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Self-Sufficiency in Style

france

Part Three

Where should we look for our house and land in France?

France is a big country, roughly twice the size of Britain with much the same population.

That makes it a very rural country with plenty of attractive self-sufficiency possibilities.

You can explore the whole of France with a view to finding a suitable property, but it probably is not necessary.

To save unnecessary explorations, with a little ruthlessness, we can remove some options fairly quickly.

It will take some arguable sweeping generalisations, but if it saves thousands of miles of driving, it is well worth it.

Let's chop up France, something that the English and British have tried to do many times in history....

the Alpine area is more expensive and the mountains are not so suitable for self-sufficiency.

That's the mountains, including Monte Blanc, gone.

OK, so the lads may miss the topless bathing... you have to make sacrifices for self-sufficiency.

and whilst St. Tropez and Monte Carlo undoubtedly have their attractions, you can give them a miss.

So the Mediterranean can be drained from the map.

It will be cheaper too!

and unless you are absolutely determined to play golf, bridge and annoy the French, you can give that area a miss too.

A few golf courses, the Massif Central...not even Paris would notice them gone.

Anyway, Alsace has its charms, but, well... the red wine whisper...

...and a few mountains on the Spanish border and the Basque country won't be that much of a loss. It is full of invalids taking the mountain air.

You can't possibly live anywhere where you can't get the cow across the road safely.

No Dijon mustard.

... and could not possibly recommend somewhere he has never visited.

Purely a safety consideration, plus it will keep many marriages intact.

Too close for "Pig! I'm going back to mother/ for Marks and Spencer

or to find a decent pub." (Delete as applicable.)

Calais is simply too close.

For many years the writer's office overlooked the first round-about (rotary) in England after the ferry from Holland and Belgium. It was a terrifying sight watching the continentals hurling their vehicles round it the wrong way.

You can always tell a resident of Felixstowe, Dover, Calais or any other ferry port. They have that haunted troubled look in their eyes and are very fast on their feet.

Paris has to go.

Too expensive....and full of temptations.

We all think of France as warmer than Britain and Ireland, because it is further south.

It isn't. It has a more continental climate - warmer in summer and, with exceptions, colder in winter.

Most British and Irish will find it less suitable, in many areas, for self-sufficiency.  Have you ever known a marriage where one did not complain about the cold and the other the heat?

So in the interests of  marital harmony, we are going to remove a huge area. You can put it back if you wish, or if you hail from central or eastern North America , in which case you are used to an impossible climate.

We are still left with a huge, and very attractive area with a good climate, plenty of smallholdings and

...some of the cheapest prices. Is anyone now arguing?

Complaints should be addressed to the nearest French Embassy.

Part of Brittany has been chopped off in error, we will put it back.

In the next part, we concentrate in detail on this area, the eastern part of France encompassing the Atlantic and English Channel coastlines. (They still go topless on those beaches, just, well, not so often.)

We will take a look at the possibilities, and they are delightful, in more detail.

For the moment you can return to Part One  or Part Two of France (and the French).

"carving up France"

 from Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner.