Holidays in the Languedoc:   Free Holidays

Visiting Friends.  If you regard this as a free holiday, you probably won't be invited again.  A classic complaint of people who move to the Languedoc is that they suffer from visiting friends and relatives who make the mistake of thinking that because they themselves are on holiday, so must their hosts be.

Unless you are visiting friends with a full complement of servants or helpful fairies, you would be wise to share costs, help with housework and clear off out of the way for a suitable period every so often.

In some countries, visitors who stay more than three days are expected to behave like part of the household, sharing all the responsibilities that that entails.  If you copy this example you might get a second invitation.  If you don't, expect to be offered a traditional serving of cold shoulder.

Maisons secondaires.  Not really free of course, even after the initial investment, especially if you forget about maintenence costs.  Also, purchase costs are not the "give away" they once were.  Since Ryan Air started cheap flights from stanstead to several places in the Languedoc, the area has been "discovered".  This means that house prices have doubled in the last few years.  Now, British newspapers are calling it the "New Provence", so it will only get worse.  If you want a bargain, forget rambling farmhouses with a few acres of land around it.  The only bargains are small village houses without gardens.  Here's an idea of what you can expect: http://www.springald.com/rennes/

Free flights. Watch out for free flights.  If the flight out is free and the return flight is twice the usual cost each way, then you're not really gaining.  There again, you're not really loosing either. This is just one of Ryan Air's marketing techniques.

Other. Not really free of course, but some Working Holidays come with food and accommodation provided, and very little work expected.  See Working holidays