House-hunting out of season

Autumn in the foothills - Betchat, Ariège

Traditionally late November is the start of the low-season in the property world; summer and autumn house hunters have usually found the home of their dreams or, if not, have decided to wait and try again in the New Year and somehow our thoughts turn to hibernation and home comforts rather than new horizons and starting over.

In this part of France however, late autumn and winter is a beautiful time of year with lots of sunshine during the day, followed by chilly evenings that provide the perfect excuse for hot chocolate in front of the fire. It is also an ideal time of the year to visit the region and discover it laid bare; no roses around the door, wisteria over the pergola and shimmering swimming pools to distract from the actual property and your list of must-have criteria which can all go out of the window on a perfect summer’s day.

The lovely thing about this area is that there are many thriving, all-year-round communities unlike so many places in France which literally shut up shop in the winter months. Before arriving here, we spent a winter living in an area that went into complete hibernation from November–March; every house was shuttered and abandoned, every restaurant closed and the few locals who remained barely ventured out. Hence it was a relief to find a region that does not rely just on summer trade and tourists, where people actually live and work all year long. Here of course we are only an hour from numerous ski resorts which means that the winter ski season is about to begin (it is beautiful weather down here but I am looking at fresh snow on the mountains). We are also only an hour from Toulouse which, like any city, has something going on at all times of year and whatever the weather.

The property market has been very busy here since the Spring and there are still a great selection of properties for sale at all budget levels, as well as some good deals to be had with sellers keen to accept an offer before Christmas so that they can move on in the New Year.

Finally, here is a list of the Top 20 property blogs which I discovered quite by accident – and as I am on the list (albeit at the very bottom!) I thought it would be a shame not to pass it on: Top 20 property blogs:

Scaling the heights

The Pic du Midi

One of the lovely things about living in the foothills of the Pyrenees is the ever-changing views; the mountains have a life of their own and like to put on a good show. Today we woke up to a dusting of fresh snow on the top of the highest peaks which completely changed the landscape and the perspective and motivated us to make a quick trip up to one of the highest peaks to take in what must be one of the best views in France.

This is an ideal time of year to head up into the mountains – the air is clear and cool in the mornings but beautifully warm in the afternoons and the clarity of the light is almost unreal. The highest easily accessible peak in the Pyrenees is the Pic du Midi where a journey of two cable cars whisks you up to 2877 metres. (The actual highest peak in the Pyrenean range is on the Spanish side, Pico de Aneto at 3406 metres.)

The cable car to the summit

The Pic du Midi is visible from all over this region, particularly driving around the Haute Garonne, its telescopes and large aerial making it stand out clearly from the other peaks. Most people take the trip to the top just for the view and it is certainly worth it for that alone although also at the summit you will find the highest museum in Europe. More serious star gazers can book into the small hotel (just 19 guests) for an overnight stay with conducted tours and use of the telescopes – as well of course, gourmet dining. At night from the top, they say you can see the lights all the way from Biarritz to Barcelona.

For me it is just great to be driving around looking at the Pic du Midi every day and knowing what it feels like to stand up there, on the top of the world.

One of the telescopes and the view

House sharing

Every year since we have lived in France, we have been joined in our home in the spring and early summer by a family of kestrels. And when I say ‘in our home’, I really do mean ‘in’ – the kestrels return each year to nest in the same hole in the wall of our house, just above our back terrace and right outside our kitchen door. From a bit of research into these birds, it would appear that these are the same breeding pair each year; they are long lived at 15 or more years, they mate for life and are very territorial.

‘Our’ kestrels have become part of the family now; they are used to our habits and seem unperturbed by our comings and goings, loud mealtimes on the terrace below their nest or by noisy children (and shouting parents!) The only thing that really upsets them is our two cats who take to hiding under the table when the kestrels are nesting to avoid being dive-bombed. We also have got used to their habits and are careful never to walk directly under the nest nor sit too close, particularly as the babies grow and get more adept at dropping pellets and everything else out of the nest onto unsuspecting loiterers below. We have had at least two visitors who have lingered too long outside the kitchen door and have had a very lucky day as a result.

Despite this, we love having them here and look forward to their return each year, eagerly watching for the first signs of nesting which is followed by the calling of the chicks and then our first glimpse of them as they demand more and more food from their industrious parents. We watch as they get so big that they barely any longer fit in their nest hole and seem to literally teeter on the edge for much of the day, calmly observing the comings and goings below. When they finally fledge, most seem to make it safely to the walnut tree opposite although occasionally they join us on the terrace for a few hours, like this one in the photo, before managing to get properly air bound.

Then they gradually move further and further afield although still close enough that we hear their distinctive calls for the rest of the summer and often see them perched watching us from the roof of the house. We feel very privileged to have such a ringside view of the life cycle of such a magnificent bird – another bonus of living in a region where there is plenty of unspoiled habitat, meadows and food for them, thanks to the ubiquity of organic and traditional methods of farming here.  

To be or not to be – your very own Hamlet

One of the best bits about this job is getting to visit lots of interesting houses, barns and ruins, many of them tucked away in hidden corners of the region. Some are wonderful, others less so but this morning I have just been to see something really unusual; a complete hamlet for sale made up of a large stone house, a six person gîte, a four person gîte and three lovely un-restored barns.

The owners, now selling up, have been living ‘the dream’  here in the Couserans region of the Ariège for the last 30 years, having restored this collection of crumbling houses and stone buildings and transformed them into a thriving gîte business. They have two horses on the couple of hectares of land surrounding the hamlet and beautiful gardens with mountain views in all directions. If only I were an estate agent, this is one I could certainly wax lyrical about.

Unfortunately I don’t have a client with the necessary million Euro budget to buy this right now but I do know from the enquiries I get that more and more people are looking for a better work-life balance and a bit of land where they can live a life more attuned to their environment. One of the most popular ways of achieving this is moving to rural France to set up a gîte business but the problem with this is that, in many parts of France, the market is now saturated and gîte owners are finding it increasingly hard to compete and earn a living. 

Interestingly however, this is not yet the case in the Ariège which has a distinct lack of good quality gîtes in an area which otherwise provides the perfect holiday destination summer and winter. Hence this gîte complex is already almost booked up for the summer and also regularly booked up for the ski season, the nearest resort of Guzet Neige being just half an hour away.

So while not everybody looking to move here is going to have this kind of budget, the dream of running a gîte business in the Ariege is probably more achievable than it would be in most parts of France. And if you are interested in being Lord of the Manor, just get in touch for more details.