Property Languedoc - Buy, Rent & Stay in Languedoc, France

Welcome to Property Languedoc - the resource for finding a property in Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Languedoc Roussillon

Languedoc is made up of five Départements, which are the French equivalents of English counties. Aude (11), Gard (30), Hérault (34), Lozère (48), Pyrénées-Orientales (66)

The Languedoc Roussillon Region:

Languedoc-Roussillon in south-west France curves around a corner of the Mediterranean, from Provence in the east down to the borders with Spain and Andorra in the south. The modern région was formed when two historic provinces were merged. Languedoc takes its name from langue d'oc, a language closely linked to Catalan, and Roussillon in the far south was known as France's Catalonia, but today Catalonia is confined to an autonomous région in north-eastern Spain.

The southernmost extension of the Massif Central can be found in the north. Here, the Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc is, to the west made up of deciduous forest, and to the east dry and craggy. The very isolated and mountainous Lozère is a wilderness where hermits and exiles have long sought refuge. To the west of the région are the Grands Causses, deep canyons above which lie limestone plateaus. The Montagne Noire, Corbière hills and the Cévennes are all areas of dramatic hills, mountains and deep river gorges.

The landscape flattens around the tranquil Canal Du Midi, which cuts across the région's middle with Carcassonne, a world heritage site, at its centre. South of the canal gentle rolling foothills start to ascend, climbingto the dramatic peaks of the Pyrennees.

The région's Mediterranean coast is an area of river deltas and coastal plains. In some places there are ugly purpose-built developments but there are also some more alluring seaside places such as the picturesque port of Coullioure in Roussillon and attractive fishing villages such as Sète and Palavas. The coastline of Lower-Languedoc is cut off from the hinterland by marshy étangs (lagoons), which have prevented the same sort of furious development that has blighted the Cote d'Azur and the Spanish Costas.

Languedoc-Rousillon has a good mix of lively cities and picturesque medieval villages. The big Spanish city of Barcelona is an easy day-trip (and possible commute) on the other side of the mountains and there is good autoroute and TGV access to Paris. For many years the région was in decline as people moved from their villages to northern cities, but now more and more people are moving back.

It's growing in popularity with second home owners as property is cheaper here than in Provence and Côte d'Azur and it's easily accessible from the UK thanks to an increasing number of airports served by budget airlines. It's not the best place to find work as it has a high level of unemployment, mainly due to a population growing more rapidly than the supply of new jobs and it is one of the least industrialised régions in the country with only 21% of its GDP accounted for by industry.

Employment is highly service-oriented, with 68% of its work force employed in the service sector. Telecommunications is a large industry and there are many call centres. Agriculturally, milk production from goats, sheep and cows is important and the major crops are peaches, nectarines, apricots, melon and rice. Beziers is capital of région's the wine industry around which some excellent wines such as Corbières, Minervois and Côtes du Rousillon are produced.

Population of Languedoc Roussillon

Population: 2,295,648 Pop.density (people per km2): 87

Three principal communes of Languedoc

Roussillon

Montpellier (287,981)

This lively, energetic and progressive city has long been an important trade centre and is today most known for being an important university city. With 60,000 students it's a youthful place - the average age is said to be just 25. The buzzing old city is almost entirely pedestrianized and has lots of bars and restaurants. This certainly should be one of the top places on the list for young people moving to France to consider. There's plenty of art galleries, theatres and music venues and to top it all off, the beach.

Perpignan (162,678)

This town, close to the Spanish border, has a distinctly southern feel and a lively street life. Most of its population is of Spanish origin, and there's also a large number of North Africans. Its heyday was in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when the kings of Majorca held their court here. Unfortunately, in recent years, a relatively large percentage of the population has embraced the extreme right wing politics of Jean Marie Le Pen.

Nîmes (148 889)

This laid-back sunny city, close to the border with Provence, has the most extensive Roman remains in Europe. Les Arènes, the city's focal point, is the best-preserved Roman arena in the world, with seating capacity for 20,000 spectators. Once used for gladiators, today the summer crowds that flock to the arena are just as blood-thirsty, as it's the premier bull-fighting arena outside of Spain. Nîmes is also known for denim, which was first manufactured in the city's textile mills and in the nineteenth century exported to the southern USA to clothe the slaves. Modern Nîmes is now to tying to keep up with progressive neighbour Montpellier by recruiting a host of very fashionable architects and designers including Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck to instill it with a bit of architectural 'x' factor that's not 2000 years old.

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