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The French are getting ready to repel the British invasion!! It seems that it is now official! France has finally overtaken Spain as the top EU destination for British Ex pats. The Connexion, a newspaper for English speakers in France, reports that, "culture, climate and community are the key factors". I would add that the medical care here is superb. It would be an exaggeration to say that time has stood still here in the Dordogne but I have been here for 20 years now and it certainly feels as if it has. One change is that there is a noticeable scarcity of old ruined houses for sale in the villages and hamlets. I am constantly bemused to see renovation projects on property which would latterly have been classed as too expensive if they gave it to you. I know how much it costs to restore a building, and that was doing most of the labour ourselves, so I am constantly intrigued by the money lavished on broken down ruins. I have seen property where the front door opens directly onto the side of the road with little or no garden being snatched up by an eager buyer. The rationale, ' that it only costs as much as a decent car' completely ignores the fact that the cost of renovation here in France, using artisans, will cost a minimum of 1200 euros m². The property valuations on renovated habitable property does still not appear to reflect this. I am rather relieved that there is no longer much character property in need of renovation left because quite frankly the holiday rental market will only stand so much supply. I am convinced that the real bargains are the houses which have already been renovated, many people have spent far more money on their properties than they will recuperate on a sale at today's valuations. The benefit to the buyers is that the sellers have suffered the pain of living in chaos, often for years, or rushing backwards and forwards to France to organise the work with recalcitrant artisans. The problem with the French artisans is that they cannot bring themselves to refuse work, hence they cannot cope with their work load and have an unnerving habit of going off for lunch and not coming back for weeks on end. When they are on site they are great but how to keep them on site is extremely challenging even when you live here. When you are not living here you are quite likely to arrive for your break in France to find that the old bathroom has been dismantled along with all of the plumbing and your plumber seems to be blissfully unsympathetic to your predicament. You know you have lost control when, while you are begging him on you hands and knees to at least connect some water, his mobile constantly interrupts your flow, excuse the pun, as his other irate customers ring to scream abuse at him so loudly you can actually hear them at the other end of the phone. Because I speak French I have often been called upon in the past to help a friend translate with the artisans, or to try to find one. I will not do it any more because it is simply too stressful. When you buy a renovated house you can enjoy it from day one. There will always be something left for you to do to stamp your mark, but you can take your time. You can immediately advertise your house as a holiday rental property if you purchased it with that aim in mind. The pool, where applicable, is already in situ; no sleepless nights when you have taken bookings and the deadline for the construction of it has come and gone. If you are buying for your personal holidays you just dump your suitcases, grab a glass of wine and chill out. It is also worth considering whether you really want 12 hectares of land. The local farmer does not fall over himself to maintain your land for you, or to graze his livestock on it. Even a hectare can be daunting here in the Dordogne, this is a lush verdant area of France and I swear you can actually see the grass grow as you watch.
A few more photos representative of the breathtaking scenery to be found in the Dordogne. |
The Green Dordogne
Believe it or not we have low cost public transport in rural France. Here in the Dordogne a terrific trans-urban bus service is available to us. Launched in September 2006, TransPérigord established 10 regular bus routes traversing the Dordogne at a fixed fare of 2 euros a journey. During the year 2006-2007 this service was used by 60000 travelers. The Communes have long run a car/bus/mini-bus transport system for the inhabitants but now they have linked into the timetable of the trans-urban bus service. This complementary service is known as TAD (transport à la demande), with advance notice the Commune transport service will transport you to, and collect you from, the nearest connection for the TransPérigord service, also at a fixed fare of 2 euros. It is advisable to seek information from your local Mairie about this service. I did find that for HAUTEFORT-PERIGUEUX the contact telephone number for transport à la demande sur réservation is 05 53 50 04 97. The local service in this area joins the line 9 at Cubjac. There are links below for a map of routes and the timetables. For TransPérigord line 1, PERIGUEUX-ANGOULEME, the timetable has been synchronised to the Paris 'TGV' train to facilitate Paris day trips; this is the most popular line and the service has recently been extended.
The primary aim of this project of an affordable public transport system is to offer a viable alternative to the use of private vehicles by the inhabitants of the region but from what I have read tourist opportunities are being considered. There are plans this summer to extend the SOUILLAC-SARLAT route to the Lascaux Caves and there is a commercial liaison planned with SNCF for purchasing a ticket at the 2000 outlets of SNCF for Paris to Sarlat, via Souillac; extending on to Lascaux during the 8 most popular weeks of summer. What I find most impressive is that in spite of the huge increase in fuel since the inauguration of this service, September 2006, the 2 euro fare has not increased correspondingly.
Line
Number |
Route |
Telephone |
1 |
PERIGUEUX-ANGOULEME | 05.53.08.43.13 |
1A |
MAREUIL-BRANTOME-PERIGUEUX | 05.53.08.43.13 |
1B |
MUSSIDAN-RIBERAC-MAREUIL | 05.45.25.99.99 |
2 |
PERIGUEUX-RIBERAC | 05.53.08.43.13 |
3 |
PERIGUEUX-VERGT-BERGERAC | 05.53.08.43.13 |
4A |
BERGERAC-SIGOULES-EYMET | 05.53.23.81.92 |
4B |
BERGERAC-ISSIGEAC-EYMET | 05.53.23.81.92 |
5 |
BERGERAC-LALINDE | 05.53.61.00.46 |
6 |
SARLAT-SOUILLAC | 05.56.33.03.80 |
7A |
SARLAT-PERIGUEUX | 05.53.59.01.48
05.53.50.04.97 |
7B |
PERIGUEUX-MONTIGNAC | 05.53.59.01.48
05.53.50.04.97 |
8 |
MONTIGNAC-TERRASSON-BRIVE | 05.55.86.07.17 |
9 |
PERIGUEUX-HAUTEFORT | 05.53.59.01.48
05.53.50.04.97 |
10 |
PERIGUEUX-EXCIDEUIL | 05.53.08.43.13 |
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click here to download PDF timetable click here to download PDF map of routes ATTENTION
:
December
2007: New timetable for line N°1 |
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Toad Viaducts ??
A huge change in our area of the Dordogne, north of the Périgord Noir; near Thenon, is the completion of the final 18km section (Thenon/Terrasson) of the A89. This last section took 3 years to complete at a cost of 285 million euro. The auto route, known as the La Transeuropéenne, is 324 kms long, cost 4 billion euro and runs from Bordeaux to Balbigny (not far, as the crow flies, from Lyon). However since we are not crows there are hotly debated plans to link Balbigny to Lyon with a final section of the A89. To avoid confusion it is as well to note that the A72 from the east of Clermont-Ferrand to the junction near to Balbigny is now called the A89 although most road atlases will still call this motorway section the A72. The section of the A72 from Balbigny to St Etienne remains the A72.
I remember the panic we all responded to when we first heard of the plan to build this auto route. Estate agents seemed reluctant to even take our properties on their books. As the final route was debated we trembled in our boots as we contemplated that we might one day be overlooked or overlooking this ‘monstrous project’. When we realised that the Douime Viaduct would traverse one of our beautiful local valleys we feared the worst. Today I marvel at this majestic structure every time I descend down the C5 to the village of Azerat. The vehicles are the size of ants to my eyes and no noise from the traffic can be heard in the village, which now has the enormous benefit of being only a few kilometres from the only access to this auto route between Périgueux and Terrasson and a great reduction of traffic on the N89.
The journey to Bordeaux airport is now a pleasure and not a chore and a day trip to the Atlantic coast in summer is now, with an early start, feasible. In the other direction the Ski resort of Le Mont-Dore in the Massif Central is only a 1hr 45 min drive from us. Clermont-Ferrand, an important crossroad of France, is just over 2 hours by car now. We were once a peaceful enclave, it is still peaceful but we are no longer an enclave. A local dignitary was reported as saying that we are now, ‘at the axis of Europe’, I think that he was a justifiably enthusiastic by the possibilities of attracting business to the area. A few years ago, in anticipation of this new found geographical importance, there was an attempt by Hautefort to build, just off the D704, an ‘industrial unit of some considerable size’, however, when the local inhabitants got wind of it they formed themselves into an action group and managed to get the project stopped.
France excels when it comes to designing and constructing auto routes. The A89 meanders through spectacular scenery and the imaginative planting of shrubs and trees along the banks of the route never ceases to impress me; it makes what could be a boring journey a delight to the eye. Just to give you some idea of the scale of the landscaping it has been reported that between exits 23/24 & 25 alone 105,000 deciduous trees, 46,000 conifers and 117,000 shrubs were planted. The ASF [the A89 concessionary company] liaised with nature organisations to integrate in the most harmonious and eco-friendly way the motorway into the countryside. Bridges have been created for animals, when you see these bridges you will notice that have large wooden cut-outs of a running wild boar and a leaping deer. There are even subterranean tunnels for otters and toad viaducts. Purification basins are installed every Kilometre to treat polluted water from the road surface. A tunnel is part of the Thenon and Terrasson section of the A89 motorway and is of a type of construction little known. As was reported in the Sud-Ouest (an english speaking newspaper in France), "it was built by excavating a trench and building a concrete tunnel at the bottom of it then covering it with 20 metres of backfill; it took 25,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete, 2,700 tons of steel frame work and a surface of 14,000 square metres to make it waterproof at a projected cost of 12 million euros." The tunnel is now covered by vegetation blending it into the verdant countryside. This tunnel is 355 metre long and could well be the longest of its kind in France.
The Brive-Souillac Airport
28.04.2008:
Well
I
searched
the
web
for
hours
and
I
couldn't
find
recent
information
on
this
much
heralded
airport.
The
official
website:
simply
stopped
updating
information
ages
ago.
I
finally
found
a
property
website
where
they
had
reported
in
October
2007
that
this
airport
will
commence
flights
April/June
2008.
They
also
recommended
buying
property
now
in
this
area
before
property
values
increase.
This
was
very
exciting
news
but
I
decided
to
go
and
check
the
facts.
Thursday
was
a
sunny
day
(unusually,
the
Dordogne
has
had
a
very
gloomy,
cold
and
wet
Spring)
and
we
had
not
yet
traveled
the
A89
on
the
recently
opened
final
section,
Thenon
(La
Bachellerie)-
Terrasson,
so
instead
of
attacking
the
garden
we
decided
to
combine
a
drive
through
our
beautiful
countryside
with
an
investigative
trip
to
the
airport.
If
it
hadn’t
been
for
the
road
works
on
the
D704
we
would
have
been
on
the
A89
in
8
minutes;
they
are
finally
widening
this
road
so
this
was
a
minor
inconvenience
because
it
will
be
a
great
improvement
for
access
to
the
auto
route.
This last short section of the A89 Thenon/ Terrasson has been a construction head ache for a long time because it traverses an extremely challenging terrain and after paying the toll of 2,90 euro we were able to see why. As we drove through the ‘famous’ tunnel de la Crête the countryside unfolded before us into stunning valley scenery. I was driving, so with great difficulty I tried not to gape at the landscape as we drove through the valleys. My husband, who is no longer able to drive, remarked to me that just for the view he would cheerfully pay the toll for the pleasure of being driven along this section. I envisage a rather strange conversation I could have with guests in our holiday house as I cautiously suggest a trip along this auto route as part of their sightseeing itinerary!
In no time flat we connected with the A20 at Brive and commenced our search for the airport. As we came off the A20 onto the E09 and traveled towards Estivals we found major road works (they are constructing the access route to the airport.) At first the road works confused me and I overshot and ended up in Cressensac. I stopped there to enquire about the location of the airport. Two friendly local French women told me to go back to the road works and take the turning there to the airport. I asked them if the airport was going ahead and they assured me that it was but hazarded a guess that it would not be open until 2009/2010. We backtracked and found the airport. The site is immense, but no work seemed to be going on; the silence was absolute. Very disheartened we drove around the perimeter of the site until I spotted some people in the garden of a beautiful property which overlooked the runway through the trees. The owner of the property very kindly responded to my questions about the proposed airport. She told me that a new Mayor for Brive had recently been elected and that he was against the airport whereas the outgoing Mayor had been for it. She also told me that they had run out of money for the control tower so she really did not know what was happening; that was a little confusing since we had clearly seen the control tower. I expressed my sympathy for her close proximity to the site but she told me that if there were only going to be, as was proposed, three ‘big bird’ flights a day it would not be so bad. Her fear was of the smaller jets which would, “zoom in and out constantly.”
Stranger and stranger, we had passed through important road works leading to the airport, we could see the scale of the work to date on the site, and it seemed incredible that all of that investment would become a white elephant. Further on I needed to ask directions from a jogger. He was a Belgian who owned property there and when I asked him about the airport he assured me that he was absolutely certain that the airport would be open at the end of this year. He was delighted with the prospect because, in addition to 3 flights a week to London, 3 flights a week were planned for Belgian. I asked about the lack of work on the site but he told me that the work was ongoing, albeit intermittently. He confirmed that only the large airplanes would be using the airport at a rate of three flights a day. We returned home via the pretty back route passing the very impressive Lac du Causse, Chasteaux and then onto the N89 through Terrasson.
Today
I
contacted
the
Corrèze
Expansion
organisation
at
Tulle
to
ask
for
more
details
on
the
airport
and
a
very
helpful
man
assured
me
that
the
airport
was
going
ahead
and
that
at
a
meeting
last
Saturday
the
“new
president”
had
confirmed
this.
He
was
not
sure
when
the
work
would
be
finished
but
gave
me
a
name
of
the
Responsable
du
Dévelopement
Stratégique
et
du
Marketing
Territorial
to
contact
tomorrow.
29.04.2008:
I
spoke
to
Mme
Clarice
Martin
RDSMT
at
the
Corrèze
Expansion
organisation
at
Tulle
today
and
she
told
me
that
the
airport
is
definitely
on
track.
The
Air-terminal
and
the
control
tower
are
still
to
be
done
and
she
said
completion
should
be
2009/2010.
I spoke to Michel Pédamond, Direction Générale Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie du Pays de Brive, about the proposed flights. He confirms that it has recently been decided by all involved, including the new Mayor of Brive, that the airport will definitely go ahead, with a completion date anticipated for end 2009/early 2010. He told me that they will update the official airport web site as soon as possible, he also agreed to keep me posted as plans unfold for routes and types of planes.
I hope somebody tells the friendly Belgian jogger that he has to wait quite a bit longer before he can commute, via the Brive-Souillac airport, between Belgian and the Corrèze. It just goes to show that if you want to know what is going on in rural France stop and ask two local housewives gossiping outside a shop.
Light Relief
I love this because when I first subscribed to wanadoo.fr, quite a few years ago, I needed help from their support line. My French was adequate and sometimes over the days I spent, at great expense, on their hotline I even had a few technicians who spoke English. I spoke to a lot of technicians! Each had a new idea and made me access deep in the bowels of my computer to files so obscure my vision blurred. Finally an exasperated technician spat down the phone, "Il n'est pas possible vous aider, Madame vous êtes trop bête!" Finally discovered the problem though....my 'mot de passe' I received on my client connection documents had capital I printed as an l. My computer never really recovered from the mauling it received on the advice from the 'experts' who were 'too smart' to check the basics first.
Actual
dialogue
of
a
former
WordPerfect
Customer
Support
employee.
Operator:
'Ridge
Hall,
computer
assistance;
may
I
help
you?'
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