Property Guide to Mayenne Pays de La Loire

Mayenne in the Pays de la Loire is a landlocked department with three districts: Château-Gontier, Mayenne, and Laval. It’s a tranquil land of rivers and forests, small villages and historic towns, and it’s a place where the property prices, and a laid-back way of life, are seriously tempting.
With a population of around 300,000, Mayenne is uncrowded. The department is named after the 121-mile-long River Mayenne, which, long abandoned by commercial traffic is now a popular cruising waterway and flows to Angers in neighbouring Maine-et-Loire, at the edge of the Loire Valley.

Green and well connected

The department takes a pinch of influence from its neighbours the Loire Valley, Normandy and Brittany and then it adds a little je ne sais quoi of its own. For instance, it has its own microclimate which means its warmer than Normandy. Like the Loire Valley, it’s lush and green and has fabulous vineyards and loads of Chateaux. And like Brittany, the local produce is delicious with the main industry of Mayenne being agricultural.

Transport links for Mayenne are excellent. The fast TGV train links Laval to Paris in little over an hour, nearby Rennes airport has flights to several cities in the UK as well as Europe. Calais is 4.5 hours away by road and it’s a 2.5-hour drive to Dieppe for the ferry service to Newhaven. Trains to Paris from Laval take from 1 hour and 44 minutes, and it’s just an hour to Le Mans by car.

There are numerous cycle routes including the Velo Francette which runs through Mayenne’s glorious countryside and stretches from Ouistreham in Brittany to La Rochelle in Charente-Maritime. The Mayenne Valley is a network of hiking, walking and cycling paths, crossed by lakes and tributaries.
Mayenne has flattish arable land in the south and more rolling hills to the north. There are thriving towns, and the department has a rich history and plenty of cultural treasures such as the magnificent grottoes at Saulges with cave paintings from pre-history, the 2000-year-old Roman capital of Jublains, as well as the astonishing Robert Tatin Museum near Laval.

Laval

The largest city is Laval, the capital though it’s the sort of small city where you can walk everywhere quite easily. It’s a designated “town of art and history” and very pretty. There’s plenty to see and do in the town.

On market days (Tuesday and Saturday), Place de la Trémoille, steaming pans of paella, roasted chickens and huge bowls of buttery new potatoes stop you in your tracks. Jet black shiny mussels are bagged up by vendors at a rate of knots, alongside plump oysters from Cancale. At one end of Place de la Trémoille a church looms, bells toll on the hour. Its mellow stone walls a brilliant backdrop for the market. At the other end is the chateau of the Lords of Laval, its bright white exterior glistens in the sunshine. Now an art venue which hosts one of the largest naieve art collection in France and features major works by Henri Rousseau who was born in the town. In the side streets are cobbled wiggly roads and half-timbered houses, and cosy cafés, dinky creperies and bistros. Don’t miss the local cheese specialities: the famous Port-Salut is made at Entrammes, just outside Laval. Other Mayenne-made cheeses include Chamois d’or, Chaussée aux Moines, Vieux Pané, Saint Paulin, Rouy, Babybel, Bons Mayennais and Président.

The department is a leading dairy producer which make it an ideal choice for the world’s largest dairy museum Lactopole in Laval.

Plenty of space and a laid back vibe

Once hardly known even to the French, Mayenne has become more popular in the last few years as home buyers seek tranquil locations with plenty of space, surrounded by countryside. Property prices remain affordable with plenty of bargains to be found, especially for those willing to take on some renovation. Being a somewhat undiscovered area means that there is plenty of affordable property from chateaux – possibly the most famous being that of Dick and Angel Strawbridge of Escape to the Chateau whose Chateau de la Motte Husson is about 20km from Laval – to farmhouses, farm workers cottages and traditional stone houses. For those seeking equestrian properties, Mayenne is definitely an area to consider with lots of space and properties with lots of land.

The warm weather arrives early in spring and can last right through to October or even November. In winter it can get cold, but rarely snows and the cold months don’t last too long.

If you’re looking for a tranquil area, where property prices are tempting then this could be just the place.

Expat life in Mayenne

Edward North from Yorkshire is now a local. Having often holidayed with his wife in France, they dreamed of moving there, and when he was offered redundancy, saw a chance to make the dream come true. His wife agreed to give up her high pressure job and they searched for their ideal property. They chose Mayenne because it fitted their criteria for beautiful countryside and a great choice of relatively cheap properties. They found their ideal home which had lots of land, big barns and no close neighbours. “We fancied a change in pace of life and we have certainly found it here” says Edward. We asked Edward to tell us why Mayenne is an idea place for expats to consider their good life in France…

What’s the best thing about living in Mayenne?

The best thing about living in Mayenne is its welcome. Foreigners and French got together years ago to create the Association Euro-Mayenne. This is an organisation set up specifically to help us incomers to integrate and socialise with our new neighbours. All sorts of things are organised from barbecues to gardening clubs, to walking clubs to French lessons with a native French teacher at beginner, intermediate or advanced levels to suit. I have never experienced resentment to me as a new arrival to the area. We are self sufficient but, if we need it, we know that help and advice is at hand. If you like your privacy it is quite possible to preserve that in this quiet corner of France, but there is never a need to feel isolated.

I came to France to experience French living and we have landed in an unspoiled area where a traditional way of life still exists. Our friends are mainly French people and they are really kind and considerate. The countryside tradition is to welcome visitors to your house. It is almost impossible for me to drop in on a neighbour without stopping to drink a coffee. I can tell my wife “I’m just popping to see Claude, won’t be long”. I’m guaranteed to return home at least an hour and a half later having travelled 500 metres. There is also a tradition of the fête des voisins (celebration of neighbours) and when a neighbour we didn’t know arrived at our house to invite us to join her and others at her house for this celebration we readily accepted. Our circle of friends widened even further as a result. So for me the best thing about being here is: friends and neighbours and the feeling that we’re not too late to enjoy the true spirit of France.

What are the seasons like?

In winter it can get cold, though not as cold as Yorkshire. We sometimes get -5 degrees and a little bit of snow. But winter doesn’t last long and is usually done by late March. A smattering of snow lasts only a day or two. Spring is short and variable and soon gives way to summer. Summer seems to last well into October even November. It can be hot and dry and the farmers often bemoan the lack of water. But we manage to grow all the ingredients for ratatouille in our own garden!

See Leggett Immobilliers portfolio of properties in Mayenne.

By Janine Marsh, Editor of The Good Life France, and author of several books about France.