You could perhaps take a look at Orthez and surrounds.

 

The Pyrenees aren't the only "alternative" to the Alps - and being that far south in France, you may find the availability of medical facilities a bit more problematic. Have you considered the Juras? (East of France along the Swiss border) Or the Vosges (also in the East near the German border and with access to the Black Forest). There is also the Massif Centrale, made up of old volcanic fields. Maybe the mountains aren't quite as high - but all of those areas have year-round towns and may have better access to medical facilities (or more direct access to Paris if you should need it).

 

I do tend to prefer the massive rocky spires and glaciers of the Alps/Pyrenees but I am open to other locations.
I guess I’ll have to plan another scouting trip to the Jura/Vosges but I worry that the Massif Central would be too hot for me in summer...

 

We live in Pau and love it. You might consider where the local trains can take you into the hills for hikes. Oloron-Sainte-Marie is smaller, lovely, and closer to the mountains. Tarbes sits close to the mountains.

 

The Alps and the Pyrenees could not be more different in their formation. You cannot safely go up very high at all in the Pyrenees where even highly skilled montagnards disappear often never to be found. These mountains are particularly volcanic in their fotmation and still expérience many tremors. There are frequent landslips and deep holes that develop spontaneously, which is one reason there are searches for missing people here all the time and so many helicopter evacuations to safety and to hospital, often multiple times in a single day.

You also perhaps should be aware that it is getting ever warmer in the Pyrenees with various areas often experiencing temps in the high 30s, and drought has significantly increased the wildfire risk. Less so this year than last year, however the high temps are just now really beginning to take off again.

 

Don't be fooled into thinking that the climate is cool, even in Les Hautes Pyrénées, these days, except in winter, of course. It's getting hotter and hotter here in SW France every year.

IF I were you, and I'm not of course, and particularly if I needed to have the comforts of an anglophone expat community, I would consider an alternative to actually living IN the mountains. I'd head for Bayonne or St-Jean-de-Luz or Hendaye, where there's plenty of activity, a "relatively" mild seaside climate, and probably a bunch of expats (I don't know that -- I'm just speculating). I would exclude Biarritz, but only because it's too glitzy for me, but it could work for you.

From any of those places you have ample transportation options to get you into the mountains. You can, for example, easily take a train to Perpignan and pick up Le Bus à Un Euro (and yes, it really IS only one euro -- for a two-hour drive through the French Pyrénées if you want it), or take advantage of local bus/train services or, say, AlloBus.

We have taken that Bus à Un Euro a couple of times between Amélie-les-Bains in the mid-Pyrénees and Argèles-sur-Mer because we were spending a few days at the therapeutic spas in Amélie (which, BTW, is NOT a town I would recommend for sightseers or expats, just happened to be exactly what the doctor ordered, literally, for us, but it's a typical mountain town, and there are innumerable hiking opportunities that start off from there to this "col" or the other). There are many picturesque mountain towns around Amélie, scores of them, actually, but I wouldn't expect to find an English speaker much of anywhere.

Anyway, just a thought that maybe basing yourself in a fairly cosmopolitan town along the Atlantic with some hope of an expat community, wonderful Basque culture, and easy access to those mountains you crave might be a nice compromise. If you really are a die-hard mountaineer, probably wouldn't work for you, though. OTOH, at the age of 70 are you really going to be equipped to be a vrai montagnard?

 

Bad fires in Argeles sur Mer and surrounds this week and Perpignan has been smoke affected.

 

St Jean de Luz is expensive and very busy in summer.

 

Right....so are hundreds of places in SW France right now. If it's not forest fires, it's mildiou and hailstones ruining the grapes or another drought ruining the crops or flash floods inundating our rivers. I don't think the Pyrénées are going to be immune from these disasters.

If one is looking for an anglophone expat community, one almost always has to pay a bit of a premium for that.

 

I agree and the Pyrenees certainly have not been immune this year. The drought is worse than last year and there have certainly been wildfires. There have also been severe hailstorms and flash flooding, including in Pau and Orthez because even there the rain was far too heavy for the water to get away and all the roadworks made things worse. Flooding in both towns was officially declared a natural disaster.

 

Really appreciate the comments and suggestions so far. For sure, climate has been on my mind but i just don't see not doing this for that reason alone. It would be just something i needed to try to mitigate or manage around as best i could.

Also, i don't want to imply that i want an expat bubble. I just need a "local" where i can have a chat a couple of nights a week

 

I would suggest that if a mountainous community is your goal for living in France, you get used to the idea that a chat a couple of nights a week will always be in French. Unless you're talking about exclusive and expensive winter skiing-type communities overflowing with tourists. I spend a fair amount of time in the French Pyrénees (well, at least a fair amount compared to most anglophones) and have never spoken a word of English there. It's not as though you're going to find a friendly local "pub" where you can speak English. You're either committed to speaking French or you move someplace, typically in a big city, where you can surround yourself with English speakers. That's VERY much at odds with your desire to be some renegade in the mountains of the Pyrénées,

If your goal is to live in France, you'd really better get used to speaking and living in the French language. You might get lucky and fall into a small group of expats or make anglophone friends, but honestly, it's France, and we speak French here, and you need to, too. OR, you can become a member of a committed anglophone community displaced in France and just continue life as usual, sort of, but never, ever really meld into the local life. Up to you.

 

Appreciate the candid feedback! As I mentioned in my original post, i don't have any issue with committing to learning and speaking French. I'm just being realistic about my current proficiency and would like to find a place that allowed some social outlet in English.

In the Haute Savoie, it seemed to me that there were towns outside of the major ski resorts (like Chamonix) where this was possible. Places like Samoens, St Gervais Les Bains, Bourg St Maurice, Briancon come to mind. I'm (perhaps naively) trying to find someplace similar in the Pyrenees.

I am very much looking forward to my trip now. I have nights planned for Pau, Bagnere De Luchon, Bagnere De Bigorre. I hope to get a better sense of the area by the time I'm done

 

Hav a look at Quillan in the Pyrenees foothills between Carcassonne and Perpignan. It's been about 15 years since I left there? but there is plenty of good walking, there seemed to be a fair few English expats nd enough decent bars for a chat. Local facilities were fine last I was there, but it is worth quick visit and used to be very lively in the summer and not totally dead in Winter.

Good luck with your search.

 

Thanks and i will check Quillan out!

 

I wasn't going to comment as I don't want to encourage you to move to this part of the Pyrenees!!! (It is a joke, well sort of!!!) Anyway, most of the comments appear to be to encourage you to move to the eastern part of the Pyrenees and I wouldn't want to persuade you otherwise, the least number of English speakers in this part of the world the better!!! What has been said about the weather, droughts, floods, fires, hailstones etc. and absolutely the worse of all, lots of Brits!!!l makes me wonder why anyone would want to live over there.
Here in the Pays Basque (Pyrenees Atlantique) the weather is benign. The summer this year, in particular, has been perfect with moderate temperatures, plenty of sun and enough rain to keep everything a luxurious green. No fires, floods or giant hailstones, but best of all very few 'foreigners'!!! The mountains are high and the walks fantastic with high level forests and woods and always green! Over the other side, as befitting a region where mostly they seem to want to be in pubs and eat fish and chips the terrain in the mountains is invariably brown which doesn't really matter as they are all in the pub!!! From what you have said it appears you do want an enclave so I wish you every success, you wouldn't find one here!! Personally I would, should I want fish and chips and lots of Brits, go to the Dordogne, very beautiful and only spoilt by the aforementioned Brits!!!
So there you are, now I await the 'brickbats' that will surely fly!!

 

The weather may be benign in the Pyrénées right now, but that's a wish and a prayer for the future pretty much anywhere in the world.

The bigger question, IMO, is how to balance wanting to move to France -- no matter where -- and wanting or needing some kind of expat support system.

In my case, which is admittedly only my own, the very last thing I wanted was ANY sort of connection with the fish 'n chips crowd, but I chose the Dordogne anyway because I found the perfect property, and let's face it, it's gorgeous here. And I have never once gotten involved with the anglophone community and never will.

In the case of the questioner here, he is going to have to balance his perceived "need" for a meet-up in a pub-like place with an anglophone and his fantasy of living in France and "blending in" and trekking the mountains.

Eventually, for every foreigner who moves to France, reality kicks in

 

The bigger question, IMO, is how to balance wanting to move to France -- no matter where -- and wanting or needing some kind of expat support system.

That's an excellent point. There are plenty of expats (not just anglophone ones) who want to avoid getting involved with the "expat crowd" and then there are those who cluster together in search of other English (or other expat language) speakers or activities.

One thing to look into as you make your reconnaissance trip(s) is the availability of "associations" in the area. Not necessarily those devoted to "expats" but what is available for mountaineering, randonée (very popular here in France, especially in mountain areas), or any other activities or sports you take an interest in. There are some groups/associations for newcomers to an area, and those often include foreign newcomers (for whom English is very often a "lingua franca" while they are learning or improving their French. One organization that appears in many areas around France is the AVF - Accueil des Villes Françaises - a group for newcomers that promotes member-generated activities, tours of the area and some sportive type events, not to mention some language circles to practice your French or to share your native fluency in English with locals who want to retain or work on their English skills. There are other, similar groups in areas where there isn't an AVF per se - often with the word "Accueil" in their title.

The local mairies (town halls) often support or subsidize the local clubs and associations and many towns publish a listing of the groups and activities in the town - either on the official town website or in printed form. Definitely worth taking a look to see what's available for the newly arrived to settle in and to get to know the neighbors and the area.

 

There are literally hundreds of clubs de marche and de randonnée in France and they are active now and year round. Tourism offices here often have information about the local ones. It's also worth looking at the ones for seniors because they tend to organize hikes much more frequently.

 

Hello Pat,
How was your trip? Did the two towns you’d hope to visit love up to their reputation?

 

Hello Pat,
How was your trip? Did the two towns you’d hope to visit love up to their reputation?

Sorry, I missed this post until now. Both B. de Bigorre and B. de Luchon offered the access to the outdoors/mountains that I seek. As towns, I was a little disappointed with Bigorre. It's hard to describe but it felt like a town that was past its prime and in something of a decline... While I was there, there were local protests about the closing of the local hospital's Urgence dept. Not a good sign.

Luchon was nicer for sure but I surprised myself by liking Pau most of all. It's a little farther from the mountains than I'd like but it offsets that by having the benefits of a larger town with all the services one could need.

 

"Private" medical facilities refers mainly to hospitals here in France. As far as treatment by an individual doctor (generaliste or specialist) you have to look to their sector, which gives you an indication of how much they can charge (and thus how much you can/will be reimbursed by the national system). But in a "medical desert" it really doesn't matter much since there simply aren't enough doctors available who can accept new patients. There is a much more complete listing of doctors available on Ameli - but there is no indication of things like "not taking new patients" or "coming up on retirement in a few months."

I don't know what Whatever means by Doctolib not working "well at all" - it's basically just a scheduling app, which is useful for finding doctors and other medical practitioners with available appointments (and getting an idea of how long the wait is for an available appointment). It's also not the only medical scheduling app - so these things aren't primarily tools for finding a doctor where there aren't any, just for booking appointments and evaluating the information the doctors make available on their "page." (Including whether or not they will accept new patients.)

 

Oh a little late on the conversation! I' ve only just returned to live in France after spending 10 years working in and around
Pau in the Pyrenees. Just let me know Pat if you need some advice. I'm a big skier, I still work in French ski patrol so know the snow scene quite well in the Pyrenees and how the medical services work in relation to MR which I was part of.
All the best with your search to find a base.🙏

 

Hi there. I just stumbled onto this old thread and saw your comment. We have a home near La Mongie. My husband is really interested in ski touring. Do you know much about this in the Hautes Pyrénées?

Thanks so much!

 

Also a little late like Carol! I'm 58 <snip> Banyuls is busy year round as it has its own activities such as the vineyards, and due to the marine reserve both the marine biology unit of the Sorbonne and local dive schools. The hiking and biking is great - in all directions and easy to get around on bus or by train - for instance I took the overnight train from Paris in June and then took the day train back via Montpellier which I also love. There are several decent restaurants, great ice cream and decent bakery. I fell in love with the view from my balcony - Pyrenees to the left, vines in front and a little bit of beach/sea to the right. Even if you are not interested in my place I would be very happy to have a chat.

 

Thank you. Yes. Aware of the avalanche situation. I was making a general enquiry of CaroPyrénées. Unfortunately I was not permitted by the site to DM.