French property watch: Location makes Eure a prime spot for buyers

Departmental capital: Evreux

Main cities/towns: Vernon, Louviers, Val-de-Reuil, Gisors, Bernay, Pont-Audemer

Situated away from the coast, the Eure does not have the silly prices of some parts of Normandy but it shares the ease of access.

For Parisians (and others), the temptation to buy must be strong. The average price of a flat in Evreux is €1,710 per m² and for €1,905 per m² you can purchase a house there.

No fewer than four autoroutes pass through the department (the A13, A28, A131 and A154), meaning it is little more than 90 minutes from Paris, and under an hour from Le Havre.

Away from the main roads, the Eure’s rolling plains, wooded hills and river-laced valleys allow you to quickly swap the hustle and bustle for rural calm.

Evreux, was shelled heavily by the Germans during the war, destroying 46% of the city’s buildings. Some of the reconstruction was done in concrete, but an effort was also made to rebuild using the orange and red bricks from the region, and even to restore some timber- framed buildings.

Most of the industry in the department is carried out by small and medium-sized businesses, and there are a lot of them. Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, plane parts and electronic gadgets of all kinds come out of the factories, and the workers are well paid, adding to a general feeling of quiet prosperity.

Historically, too, the Eure has been a hive of industry, with hundreds of watermills built to run all sorts of machines. Many are now highly sought-after homes.

In summer, tourists flock to the gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny, where the water lilies and streams he painted are kept as when he was alive.

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