My key advice to anyone considering this kind of move, would be that it’s in your best interest to rent a property here first for at least six months if not a whole year, find the area you really like and take your time in finding the right property for your needs. Make sure you can earn a living and when you do find that perfect property, use your own notaire to deal with the purchase - preferably one who has been given a good recommendation by someone unrelated to your house purchase.
Do definitely get a full survey done (this is not common practice in France), especially if you find your property in the summer, as some problems don’t show up until it is wet and cold. I recently went into a lovely old house in the middle of a picturesque village on top of a hill, only to see water literally running down the walls! Something to do with an underground spring (or maybe just poor drainage from next door – Yuk!).
The Languedoc region and much of the South of France is divided into distinct zones, the high mountains, the foot hills and the plains heading towards the coast. It is very important to think carefully about where you would like to live before buying a property.
Because we came from the rolling hills of South Devon with Dartmoor and wonderful sandy beaches in an area of outstanding natural beauty, it was important to us to find somewhere that could offer us the same diverse beauty. Languedoc does this with ease, the scenery here is truly breathtaking.
It has the advantages of a diverse landscape all within a short distance, from the long golden sandy beaches of the Mediterranean with its coastal towns and cities - Montpellier, Sete, Agde, Beziers and Narbonne the vine covered plains, boasting the largest wine producing region in the world, with its thousands of châteaux and domains where you can find some truly wonderful wines, leading up into the forest covered foot hills dotted with ancient Medieval market towns and villages along broad lazy rivers. Finally there are the High Mountains, with their rocky rugged mountain peaks, vast lakes, spectacular views and winter snow – it’s got it all.
Climate
Climate in this part of France varies a lot depending on the season and location. On the coast and plains, the summer temperatures can reach over 40 degrees in the shade, and remain in the mid 30’s at night. Whereas in the foothills the temperatures are a few degrees lower, making it a little more bearable. The summer temperature in the high mountains can reach into the mid to high 30’s but it’s also proportionately cooler at night. There are frequent violent magnetic storms in late summer, which can be spectacular, but the rainfall, in only a short amount of time, is tremendous. Winter temperatures can fall to around -5 degrees at night and between 12 to 20 degrees during the day in the plains and foot hills, but go as low as -15 degrees in the high mountains. Snow on the plains and foot hills is rare, but is pretty much guaranteed in the high mountains.
Spring comes early to the plains and foothills, the fabulous yellow Mimosa flowering from mid February, the sweet almond blossom arriving in early March, closely followed by the cherry blossom in late March and early April. These timings are delayed by around six weeks in the high mountains. When it rains here, it rains! The wet season is October and March, and there is surprisingly little rain for the rest of the year. In fact the Languedoc boasts an incredible average of 300 days of sunshine per annum.
Think carefully before buying your French property, work out your budget and exactly what you need. What are you looking for? An ancient village house, a modern villa, a beach house in a resort, a coastal town apartment? There are many things to consider. The coast is the most expensive place to buy and the temperatures can be totally unbearable in the height of the summer if you don’t have air conditioning.
The towns and villages on and around the coast are always packed full of tourists throughout the summer and conversely will be like ghost towns in the winter, with the majority of the shops, bars and restaurants closing down until the next summer season. The foot hills are truly beautiful all year round, property is more affordable and the towns and villages are quieter in the summer and everything doesn’t close down in winter.
Here you will get a far better feel for the true French way of life. The temperatures too are just a little less sweltering in the height of the summer. Equally however beware of buying in the high mountains; although amazingly beautiful, the weather there can get very harsh in winter and you can easily get cut off and feel isolated, we think it’s a great place to visit, but we wouldn’t want to live there!
Ensure you get a fixed quote from a removal company, or if you are brave enough do it yourself, it would certainly save you a lot of money. We have found that the French workmen are generally good but expensive, and always seem to do more than one job at a time, so be prepared for them only to be working on your property for some of the time and not all of it. Also they like to work from 9am to 12 mid-day then from 2pm to 4.30pm, so things take a long time!
It is however a good idea to use French workmen, as it helps you to be accepted into the French community. It is true that there are literally British communes in France, but you will be missing out on so much if you don’t try to integrate into French life and culture and mix with the natives – to be quite honest, most of them aren’t native at all, coming from all over the world!
It can seem daunting at first to try and strike up conversation, especially if you’re French isn’t particularly good, however, the best way to improve it is to use it, with people who speak it naturally. Have a go make mistakes use the wrong tenses, the French appreciate that you are trying.
Shops
You will find all the shops, doctors, dentists, etc. closed from 12 mid day to 2pm in the foot hills and on the coast some shops don’t re-open until 4 or 5pm and you will find nothing except the boulangerie is open on a Sunday - just before lunch.
But the way of life here is totally relaxed you HAVE to wind down, the sun is almost always shining and you are surrounded by fantastic unspoilt natural beauty, cheap wine, fantastic vegetables fresh local fruit and seafood, great bistro’s and restaurants – what more could anyone want?!
It has been a very long and difficult journey and probably laced with more disaster that most who make this kind of move, but we still believe that we did the right thing; everyone who moves to a new country invariably has a story to tell.
We think that we are quite lucky, really; we have a lovely home, our surroundings are just spectacular, Alex loves his school, which is only a three minute walk away, and we have made some really good friends here who are always happy to help.
We are looking forward to another busy summer season next year running our B&B.
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