I%26#39;ve posted a general query on the France forum about choosing a region for a holiday/retirement home, but would like to ensure any Loire experts see it too. Without reposting all the criteria here:
%26quot;... We would like to identify a location to use as an extended holiday base to test the waters - later weekly commutable for occasional contract IT roles in England or France - and finally becoming a full retirement home. An area with some building land available, improving transport links and infrastructure sounds ideal. ...%26quot;
We are planning a trip to the Loire next month. Good places to look and a hotel recommendation to use as a base would be very welcome.
Do you know of an area where rail and road links will be extended over the next 10 years, or any other regional knowledge you can share that might influence our choice?
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I think somewhere around Tours would be be suitable.
Transport links are good. The A10 motorway puts Paris about 2 and a half hours away, and Bordeaux about 3 hours. The A28 motorway puts the Channel ports of Caen and Le Havre about 3 hours away, or Calais about 5. There is a new east / west motorway under construction with an interchange at Tours.
The TGV enables you to be in Paris Montparnasse in 55 minutes, so Paris is daily commutable for meetings or short contracts.
There are daily flights by Ryanair from Tours to Stanstead, at a very cheap price if you can book far enough ahead.
When I moved to France ten years ago, it was as part of the management team of a brand new French subsiduary of a large UK Group; and we chose Tours for its central location and good communication links. I used to commute regularly to Paris or to the UK. I am now retired, but have remained in the Tours area.
As a holiday base it is ideal, many of the famous Loire Chateaux are nearby, and numerous rivers and small old towns and villages make for a very pretty and interesting countryside.
The area immediately around Tours is more expensive for property, but if you head south for half an hour or so, prices drop.
There is plenty of building land available, or old houses to restore. Prices have started going up in the last few years - the French blame all the Brits buying houses in France; but they are still cheap compared to UK standards.
For a hotel base I would suggest the Campanile at Joué les Tours.
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Thank you for your post Sunlover and confirmation of the good transport links. We will certainly add Tours and directions South to our list of places to see - although I had hoped to pick up one of those chateaux on the Loire itself!
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