We have a house inland from La Rochelle. Lovely area. Very rural and unspoilt but with lots of hidden gems. Including some lovely and inexpensive restaurants!
As for weather - well it's usually about 10 degrees C higher than East Anglia, and usually very sunny in the summer. Except this year - wettest and coldest for some time.
Go and spend some time there and see. La Rochelle is lovely. But don't ignore the stuff inland around Angouleme and Limoges. Bordeaux is good but very busy and terrible traffic!
Nick
