Help - Where in France for retired parents

[OuEnFranceSVP]

Hi everyone, my parents are retiring in France but they don't know where, can anyone help? Language skills and visas are no problem, it's just the location. Budget up to 800k but ideally less. Not a ridiculously high COL area like Nice. Apologies for posting in AIBU for traffic, I know France fairly well but am at a loss here.

-Easy enough transport links to the UK and Paris (for healthcare reasons).

-Weather not too hot: this might be a tough one. 25 degrees is just about their limit. However they don't like grey weather which is why they're not moving to the UK.

-Not in a big city, they like quiet, clean air and green space.

-A community of English speaking expats would be good, or at least a place that welcomes outsiders (I know actual French people who having moved to communities in the South and found them very insular so want to avoid this).

Maybe Evian, Normandie, the Dordogne, bordeaux, or Limoges? They would want a smaller town around these I imagine. Any ideas gratefully received!

Anywhere below Paris geographically is going to be too bloody hot and it is only going to get worse.

I second Tours. For ease of coming back to the UK and cooler weather, Bayeaux is lovely IMO.

Close family members retired (slightly early) to Brittany (Morbihan). That ticks quite a few of your main boxes.

One is a fluent French speaker, the other not, but they made a wonderful life for themselves there. Quite a few ex pats spread around but they involved themselves in the life of their large village and were part of it. There are good train links to Paris and the roads, like most French roads, are easy driving. They tended to go Roscoff to Plymouth but also Poole to Caen. We preferred to drive via Eurotunnel.

They came back to the UK after 20 years (family reasons) and I miss our trips there!

In terms of the maximum heat, if 25 degrees C is the hottest they want to go, Limoges region usually is 40 degrees C for 4 months of the year. This year has been exceptionally cool and wet.

We're less than an hour from Limoges and I'd disagree with this. Limoges this weekend is going to be mid - high 30s and that's higher than average. It's definitely not usual for it to be 40° for 4 months of the year.

All of that said, I'd agree with other posters that it's going to have to be northern France if they want cooler summers.

Have you never tried to help a family member ? Is research not the way to learn about something ?

If it was something as big as moving to another country I would want them to be able to find out the important information themselves, so that they'd be able to live there without relying on me to find out important information while there. I'm not being horrible, just trying to be practical.

Temperature in our garden today near Dinan Brittany is mid 30’s and tomorrow predicted to be hotter! Last year similar. They would probably be better on the northern coast but winters could be rough. Perhaps a combination of locations may be best for them living somewhere to meet warmer temps in winter and moving north for cooler weather in summer.

Except when it's too bloody cold, or raining. 😂I don't really have much to contribute but am watching with interest!

If they want to escape the grey then I would avoid Brittany. We had family there, it's like being in Cornwall.

Someone was telling us about some villages in the foothills of the Pyranees the other day- no idea on temperatures but they were saying there were a number of English there and a lovely community.

This!

How will they manage on their own, with you (presumably) in a foreign country? It's hard enough managing elderly parents when they are in the same town, let alone in another country.

As someone who has lived in Cornwall for 30 years and holidays in Brittany I can assure you that it is not!

I would suggest Quiberon. They have a healthy budget ( which they would need for there) but the climate is easy and whilst it isn’t an expat enclave like the Dordogne, it has quite a diverse gig going on. Easy access to Pris and flights from Rennes to the UK. If I could afford it I would be there like a shot.

Also the winters might be a bit wet but they are warmer than elsewhere. We live in the south and ( normally, not this year) have very hot summers but very cold winters.

The op's parents are not in the uk so by moving to France they would be moving closer, not further away.

@LostTheMarble there’s nothing wrong with wanting English as well as French friends in France.
We mix well with our French neighbours, however it gets exhausting speaking French constantly and we have many British friends to socialise with too.

My advice op is to look for the least humidity, that way the heat is drier and more bearable eg. the Cévennes. Coastal villages will have a breeze.

Aubeterre Sue Dronne in the Charante is lovely. Nearest airport is Bergerac.
Lovely climate and a lovely cluster of villages nearby. Nearest busy town is Riberac which has a weekly market - utterly charming place.

The other issue, and just speak as someone who moved here in 2021 after the brexit deadline, is the sheer amount of paperwork needed in the first 2 years is quite colossal. And unless you do move to a large town or city, you need a car. There is little public transport, so much so that in 2024 we are still waiting to see one public bus that isn't a school bus. They just don't exist.

Wild card: Knokke le Zoute

@OuEnFranceSVP Don’t rule out Luxembourg! It does get hot in the Summer though. I know lots of people in Luxembourg (I’m British but spent some of my childhood there) and I do think they’d really enjoy it. It’s not too tricky getting back to the UK as I used to do it alone as a teenager (14ish!)

@OuEnFranceSVP

I know that it's not France, per se, OP, but is Jersey somewhere they could consider, as long as they fulfil the particular criteria there?

The temperature would be to their taste, they would find quiet, clean air and green space.

It also has good travel links to France; they could head over to St Malo or Paris at their leisure.

'@Likewhatever

It really isn’t the same. British winters by the sea are bleak.'

That's your opinion.

I live by the sea in the SE and I love it.

I also lived in a small seaside town in France for years when I was young and it was also empty, with little to do half of the year.

It just depends on what you are looking for. I am semi-retired, work part-time and enjoy my small seaside town all year around.

They need to look into visa requirements etc. if they have UK passports. Not so much of an issue if they are EU citizens.

@OuEnFranceSVP

Where do they live at the moment, OP?

If they want to do TGV to Paris and then Eurostar to UK somewhere near Angouleme would suit.
Or Loire Dept 44 ?
Lots of villages near Limoges airport.

Following just for whimsy really, since back in the day I thought I would scarper to France as soon as I could (speak fluently, have lived there on and off, have friends in different areas)
Anyhoo, am throwing Toulouse into the ring. I went several years in a row, spring and autumn, loved the city and the surrounding countryside, excellent transport links etc…that was some time ago tho.
There are lots of good ideas on the thread, eg the accueil des villes française one…
bonne chance OP !

Hard to move to Jersey and restricted housing stock