The Val de Loire or Centre region of France is the Valley of Kings - of the Plantagenets and the Valois, reaching the pinnacle of power with the Bourbon dynasty during the reign of the Sun King at the end of the 17thC. The legacy left from the glory days, before the royal court moved to Paris, manifests itself in the 800 châ teaux, the parklands and hunting grounds, the cathedrals and grand architecture which attract multi-thousands of tourists each year.

The Limousin region is for country lovers. It’ s a get-away-from-it-all location which is sparsely populated and where the air is pure. Here you will find forests and woodland, green fields and hills, rivers and lakes, quiet lanes and country markets. With the Loire region in the north, the Dordogne to the south, the Auvergne in the east, the Limousin averages an altitude of 350 m rising to 900m at its peak. Warm summers and cool to cold winters, depending on the altitude, and year round rainfall are the characteristics of the climate here.

The Aude and the Pyré né es Orientales departments in the south eastern tip of France form a square roughly from Carcassonne across to Narbonne on the Mediterranean coast down to the Pyré né es mountain range and the Spanish border. This area, Roussillon forms part of the larger administrative region Languedoc Roussillon. In the Languedoc section we have covered the Gard, Herault and Lozè re.

The Languedoc-Roussillon covers a vast area and five very different departments. In the Roussillon section we have covered the Aude and the Pyré né es Orientales with its very Spanish influences, now we turn to the Gard, Hé rault and Lozè re. In Languedoc, as with the Roussillon, the geography across the region varies greatly, as does the climate, and anyone looking for property needs to take this into consideration. Are you looking for the hot, buzzy Mediterranean known as Bas-Languedoc, or the peaceful mountain regions of Haut Languedoc with the second largest National Park in France, the Cé vennes, which are sparsely populated and heavily wooded with colder winters? Less expensive than neighbouring Provence, this area is becoming increasingly popular with property purchasers.

The region of Franche Comté is a year-round nature lover’ s paradise with forests and woodlands, mountains, rivers and lakes, waterfalls and gorges, stunning vistas and underground caves. In winter there’ s cross-country skiing; in spring, summer and autumn take to the hiking and cycling trails, enjoy the water activities, or if extreme sports are more your thing, then go rock climbing, white water rafting or soar the ridges, like a bird, on a hang glider.

The Dordogne and the Lot-et-Garonne are two of the five dé partements which make up the region of Aquitaine. This whole area has been in and out of English possession since the middle ages through war and ceding by royal marriage. In more recent years, there has been an invasion of a different kind when it became a favourite holiday and second home destination for the British, and the Dutch. The Dordogne has consistently topped the popularity league tables and it is easy to see why.

Burgundy is famous across the globe for its fine wines and gourmet food, sleepy canals, ancestral châ teaux and picturesque villages, largely unchanged through time. But this region of France has even more to offer: the countryside is beautiful, uncrowded and unspoiled, there are forests, rivers and lakes, and a strong cultural heritage. Music festivals, often paired up with wine tasting, are some of summer’ s pleasures.

‘ La Champagne’ is undoubtedly one of the best known areas in France, given its caché by one of the most famous drinks in the world, ‘ le champagne’ . Now incorporated as the Champagne-Ardenne region, it stretches from the Belgium border down to Burgundy, from the Paris basin and Picardy in the west, to Lorraine in the east. You could call this region the gateway to Europe, it been a crossroads of military and trade routes throughout history and as a result, prosperous, solid towns such as Reims and Epernay, Troyes and Langres give a feeling of both strength and security.

France is and has been for years the most popular destination in Europe with a large variety of property for sale. Each French region has its own variety of houses for sale, be it a rural, coastal and alpine environment.