butch1961

Good evening, to you all.

Never been to France, but for some reason it appeals to me and my wife. I am aware that numerous trips are in the offing.

So far, we have narrowed it down to Brittany, Loire, Dordogne and Charente. I have read about the weather becoming unsettled the further south you go; but really need some guidance on areas within these.

All help gratefully accepted.

butch1961

Chatter Static

Welcome to the forum, cant help with the area other than you need to have lot's of trips here as no two regions are the same. It's easy to stereotype the French but it's really diverse from department to department. You have picked areas that tend to have above average expat numbers but financially if you are buying you will get more for your money in Brittany or the Loire the further south you go the bigger the hole in the wallet.

Tweedpipe

Welcome to the forum!
Whenever it's fine weather here - which is often in the SW (within swearing distance of Toulouse/Haute Garonne) - the weather forecasts for Brittany frequently appear to be overcast or rainy. And the only time I stopped overnight in the Dordogne, it was damn cold, and started to snow heavily in April. I beat a hasty retreat, and the weather improved greatly 2 hrs later on my southerly homeward trip.
You really need to explore the areas of your choice (and then some) in different seasons to get an idea of what may or may not suit you.

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
As the others have said, you need to come over for yourselves, several times in different seasons, to see for yourself. Whatever you've seen or read might turn out to be less appealing in real life.
There are many other aspects to take into account when finally choosing a location, depending on your circumstances. Retired? (medical services not too far), job-seeking? (check unemployment rates in all the régions/départements considered); working from home? (setting up a business structure/quality of internet); children? (see "Schooling" thread in the FAQs above); regular trips to the UK? (airport not too far away).....
Not to mention, how is your French? You'd need to communicate adequately to cope with the nation-wide bureaucracy, wherever you choose to settle.
Do come for holidays in different parts of France - not as tourists, but as though you're living here on a "normal" budget.

Touraine

I have to disagree on that point. The Loire valley is probably the most expensive.

To the OP..

Why do you want to move to France ?

Please don't say 'French living' of 'French culture' or the food.

It is important to understand that the regions you have chosen may as well be different countries. You have to want to move to any given region for a particular reason. You can't narrow it down like that.

Lastly, living in France is a rich mans sport. Houses may look cheap but they are not in the whole context of life.

Good luck

EuroTrash

As said. I think you need to nail down exactly what it is about your particular 'France' that appeals. For instance, if you're picturing local wine on tap and a Mediterranean climate, don't move to Brittany because it doesn't have a Mediterranean climate and it's not a winegrowing area. If it's the quaint unspoilt Frenchness of it all, don't move to any the parts of Dordogneshire that have become an extension of the Home Counties. If it's going to a show and then sitting on a café terrace looking at the stars with accordeons playing softly in the background, don't move far from a big town - and there aren't that many in France.

dmu

I'd guess from your username that you're in your mid-fifties? In which case will you be early retirees? In which case you must look into future healthcare coverage, as you'd be considered as "inactifs". Once you're resident in France, an EHIC issued in the UK wouldn't be valid. There's a FAQ on Healthcare above, with updated info on coverage for "inactifs".
This is another random thought thrown in, which will be valid wherever you settle! If I'm completely wrong with your age, take no notice of this!

grannybunz

Hi and welcome!

We finally bought our house here after at least 15 years of travelling all over the country, husband being at university here in the early 60's and him being practically bilingual.

Having settled on our chosen area and having visited in various seasons we finally found the house were we now live permanently in 1990. However we did a lot of work on it and only came here in school holidays until 15 years ago we sold up in the UK and moved here with enough money to live comfortably, though not extravagently.

In those years we did a lot of learning. made a lot of friends and were accepted into the community in which we live. I can even speak french to a level which is acceptable and mostly well understood!

All I can say is don't rush at it, don't be seduced. With time and increased knowledge you will know if you actually want to live anywhere in France and with a bit more you might even find your preferred region

Good luck and good hunting. I hope it is as enjoyable and informative as our hunt has been.

Chatter Static

Depends which bit of it your on about personally I disagree with you on disagreeing with me but hows about you give the OP some good points about living here...

Touraine

[QUOTE=Chatter Static;11901648I disagree with you on disagreeing with me but hows about you give the OP some good points about living here...[/QUOTE]

You can disagree as much as you like. But I am right

Regarding + points about living in France....????????

Subjective I suppose

EuroTrash

I don't disagree with chatterstatic. Mayenne for instance never struck me as being an expensive area to live, quite the contrary.

Chatter Static

Detached houses in village can be purchased in the Loire for the price of a terraced house in the Dordogne or the Midi. Plus as you say Et Mayenne is a very reasonable priced area to invest in as is Orne although Orne is technically Lower Normandy and Mayenne the Loire.

EuroTrash

Wash your mouth out - there's no 'technically' about it, that's like saying that technically Yorkshire and Lancashire are different counties. I live in Orne and we're Norman and proud of it. Good honest down to earth sons and daughters of the soil we are, not woofting about in châteaux like that lot over the border in Pays de Loire. They don't make proper cider, they don't make proper cheese.

But yes you're right, Orne's cheap too

Chatter Static

Yes but the Normandy Maine national park drifts into Mayenne

Tweedpipe

TP