Port-la-Nouvelle, France

The town of Port la Nouvelle is an active fishing port as well as a commercial port trading with Africa (wood, ore, grain, and oil). The house is located on the entry channel to the port in a residential zone, between the old town and the beach: large ships unload their cargos under our windows.
 The beach is only 800 metres from the house; it is a big beach (7 km long) with fine sand and is one of the cleanest in France. The beach can be reached by car very easily. In summer, the water temperature varies between 17°C and 27°C. Air temperature oscillates between 25°C and 40°C. On average, it rains only for 1 or 2 days a month! The only real weather risk is the wind, which can blow very strongly for several days and make bathing in the sea impossible. Happily, our garden is well sheltered from the wind.

The house has 3 storeys each of about 60m2:
-ground floor: a large fully equipped kitchen (dish-washer, microwave oven, etc..), hall, toilets, sitting-room (T.V.) with access to the terrasse and garden.
-first floor: 2 bedrooms looking onto the garden (2 twin beds per bedroom), 1 bedroom looking onto the port (1 double bed), 1 bathroom (bath), 1 bathroom (shower), and 1 toilet. All the windows are double glazed to eliminate noise from the port.
-second floor: a large room recently renovated (50m2 and 6 metres in height under the heighest point of the roof) with a sleeping area (2 twin beds), bathroom (bath), kitchen area, mezzanine (hammocks and bookshelves) and a terrasse for sunbathing and admiring the countryside.
 The garden is surrounded by high stone walls and finishes with a second terrasse (barbecue, outside shower) and a large garage (40m2) which opens onto a calmer road than the one which is parallel to the entry channel to the port. In the garage you will find boards for windsurfing, 2 sea kayaks, 4 bikes, a ping-pong table...
 The local market and other shops are nearby.
 From a tourist point of view, our region is very interesting (sun, sea, small lakes, mountains, vines, and scrubland) and from a historical point of view (prehistoric and gallo-roman vestiges, castles dating from the Middle Ages, roman churches, fortified villages).
There are numerous artistic events in the villages by the sea and in the hinterland (exhibitions, concerts, local festivities). The geographic position of this seaside town makes it an excellent “base camp” for outings: Barcelona, Toulouse and Montpellier are less than 2 hours away by train or car.