Thinking of moving to France. Countryside, peace & quiet a must!Can you recommend a beautiful region? Thanks!?

Question

Thinking of moving to France. Countryside, peace & quiet a must!Can you recommend a beautiful region? Thanks!?

Answer 1

Most of the french countryside is beautiful, no matter what region!

It depends what sort of climate you enjoy...

My son lives between Chambery and Grenoble. The Rhone-Alpes area is absolutely gorgeous, anywhere from Lyon  to the swiss border. You have the towns in the valleys and the hills and mountains surrounding them, absolutely beautiful... Of course in winter you have rain and snow, and lots of cold weather. but the skiing is great! Annecy is a pretty little town, fairly quiet and not too industrial (Grenoble on the other hand is the french equivalent to "Silicon Valley"!).

If you like warmer weather head toward Provence, the further south the better... I have friends that live in Bollene, and just south of that is Orange, also a lovely town (with a fantastic roman amphitheater).  On the atlantic coast you have the beautiful villages and towns of the french basque country, from the spanish border up past Biarritz and Bayonne, very green and hilly, with the sea at their feet. Saint Jean de Luz and Biarritz are beautiful, and if you get tired of french you can take a drive down to Spain for a quick change!

Then up north you have the lovely old towns in Bretagne (Brittany), although the weather there is often a little "soggy", but that makes everything even more green and beautiful...

The same goes for Normandie.

My daughter lives outside a little town called Chaudon, it's just north of Nogent-le-Roi (which is not too far from Chartres). The area is very quiet, the countryside beautiful, and the houses not too expensive. She lives in the middle of a beautiful woodland area, there is a man-made lake nearby, and some farms. It's far enough from Paris to be quiet, but close enough that you can get there in about an hour by train or a bit longer by car.

May I suggest you take a drive to some of the places that might interest you.

Also look up real estate pages in internet, and see how the prices vary in different areas, this might help you get an idea where you'd prefer to re-settle.

I personally prefer the Rhone-Alpes region!

Answer 2

I am totally addicted to and in love with Provence... the climate is perfect, good weather almost all the year, the beautiful countryside with the many warm colours, the lavendar fields, the mountains, the mediterainian sea.. Then there's the food, the culture and the warmth and passion of the people living there. Everybody's very relaxed and are just taking things as they come.. I'm danish, but I've always felt more at home when I'm there. So if you don't move toProvence, I definitely recommend that you take a week of to go there, and allow yourself to fall in love with the place´.. :)

Answer 3

St Jean Angele, it's consistently the hottest part of France. The residents start to have barbies in January and it's a lovely area.

Answer 4

Burgundy.

Answer 5

There are many beautiful but contrasting regions.  Tell us what you like (apart from countryside and peace & quiet) so we can advise.  Mountains, beaches, impressive views, rural tranquillity...?

Answer 6

Lot is beautiful with wooded hills & valleys if you don't mind being inland away from the sea. You can find some photos of Figeac in the Lot as well as some other areas at the site listed.

Answer 7

Alsace, beautiful landscapes, mountains, vineyards, lakes, medieval castles, wonderful cities like Strasbourg, max 2hours drive to Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland...

Now if you want seaside got to the Atlantic coast La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Biarritz, rather than superficial cote d'azur.

Answer 8

The Cote d`Azur is my favourite. It's so beautiful.

Answer 9

Loire valley is very nice.  You can be in a big city like Orlean very quickly, but there is also large expanses of green space, dotted by some of the most famous castles in the world!

Also, its not that far from Paris if you need a break from the country.

Answer 10

Niece is very pretty if you like the beach.

Answer 11

i can't help you, but all in France is very interesting, all is very different.

all regions in France are only in commun to be french cause in north they have belgian origines, in Alsace (east) german origines, in south-west they are not french at all (catalan and basques), breton are celt and norman decend from viking...

so you can judge, all is nice to visit, i tried to give you a different help and you'll surely find your answer by the others answers.

Answer 12

Consider the Cevennes near Montpellier.   You get lovely countryside and by and large peace and quiet but at the same time you're not too far from a big city.  You need a car, though.