Right then, anyone done or doing this, or know anyone who has?
We are just about finished building our house over here and throughout the process we have been discussing a move to the mountains proper.
The plan is not really a permanant one, but may become so. We are thinking about renting the place we have built and buying an old shed over there to rennovate for a couple of years, then see what happens after that.
Any recommendations for areas to look at?
We are looking for somewhere right in, not near the mountains. Close to slopes in the winter and good riding/climbing terrain in the summer. Also needs to be middle to west as has to be doable to the atlantic for post work surfs (not asking alot you see).
Would be nice to be remote but really think we need to be somewhere with a bit of life to it.
Plan is to spend 4-6 weeks over there this summer, mooching about in the van and getting to know the area but any advise on places to check out would be much appreciated.
Personally i would prefer the alps, but firstly its too expensive and secondly my other half has one parent on mid france and one in madrid, so pyrenees is right in the middle, fine with me as its still better than dartmoor.

I confess to preferring the french side myself.

Anywhere from Luchon down to Aude. Easy access to Languedoc and Tarn…. Being too close to the coast can be a bit touristy IMO.

Never lived there but visited several times.

Have a look at LUZ-ST-SAUVEUR, – up the valley from Lourdes. Skiing and biking on the doorstep and Col du Tourmalet is just up the road for some light training.

website here

Might be a bit far for your surf requirements?

cheers

Proximity to the surfable coast will be quite expensive. I’d love to live in the basque region for the surf, snow and cycling, good luck!

yep, the luchon area is where we have been focusing our attention, any specific towns/villages worth a look, preferably with a healthy riding/climbing scene?
LUZ-ST-SAUVEUR looks good, another reason for looking around there is for schools, my other half is a teacher and would want to find work in an international school. Dont mind 1.5 hrs drive to surf, mountains are the priority.

The area I know best and like is the Pays de Sault
http://www.paysdesault.com/index.htm

Probably wont suit you as its in the foothills, not near the sea and on the wrong side of the hills. But this is STW where we dont read OPs! 🙂

The area around cardagne/capacir is really nice. Ax les thermes, Font Romeau, Les Angles etc are all ski resorts with bike parks. Not far to Andorra and some of the spanish resorts like La Molina. Bouldering at Targasonne, Eus. Loads of climbing in the hinterland of Ax les thermes in the Arieage and some big crags in Spain on the road from Puigcherda to Girona.

Not been further west than ax les thermes so cant comment.

The Arieage is a pretty quiet part of France so prices are relatively low. The Capacir/Cardagne is still pretty good value though but cant imagine many teaching jobs.

Didnt see the surf bit but very good wind surfing about 1.5 hrs away at Leucate

Leucate

I can heartily recommend the Vielle Vignes Fitou by Famille Cezelly 🙂

Leucate beach a couple of years ago 🙂

Ariage is excellent. Fabien Barthez is from Lavelanet.

some excellent biking

Andorra might be good for jobs and is wicked, but if you are looking for some winter sun as well then Prades is a pretty good compromise. Med one way, mountains the other. Excellent biking and climbing out your front door.

I used to work in the secondary school local to Luz St Sauveur. Utterly uutterly ace school (if you have kids of your own) and great place to live, but no idea about international schools to work in. Luz can get cut off if it really really snows but Pierrefite and Argeles (further down the valley) are suprisingly warm, dry and free of snow at 400-430m.

As before, Luz is local to Cirque de Gavarnie, Tourmalet, Aspin, a few good ski stations and a few cheap’n’cheerful ones. There is one truly hideous nightclub. Less good for the sea, and nearby Lourdes is a bit Marmite really.

If it was me, I would live in Pau for a bit of ‘town’ but everything not silly far away.

[edit] mmmmmm, Prades…. 😀

My cousin lives just outside Ax. She has lived mostly in cities all her life and although she’s not got a “career” down there like she had before, she’s extremely happy with living in the mountains. Certainly a lot more chipper than when she lived in town. Different pressures of course and physically harder (in winter at least) but on balance she’s a lot happier. You definitely need to integrate with the neighbours though, I’d imagine being isolated would be worse than in a city.

JW…how did you find it getting work in a european school, assume your fluent french? missus is a geography teacher 3 years in and head of year but dont know how much that means over there. We have thought about Pau but with a limited budget for a property, we are going to have to go a bit more out of town.

I know alot of places like prades are great to live and beautiful, i just cant tear myself that far from the surf, dont want to become a weekend warrior, but guess something will have to give, im just a have the cake and eat it person!
Roll on the summer so we can get out there exploring!

Ax les thermes is a hot contender though, but alot is going to depend on where teaching jobs come up, im sure we can find a wreck of building to keep me happy anywhere. I just want to see real mountains from the window…

The Med is pretty rubbish for surfing as I’m sure you know, stay West!

Westside 😉 got to be done, always lived on the west, dont want to change now.
could handle the med for a bit of lazy holidaying but thats about it

I was a language assistant, so taken on by the LEA and assigned to the school in Argeles Gazost on the basis of being from an english-speaking nation, fluent ‘enough’ (I am actually half french but brought up in yookay) and most of the way through university so ‘clever’ enough.

No idea if teaching qualifications are recognised or not, but I do remember the crazy business about being ‘posted’ to schools when you qualified as a teacher rather than applying to the jobs you fancied. It was very arbitrary and hugely unpopular with teachers, the one and only time I have ever been on strike 😆 .

I know there’s a pretty good riding scene round Luchon – AQR are based there doing “proper” mountainbikingy stuff (big ups, big downs) and there’s a pretty good DH scene too. Obviously being France and having 3 cat1+ road climbs on the doorstep it’s popular with the roadies too.

Not sure about climbing though – I guess there must be some, but I’ve not seen much evidence of it.

Property is pretty expensive though – there’s a lot of run down stuff, but anything respectable has already been snapped up by rich Toulousians as a weekend retreat.

Personally, I could handle moving there quite happily…

Hooja, you described Quillan to a tee!
Perfect location. 45 mins to skiing, 55mins to the coast through the vineyards. Loads of hills, winerys and kayaking in the area and better food than spain.

If your wife expects to get a job in the french state education system, she can forget it! There is a special test/competition to do and teachers are then allocated on the basis of demand, usually the shittiest suburbs of Paris. The only way for a non french qualified teacher to get a job in France is to teach in a private school or go somewhere really rubbish.

CHB – you know quillan much?

I love it round there. I think it’s a lovely town. Esp this decent 🙂

i have been drunk in quillan…………and axat.
quillan is nice.

in the bar at tha far end of the square, and the one where stoners bike is outside.

i remember that – you said it last time I posted that pic.

I miss Aude. I reckon its time to go back out again…

Spent a week biking in the Aude a few years ago, loved it. So quiet and unspoilt.

ace road riding area.
those gorges are something else, rafting is not my forte tho.

Quillan is a nice place, the riding is ace and only 30 mins from some proper mountains. Climbing in the gorge. Mystery in Rennes le chateau. Pretty cheap as its not really on the tourist radar. No surfing but two pretty big lakes near by for sailing/wind surfing. It also has an all star criterium after the end of the TdF.

Gary Devine (top fell runner) left Blighty to do this: http://www.pyrenees-haven.com/

Ianv, yep we have heard about the ropey french teaching system, hence looking for somewhere near an intenational school, apparently one in Pau and one in Toulouse.
Will check out Quillan but so far its looking like somewhere south (further into mountains proper) of Pau, be good to hear from anyone who knows that area well.
And any pics of the area, or anywhere else cool in the pyrenees, would all help the motivation…

Stoner, my bruv has a house in Quillan (about 200m from your bike in that picture!). Fell in love with the place last year when we visited.

lucky you.
I have some very good friends who own a house up in Nebias.