There's something exhilarating about the purchase of the airline tickets to France and the confirmation of hotel reservations.
It puts a zip in my step as I imagine that day in May when I'll be learning abut the southwestern region of France, the area where I hope to move during 2017.
The area we are thinking about stretches along the Mediterranean, from Marseille over to the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. It has been called Languedoc- Roussillon, but the new name of the region is l'Occitanie.
Sete is a town along the Mediterranean that really is just a spit of land between the Mediterranean and another large body of water. Love these colorful boats.
The Canal du Midi also runs through region, passing near Carcassone. I couldn't find a good photo of Carcasson, so I'll just have to take one myself when we're over there.
And who knows, we might end up buying a house that has a view of the Pyrenees. It may be hard to choose between the sea and the mountains.
Hopefully, we'll love this region as much as we enjoy Provence, because the prices for houses in this area are much less expensive than in Provence.
The photos included here come from Pixabay, which shares pictures free.
8 comments:
That's interesting, I guess many of us think only of Nice, Cannes and St. Tropez but the western side is beautiful too. I recall visiting a lovely little seaside town called Cerbere right on the border of Spain. We landed around ten at night and there was some sort of festival going on, the whole village seemed to be in the square —lit by a string of white lights— dancing. Very quaint and charming, of course that was the 80's. It's probably completely changed by now.
I can't wait to see where you wind up! Have passport, will travel.
As for me, I've finished recording my short French travel memoir from the 1970's and it's up on my podcast.
Sim, Thanks. I hope the villages haven't changed very much. I guess we'd love to get in on the ground floor before things get too modernized. Looking forward to your latest memoir.
Dear Paulita, it is getting so close now, you must be very excited, and of course you are choosing a beautiful part of France that also gives you the closeness of Spain and the Med, it's just a pity you will be so far from me as we will be either end of France, lovely pics
Roz, I'm sure we'll still find a way to meet once I'm in France. So much closer than being in the United States! Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France.
Bonjour Paulita. Carcassonne Sète et Béziers sont de très belles villes. On peut citer aussi Nîmes, Montpellier , Perpignan, Narbonne, Alès , Agde ou Collioures comme autres belles villes. Vous aurez l' embarras du choix ( comme on dit ici ).Tous vos followers sont curieux de connaître la ville ( ou le village ) où vous habiterez en Occitanie.//Hello Paulita. Carcassonne, Sète et Béziers are very nice cities indeed. We can also quote Nîmes, Montpellier, Perpignan, Alès, Agde or Collioures, to name a few, as others beautiful towns into this county.You will be spoilt for choice ( as we say here ). All your followers are curious to know the town ,may be the village, where you' ll live in Occitanie.
Phillippe, Thanks. Yes, there are many beautiful cities and villages to choose from. An embarrassment of riches we say here in the U.S.
I'm sure we'll meet when you come to Carcassonne. You don't need to choose between mountains and beach--you can have both. Carcassonne has a ski club--every Saturday they take a bus to the Pyrénées to ski for the day. A three-hour drive. (The club is a great deal: you get cheap rental of equipment, plus they drive you, and lessons and lunch are included.)
The beach is 30-45 minutes away. Personally, I wouldn't want to live on the coast because it gets too full of tourists in the summer and I just am not a sun and sand person. I like to go occasionally, and then not for very long. Also property is pricier at the coast and gets cheaper as you move inland. We're close enough to go at the drop of a hat, but not so close as to have to deal with the traffic all summer.
Francetaste, You make it all sound perfect. We're spending a week near Carcassone so I'm sure we'll learn about the advantages.
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