At a T-intersection outside Monségur I could go left or right, either will get me to the Super U et Drive in Sauveterre and both take the same amount of time. For a Canadian who’s used to highways that go straight forever this feels very strange.
It was a November morning with frost on the edge of every field, wood smoke lying low over the roofs, and mistletoe showing in the bare trees, and two magpies on a wire discussing it all. Out here, it seems every road gets you to the same place at the same speed.
You’ll love rural France for about four weeks. After that it only holds you if you’re happy with the same walks, the same shops and your own company.
I spent two months in Monségur, a bastide town in the Gironde, after 16 months of moving around France in stays of four weeks or less. This is what living in rural France looked like once the novelty wore off.
How I read a town: Before I write a verdict on anywhere, I run it through the same list: community, seasonality, walkability, markets, train access and internet reliability. Then I wait to see if it still feels like something after two weeks, not the two hours a day trip gives you. Everything below on Monségur is that list, applied.
Table of Contents
The First Four Weeks
We arrived in the middle of October and the weather stayed beautiful for the first few weeks. The house we rented had a garden to sit in and a patio where I did my yoga. The trail around the town started a few steps from the door, and a second trail ran down to the river. The climb back up reminded me I wasn’t in the shape I thought I was, lol.
I walked every street and alley in town too. It was the off-season, between summer and Christmas, so the handful of restaurants took turns being open.
We had the urge to hunt for furniture, but we were renting, so there was no point. Our landlady was lovely and thought of every need. That left me with a quiet house, a garden and a pile of books.
Monségur is a bastide town of 1,579* people in the southern Gironde, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was founded in 1265 by Eleanor of Provence, queen of England.
(*Population: INSEE, Recensement de la population 2023, most recent figures published.)
What I Was Reading
I read two Peter Mayle books while I was there. The Vintage Caper is the first of his Sam Levitt detective stories and it opens in Bordeaux wine country, the same part of France I was living in. It’s what introduced me to Sauternes, which is now one of my favourite wines. Mayle writes about France in a way that makes you want to try whatever he’s describing.
A Year in Provence stayed with me for a different reason. Mayle writes as an outsider looking in, and that’s the reality a lot of expats meet in France, especially in small rural towns. You can speak the language, join in the village customs and make every effort to fit in and you’ll still be a guest in someone else’s culture, never one of the French. That doesn’t mean you’ll be lonely. It means you’ll always be the outsider. I also recognised some of the small town situations he writes about, like socialising over pétanque, which they played in Monségur too. It was a fun read while actually being in France.
Read A Year in Provence and see if it rings true for you.
(Both book links are Bookshop.org affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you and it helps me keep writing.)
When It Got Quiet
Around week five I got bored. The walks I’d loved turned monotonous. The town had a Carrefour Contact (a small grocery store), a Proxi (convenience store) and a tabac, which covered a missing ingredient for dinner or a snack urge and not much else. A proper grocery shop meant a drive of 15 to 20 minutes (18, if you want the exact number).
There’s no train, and maybe a bus that doesn’t run often. The internet was the one thing that never let me down. It was fibre.
I also found out I’m not a market cook. I had my burst of cooking at the start and then it wore off. I love experimenting once in a while, but food isn’t a daily focus for me.
None of this means Monségur was dying. It wasn’t. The streets were kept up and the shops were open. A town can be alive and still not suit you.
Why It’s Hard to Meet People in Rural France
Everyone in town knew who we were fast. We were the Canadians, in a red Mini Cooper with black racing stripes, dressed a little more polished than anyone else.
Monségur is a true rural French town with few expats. We met one English man who lived just outside town, but he’d been there 25 years, so I’d call him more French than English. In other towns with more expats, where we’d stayed for shorter periods, we’d made connections much faster. No one went out of their way to introduce themselves in Monségur.
To be honest, we didn’t try very hard either. We knew we were only there for two months, so we didn’t join any local groups. I kept an eye out for things happening in town and didn’t see much advertised. There was a sports hall down the hill from the town that seemed to be quite busy but not for us for such a short stay.
Family comes first in France, across every part of society, and friends take longer to let in. It might take a while to be invited into someone’s home. Once you are, you’re a true friend, the kind who’d help you bury the bodies if it came to it. In North America you meet someone once and you’re casual acquaintances from then on. It doesn’t work that way here.
In a bigger town or city it’s easier to join groups and activities, so not being invited home feels less lonely. Rural France has fewer things to join.
BTW, if you’re still working out which part of France might suit you, The Tasting: Find Your France Quiz is the free place to start.
Rural France and Rural Ontario
I grew up in rural Ontario, and the people in rural France felt familiar. Rural life in both places runs on the land, on family and on doing things the way they’ve always been done. If that sounds like home, rural France might suit you. If you’re a city person, from Toronto or LA say, I can see it being hard going.
Generally, people also seemed more conservative and less inclined to think outside the box, which I think is why they stay in towns that don’t change. There are always exceptions, of course, and pockets of creative communities exist in both countries. But that’s the pattern I saw in large parts of Ontario and in France.
A lot of young people leave rural towns, which makes sense if you want more than simple day-to-day life. In Monségur, 38%* of residents are retired.
(*Retiree share: INSEE, Recensement de la population 2023, most recent figures published.)
Food and Shopping in Rural France
Food in France can be good, but you adjust your cooking to what the shop has. The French shop, cook and eat seasonally. There’s no asparagus after June.
Fresh milk is hard to find. It’s all UHT, kept on the shelf rather than in the fridge. Gluten-free food is hard to find, and so is anything vegetarian. There’s a lot of tinned beef bourguignon and cassoulet, and oodles of sweetened dairy desserts in single servings. And a lot of organ meats that North Americans are often not used to eating.
The market is a different story. Monségur’s is on Friday mornings, and if you love to cook, that’s where you buy your ingredients. It costs more than the supermarket. Food in France isn’t expensive, but it isn’t as cheap as people romanticise either.
Who Living in Rural France Is Wrong For, and Who It Suits
Wrong for you if
You need things to join or variety. Most small villages in an area look much the same, and a week in one is a week in all of them. We did a lot of day trips in the last three to four weeks, and a few overnight trips, to see something different.
You dress to be noticed. A boutique owner in another small French town put it better than I could, in an expat Facebook group:
“The preference is often to remain discreet and not stand out too much. Elegance and sophistication are sometimes even seen as unnecessary or excessive. It can be quite challenging when you want to offer fashion that is a little more refined, original, and expressive.”
It explained a few things about the Mini Cooper…
You’re adamantly against hunting. Hunting is big in rural France, and Sunday is the day for organised hunts. They happen in large parties, and you’ll see signs on the road warning of a hunt ahead. One group chases the animals out of the undergrowth towards a line of people who do the shooting, so the chase often crosses roads. Chasseurs de France is the national federation if you want the season dates.
Suits you if
You love a simple life, you’re a bit solitary and you like a slower pace. Cooking day to day, going for solitary walks, reading, foraging, which is also big in rural France, or hunting.
Or you love renovating and restoring old buildings and you’re there for the history and the land.
Rent for five weeks first
I usually say to rent for two weeks somewhere to really get a feel for a place. In Monségur, two weeks would have fooled me. I loved weeks one to four and week five told me the truth.
Rent for at least five weeks in a small rural area before you commit to anything. Plum Guide has nothing in Monségur itself, but its rentals in and around the Gironde are one place to start.
(Affiliate link. I earn a small commission if you book, it doesn’t cost you anything extra, and it helps keep the lights on here so I can keep writing about the information and stories you want from France.)
Monségur gave me four good weeks and a clearer idea of what I need from a place. Yours might go differently, especially if the Ontario comparison fits you.
FAQs
Is rural France lonely?
It can be, especially in the first couple of months. Small towns have few expats and fewer groups to join, and French friendships take a while to form, so don’t count on invitations early. We didn’t try very hard to join anything, so I can’t tell you how it goes if you do. Be honest with yourself about how you feel in your own company.
Do you need a car to live in rural France?
Yes. The roads are narrow and often have no centre line, and there are no bike paths like in northern Europe. I found cycling on them scary as there are often no shoulders on the roads, so if you picture biking every day, check the roads before you commit.
What is rural France like in winter?
It’s pretty quiet. A lot of things tourist-focused close. People seem to follow the rhythm of the land and climate, so as a good friend put it, winter is for curling up in front of the fire with a good book.
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