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Dordogne SW France Area

Dordogne SW France Area

Old Mar 16th 2008, 6:08 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Ooh yes please bring some sunshine. It's dull and very wet at present, much the same as England. You'll have to wait until later in the summer for 30° .Go for the layered look as we've had some lovely days but generally the weather is rather unsettled, although all minds have been focused on the local elections. I'm about 35 mins from Brantôme which is very pretty, very historic and there is quite a large English group there. You are within reach of stunning countryside and caves and there are activities nearby like microlight flying,caving etc and there is a weekly market. I managed to find a 'reasonable' hairdresser theree (such terms being relative)There are also some adult education facilities there e.g. to learn computing. I don't know anything about the schools there but you are in reasonable car driving distance of Périgueux which can provide an acceptable level of schooling for your teenagers. Primary and infant schooling is the financial responsibility of the local mayor. I don't know the schools but I've met the mayor who offered to show me and some friends round the town personally. 'Drop in any time!' I like the town but it is too touristy in summer for me to want to live there but with a young family you may be happier with what it has to offer.
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Old Apr 17th 2008, 8:50 am
  #32  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by Awineor2
Hi again,
Has anyone got any advice about Eymet and Brantome area please? Plus other areas worth looking at and where to avoid.
:
Hi

Thought I'd give this question a little bounce!
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Old Apr 17th 2008, 8:57 am
  #33  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by RedMonsk
Hi

Thought I'd give this question a little bounce!
Why ?
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Old Apr 17th 2008, 12:55 pm
  #34  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Because I too would like peoples opinions on Eymet & Brantome.
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Old Apr 21st 2008, 3:26 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by maisondepoitiers
Hello,

We were also in the Middle East (in Dubai) and left because we found it too hot and too sterile, something that Oman is not :-). I am a New Zealander who in the last 15 years has moved on average every two years and have lived and worked in Turkey, India, UK, USA, Switzerland and Australia. I have travelled extensively and feel the most settled and happy in France. I live in Castillonnes - a tranquil bastide village which is on the Lot et Garonne and Dordogne border. We are about a 15 minute drive from Bergerac airport and are also not far from Bordeaux and Toulouse airports. The local people are friendly and I have found that if you make the effort to fit in they readily accept you. The countryside is gorgeous and crime is pretty much unheard off here - people still go to sleep with their doors unlocked at night and the local fruit shop leaves his fruit outside the shop during the lunchtime closure.There are tennis courts, swimming pool, karate club and numerous clubs (french and english)in the area should you wish to join them. There are also many places to walk and cycle should you wish to do so. I fell in love with this part of France the first time I saw it and are sure that you will too. I hope that this helps you, if you need more information on anything including real estate etc please feel free to drop me line.

A bientot

Leeann
Hi Leeann and Brenda

Just got back from our time in France and had a fabulous time (though it was sadly distrupted with me having to make a trip to the UK for my Uncle's untimely funeral). Having viewed numerous houses for days on end and driving poor estate agents around the bend we eventually found what we were looking for and we are now the proud owners of a gorgeous property in Pomport just below Bergerac.

Leeann, as Castillonnes is close by and that is where my estate agent is from, I took the liberty of mentioning you to her and she thinks that she knows you? Have you got a business in the centre of Castillonnes? she said that not many NZ's live there and when I mentioned you, this was the person who sprang to mind.

It took a lot to tear me away and I am now on count down for our return at the beginning of July, we cannot wait to be back there. Hopefully it would be nice to meet up eventually having emailed and to at last meet. We are now back in the Middle East and I feel a bit down as temperatures are already very high and it is too hot to venture outdoors during the day, already miss all the walking and cycling that we were doing whilst in France.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Mandy
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Old Apr 22nd 2008, 12:45 pm
  #36  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

[/QUOTE]We are now back in the Middle East and I feel a bit down as temperatures are already very high and it is too hot to venture outdoors during the day, already miss all the walking and cycling that we were doing whilst in France.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Mandy[/QUOTE]

Could do with a bit of that 'too hot' here.
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Old Apr 24th 2008, 11:54 am
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by septimus
That should do the trick.
Hi
Did you manageto find anywhere?
Anna
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Old Apr 24th 2008, 1:37 pm
  #38  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Dear Mandy,

Pleased to hear that you had a successful trip, well done on finding your new house. I am sure that you will love living here as much as we all do. I think that the agency that you are referring to is the one that Beverly works for as it was the only one that I spoke to in Bergerac. She is a lovely lady and is very knowledgable as she has been in the area along time.

Please stay in touch as it would be nice to meet when you return to France. Today it is sunny and quite warm which makes a change from all the rain that we have had lately. Quite a contrast to Dubai where it rains at most 5 days a year and to be honest I used to think the monsoon rains were something when living in India but I think that the rain we have had of late is comparable albeit in India it was warm rain:-)

A bientot

Leeann
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Old May 10th 2008, 1:54 pm
  #39  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by maisondepoitiers
Dear Mandy,

Pleased to hear that you had a successful trip, well done on finding your new house. I am sure that you will love living here as much as we all do. I think that the agency that you are referring to is the one that Beverly works for as it was the only one that I spoke to in Bergerac. She is a lovely lady and is very knowledgable as she has been in the area along time.

Please stay in touch as it would be nice to meet when you return to France. Today it is sunny and quite warm which makes a change from all the rain that we have had lately. Quite a contrast to Dubai where it rains at most 5 days a year and to be honest I used to think the monsoon rains were something when living in India but I think that the rain we have had of late is comparable albeit in India it was warm rain:-)

A bientot

Leeann
I would definately like to keep in touch and look forward to being back in the Dordogne within a few months. I am so excited about buying there and looking forward to spending far more time in the area and making the house our home. The lady that I spoke to actually works in an Eymet agency and is called Denise, she is an English lady and extremely helpful and interesting to talk to having a lot of local knowledge and information to share.
At the moment we are in Oman basking in temperatures well over 40 degrees and I already miss the green country side and civil lifestyle so much.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 6:07 pm
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

I live in Castillonnes - a tranquil bastide village which is on the Lot et Garonne and Dordogne border. We are about a 15 minute drive from Bergerac airport and are also not far from Bordeaux and Toulouse airports.
A bientot

Leeann[/QUOTE]

Bonjour Leeann (or should that read Kia Ora) from a fellow NZder (born in the UK).

I'd like to pick your local knowledge about the Lot et Garonne area. I've lived in Paris between 1989-1995 and on French Reunion Island 1996- present.
My French Creole wife and I are thinking of coming back to mainland France and in particular to the Dordogne area.
We've never been there but I'm sure it'd remind us of NZ from what I've seen and read about it on the net.
How would you rate the area housewise, cost of livingwise other than what you've posted, and weatherwise in the winter?

Two last questions,
(i) how far is the drive to Bordeaux and / or Angouleme? I'd probably be looking at working at various unis in either of these major places
(ii) do you happen to know if there are any major english language schools in this 'departement'?

We'll be coming across to France towards the end of this year and will driving down to the region probably round mid December. Any advice on places and things to see and those to avoid would be greatly apprecaited.

Merci bien

Nick Rogers
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 7:10 pm
  #41  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Hello Nick
I know two Reunion born French women here in Thiviers. They are both delightful but I don't think they find it very easy here as they leave family behind in Réunion and oh boy does it cost to fly back there to see them, particularly when little ones come along. As an ex-pat group the Brits tend to meet up, network and have social events here but the Reunion islanders speak French so it seems to me they are very betwixt and between, not different enough to have support groups yet not similar enough to be one of the locals. What have other people found?
The Dordogne is beautiful. I've never been to NZ but I would guess it isn't as hilly here and we don't have earthquakes and geysers as a matter of course, unless you include the old boy who greeted me at the café this morning and asked me if I was my friend's mother. (She's older than me.)
The Dordogne is divided into four areas named after colours based on the natural rock and in one case the wine. The Périgord Noir is the furthest south, inlcudes spectacular rocks and rivers but also has the largest number of tourists and whole villages can be closed for the winter as they've been bought up as second homes by summer visitors. The area tends to be dry, sunny and rather arid. I'm in the furthest north, the Périgord Vert, which is a bit more like pretty and lush English countryside. Everything grows well and stays very green, largely due to the storms we get iin summer, although this year there have been fewer storms but more rain than we'd like. There are fewer tourists.
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Old Sep 10th 2008, 4:30 am
  #42  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Hi onlyonebrenda

Many thanks for the info concerning "les reunionaises". I do realise that they're a fair way from home and having lived in Reunion for a good number of years, I know the importance of family ties to these islanders.
Point taken about cost of the air fares. That said, we wouldn't be too concerned ny either of these two issues as most of my wife's family and relatives are pretty much disperesed around France with only a few remaining on La Reunion.

Have checked out the 4 regions on the internet. They most certainly do have a great deal of charm and appeal from where I'm sitting. Still we'll get a firsthand look at the region in a couple of months time and experience a real winter-something which is now only a distant memory .......

Regards

Nick
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Old Sep 10th 2008, 7:49 am
  #43  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Bring your raincoat!
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Old Sep 15th 2008, 9:21 pm
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Question Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Hi Everyone

I am brand new on this site and joined up when I saw that there were some answers to questions that I was looking for on the Dordogne area.

I was born in S Africa and have lived here for my whole life. My husband was born in the UK and has lived in Zimbabwe and S Africa for most of his life. Hubby wants to move back to the UK but I am digging my heels in at being so mundane. If we are going to leave S Africa, why not be bold and adventurous and try France. I am not going into the reasons for leaving SA as it just makes me angry. If there are any S Africans out there, they will know what I am talking about.

Some friends of ours are considering living in Dordogne as well and have been planning their move for 3 years. Our move will be in 2 years, maybe sooner.

We are planning a visit to Europe in February. The visit is mainly to look around Devon again BUT I have a little plan to make a little detour to France to take a look at Dordogne. From the maps that I have seen, the area is large and I noticed that one person mentioned that they drove along the Dordogne River and stopped off at small villages. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best route to take from Bordeaux??

Someone mentioned that Sarlat has a large english speaking community. Large may mean greater than 20 people or it may be 100+. Any ideas how many?

My husband & I are mid-fifties and have 2 daughters in their mid-twenties. Our daughters may not come with us to France. Maybe they will settle in the UK or Canada, who knows.

I would love to know how easy is it to settle in France? Are people friendly there? (French & English) What is medical care like? Is the cost of living high? What kind of income does one need to earn to live in a decent manner?

We were thinking of working in the accommodation industry, preferably self-catering and wonder if there is a need for this type of business in Sarlat or nearby? Maybe have a small holding with fruit farming.

I would love to hear any experiences that you may have had. I want to hear the good and the bad.
Thanks
Maggie
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Old Sep 15th 2008, 10:12 pm
  #45  
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Default Re: Dordogne SW France Area

Originally Posted by CTMaggie
Hi Everyone

I am brand new on this site and joined up when I saw that there were some answers to questions that I was looking for on the Dordogne area.

I was born in S Africa and have lived here for my whole life. My husband was born in the UK and has lived in Zimbabwe and S Africa for most of his life. Hubby wants to move back to the UK but I am digging my heels in at being so mundane. If we are going to leave S Africa, why not be bold and adventurous and try France. I am not going into the reasons for leaving SA as it just makes me angry. If there are any S Africans out there, they will know what I am talking about.

Some friends of ours are considering living in Dordogne as well and have been planning their move for 3 years. Our move will be in 2 years, maybe sooner.

We are planning a visit to Europe in February. The visit is mainly to look around Devon again BUT I have a little plan to make a little detour to France to take a look at Dordogne. From the maps that I have seen, the area is large and I noticed that one person mentioned that they drove along the Dordogne River and stopped off at small villages. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best route to take from Bordeaux??

Someone mentioned that Sarlat has a large english speaking community. Large may mean greater than 20 people or it may be 100+. Any ideas how many?

My husband & I are mid-fifties and have 2 daughters in their mid-twenties. Our daughters may not come with us to France. Maybe they will settle in the UK or Canada, who knows.

I would love to know how easy is it to settle in France? Are people friendly there? (French & English) What is medical care like? Is the cost of living high? What kind of income does one need to earn to live in a decent manner?

We were thinking of working in the accommodation industry, preferably self-catering and wonder if there is a need for this type of business in Sarlat or nearby? Maybe have a small holding with fruit farming.

I would love to hear any experiences that you may have had. I want to hear the good and the bad.
Thanks
Maggie


Howzit Maggie and welcome to the forum
We lived in Pmb and Jhb for many years, all our children were born in SA. Was a difficult decision to leave. My husband was offered a job in France though so despite the fact none of us spoke French, we moved to Normandy in 2001. Have loved every minute.
I'm presuming both you and your husband have UK passports? If not, it will not be so easy for you to move to France.
I know the rand is not good against the euro, so not sure how much cash you would be able to bring out of SA with you. Lots of people move to France with no jobs and find it very difficult, especially when their savings run out. The tourist industry overall does not seem to have had a good year so far, mainly due to the strong euro, recession in UK/USA etc.
Many have the idea of doing the same as you, but have found it very difficult. We have friends from Namibia living in the Loire at the moment and I know they get by, but it is not always easy.
Not trying to be negative, as we love France, and I would always encourage people to move there, just trying to be realistic.
Coming from Cape Town, you probably wont find the weather too different in France, to what you are used to now, again depending on the area you choose. Would suggest you look at the Loire region though, very similar to CT, minus the ocean
tot siens
Val
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