Living in PO

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LesBrass
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Living in PO

Post by LesBrass »

Hello - we're looking for information on living in this area of France.

We have lived in France for 7 years and in a few years our children will have all left home and we are thinking of moving further south to this region.

We've had many holidays here and like the area around Perpignan, perhaps no more than 30 minutes from the coast? Whilst this is great for holidays we're wondering what life is like all year round? We've had many half term holidays but oddly never been in high summer.

I guess some of the sea side locations close up a bit in winter? Are there places to live with a year round community, are there places we should avoid? How do you find your life here? Has anyone else relocated from another part of France? Any useful tips you could pass on?

We both work on-line so we dont need to find work, we can both speak French so not an issue for us either.

many thanks in advance
LesBrass
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Post by LesBrass »

crikey... 118 views but no replies :D

Is there anyone living in the Perpignan area that could offer an insight into their life in the sunny south... all information very welcome :oops:
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

I can't speak for others, but I found the question a bit too open-ended for my limited typing skills. If you already live in France, you will find it quite familiar, usually a bit hotter, but often a bit windier. Beyond that, it would help to have an idea what you want, and what points you are most concerned about.
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blackduff
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Post by blackduff »

Maybe if you tell us where you have lived for the 7 years in France elsewhere. This might give people to compare what will be better/worse in the PO.

Some good things about living in this area is the closeness to Spain. For many reasons, visiting to Spain is great. Before it was a cheap place to buy fuel, etc. but this has started to cost the same as France. Booze is still cheaper as well as cigs but most other things are equal to the PO.

Perpignan provides of the most of the large surface stores in France. You seldom need to drive to Toulouse just to find something in stores. IKEA is found in Montpelier and in Spain locally too.

Air travel from Perpignan isn't too bad. Consider Toulouse, Carcassone, Bezier, Montpelier, Perpignan, Girona and Barcelona provide flights back and forth to the UK.

Our Free to Air television just took a shot with all of the BBC, ITV and other channels were dropped with the new sat Astra 2E. We're all trying new methods to watch the British television.

The internet is fairly available here. It's not as fast as the UK but it works.

The traffic along the coast is busy in the summer months but within ten/fifteen kms inland is better for driving, etc..

Depending where you live now, you probably find the PO expensive. Certainly Paris is more expensive than here but expensive is probably going to be higher for your new living area.

There isn't much industry here but we do have fresh veggies and bags of fruits in the PO. All of this produce is great. Cheap??? No! But this produce is very good.

If you like to ski, you can drive up to the ski area within an couple of hours. Lots of other sports are available too. Searching mushrooms during the year is available as well as Murets, Figs, and wild asperges. You have to watch out for the hunters though, you can get shot from time to time.

Every five years or so we have some big snow storm. Mother Nature wants us to understand it's not only summer time.

You can buy property in the mountains, along the coast, river properties, and old water mills. Lots of properties which need renovation, if you're into DIY.

Maybe this will give you a little about the PO. It's a nice place to live.

Blackduff
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LesBrass
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Post by LesBrass »

Hello Martyn and thank you for the reply.

I'm sorry if I've not been clear, I think I was trying to give a full picture but maybe I just ended up mudying the water?

We really are wondering if some locations close up in winter? If there are some locations folks recommend as being good places to live all year round and if there are any places best avoided.

We're wanting to move to a community that has some life, where we can perhaps find clubs and associations. We like to eat out, walk, I like watercolours and we like to see live music. Hubby likes cooking and I geneally like to get out and about and join in with things.

It would be good to know what the weather is like too... we've heard and read about the winds but dont really know how bad they are. We've also hear that maybe crime is higher on the south coast... so we're wondering if this is true or is it much the same as everywhere else?

Really we're just interested in hearing first hand how you find life in the PO.

I hope this helps :D
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Post by Merisin »

There is no one answer to this question. For example the bit about places closing up in winter. Or summer if it's a ski resort. For some of us this is a positive!

The only way to choose is to come down here, have a good look around, make up your own mind. Come more than once, in season and out.Talk to people.Decide for yourself.

In any event you could find the most idyllic location, buy a property, and then find the neighbours are awful.

Mary
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Merisin wrote:There is no one answer to this question. For example the bit about places closing up in winter. Or summer if it's a ski resort. For some of us this is a positive!

The only way to choose is to come down here, have a good look around, make up your own mind. Come more than once, in season and out.Talk to people.Decide for yourself.

In any event you could find the most idyllic location, buy a property, and then find the neighbours are awful.

Mary
All good, but LesBrass can narrow down their area of search by thinking a bit and doing some googling. We do not have many settlements big enough to meet their apparent requirements for year-round "life", choice of restaurants, "vie associative"... Some of them are on the coast, others inland. Some are dense enough and have good enough access to trains and buses that you can live without routine use of a car - which matters to me, though maybe not to LesBrass. And so on.

On a more positive note: life here is potentially very good indeed, but you need to pick the spot which suits your tastes. To take the three adjacent settlements in my own immediate neighbourhood: Argèles has every material amenity you might want, but is very much spread out, and is allegedly the camp-site capital of Western Europe, so the population shrinks very markedly in winter, but not to nothing. Collioure is very pretty and dense enough to live on foot, but quite touristy - to the point of being pretty much over-run in season. Port-Vendres is a working port as well as a resort, so retains life out of season and has a slightly "gritty" character which will either appeal or not.
Phipplebert

Post by Phipplebert »

We spent 9 months in the lot-et-Garonne, where hibernation truly meant hibernation, the streets were devoid of people and the villages were shuttered house after shuttered house. I have not found this to be the case here...yes there are odd areas but generally it is livelier all year.

I agree with most of what has already been said.
Argeles plage shuts 90% in the winter, although the town ticks over.
Collioure is very quiet but for me too busy in the summer.
'The Alberes' still have clubs running and I find there is often someone to talk too.
Ceret still has life in it too.
If you head further towards the mountains - prades etc I'm not so sure.
The ski resorts are a great place to go in the winter...I've not ventured there in the summer yet but I will do this year. As I hear good things about it.
Perpignan carries on life as normal and there is quite a bit of summertime music around.
The whole area comes to life more though April / may - sept / oct. If you live here you get the treat of things like the ceret market before the hoards arrive and making it a chore.

Weather wise: I was put off initially coming here, fearing it would be too hot for me (I'm more of a 25deg max person!) but after experiencing 39degs in the lot-et-Garonne and the stillness of the air and oppressive heat, we gave it a go here and I can honestly say it's better. Yes you do get strong winds and it can be a pain in the butt, however in the summer it can also be a blessed relief! I have found I have got used to the winds too, I don't know how others feel. It's worth experiencing that for yourself. But it's far from a constant issue.

I love this area, sun, sea, Spain, skiing, sports, it's lovely.
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Santiago
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Post by Santiago »

Thanks for giving us the extra info. From what you say I get the idea that you want to close to the coast but not necessarily right on it and worried about ghost-towns in winter, the wind and crime.

The coastal towns that remain lively in winter are Collioure, Port-Vendres and Banyuls-sur-Mer. The newer beach resorts like Canet, St Cyprien and Argeles plage can feel empty. Many shops and restaurants closed, though not as bad as the resorts further up in the Languedoc.

Moving inland a bit, I would recommend looking at towns like Sorede, Laroque and St Genis des Fontaine along the Collioure-Le Boulou road. They are popular with ex-pats and nicely located for beach, Spain and other attractions.

If you are happy with a 30-minute drive to the coast, the towns of Thuir and Ceret are also worth a look. Both are lively all year round and not overcrowded in summer, unlike the coast.

I would avoid looking at Prades and surroundings, although Vinca is nice. I would also avoid Rivesaltes and the towns up the Agly Valley as they feel more remote and suffer from more extreme weather conditions. In fact I would narrow your area to the south of Perpignan.

Crime is low. There are hotspots I'm sure and there are towns which feel a bit dodgy.

Perpignan is another good choice. A lively city all year round with lots of different neighbourhoods and a short trip to the beach.

Perhaps another idea would be to contact the estate agents and home-finders listed on this website. Med and Mountain, Beautiful South and Real Estates (Ceret) are all run by nice helpful people. They will give you a better idea than us and also be able to help you narrow down the property search.
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opas
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Post by opas »

We also have wonderful supply of kitchen designers :oops:
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Pighunter
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Post by Pighunter »

I think most points have been covered by other responses but I would add that meat and fish are around a third of the price in Spain.

One sound piece of advice I was given by the estate agent when looking at the area not having been here before, was to look not much further inland than Arles Sur Tech, unless you want somewhere totally lost in the mountains. The Ceret environs are lovely and lively and you are only 40 minutes from the coast and 25 minutes from the motorway.

One of my requirements was to be in the mountains for the hunting, but a 45 minute drive to the nearest shop was not on the agenda and I am lucky enough to have complete peace and quiet and be surrounded by nature with everything required on a day to day basis within 15 minutes drive.

If you stay within 50k of the coast you also benefit from the Mediterranean climate depending on your altitude.

Wind can be a pain but I haven't become suicidal about it yet. Just go easy on the curries!
LesBrass
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Post by LesBrass »

Hello and thank you for the replies and comments.

It's difficult to put in a few words what we're looking for in a new home/community... quite often I guess we just 'fall in love' with something and all the planning can go out the window! But... any local knowledge is always welcome...it helps us build a general picture.

many thanks for your help
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Post by Owens88 »

West of Prades avoids the winds.

Vernet les Bains does not close up in the snow and has local culture plus ex-pats.

John
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Vernet Les Bains and East Midlands
neil mitchell
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Post by neil mitchell »

Vernet les Bains. Totally agree. Been here 8 years (second home) but down here a lot. Open all year (although quiet in winter). Mostly sunshine, market 3 times per week, shops, bars, cafes, resturaunts, banks etc, fantastic views in every direction, 40 mins to coast and 40 mins to skiing, around 7Meg broadband, beautiful town, lovely buildings, a river runs through it, parks, old town and church on the hill, full of the most wonderful trees, nice people, history and culture everywhere, the best walking country ever, music festivals all summer. I could go on, it's a lovely place. try a visit in late spring. Good luck.
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