said, if you want to live within 30mins of the sea, then you will have to live with horrible traffic conditions in the summer + the massive tourist influx.

The things I love about the place where I am, you would probably hate.

Personally, I couldn't stand to live in Provence - too many Porsches and Ferraris - I like the forgotten, primitive end of France where I live.

[Eos]

I'm not rushing to the defence of the Languedoc for a few reasons, not least that I'm not sure it would be a good thing if the area became a mini Something-shire with Pezenas as it's capital.

It really depends what you're after and nobody on here can answer for you. If Nice & Cannes are your thing, then the Languedoc probably isn't for you. On the other hand, I've never been to a bull fight, nor do I intend to and the only rugby match I've been to is when Beziers trounced the Sale Sharks a couple of summers ago.

[carl1]

OK, this all sounds like great advice.  Obviously we will spend the next few months making our minds up, there's lots of other factors we've got to consider too.  I'm really looking forward to the whole experience and no doubt will be back here soon with more questions.

Carl

PS groslard, thanks for the PM, really interesting

[Maricopa]

[quote user="carl1"]......an English equivalent  would be Chichester.

What I’m interested in hearing is any suitable towns in the Languedoc that might fit our criteria

• Languedoc – seems to be much cheaper than Provence

• No more than 30 mins from the sea

• Interesting and busy town[/quote]

Hi Carl

I would have thought Narbonne would fit your bill?  Quite a lot culturally going on there, about 15 mins from the sea, and not the most expensive part of the Languedoc.

And I love my life here in the Languedoc, but no doubt my life wouldn't suit everybody![:-))]

[Ian]

I feel the Languedoc is a little overrated too: salaries are low, it is no longer "cheap", and it certainly lacks the culture, sophistication and finesse or the choicer parts of Provence.  If you enjoy the "finer" things in life (Porsche anyone?) then I would guess that for the most part the Languedoc is not for you. However the weather is good and the Summer crowds are less than the coast between St Trop' and Menton.

To live right on the cote d'azur during summer would wear many people out - but inland (and by that I mean only 30 minutes or so) and Provence can be tranquil and just as beautiful as any part of France. 

The price differentials between PACA and Languedoc are by no means what they were (if your provencal search includes inland small non-touristy town locations) either.

So with the exception of provence being slightly pricier and that coastal strip being somewhat crowded for 10 weeks - for me Provence has the edge over the Languedoc in just about every aspect.

[raindog]

[quote user="Ian"]I feel the Languedoc is a little overrated too: salaries are low, it is no longer "cheap", and it certainly lacks the culture, sophistication and finesse or the choicer parts of Provence. 

[/quote]

That's why I like it....

(see above)

[suein56]

[quote user="groslard"]Yes Pezenas might be ok
It's main street has the nickname Guildford High Street!

The Climate isn't bad here, and there are some nice drives out into the mountains.
In the summer the area is swamped with tourists, especially on the roads to the coast. [/quote]

It certainly doesn't seem too bad a place according to this:

http://www.logassist.com/english/villes/pezenas.asp

and Narbonne

http://www.logassist.com/english/villes/narbonne.asp

Sue

[groslard]

I think that site is a good example of the disinformation I mentioned in an earlier post:

Look at this from the home page:

My name is xxxxx. My family and I live in the south of France since summer 2003.

If it is also your dream, having your own property under the sun, then

take advantage of my experience in moving from one country to another.

I can guide you, English spoken, through the acquisition of a house or

building lot..

[suein56]

[quote user="groslard"]I think that site is a good example of the disinformation I mentioned in an earlier post:
Look at this from the home page:
My name is xxxxx. My family and I live in the south of France since summer 2003.
If it is also your dream, having your own property under the sun, then take advantage of my experience in moving from one country to another. I can guide you, English spoken, through the acquisition of a house or building lot..
[/quote]

Whoops! I see what you mean ... I must confess that I have never looked at the homepage before. I arrived at the cities pages via Google and use those pages and other such sites for finding out interesting info quickly.

Is this a better bet then ...

http://www.world66.com/europe/france/midi/languedoc/pezenas

Sue

[Ian]

[quote user="spg"]

[

Is this a better bet then ...

[/quote]

Not sure it is ... select a town (in any country) you know to be grotty and see what this site says..."perfect, magnificent, stunning etc".

[groslard]

It is a very nice large village. (about 8500)

I was 'gazumped' over a flat I wanted to buy there some years ago when I was working there, so obviously I liked it then, but it has become a bit 'touristy'.

on the other hand if you look on the French site I mentioned you will see that for local people there is 20.5 % unemployment, and the average yearly salary is 12 911 €...

 http://www.linternaute.com/ville/ville/accueil/390/pezenas.shtml

Not a happy mix with the holiday flat market.

[5-element]

On the other hand......

This is a 7-minute video created to entice you to the Languedoc region (unless you already live here, in which case it's just fun to try to identify places).  The images start in the east, around Nîmes, and continue west down toward the Spanish border.  Look for the Pont du Gard, Montpellier, Sète, Carcassonne...

http://www.sunfrance.com/film/CRT7.html

[raindog]

That's a really good little clip that!

I recognised almost every shot up to the Canal du Midi, after that it gets a bit hazy...

Ahhh, I was opening Bouzigues oysters just last night......

[happyali]

Thanks for the lovely video. I have trawled through all the posts on this forum. I am about to sell my house, and move to Languedoc. I dont know where I will live yet but I hope to rent for six months or so - then look around places. No one mentioned Paraza - I saw a nice house there on the internet but obviously do not know the area. I would like to live somewhere near the canal du midi.  Until I saw the video I was almost in tears reading the bile from the Groslard individual. If he dislikes so much about France why does he not go back to wherever he came from.   I am 70, and alone except for my lovely spaniel rosie.  I live in Cornwall. You want unfriendly people (on one of the beauty spots down here near Lands End there is a wall with "British Out "in blue paint which has been there for the past 15 years. The emits (people who have moved here ) are really the only people who make friends with other emits of course. Cornish will say "Awl roight then" and sometimes "Hello my lovver" they are said to anyone and everyone,  but in 16 years I have never gone inside a Cornish persons house.  Also another worry was the post about racism. My granddaughter is stunningly beautiful and is at present in a drama college in London - when she came down in the summer I had a french language course on the pc - she was on lesson 18 in a week and I was on lecon une - she is mixed race - I adore her more than anything in life and I would die if she went through anything like the person who had the bad experience in the cafe. I have never read anything like the horrible stuff on this site about Languedoc. I look at the Creme  de Languedoc site and people on their forums seem to love living there. I wonder now whether I should move somewhere in England. I want to move away from Cornwall because all the family now live up in London. I had thought about Sussex, Essex, or even Scotland. The weather in Cornwall which most people in the UK seem to think is mild and lovely. So far we have had 90pmh gales, rain continually for weeks. Summer last year was three weeks not even all together. The mist here can last for days on end.  However, I love the beauty of the scenery, the sea, and lovely villages . The history of the tin mining etc.,   I have only recently started to paint, I love oils, watercolours and pastels. I do mosaics as well. I thought in France I would be able to have time and good weather to pursue these interests.  My sister lives in Spain on the Costa Blanca where she is unhappy and will probably come and live with me some of the time.  Carcassonne looks interesting, and the foothills look green and lovely. I have driven over the pyrenees to Spain before and loved that area also. When I first thought of going to France it was going to be the Charente but reading more Languedoc really appealed to me. I love the simple life, I have lived here on my own for 16 years and have never been bored.  I love meeting people - socialising. I love beauty and from the video it is absolutely obvious that the Languedoc is extremely beautiful.  My parents were both Irish, so I guess the peasant types appeal to me also the "chat".  I dont expect everything to be perfect, nothing in this world is perfect, but I think it wil l be exciting and interesting - if it is as awful as the Lardyman says then of course I will return to this horrible country - want racism, drugs, stabbings,£1,000 heating bills, poll taxes of hundreds, food, travel, etc.,etc., there is not much going for the UK anymore. Perhaps Lardyman is French trying to put off us Brits from invading his lovely country.  I ,must just add I have two french cousins, one lives in Paris the other in Nancy. So at least I will know somebody out there.  I think I shall keep reading Creme de Languedoc to read the happy forum posts. Dont let the miserable ones put you off  living in the Languedoc be like me and find out for yourself. Best wishes to you.