Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Relocating’ Category

If it’s not sunny, that’s the most common question that we get asked.

It’s also the hardest one to answer.

For instance, right now the weather forecast is saying that it’s sunny when it most definitely isn’t. How come it’s so wrong? Simple really: we’re mid-way between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean and the weather station is on the coast.

So, once you get out of the main Summer season, it’s quite common for the weather here to be very different from that on the coast. That’s not to say that we get cold weather as such because ordinarily it’s t-shirt weather for 10 or 11 months per year. However, it may be cloudy here when it’s not on the coast. And if it’s cloudy here, it’s probably pretty chilly in the mountains.

You don’t need to go as far as the mountains for it to be chilly though. The Winter usually starts on the western side of the village of St Paul de Fenouillet. Rather strangely, it can be t-shirt weather on the eastern (and higher!) side of the village and snowing on the western side at the same time.

Yesterday was the typical September day over here right up until the late afternoon when it became a little cloudy to the west but now it’s the miserable weather that you’d more typically associate with the west of Ireland rather than the south of France.

It’s become quite cool at night too.

Both aspects are unusual for here as ordinarily we’re running around in t-shirts from March to January.

If this is a sign of colder weather coming along this Winter maybe we’ll need to get some more snow chains. No rush yet though as the snow doesn’t arrive at the ski resorts ’til November.

Although France has been moving online rapidly in recent years, many existing laws and customs don’t fit in well with the online world.

You can certainly buy books and such online no problem. The purchase “contract” is very clear and, even in France, it doesn’t require a signature to buy a book. Having said that, the way that Amazon constantly runs “sales” is probably illegal in France as sales are limited to specific periods of the year here so perhaps someday a French bookshop will get them banned.

You can’t buy commercial goods so easily though as you generally need to prove to them that you’re a business. So, whilst you can sometimes place an order, you sometimes find that they want documentary proof that you are a registered business. Elsewhere in the world, just because you’re a “wholesale” sales outfit doesn’t mean that you aren’t legally allowed to sell to the public, but here it tend to.

Even buying car insurance online doesn’t seem a runner. We could only find one place that would even provide an estimate online and even with them we still have to go in to the office to provide the documentation and pay for it.

So, yes you can buy online in France but there are significant limitations in what they’re allowed to sell you online which don’t apply elsewhere.

One thing’s for sure: the weather doesn’t mess around over here – it’s either one extreme or the other.

We’re just through a really major thunder and lightening storm the like of which you just don’t see in Northern Ireland.

All being well normal south of France weather will be resumed tomorrow with the sun and cloudless skies that usually characterise September here.

We’re starting to look around for somewhere to go for our daytrip next week although we’ll need to watch the weather I think ‘cos it’s pouring at the moment.

Anyway, we reckon that anywhere that’s within about two hours drive of here is a runner, subject to there being something to see at that sort of range, of course.

To the south that takes us as far as Barcelona though, as you know, we’ve been there quite a lot and are looking for somewhere different.

The east took us to Avignon which amazed us as we’d thought it would have been four or five hours to get there. There’s quite a lot that way that we’ve not seen of course: Arles is the major place but there’s also Aigues Mort and the Camargue to name but three.

For the north we have Toulouse which we’ve not been to for quite a while and Albi which we’ve not been to at all. Closer than that there are heaps of smaller places under the two hour limit we’ve set ourselves.

We rarely go terribly far to the west so I suspect that there’s quite a lot for us to see that way. Tarbes seems about the limit but that would include Lourdes.

Also in the frame is our next overnight trip for which we’d run to four or perhaps five hours which encompasses a vast tract of France, Spain and even bits of Italy I think. Out as far as Biarittz to the west, Monaco to the east, Valencia to the south and possibly up to the Loire in the north.

Any thoughts as to where would be best?