Renovating an Old Fisherman’s Cottage in Palavas-les-Flots, Languedoc

Renovating an old property is not easy, and we bought the house as a buy-to-let during the summer months. Despite its small size (it is only 40 m²), the piéce de résistance is the beautiful balcony from the upstairs bedroom. It lies at the foot of the Palavas Phare (lighthouse), which now has its own live webcam, overlooking the ancient marketplace surrounded by souvenir shops and amazing restaurants.

First, we started by repairing the interior walls, filling in any holes, plastering, and treating them for humidity before painting, cleaning everything in sight, and modernising the kitchen and bathroom. All the furniture was very dated and made of heavy dark wood, so we either gave it away or upcycled it in brighter colours.

When you buy a property in France, the time between putting an offer in to the estate agent and signing the final contract with the sellers and the Notaire normally takes three months, and then we spent two months renovating. It’s a long process.

Palavas is also home to the World’s tiniest teléferic (cable car) at 83m, which takes guests across the canal and Le Petit Train (sightseeing train) to take a tour of the village. It was also one of the first seaside resorts to build a train line from Montpellier, commissioned in 1872 and closed in 1968, but Locomotive no. 81 is immortalised in front of the Federico Garcia Lorca multimedia library in Montpellier.

In Palavas itself, there’s so much to do, from the fishing port to the beaches, the casino, Luna Park fairground, bike rides along the Étang de l’Or (lagoon) and Parc du Levant Albert Edouard featuring a museum dedicated to French cartoonist Albert Dubout, (born in 1905 in Marseille who studied fine arts in Montpellier). In his caricatures, he light-heartedly mocks tourists who took the train from Montpellier to the beach. The museum is well worth a visit.

Not only that, there is a free multistorey car park at the entrance to the town, a swimming pool, concert arena and pétanque, bowling green and a football stadium, as well as numerous volleyball courts and mini golf on the beach.

For anyone interested in buying a house in this area, I would say take your time and find an area you really love. Patience is a virtue. As if renovating a house was not hard enough, we even found time to adopt a puppy from a local charity, found abandoned in a vineyard. His name is Boucan (commotion), and he loves being by the sea.

Fortunately, there’s not too much commotion happening in Palavas, and it’s an excellent place to relax and soak up the 300 days of sunshine a year.