La campagne: A Burgundy farmhouse
If you’re reading this blog, you may have the fantasy of spending some extended time in France, or even making it your home or second home. I recommend it! Though it’s not a large country, it’s chock full of very distinct regions, each with their own personality. How to choose the one that suits you?
Having lived here eight years now, I’m going to be bold and try to give you a two-minute summary of where the ex-pats often choose to live, and why. These are only the opinions of the management. Dear Readers, I’m hoping some of you jump in with your experiences.
First, wannabee France dwellers need to set up some personal criteria. For us it was this: We wanted to live IN a village in the French countryside, less than 10 minutes from a town with commerce; no more than 30 minutes from a middle sized city; and no more than one hour from a major metropolis. Sounds easy, right? Pas de tout. There are not a lot of big cities, and there are a lot of rural areas. (Some are VERY rural and isolé, which can be great, if you like things really quiet and you’re on a tight budget). In addition, we wanted the ‘wow’ factor: beautiful scenery and charming, historic villages. We didn’t expect the ‘wow’ of a château, but we just got lucky.
Then there's that pesky problem of the budget. Can you drop a couple of mil? Then head for the Med. Would $50,000 stretch your budget? There's a house in the countryside just waiting for you.
Here is something else to consider: France has one major north/south autoroute from Paris to the Med. TGV lines are strong along this route as well. So if you want to see a lot of Europe, (which was 
and is our goal), you’re way ahead of the game if you live somewhere along this route, as we do. And, you can quickly zip up to Paris or to the Med on the train, if you’re close to a TGV stop. (Example: for us Paris is a four and a half hour drive but the TGV takes an hour and twenty minutes).
Here is my highly biased summary:
Normandy/Brittany: popular with the Brits because of its proximity to England. Lots of rugged coastline (but not tropical–think Maine, or New England). Beautiful, but notorious for its rainy gray weather, possible in any season. Photo: House with a view, Normandy.
Burgundy: has a mixed international crowd because of its location, but few Americans. Easy access to the autoroute and TGV, close to the borders of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the UK is a pretty quick trip. Nice weather May to October; winter is cold and often gray, with snow off and on. Villages are historically authentic, not overdeveloped. Rolling verdant hills, pastoral. Moderate priced real estate.
Provence: lots of Americans and Brits, (good news or bad, depending on your preference). Doesn't always live up to its hype and there is more development than in most regions, but plenty of charming villages and history. Hot summers, cold winters but not much snow. The Mistral can be annoying. The most common landscape is wide, flat plateaus with dramatic, steep, rocky mountains around them. Drier, often desert-esque, with colors of silver, sage, and sand. Fairly expensive. Like Burgundy, the TGV and autoroute make it easy for French and European travel. Photo: Provence shows off its charm.
The southwest: hugely popular with the British, who are in search of sunshine and bargain properties, to the point that they’ve taken over in some areas. Great variety of terrain, more sunshine here; winters are generally cold. The Lot/Dordogne is beautiful, landscapes resemble Burgundy but in general it's more isolated. Choose the southwest if you like Spain; the rest of Europe is not easily to get to, and Paris is only if you live in or around Bordeaux where the TGV goes. On the southwest coastline of the Med I find that there is a lot of new, dense, tacky development, but there are some pretty coastal destinations as well.
The Cote d’Azur and its hinterlands: Weather is relatively temperate year round. Breathtaking scenery, semi-tropical landscape, cliffs looking down over amazingly blue water. Heavily developed, though you can find a few quiet areas, and quite expensive. An abundance of second homes. Photo: Pretty, pricey, and packed on the Cote d'azur.
The Atlantic Coast: Sunny, and attractive but a different feel from the Med; coastline is quite flat, not the dramatic scenery of the Cote d’azur.
For skiers there are the Alps of course, and then there’s the lovely Loire valley, and some central areas to the west that are popular with the English–well, and a multitude of other pretty places, yours to discover.
For city dwellers: Paris, of course, is Paris. If you don’t expect consistently good weather and you love the city, it’s the place for you. 
Lyon, my husband’s hands-down favorite, is a pretty, colorful,peninsula city, and very walkable.
Strasbourg, with its half-timbered houses, is surprisingly beautiful with flower-lined canals winding through the city. Personally I love Nice, gritty and gorgeous and so quirky and independent that some say it's 'not the real France.'
Photo: in the heart of Lyon
OK you French and frequent France travelers, can you help out our other readers? What area would YOU choose to live in?
No RECIPE this week. The cook has gone fishin’! For seafood at the restaurants around Nice, that is, where we’re visiting this week.
Favorite Reads: Our go-to book when we were planning a move to France was The Grown-Up's Guide to Living in France
Highlights from the Comments this week: Lordy, everyone's got got opinions on cast iron skillets! Julie married a southern boy who came with one. now how lucky is that! There were several tips on where to find them, including Wal-Mart, per Sarah. L.M. has a 3rd generation skillet, Carol's husband has three. Several folks mentioned cornbread–it there any other way to cook it than in a black skillet? Then there's the question of soap or no soap; I use it, but watch the video that Augusta suggests for more info. Don't miss Kathy's recipe for steak with a great pan sauce. And yes, Leslie, those skillets do get around–even the English claim them!
18 thoughts on “Where would YOU move to in France?”
We live in Rueil Malmaison, Josephine and Napoleon’s town. It’s 20 minutes to la Defense, at the edge of Paris. The town has a welcoming service that beats any we’ve ever seen, and the center has a quaint feel, especially during the Saturday market, which takes over the center. There is a Wednesday walking group which climbs up to Josephine’s old forest. It’s now a public forest preserve. When we bought here we didn’t know half of the city’s advantges, but after 5 years, I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Tours! Or Eze!
Very well summed up Lynn – I think though Burgundy is the best.
We spent three years in Angers, in the Loire Valley. It’s on the tgv line to Paris and not far from the coast. It is a great mid sized city–plenty of cultural events and restaurants as well as a number of universities, which add to a vibrant city. We lived in the city center and used our car only infrequently–maybe once a week. Of course the chateaux are all close by and a big draw. We were always surprised at how few americans and brits made it to Angers, so I may regret playing it up, but be gentle with my adopted home, please!
You have hit my soft spot. I love France and have dreamed of living there for many years. I guess I would have many of the same criterion that you have mentioned a place in the country with access to the TGV etc. I’ve always assumed that it would be way beyond my price range and was surprised when you said $50,000 places in the countryside are still available. I have walked through the Basque country twice and find it so beautiful but it is not an area that is very well connected by trains to anywhere. I would like to see more information on the immigration situation, surely France doesn’t have an open arms policy to all who want to move there especially non EU citizens. I guess instead of listing places where I would want to live it is easier for me to say where I would not want to live. I would not want to be in a large English ex-pat community, been there seen that and it’s not for me. I hope you will do more articles like this with more of your experience and knowledge of the situation. As always beautiful photographs. Looking forward to my next visit I will arrive in Paris in less than two weeks from now.
Hi Lynn!
I’ve always loved the city of Dijon…it’s very historic and has some beautiful architecture! It’s only about 200 miles from Paris, which I also love, but it is a smaller city than Paris. In which region is Dijon located?
Carol Hjort
Hi Carol,
Dijon is indeed a nice place, a medium sized city that is known for its pretty buildings. It’s in Burgundy, up in the northern part of that region.
Loulou and I dream persistently of a quiet life in France (or Italy), so your summary of criteria is very helpful–gives shape to dreams. Thanks also for the book recommendations. We may still be dreaming ten years from now but we’ll enjoy the dreams a bit more.
We are interested in moving to France in the near future, we are still doing our research. Thank you for this fabulous post, looking forward for more comments.
Thanks for the book suggestions I was able to get a used copy of The Grown-Ups Guide to living in France for $1.33 plus shipping, on Amazon and I downloaded an ecopy of At home in France to my KOBO ereader for immediate use.
Narbonne hits all the sweet spots and more – it is directly on the TGV line, easy access to Barcelona as well as Paris. In six hours you can be in Italy or Switzerland by car as well as most of France and Spain. The beach is 15 minutes away and it looks like Florida with wide sandy endless beach instead of the stones of the Cote d’Azur. We are 30 minutes to Carcassonne and an hour and half to Toulouse, 45 minutes to Montpellier. The city of Narbonne is beautiful, sits on the Canal de la Robine which is an extension of the Canal du Midi. We are in the center of the Corbiere wine country and stunning mountains as well as valleys and lakes surround us. Come quick because the prices for real estate are reasonable but rising. No crisis here. Cheers, Marlane O’Neill
We bought in Villefranche-sur-Mer 10 years ago, just on the border of Beaulieu-sur-mer, which is a beautiful village on the Riviera. Indeed it has become quite pricey. But the proximity to the sea, the views, and the true mix of international people has won us over. However, every time I go to France I load up a duffel bag with frozen Costco meats (40 lbs!), and they arrive still frozen. It was a crazy experiment one year, my husband thought I was nuts, but it worked out great. I love to cook and entertain, but the prices there, even at Carrefour, are high. This way I cook & entertain all I want, and don’t feel guilty about the price of a long Sunday lunch with friends.Then when I come home, I load up on duck confit and serve it over butternut risotto for an easy meal for friends in the USA. Tonight I am making tartiflette…potato, lardon (bacon) and reblechon for friends. Delicious!
Thanks for the summary, Lynn. My husband and I love the Burgundy region, especially Dijon, for the fabulous food, beautiful scenery, and history. As I’ve mentioned to you before, when the time comes to perhaps buy a place in France (fingers crossed), we’re torn between a town like Dijon and a smaller village like where you live. We love the hustle and bustle and culture of the city, but from everything I read by people who’ve made the move, it’s easier to become part of the community in a village.
Well, we still have a few years to make the decision. I’ll have to continue enjoying France only 30 days or less at a time.
Lynn, you didn’t give any details on the $50,000 farm houses, so please elaborate, someone. As a retired teacher, that would be the most attractive option. I have cheap rent in KY, and would not be able to make the move, if I had to spend a lot.
Colmar in Alsace is a very pretty little town and Alsace in general so interesting landscape, food and wine-wise…..looked down upon slightly by the Parisian (real?) French….because it was so often German? Close to Germany and Switzerland….TGV to Paris from Mulhouse or Strassbourg…..
Hi Suzanne,
RE that $50,000 farmhouse: there are some areas in France where you can buy very inexpensive properties, usually rural areas, or even a small row house in a small town, with no land. The problem is, they nearly always need lots of work, so if you’re handy that’s good, but in any case you’ll need a sizable renovation budget. For example, we recently saw a house with great potential in a super charming village near us, with a nice sized garden, for 90,000 euros. But it would cost that much again to fix it up. ( There are many areas with real estate cheaper than ours). I recommend Living France magazine, which is for the most part about buying property, for all the latest prices and good value areas.
Great info (though I only plan to visit). Thanks for sharing!
I am partial to NE France:
1) Nancy
2) Metz
3) Bar le Duc