Facing a bear, house against doctor, falling real estate prices… the essential news in the region

L'essentiel de l'information en région chaque soir sur Midilibre.fr – Midi Libre et Envato

Every evening at 8:30 p.m., find the 5 regional news items of the day that you shouldn't have missed.

Wine Feasts

#MONTPEYROUX – This Sunday, October 20, 2024, Montpeyroux (Hérault), hosts the Feasts. A celebration of local wines that will live up to the food and wine pairings imagined by starred chef Daniel Lutrand, sommelier Jean-Philippe Vivant of Pastis, and Philippe Ramon, chef of SouKa. “The restored old church of Montpeyroux lends itself well to this type of event”, savors François Boudou, president of the AOP Languedoc Montpeyroux. On the culinary side, “Very big names have signed the menus of the Régalades, many starred chefs and Meilleurs Ouvriers de France have passed through there”, remembers Philippe Ramon.

The figure of the day: 5

#MILLAU – This is the height of the monumental cross, created by the artist Jean-Jacques Bris, which will soon be erected in the Saint-François church in Millau, in Aveyron. It should be blessed during a mass on November 1, 2024. The result of an order placed by the deanery of the Millau region, this work in patinated brass with gold leaf is currently in the workshop and will join the statue of the Virgin and the two paintings representing the Lamentation.

Barjac buys a luxury villa to attract a doctor

#GARD – The fight against medical deserts is a priority in rural areas. To attract a general practitioner, the town of Barjac, 1,576 inhabitants, in the Gard, 75 km from Nîmes, pulled out all the stops. And a few real estate arguments to tip the scales: a 200 square meter house with a garden, swimming pool and bowling green… Cost of the operation: 1.2 million euros, half for the purchase of the home, the other half for its renovation and installation of medical equipment. “Bourg de l’Uzège, Barjac, Gard, and 14 surrounding villages, looking for doctors", explains on Facebook, the mayor, Edouard Chaulet. Today, Barjac only has one doctor, part-time. Which forces residents to travel miles to consult. The fault, according to the mayor, lies with the lowering of the numerus clausus which deprives rural populations of access to satisfactory medical care.

Real estate: prices down in Hérault

#TREND – A study by the chamber of notaries shows that in Hérault, all real estate combined, transactions show a drop of 29% between July 2023 and June 2024. “We went from 32,640 sales last year (2023) to 23 200", comments Laurent Vialla, notary in Montpellier and president of the Hérault chamber of notaries. This drop in transactions was accompanied by a drop in real estate prices. This drop concerns not only old apartments (- 0.7% over one year) with a median price of around 3,360 euros per m2 but also new apartments (0.8% over one year) with a median price of 4,680 euros per m2 and old houses (- 2.4% over one year) with a median price of 260,000 euros. Two- or three-room apartments represent 61% of sales for old properties and 80% of sales for new properties. Montpellier is not immune to the decline, particularly in the old, in Chamberte, Aiguelongue, the historic center, Pompignane or even Arceaux.

Face to face with a bear

#PYRENEES –“It was a one in a million chance.” Renaud Gouezel still can't believe it. In early October, during a trip to the Pyrenees with three of his bowhunting friends, this Isérois found himself less than 15 m from a bear. It was apparently Néré, the oldest brown bear in the Pyrenees. A moment that he immortalized in a video.
“We had pitched our tents and were going hunting. And I saw this unusual fleece. I understood that it was a bear. Our first reflex was to check if it was a mother with her cub. That would have been dangerous,” explains Renaud. It lasted about 3 minutes. We were watching each other and after a while, he turned around." An experience he won't soon forget.