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Drôme

Drome property guide

Drome is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan) region in the east of France named after the Drôme River.

Geography

Drôme is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, located in the south-eastern part of France, and named after the Drôme river that flows through this area. The main city is Valence but Montelimar, Romans sur Isère, Die or Nyons are other significant towns. Most of the area belongs to the Alpes territory while the rest spreads over the Vallée du Rhône. The river Rhône determines the west frontier of the département.

Climate

Due to the different altitudes and landscapes of the area, the climate is diverse: influences from the continental, Mediterranean and mountain climates can be found and sometimes mixed together in the Drôme Département: In the eastern part, the climate is clearly mountainous whereas the southern part of Drôme is bathed by the Mediterranean climate.

Towns

Valence, situated alongside the river Rhone, is the capital of the département and is the first stop on the Mediterranean TGV line. Valence knew how to preserve its traditional charm with its local markets, pedestrian and commercial streets. Art and History are two key words related to this city where you can discover its cathedral, museum or its cruises along the Rhone.
Montélimar is considered as Porte du Soleil (the Door to the Sun) and is the capital of Nougat which is a traditional confectionery made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. Wandering in the pedestrian old town streets, visiting the Chateau des Adhemar, its contemporary art centre and its numerous museums (miniature, Nougat and sweets museums) are must do.
Located next-door to the Vercors, Romans is the city of the shoe with its International Museum exhibiting more than 13,000 collector’s items and renowned shoemakers’ creations. In August, music festivals are taking place offering free concerts place de l’Horloge every Thursday.

History

The Drôme is one of the 83 départements created in the year 1790, during the French Revolution. It was created from the former province of Dauphine.

Gastronomy

Drôme offers a great variety of gastronomy products such as peaches and nectarines, white garlic (Ail Blanc), meat from pure pre-alpine bred lamb, olives and olive oil.
The département can also be proud of its specialities: Ravioles are a Royans speciality made of fresh wheat paste, Comte and cottage cheese and parsley; Drôme truffles are dug up in Tricastin, Val de Drôme or Coteaux de Romans and are famous for their strong and wild taste.
As for cheese, Drôme counts a few local products such as Picodon, Bleu du Vercors Sassenage or Banon. Picodon is a type of goat cheese, disc shaped with a thin crust and benefits from the Apellation d’Origine Controlée label which testifies to its origin and quality. Bleu du Vercors Sassenage is a soft cheese with a taste of parsley and nuts, made from cow milk solely. Finally, Banon is a soft cheese made from raw and full-fat goat milk, folded in chestnut leaves.
Drôme vineyards consists of a great variety of Apellation d’Origine Controlée labelled wines and domestic wines, such as AOC Côtes du Rhônes, AOC Côtes du Tricastin… The département benefits from an ideal mix of sunshine and wetness for the wine-growing activity.

Activities

Sporting and green tourism: during the winter, skiing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and sled dog excursions are all available in Drôme. During the summer period, Drome offers a wide range of activities such as excursions, horse riding, mountain biking, climbing, paragliding or golf.
As for the cultural tourism, Drôme is full of Monument, churches, museums, castles and local villages that are worth seeing. For example, you can visit the Shoe or Miniature museums, the Crocodiles farm, le Chateau de Grignan or the little village of Le Poet-Laval.

Useful information:

Tourism office in Rhone Alps
www.francetourism.com

Maps of Rhone Alps
www.ign.fr
www.maps.google.fr

Travel from the UK

By air: Easyjet flies from London Stansted to Lyon, and from Bristol, London Luton and London Gatwick to Lyon.
Easyjet flies from every airport in the UK to Geneva.
Ryanair flies from London Stansted to Grenoble.

Ski season flights from the UK: Jet2 flies from Manchester and Leeds to Chambéry (on December)
BMI flies from London Heathrow to Lyon (from December 3rd to April 21 st)
British Airways flies from London Gatwick to Grenoble (from Dec 10 th)
Flybe flies to Chambéry from Southampton (from Dec 15 th) and from Birmingham (from Dec. 18th).

Our team of sale advisers at Sextant Properties will be happy to help you to find a property in Drôme. We have a large network of estate agents in Drôme. All of them are registered French real estate agents and speak both French and English. Whatever kind of property you are looking for: farmhouse, barn, gite, B&B, country house, chalet, we will do our best to find a ski property in Drôme matching your requirements. To find out more about our properties for sale in Drôme do not hesitate to contact us.

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