Now is a Great Time to Come to France

We live in the center of Languedoc, by the Mediterranean and we are very well served by airports. Those which are only are a short drive from us in Villa Roquette are – Beziers, Montpellier, Nimes, Carcassonne and Perpignan – a bit further are Marseilles and Toulouse – just over the border in Spain there are Gerona and Barcelona.

I have been flicking through low cost fares, there are now scores of cities in Europe with regular flights to these destinations near us – a quick survey shows over 20 from the UK alone. In the next three months I have found hundreds of flights to Beziers costing from 14 euro to 50 euro return.

We have a page on our website with links to most of the low cost carriers at https://villaroquette.com/getting-to-villa-roquette/flights/

But it is really annoying when you have booked a bargain flight to find the taxi fare from the airport can cost over five times the price of the air ticket. Car rental at airports is also expensive.

So we are offering a free air and rail shuttle service (for stays with us of 3 days or longer), to and from Villa Roquette for our guests for arrivals at Beziers and we can arrange a half-price taxi service from other airports.

If you take advantage of our off-season prices, the low cost air fares and our free shuttle service, a weekend for two in the South of France from many places in Europe can cost as little as 118 euro – enjoy our table d’hote meals with us and a weekend at Villa Roquette could cost a total for transport, accommodation, food and wine – all for less than 200 euro.

Over the next two months, the weather is good, the wine harvest is in full swing and by November we will be tasting the new vintages, or come and stay over Christmas and get some winter sunshine.

Finding Your New Home in France

Twenty years ago we rented an apartment (in the Beaujolais) and I spent three years exploring every corner of France to find our home. I found the best way to discover France was by rail and stay in local B&B to get the feel of a town or village (and masses of information from the owner) – for us Languedoc was the perfect region with sun, civilization contentment and opportunity, and we have lived here for seventeen years, moving only once, a few kilometers down the road, to a larger home so our parents could come and live with us and our family.

We now run a guest house and many people staying with us do exactly what you suggest, rent a studio or stay as our B&B guest for a few days or up to several months, to understand the region and what it has to offer – many of our guests have now bought homes here and others decided to look in other parts of France.

The only way to discover France (or anywhere I guess) is to live in a community and make it your “home” – as we say on our websites – “stay with us, from one day – to a lifetime” – My advice is to choose one region, go there and stay awhile – every village will have a unique personality so sit in the cafe – talk to the secretary in the Mairie, ask the boulanger about the town and avoid the estate agents – if you don’t fall in love with one place – try another region – if you find your ideal spot, stop looking and your new home will reveal itself

Good Luck

Tony and Carole at Villa Roquette

Arts and Crafts in the Cevennes

My thanks to the department of Herault for an invitation to visit some of the many places of beauty and interest in this department.

A group of writers and journalists visited the region 25 km north of Montpellier last Friday and met some of the craftsmen who keep alive some of the arts and crafts which have been important in this region for many centuries.

I will be writing in detail about the individual visits – here are few quick photos from Friday October 29 2010.