Many people will have heard of Peter Mayle’s book ‘A Year in Provence’ and many will have read it and longed to escape the hustle and bustle of busy city life for a more relaxed and laid back lifestyle in rural France. In fact many people from the United Kingdom were actually influenced by Mayles’ book and the film which followed it. I know that I was influenced by it and longed for this relaxed way of life.
Are you happy to have a French holiday home that is let when you’re not there or do you dream of living permanently in France and running gîtes or a holiday let? In the latest issue of French Property News magazine, our own Glynis Shaw looks at both the delights and challenges of each lifestyle, based on her years of experience working with owners.
Two French Connections owners are featured in the article.
Read more: Holiday home or relocation? Don't miss our feature in October's French Property News
A wine trip to France is really less about shopping and more about lifestyle. A couple I know once hopped into their Porsche on a Friday night whim, drove on to the ferry and motored down to champagne country to stay in a chateau for an autumn weekend, returning with the boot full of bubbly. Every December friends with a large family put their station wagon on the Eurotunnel train for a well planned trip to Calais to stock up on Viognier and take in the Christmas markets.
With the autumn wine harvest approaching, it set me to dreaming of my ideal French wine trip. I would certainly seek out local wine from limited production family vineyards. I’d want to taste the producer’s love for the grape and its bounty in the finished product, for them to care that the wine is properly appreciated.
This month's recipe is from the The Loire-Atlantique, this is the name given to the Pays de la Loire’s coastal region and it really is an area well worth visiting for a relaxing holiday as it has something for everyone. It is here that the longest river in France, the Loire, ends its journey where it meets the Atlantic coast with its terrain of sand dunes and salt pans.
We recently asked the owners of our holiday properties who goes to France for holidays and when - and how the market is holding up in terms of letting weeks per year. Their response showed that France is as popular as ever, with a reassuring stability in the length of the French holiday season over the last three years.
Around 30% of owners who responded said that they let for 20 to 30 weeks of the year and 15% report 30 to 40 weeks of lettings. So the majority of respondents attract visitors during the peak summer period and into the spring and autumn ‘shoulder’ times, making a season from five to ten months’ duration. Some of these include the Christmas and New Year peak with lulls on either side.
I love being beside water – and I know I’m not alone, as watery locations have been proven to evoke a sense of well-being. How tempting then is the Loire-Atlantique, a region whose main element is water. The mighty Loire runs though it, the Atlantic borders it and a broad estuary links river and ocean, so there’s an enticing mix of waterside environments.
The Aveyron is part of the Midi-Pyrénées and is an area of great beauty where nature is at the heart of this French department both in its landscapes and its people.
If you are seeking a holiday where you can relax and get away from it all this is an area to consider. It is a perfect hiking area with thousands of miles of perfect hiking trails to satisfy anyone wanting to set off on this kind of adventure.