An angry blog posting from January about successive line closures in this part of France:

https://raildusud.canalblog.com/2025/01/busseau-sur-creuse-felletin-etat-et-region-prets-a-enterrer-l-un-des-derniers-vestiges-des-radiales-nord-sud-du-massif-central.html

The commenters are rather sceptical about disused railway trackbeds and structures being repurposed as voie vertes (greenways). But far rather that than ploughed up and forgotten, as happened to most of our Beeching-era closures. (There's a Facebook group chronicling the absolute destruction of the Great Central which just makes me weep.)

When I cycled through France in May I was astonished at the rate of voie verte construction - at both Cahors on the Lot, and on the Via Ardeche near to Vallon-Pont d'Arc, there were brand new routes that hadn't even been mapped on OpenStreetMap yet. (Pics attached.) It seems to be generally accepted that the rest of the Lot valley line will become a greenway, after the community rail endeavour finally gave up any hope of raising the inflated sums SNCF were demanding to put the railway back in good order. A tourist region like the Lot really ought to have good quality public transport, of course. But maybe little Felletin could get a voie verte.

 
There's a lot of grumbling from rural France about the loss of local shops and services - medical in particular. But it's patchy; I think having a large town offering competition nearby is a big factor. Of course not having one means there aren't many jobs. On the whole, though, small towns in France do still have most of standard features you expect - including a restaurant doing proper meals - but it can be hard to see how they survive.

The Atlantic coast is a bit different. I've never made it all the way to Le Croisic, largely because there's not much there. It's a long coast, with similar little places all along that are doing fairly well. In some ways they are supported by all the holiday second homes, as well as local trippers and people working inland. The big towns and cities nearby help with the last two. Of course Le Croisic has the added feature that the trains serving St Nazaire and the built-up coast west of it (including La Baule, which is rather posh) need to stop somewhere before its wheels get too wet.

Second homes don't always have a positive effect, of course. But in France they are owned by people much further down the income scale, and in larger numbers, than here (3.7 million vs 0.7). They were built in large numbers from the 70s, when buyers wanted small new apartments rather than primitive old one to do up. More recently builders have even offered new-build tiny fisherman's cottages! So they don't compete to occupy the locals' housing, and are often let much of the year via local agents so they also supply further holiday visitors. The problems have been more with overdevelopment and building in the wrong places.

The countryside does have a holiday market, and gîtes, but it's mostly diffuse and only a few honeypot locations can do what the coast does to support businesses.

 
A detail from that article, the train that overnights at the terminus with the crew having a permanently-booked room at the nearby hotel.

Mark

 
Some more pictures - this time from Limoges to Felletin for the more rail folks

 
https://railwayworld.net/2025/03/28/death-of-a-french-branch-line/


Picking up on Gareth David's article ... I took the opportunity to visit Felletin today while there's still a chance - I have written at https://grahamellis.uk/blog1647.html