cupidstunt

Hi folks, advice sought about the Masif Central if anyone can help. Basically the wife and i are looking to move to France in the next 12 - 18 months, and the Massif Central area is currently top of the wish list. It seems that property prices are very reasonable here, and judging from some internet property sites, our 350,000 Euro budget will get us a very nice house. I was under the impression that winter sports were popular here and that Mountain Biking is top notch here as well. A French collegue of mine claims differently though, despite never having been to the area. Airport access at Limoges and Clermiont Ferrand seems reasonable also, can anyone clarify this please? Our only other concern would be schooling..our 8 year old son speaks basic French, like us, but we are currently looking at private lessons, ideally there would be an English speaking school in the area - does anyone know of one (as unlikely as it seems)? has anyone put their children into a normal French school with them only speaking the basics? If so, how did it go, was it a nigthmare or did they pick up the language quickly?


Any info that is offered will be gratefully recieved.

Cupidstunt

tommyauvergne

Hi Cupidstunt,

I'm in Clermont Ferrand, and you're right. The budget you have will buy you a fair sized family home, although you'll have to look outside of the big towns to make the most of the budget.
From what I've found throughout the last year winter sports are good here. Mainly the skiing. Although not as big as in the Alpes you've a number of resorts (Sancy, Super Besse etc....). In the summer hiking is my favourite (you have 3 and 4 day trails) and I've seen a large number of mountain bikers here as well. Summer is a funny season here though. You'll find most locals heading off to the coast for a month or two and most shops are shut.
Can't help with the schooling issue though. Kids aren't on our agenda just yet but the expats I've spoken with often say the kids take to schooling and languages a lot quicker than the parents.
Anyway, hope it all pulls together for you. It's a nice region. Feel free to PM for any other info.

Tommy.

cherokee

Hello There!
I live in a small town called Saint Nectaire in Puy de Dome with my husband and 11 year old son.
We have had a holiday home here for 5 Years but moved permanently last July.
We made the decision to immerse our son totally by enrolling him in the local school and the teacher there speaks very little English. I would be lying if I said we haven't had our ups and downs but on the whole I am glad that we did it this way! The children at his school have been very open and welcoming to him and I think French kids seem generally more open and sociable creatures which is starting to 'rub off' on our son!
However, don't be fooled by people who say kids are fluent after 6 months because it's not true. Now my son is starting to understand more but his ability to speak is not so good.
We did look into the Michelin International School in Clermont Ferrand but decided against it as it would have been a 40 minute journey there and back every day. The children at his school have been very open and welcoming to him and I think French kids seem generally more open and sociable creatures which is starting to 'rub off' on our son!
You certainly will have a good budget with 350,000 although around our area you don't get so much because we're in the Volcanic Park and clost to Superbesse and Le Mont Dore for skiing.
There are tons of walking and biking trails all around and I go 4 or 5 times a week on the walking trails right from my front door! Beautiful lakes all around!
Auvergne is diverse 'though and you'll get more for your money around the Allier region but it tends to be quieter and more farming type country.
There are currently no UK flights out of CF airport at the moment but they are currently in talks with low cost airlines Ryanair and Easyjet to reinstate them.
My mother comes here to Limoges 2 1/2 hours or Lyon (same) away but it's not a problem for us (I like the drive).
The area around Pontaumur seems popular with the English and Dutch and I think they have a good estate agent there (Heima).
The area around Lac d'Aydat is lovely and there is a private college in Saint Saturnin called Saint Josephs, transport goes there from around the lake villages locally. There's an estate agent there called Danielle Vidal.
In our area the estate agents are Sancy Immobiler and Immobilier du Coin in Champeix.
All the best

yorkssteve

hi-this is my first post.we have been looking for a french property for a few years.we have visited heima immobilier in pontaumur over this period and have viewed a few properties through them.they are english speaking and on our last visit we signed for a 4-5 bed farmhouse at only 35000 euros it has a huge barn connected on 2 levels and we think by spending 30000 euros updateing we shall have a grand property.we intend visiting 4 times a year till we move down permanently.we speak basic french and the farmer & his family who are selling the property made us really welcome inviting us in for a drink at his other farm and showing us his cattle and machinery.i would like to find employment in the area and was surprised with his reaction when i said i was a carpenter.looks like there could be quite a bit of work for tradesmen in this area.we met a couple in port grimaud at easter who live in le quatre vent just south of le mont dore who said the activities available in the area are fantastic.the immobilier was saying house prices are expected to rise in the area with the airports being easy accessible limoge/c.ferrand and i believe there was an international airport being built in brive but have not heared much of it lately.

all the best
yorkssteve

cherokee

Hi yorkssteve!
I think Auvergne is an exciting place to be at the moment as it looks as if flights may well be coming to CF in the near future.
Lots of people are looking to the region because they don't want to go with the more usual areas of France like the Dordogne and we are seeing more British cars in our area these days.
Personally I haven't got anything against more Brits in the area like some people. It must be good for the economy I think!
Also, they seem to be like-minded people who enjoy the outdoor lifestyle and generally a more laid back lifestyle.

tommyauvergne

Cherokee,

Spot on I think, regarding like minded people. I think the area attracts the more outdoors inclined. Was talking to a chap from the hotel de ville last week and enquired about the airport at CFE. They explained the story behind the lack of international flights locally. Long story short, Air regional ( Air France) have a monopoly over the airport. The previous owners promised to encourage more flights into Clermont. The region then payed big money in developing the airport. Then all of a sudden there was a buy out from Air France and they announced there was no more money in the pot for expanding in the near future. All this was at the same time that the region had a nasty experience with Ryan Air. All in all the regional council is steering its effort elsewhere. IE, developing the autoroutes between Lyon, Clermont, Limoges and the Bordeaux area, and also trying to get the TGV down here as well. They reckon there's more tourism to be had internally from France than internationally. There was talk from people at the airport of a low cost route from London in April. But now thats long gone and no more news. We can only wait and see!

cherokee

Well we shall be keeping our fingers crossed Tommy.
Not for me personally as I loathe flying, but for family as it's a bit of a pain for them having to get to London or East Midlands from Wales and then have a long journey once they get here.
Personally I quite like the drive to Limoges now as the motorway is very uncrowded and nice to drive on. Much better when you don't have to go along the old roads.
It would encourage more people to visit Auvergne, certainly people from South East England, if flights were re-instated and a friend told me that the Ryanair flights were always full when he used them.
Cherokee.

onlyonebrenda

Be aware when buying how desperately cold the winter temperatures can be in parts of the Massif Centrale and I mean polar with lots of microclimates depending where you are.

Pootypootpoot

I came to the Massif Central, and left, there are no damn jobs in that region. I love the place but after a few yrs begging literally door to door, it was quite demoralising! I realise it all depends on your specialty but even so, I'm in architecture. I tried, and tried but went down south and have never regretted it, ugh I say that but oh, those beautiful montains! The volcanoes! Still, it depends on where you live as far as schools check this out http://www.expatclic.com/eofi/articl...icle=932#anglo

artemis

Morning, this is a message to ONLYONEBRENDA. I'm still new to this and a bit confused! Anyway!! Read your post and noticed that you live near Thiviers. I've been looking at houses for sale on the net in this general area. I would be really grateful if you could tell me how you find life there. What is the weather like, are you near the coast and what is that like please. Is the cost of living high in terms of food. Lots of questions but I am genuinely interested. The weather here in greater london is awful thismorning, we have had a lot of rain and the temperature is a not a very summery 15 centigrade! allthe best Nicky

onlyonebrenda

I'm a bit concerned that I may be going off thread here. I suggest you look at my blog, most of which is public, ptite-anglaise on livejournal.com. You have to go to livejournal.com first and sign up but it is free and I have pictures there.
I'm at the 'novelty wearing off, ain't the paperwork awful, what am I doing here, I miss my friends' stage. What I recognise is that it is only a stage and that I knew beforehand I would have to go through this. It's just part of life. The pluses far outweigh the minuses.
I'll give you an example of a very ordinary day in my life here. Yesterday morning I had a French builder come round in order to prepare a devis (quotation). He is charming, handsome, has proven himself reliable and reasonable and fair-priced (to me and other people) and doesn't speak English. Lesson no 1 to you . Learn to speak French before you come here. You are far more likely to get ripped off if your French is poor.
I spent the rest of the morning tidying up (it can be very dusty here) and trying to work out my car paperwork. Lesson no 2 Sell your RHD before you come here. Registering it in France will cost, devalue it completely and it may not pass the tech requirements although there has been a freeing up of that requirement recently. (Second hand Daewoo Matiz 1.0 SE+ anyone?)
It was sunny so, having stopped to talk to my French neighbours, an enjoyable and obligatory courtesy, and to thank them for the three home-grown marrows I was given, I cycled off to the local auberge and had their basic workers' lunch for 8 euros - about £5 - kebabs, dressed salad and chips. The Auberge is a source of much networking as the Dutch owners speak French and English. The builder was there having his lunch and shared a gentle joke with us at my pronouncing 'facture' (bill) like 'facteur' (postman) much to his confusion.
In the afternoon my French tenant's daughter popped round to say hello then I did some gardening. (Lesson 3 Do not have a French tenant) Everything grows at lightning speed here but it is lovely to see exotic flowers that I had struggled with in England flourish and the butterflies and wild flowers are gorgeous.
A British couple new to the area popped round and we struggled through the intricacies of the France Telecom/Orange options. (Thanks someone on this site for posting the English speaking freephone.) Afterwards I took my neighbour's dog for a walk and took them round at the same time to meet another English couple in the same road.
After that I had a very late tea (home-baked), fed the rabbit which I'm looking after for a fortnight while a friend is back in England, and pottered round on the internet.
I had to pull out all the electricity plugs and shut all the volets - shutters -before going to bed, as, although the day had been fine it was very close and, sure enough, the predicted storm arrived. The weather is very changeable here as we are in the foothills of the massif central and on the edge of the coastal plain which stretches to Bordeaux on the coast, about 100 miles away. The storms can be very violent here - it's part of what keeps the area green - but they can be strong enough to cause hail damage or flash flooding, however, you know all about that in England this year.
Thiviers itself is a good spot, a little market town, where you can get most things and it is conveniently situated on a major road with an excellent and cheap railway service. Perigueux has a major out of town shopping centre and is about 20 miles away down a good road.
There are French and Dutch people living in the area and we do have a few tourists, but aren't overrun with them, as happens in the south of the Dordogne. It is like living fifty years behind the times here but I happen to like that.
Food is pricy but not too much so, more a matter of the 5% TVA (VAT) that has to be paid. The market and Lidl are cheap and cheerful. Fresh fish is expensive but good quality with enormous variety so I consider it worth having once a week.
There isn't the same variety in the shops. (Do we really need 24 different types of shampoo to feel socially acceptable?) And there just aren't the takeaways. If you're lucky you might get takeaway pizza on Friday evenings between 8 and 9.30 p.m.!
You would have to like cheese, ham, duck and goose (pâté de fois gras). Spare me the tourist trip to see the geese force fed. To me that's on a level with visiting a bull fight. In season of course there is plenty of food for free. I have had cherries and blackcurrants from my garden and walnuts and hazel nuts to come as well as the beans I planted. I'm expecting apples, pears and plums from neighbours and friends.
The local diet is heavy on dairy fat and the late hours that the French eat (often not until 10ish at night) do nothing for health.
Barter and networking are important but are possible in an area where every second of your day is not taken up working flat out to keep your head above water.
Health care is excellent.
I hope this helps. Excuse me now. I'm off to do a painting.

Kate45

Hi there, onlyonebrenda just thought I'd say your life sounds idyllic to a rushed off her feet married with three kids ozzie !!!

artemis

Thank you very much for taking the time to write a post about a day in your life near Thiviers. It was very absolutely fascinating and I shall show it to my OH. Still don't think I'm on top of all the technical aspects of using this site, but it's great to have found it, Nicky

barryknight

Hi there, I have recently joined this site and read your message, I have recently returned to the Uk after spending two glorious years in The Haute Loire region of the Auvergne and can deffinately recommend it! I was living in a gorgeous village called St Pal en Chalencon about 35 mins drive north of Beautiful Le Puy en Velay. If you need anymore advice please feel free to contact me, and if you still have not found suitable accomodation then also let me know. I intend to move back there in the spring (after my current work contract finishes in the uk) and buy an apartment in Le Puy. My folks are currently selling their traditional stone farmhouse with adjacent self contained annex <snip>. They moved to the area after living in Normandy for 7 years and really enjoyed the traditional auvergne hospitality, scenery and lifestyle, however they have now decided to go travelling in their golden years so are moving out and moving on. Feel free to email me if you want more info on this part of the region in dept 43
Baz