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anyone recommend the Var region as a place to live?


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Hi all.

I'm thinking of moving south of the Cantal (Auvergne) as the winters are beginning to get me down a bit. We love it here. It's one of the prettiest parts of France but 6 months of cold/cool weather, staying cooped up for so long, lighting fires in the evenings in May wears a person down. There are many advantages to living here but we need more fresh air and sun each year than we can get here.

So, I've been looking at the Var region and wonder if moving that way may be an option. Would anyone on the forum who lives there or knows it well let me know the pro's and con's please. The weather is a big issue for us (I suppose the Mistral blows in the region) as is access to good medical care. If someone could pinpoint an area that we should concentrate our search in that would be much appreciated.

We're retired, not looking for work of any sort. We just need more warmth than we have in the Cantal. And, if anyone's interested in moving to the Cantal, we will have a house to sell. Thanks.

Frank
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In a Departement Var Var away,

It is a civil war. Rebel vine growers,

Striking from their farms

In the high Pryeknees Have won

Their first victory against the invading hordes!

The above relates to this though I am not sure if Rodez is in the Var:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2014/05/30/01002-20140530ARTFIG00120-un-conseiller-de-francois-hollande-retenu-par-la-confederation-paysanne.php
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I have worked in neighbouring Bouche de Rhone for a while.

 

You will still get cold weather, but for a shorter period of time ( 2 maybe 3 months).

You will get snow most winters - but probably less than in Cantal.

You should check how much the area you look at is affected by winds - not just the Mistral but also the Tramantine.  Both are cold, both are fierce and both can be utterly depressing after a week of unrelenting wind.  Some areas are protected and it could be that parts of the Var are fairly immune - Marseille was not.

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Well I am in the Var down on the coast where I have had a

house for over ten years. Inland the winters can get very cold and summers

exceedingly hot, so would recommend you visit the region in all seasons before

committing. If I am honest I have been disappointed with the climate as there

is no doubt the weather has become a lot wetter and more unsettled between late

October and early May in recent years and you are affected by the Mistral.

 

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Pat, Cannes is in the Alpes-Maritime, but yes you are right in that nearer the coast the more expensive property tends to get. As for Jonny, now that he has retired I guess he will be leaving France as quickly as possible to more friendly tax climes back in the UK and a lucrative job commentating on TV!
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So where is the best weather in France?

I was fine with where I lived in the Alpes, but even then there are some parts of the Alpes where the weather is worse than others. Fortunately we were OK and knew what we'd get. Very cold winters, spring with showers, usually very hot summers (I cannot be doing with them anymore, old age?) and wet autumns with some good days.  Lovely defined seasons for the most part.

Now if I had moved to the south coast and it had been like some posters have mentioned, I would have been out of there. I also remember being shocked when posters  sometimes mentioned places in the west of France in winter, which were in fact often colder and damper in winter than my alpine village.

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[quote user="idun"]So where is the best weather in France? [/quote]

Ah, well - you'd have to define your terms first  [:D].  For example, if you don't like cold winters, then the coast of PACA could be it - after all, it was Brits fleeing the UK winters who started Nice on its merry way.  But you better like hot summers, if you want to stay there all year ...

So how about Biarritz?  That has mild winters and summers that aren't so hot (this time, it was the Russians (amongst others) who discovered Biarritz).  On the other hand, you'd better like the rain ...

Here - the littoral of l'Hérault - isn't so bad.  Winters are generally mild.  Altho' it can occasionally get down to -5 or lower, people still get their cameras out when it snows.  We also avoid the worst of both the Mistral and the Tramontane, unlike either Nimes for the former, or Narbonne for the latter.  We have neighbours who left the Var because of the Mistral ...  It doesn't get too hot during the summer, and  a trip to the beach brings the relief of a sea breeze.  And when it rains, it mostly does so in short downpours.  The locals stay indoors, knowing it will soon be over.

Ah, did I mention rain?  Now we may have a problem ...  We're heading for a severe drought this year - didn't rain enuf this winter, you see.

Mince! Mais bon - on peut pas tout avoir ...

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Lovely Saligo Bay who used to post on here lived in or near Montpellier and I remember her saying that she was often cold in winter.

I could always just about cope with normal very hot summers in France, we used to get 27to30°C and sometimes a little above that, but the heatwaves we had were horrific, especially the last one I lived through in 2003. It was like a got an allergic reaction to heat, just the thought of too much hot weather revolts me completely.

The good thing about the cold is that one can make sure that our homes are insulated and heated and go out in warm clothes. And when it is dry cold, even at -30 because we did have that, (water pipes froze, in spite of us leaving the water dribbling from taps), it was fine when wrapped up. Damp cold is different, chilling to the core and it doesn't need to be actually that cold for it to feel colder than it did in the Alpes at low minus figures.

Me I'd move to Brittany if I moved back to France. We have had rain and sun and cold when holidaying there, and we have holidayed in mid summer and mid winter. I like it and the people.

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[quote user="idun"]Lovely Saligo Bay who used to post on here lived in or near Montpellier and I remember her saying that she was often cold in

I could always just about cope with normal very hot summers in France, we used to get 27to30°C and sometimes a little above that, but the heatwaves we had were horrific, especially the last one I lived through in 2003.

[/quote]

I miss Saligo Bay too - I wonder how she is?

Idun - we had that heatwave of 2003 in the Gers too, it never rained from mid April until early Sept. I think it affected most of southern France.

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[quote user="idun"]Lovely Saligo Bay who used to post on here lived in or near Montpellier and I remember her saying that she was often cold in winter. [/quote]

Yep, you can't venture too far away from the littoral.  It can get pretty cold when you get into the arrière-pays - after all, Larzac isn't THAT far away!

[quote user="idun"]I could always just about cope with normal very hot summers in France, we used to get 27 to 30°C ... [/quote]

32°C forecast here for this coming week ...

P.s Of course the wonder that is the Tinternet brings us all sort of maps for maximum, minimum or average temperatures; amounts of rain, amounts of sunshine, days of  wind, fog, snow, frost  ...whatever.  Here's a selection, for example:

http://www.meteopassion.com/moyennes-de-janvier.php

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How did you cope with it Patf. We never had aircon, we did have fans though. I remember being sat inside, shutters shut, so in the dark with the fans going, and that one little light I would have on, I swear I could feel the heat from it, adding to my misery.

Nights, well, in the early hours it would cool a little and we would get a some sleep as the fan above the bed droned on over our heads.

Outside was unbearable and we had forest fires all over the region, and the first I had known so close to us. I remember going to SuperU at a local town and looking back at the mountain above our village and the forest just above our end of the village was on fire. Fortunately they got that under control quite quickly as our house was surrounded by trees.

I shudder thinking of that year, even now. I have just been talking to a friend and she says that the forecast is for 35° tomorrow and it is red hot today.

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I too remember the canicule of 2003 and never want to live through that again.[:@]

Up to 30 degrees here today in 17 fortunately not too humid so bearable and storms at night to freshen the air a little.  Today I heard a tel. number given out on the radio for people to ring and find out how to cope with the heat. This I think after what happened in 2003 is aimed particularly at the elderlies.

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In the Var air conditioning

in the bedrooms at least is a necessity, if you want to get a proper night’s

sleep in high summer. That said recent summers have not been too hot, but it

looks like we could be on course for a hot one this year, which is a bit of a

mixed blessing as the Var is very prone to serious forest fires during

prolonged hot and dry spells.

 

Down on the Cote D’Azur

recent winters have been very wet and seem to be part of a climate change trend

so I would take the historical winter sunshine records with a pinch of salt. So,

if mild sunny winters and reduced heating bills are a requirement for you, I

think the whole of France is too far north and you need to get much further

south. I believe a lot of French retirees go to Morocco to winter?

 

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[quote user="idun"]So where is the best weather in France?

[/quote]

I reckon it was in Algeria, but that's not in France any more [:(]

We lived two years on the coast near Oran, never had aircon, never felt too hot.

Great climate, great food, great people.

Edit: So probably one of the Corsican or overseas departments now.

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Pat F wrote: Idun - we had that heatwave of 2003 in the Gers too, it never rained from mid April until early Sept. I think it affected most of southern France.

Pat, the heatwave that year affected just about all of France. It was the year we signed for our cottage and when we arrived in late August, the temperature was still in the mid to upper 30s. Our new neighbours said the temperature in southern Normandy had been in the 40s that summer and of course it was the year so many elderly people died from the heat in Paris.

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Yes Kathy I realised that (from Google) after I wrote my post.

Some of the memories of those days are clear, though I can't remember how we "put up with it". But I do remember going over to the UK in early August to stay with friends in Gateshead, where the weather is never very good to say the least. I thought I had come to the Garden of Eden when it drizzled [:D].

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Morocco is becoming an increasingly popular retiree and

winter sun destination, especially for the French. Reasons being it is

politically stable, French speaking, relatively safe, inexpensive  and easy and cheap to get to being served by

the low cost carriers.  The French keep

it to themselves as they probably don’t want all us Brits descending on mass!

 

 

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