View from the Foothills of France Some personal views on living, working,
bringing up family and making the dream happen in the most beautiful region of France. View from the Foothills of France also includes some personal and professional thoughts and tips on finding and buying the perfect property in the Ariège and Haute Garonne regions.
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By nadia, on 5th October 2010
Every year a group of hikers from all over the world meet up in the lovely town of Saint Girons, the capital of the Couserans region of the Ariège, in order to hike over the Pyrenees into Spain. But this is no gentle ramble; it is four days of serious hiking and tough conditions; this year it was the heat that caused problems, with temperatures reaching 37 degrees but fog, rain and snow are not unknown.
The group, most of whom do not know each other, meet at the vieux pont in the centre of Saint Girons, loaded with heavy backpacks. This is a challenge even for the fittest but it is, nevertheless, a walk in the park compared to the experience of the many hundreds of men and women who took this route during the Second World War. And this is why most of the group are here; many had relations who escaped the Nazis by using this route and they have come to commemorate the bravery of these soldiers and resistance fighters and of the local, mountain people who led them safely along the route and provided them with shelter and food.
There were a number of escape routes through France during World War Two but the Comete Line, the Pat O’Leary Line and the Marie Claire Line were the most famous. One of the O’Leary networks went through central France to Agen & Toulouse then to the central Pyrenees to the starting point of “Le Chemin de la Liberté” in St Girons. The high mountain route into Spain was carefully chosen as it avoided all official checkpoints. Between 1940 & 1944, there were 33,000 successful escapes along the entire length of the Pyrenean chain and 782 escaped over the mountain peaks of the Ariège. During the war several escape trails were established near St Girons and other towns and villages surrounding it like Foix, Tarascon, Aulus-Les-Bains, Massat, Castillon, Seix & Sentein all had invisible mountain routes towards the Spanish frontier.
One of the most famous English escapees was the World War resistance fighter Nancy Wake who worked for the Special Operations Executive and was forced to flee from the Gestapo in 1943 along Le Chemin de la Liberté. Many had no food, completely unsuitable clothing and had to survive terrible weather conditions and heavy snow along the route. Most would never have survived without the help and bravery of the local Ariègeois.
By the beginning of 1943 German surveillance had increased often due to the betrayal by Frenchmen who worked for the feared Vichy-run paramilitary force “La Milice” and there were many ambushes along the trails. Despite this increased surveillance, the St Girons-Esterri escape route via Mont Valier remained operational until the end of the war.
Hence, each year, a guide leads a group along the trail to commemorate those who made it and those who did not. What a great and very appropriate way to remember such brave, determined and enterprising people.
The text on this post along the route says:
“Claustre J-Marc, 1943, 14 ans berger, je montais au Mt Ceint pour surveiller les patrouilles allemandes pour aider les passeurs vers le pic des trois seigneurs.”
By nadia, on 23rd September 2010 Apparently today is officially the first day of Autumn. Which, in the sunny south west of France, means that, despite the fact that the sun is shining, the sky is blue and Meteo France is forecasting 26 degrees in Saint Girons for this afternoon, everyone here is now wearing winter coats and winter boots. Well, everyone that is except for us – the crazy famille anglaise.
An autumn day in Saint Girons
As we arrive at school on another perfect, sunny morning, nobody actually says the words, irresponsible mother – or certainly not within my hearing – but the slightly shocked looks as each new parent and teacher clocks my children’s bare knees and toes, say it all. I fear that, if this was England, I would probably be reported to social services for cruelty to children.
There is no doubt that there is a noticeable chill in the air in the mornings now; a warning that colder weather is not that far away. To put this in a British context however, we are still eating every meal outside on the terrace and by mid-afternoon it is definitely too hot to sit in the sun. This is better than English summers that I remember and, being forever British at heart, there is no way that I am going to waste any opportunity to make the most of every last warm ray of summer (or autumn) sun. Of course winter has its own pleasures but I am not ready for them yet. It is another of the many reasons we live in this glorious part of the world where the summers seem to go on and on. Much as I love England, I have always struggled with those endless long grey months whereas here winter proper doesn’t really start until December and, even then, it is usually bright and sunny, albeit cold, with that wonderful, mood-enhancing southern light.
Luckily, one of the many good things about being an English family in France is that we can get away with odd behaviour which our friends and neighbours here happily put down to typical British eccentricity. And of course, there’s nothing the French like better than us behaving in ways that confirm their beliefs about England – such as the wearing of t-shirts in September which clearly proves that we grew up in such a truly horrible climate that we are inured to the cold and thus can get away with wearing summer clothes in September when normal people are wearing jumpers and fur lined boots. Being British, we are expected to behave strangely, thus we can (and do) get away with so much more. Personally I rather like this role of eccentric abroad.
By nadia, on 9th September 2010
I am often asked what is my favourite time of year here in the foothills of south west France and usually the answer is right now. But there really is something very special about the autumn months in the Ariège which is why (September being right now) I would say that this is my favourite time of year.
I love the abundance of fruit and vegetables at the market in Saint Girons, the colours in the valleys of the Couserans, the golden light and the calmness that descends as the holidaymakers take their leave. Rather than the end of summer, I am more inclined to see Autumn as the start of a new cycle; maybe it is the ‘back-to-school’ thing of new pencil cases and shiny new shoes but I find it a very positive and energetic time of year.
On a more practical (and property) note, this is also of course the hunting season and by that I mean house hunting as opposed to the wild boar that my neighbours are so keen to track down now that the chasse has started. As the summer crowds leave, a sense of calm purposefulness has descended and even the agents have begun to return my calls. Plus some real gems have started to appear on the market; house owners who have been pondering all summer whether or not to sell, seem to have finally taken the decision; thus the choice of houses for sale seems to have doubled overnight.
What’s more, the weather is generally perfect at this time of year. Every morning I open my shutters to another cloudless, blue-sky day, the outline of the Pyrenees so clear that it feels I could almost reach out and touch them. Mornings and evenings are fresh (chilly even) but, by midday, the sun is hot on my back and I am too warm in a t-shirt; layers are the ‘mode du jour’ at this time of the year. Soon we will see the first sprinkle of snow on the highest peaks with the promise that brings of skiing at Guzet, snowshoeing around the Etang de Lers and magical, winter-wonderland walks through the woods. This weather usually lasts right through until December with the mornings and evenings getting progressively colder but the midday sun still strong enough to successfully take any chill out of the air, the ideal conditions for al fresco coffees and lunches sur la terrace.
Perfect days like these are one of the many reasons why we live in France and, more particularly, in the beautiful foothills of the Ariège.
www.frenchentree.com/ariege-haute-garonne-property-finder
nadia@foothillsoffrance.com
By nadia, on 19th August 2010 I spent all day yesterday driving around the countryside trying to get loads of lovely shots for my new website www.frenchentree.com/ariege-haute-garonne-property-finder. This is certainly no hardship – driving around what I truly believe to be one of the most beautiful parts of the world with the odd refuelling stop at a village cafe or at one of the numerous mountain streams to cool my toes. My new business Foothills of France is a property search agency (part of the Frenchentree network) and I reckon the best way to persuade potential clients that this is where they want to buy a house, is to show them how beautiful it is here and what good value property is in this region.
This whole exercise, however, got me thinking about the complete madness that is property prices and the property market in general. Here in the Ariège and Haute Garonne we live within an hour of some fantastic ski resorts to rival many of those in the Alps. We also have the luxury of choosing whether we spend the day on a Mediterranean beach or an Atlantic beach as both are within reach at two hours in either direction. The scenery is breathtaking – there are lush, green valleys, rivers, lakes and stunning mountain views around every corner and there is a huge selection of beautiful houses to suit every taste and pocket from bijou mountain huts to stunning chateaux. Moreover, although this is a very rural and unspoiled area, we are close to Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France, with all its attendant work opportunities. The transport links are excellent with the Toulouse international airport around an hour away and Pau Airport and Carcassonne airport under two hours. And yet this region still has some of the lowest property prices in the whole of France.
This is the part I don’t understand. If we were in Haute Provence say, a four-bedroom, stone, period house with a couple of acres and a swimming pool with distant views of snow-capped mountains would set you back around 2 million Euros; here in the Ariège it would be nearer 400,000 Euros and that is if it were restored. Un-restored or ‘dans son jus’ as they say here, you are looking at half that price whereas in Provence, from what I understand, there is nothing left to restore, everything has already been done and overdone. Similarly, a traditional wooden chalet in the Alps, close to the ski slopes would not give you much change from a million Euros whereas here in the Pyrenees, there are lovely chalets available from 150,000 Euros. Now am I missing something? Ok so perhaps the climate is ‘better’ in Provence if you like having to hide away from the sun half of the year and are particularly fond of cactus plants, snakes and mosquitoes. But here in the South West, we have glorious sunshine all year round and yet we also have rain so the valleys and hills remain green and we can have a lawn and grow flowers and vegetables plus we get to sleep at night because it is not unbearably hot. As for the Alps; sure you have larger resorts but you also have a lot more skiers which make for crowded pistes and long queues at lifts and restaurants. Here we sometimes have the slopes to ourselves, there is plenty of challenging skiing for all levels and massive investment over recent years has resulted in fast and efficient lift systems. What is more, there is a really friendly, family atmosphere in the resorts here and the cost of ski passes and ski hire is half the price of that in the Alps.
The only reason for such a mismatch of property prices that I can see is that this is a relatively unknown, unfashionable region compared to Provence and the Alps. Now I don’t want to ‘do a Peter Mayle’ on this region and cause a mass influx of tourist buses but it seems to me that this situation is untenable. There really is only one reason for prices to be so disproportionately different and that is because of fashion and demand. Eventually, as people get priced out of one area, so they begin looking for another. We have seen this happen in the UK and the same is sure eventually to happen here.
So what am I saying? Really just that, if you want your own piece of an incredibly beautiful and varied part of France, you can still afford it here but that is not necessarily always going to be the case. If property were valued in terms of the quality of life it offered, the houses here in the foothills of the Pyrenees would be ‘hors prix’ or way out of reach of us all. So make that dream happen before everybody else gets here first.
To find out more about how I can help you find your dream house here in the foothills of France, take a look at my website www.frenchentree.com/ariege-haute-garonne-property-finder, e-mail me on nadia@frenchentree.com or call me on 0033 (0)5 61 66 70 11 or 0033 (0)6 45 23 62 48.
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