LOCAL SPECIALITIES
Thanks to its famous Limousin cattle, this region offers fabulous dairy dishes, including a Creuse fondu, served with cold cuts, frites and a side salad rather than bread. Carnivores might appreciate the boudin black pudding flavoured with apples or chestnuts, while vegans have the options of
galétous, a special crêpe made with no eggs or milk, wrapped around the filling of your choice. Dessert, naturally, should be a cherry clafoutis, served with a dusting of icing sugar and a dollop of crème fraîche.
tend to be pricier (for example, an average of €1,418/m2
in
Beaulieu), but are surprisingly reasonable in some of the larger towns (Aubusson €849/m2 As you might have guessed,
).
rural retreats here are a speciality, and you can choose from the high-elevation areas of Massif Central or the pastoral expanses of the Creuse valley. Worth a mention is Bellac, near the border with Poitou- Charentes. This pretty market town of 3,500 residents features an ancient stone bridge over the River Vincou, and offers family homes from €60,000. There’s no coast in the
Limousin, but there are 10 lakes including the 10km2
Lac
de Vassivière on the Plateau de Millevaches. These lakes are open all year, offering watersports and lakeside ‘beaches’ for relaxation. There are also thousands
of kilometres of rivers with over 2,240km of riverbank fishing for trout and salmon (fishing permits are available from local tourist offices), so you can enjoy waterside
living in the Limousin. Try Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, known as the Limousin Riviera, where €150,000 will buy you a detached, four-bedroom family home, while a renovation project starts at €30,000. Speaking of renovation, the
Limousin will leave you spoiled for choice – especially if you have a budget of €30,000 or more. As mentioned earlier, the rural areas offer the best value – you can even buy a small, detached stone property or vacant townhouse requiring work for €15,000. Finally, if you are looking for
a building plot, €30,000 will give you a choice of 1,500m2 plots that are listed as viabilisé: services and ready to connect to utilities. Beware of ‘leisure’ land, as you won’t be able to create a year-round, permanent dwelling on these plots.
ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT This rural part of France has a reputation of being a hard place in which to get work, but the figures paint a different picture.
Plus Beaux Village Turenne is a hilltop commune and a stop for pilgrims on the Chemin de St-Jacques-de-Compostelle
WHY WE MOVED HERE
within a day’s drive of the UK and in the 1990s there were no low- cost airlines or Channel Tunnel, which narrowed our search! We spent six weeks travelling around southwest France before deciding on Limousin. “We specifically wanted a
Gilly and Tim Mannakee, moved to France in 1992, where they brought up their children Sam (30) and Phoebe (28). They now run holiday rental properties in the beautiful Limousin countryside. “Tim and I met in 1991, working for travel company Trailfinders. We wanted to leave London and find somewhere where we could be involved in the travel industry offering courses and accommodation. Nothing made us leave the UK; we wanted to start something new. Tim wanted to pursue his love of photography and liked the idea of a renovation project. “I didn’t know France, but Tim
had spent childhood holidays in the Sarlat area. We wanted to be
Collonges-la-Rouge is a Plus Beaux Village and entirely built with red sandstone 24 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: May/June 2024
property with several buildings, that was relatively isolated and preferably had a view. Aſter a couple of months’ househunting, we ended up buying all of that and more! We are at the southern tip of the Corrèze, and the beautiful villages and countryside are essential as we host photographic holidays (
timmannakee.com). “This is one of the least-
developed areas of France, but we’re well served by motorways and fairly central so we’ve hosted birthdays, weddings, family reunions and traditional family holidays. Both our kids have grown up and settled in France, one lives just 10 minutes away, the other in the Basque Country. We feel like we are part of the community now.”
©
© SHUTTERSTOCK
© SHUTTERSTOCK
© SHUTTERSTOCK
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