You know you have been in France too long when…
May 31, 2007 by Tony · 4 Comments
In my trawling around the Internet looking for niches and structures I can work with, I came across this group in Facebook You know you have been too long in France when. You need to join facebook to read it but it seems most of the world is already a member, which is worrying as there seem to be billions of people in there and I keep getting told “You have no friends” – twas ever thus.
When I looked there were 792 reasons listed and anyone can join in and add their thoughts.
For example…
You know you have been in France too long when…
* When you go into a bar (or restaurant), say hello then try to kiss everyone wife, girlfriend or daughter.
* When you are in a bar back home, you order the first round of drinks then walk away without attempting to pay.
* When your head instinctively turns when you hear someone speaking English.
* When you wonder why your boss has a problem with you taking a 3-hour lunch break and coming back with wine on your breath and then sitting at your desk reading the paper.
* When back home you go into a shop and say hi and no one replies.
My favorite has to be …
* …and when you feel the need to join a group like this
Lists of the Departments in France
May 30, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
Many French people learn the departments in France and their associated numbers at school – I have even been to a Lotto (Bingo) where the caller gave the names of the main town in a department instead of a number, Lyon for 69 (RhoneAlps), Bourge en Bresse for 01 (Ain), Montpellier for 34 (Herault), Narbonne for 11 (Aude) etc, you can see what an exciting life I have.
Department numbers are very useful for knowing where things are from, using maps to find towns etc – we are using them on the Google maps on the new sites.
A reader asked for a list, I made this when we started websites in 1996 so some links I show for information are wrong, but the lists are accurate.
==
Tony
I would like a list of department numbers by number so that I may read wine labels and find out more about where the wine is from. Can you direct me to such a list?
Thank you
David
==
Hello David
I have some pages which I made some time ago which will give you this information, you can get there from this page…
http://www.nizas.com/departments/
Some of the links may be out of date now and I will try to go back and check on all the links and improve the information, but the list is accurate.
Enjoy the wine
Best wishes
Tony
France tops quality of life 2007′s index
May 27, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
After all the data collected by International Living (health, quality of life, modernity, culture, security, money, etc.) has been crunched, France has come first on the list of the countries in the world offering the best quality of life. At the bottom of the list came Iraq
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Another first position for France is as the most popular country in the world (again) for tourism by number of visitors in 2006.
The 10 most touristed countries in 2006
1.France 76million
2.Spain 54million
3. U.S.A.47 million
4. China 42 million
5. Italy 38 million
6. U.K. 28 million
7.HongKong 22 million
8. Mexico 21 million
9.Germany 21 million
10.Austria 20 million
Source: The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2007 (ISBN: 1861978251)
Buying Property to Let in France
May 27, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
Many people are asking for advice about investing in rental property in France as an investment for a pension or other long term investment. I recently did a brief study with a client on four apartments in Sete where I estimated the return should be about 10 percent (before taxes).
As with just about all matters to do with property, it is all dependant on location. Sete is a very particular case, there are other towns I believe are also very good investment areas, and some which I do not think are as viable.
I found this Calculator for investment returns online for 20 dollars which may be useful – if anyone has bought it or knows of other similar software I would be very interested to hear about it.
coast and country, Diary, Financial, french property, investment, investment areas, long term investment, property in france, rental property in france
Compensation for Planning Blight
May 27, 2007 by Tony · 2 Comments
If you buy your home for a great view, a quite neighbourhood or for local services, nice neighbours or low taxes – guess what will happen next !
I read somewhere, “The only thing certain in life is change” (Google says it was Confucius, but he didn’t speak English – please mail me if you know who it was).
France is not a country with a “compensation culture” – the quote “All for one and one for all” comes from Dumas ( I am pretty sure about that) and the Rights Of Man are engraved in stone “literally” in many public places in France.
However, here is a mail exchange I had today ….
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Jatropha Plantations in France
May 26, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
Jatropha is a word I have never noticed hearing before today, when a client asked about buying 50 hectares of land here in Languedoc to grow it as a crop for bio-diesel production.
A quick read through some Google searches seems to indicate the Mediterranean climate may – or may not be suitable for Jatropha Curcas but I am not sure that replacing vines with a poisonous shrub in the South of France is a good idea – does anyone know anything about this ?
Buying Agricultural Land in France
If you are purchasing a property in France with a hectare or more of land, then the purchase will be brought to the the attention of SAFER http://www.safer.fr/ (The Société d’Amenagément Foncier et d’Establissement Rural) by the Notaire.
This can cause problems you did not expect and you must get all matters clearly sorted, (by your honest and clever estate-agent) in writing, before you sign.
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A Kingdom for a Stage
May 26, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
And it really is – I am always asked for photos and information about the towns and villages properties are in – as most French estate agents do not even tell you where a property is until you sign a paper guaranteeing their commission, showing local photos is just not done – until now.
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The Brightest Heaven of Invention
May 26, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
A “Muse of Fire” would be useful when I am writing these notes about my days of working as an estate agent in France – I spend a lot of time answering questions and “walking through” the legal agreements with clients. This is not very creative, but it can be very satisfying.
For example, a couple of weeks ago we sold a wonderful old wine-growers house, dating from the mid 19th century to a young man from the UK who only had one day to look at property in Languedoc. Although he clearly loved the property, he was not sure if it would please his wife – I was “willing” him to make an offer as it really was a fantastic bargain. Anyway, he rang from the airport and said he would offer the asking price – in French law this means that he had secured the property as I have the mandat from the owner at this price and it could then be considered the the deal was done.
Today has been a delight in going through the eleven pages of his agreement, by telephone, of the “Compromis de Vente” which is the legal agrement for the buyer to buy and the seller to sell. I really am pleased for him and his wife, who will love this gem.
A muse would also be useful when writing the details of properties for the website – I loathe the misleading way many agents describe their properties and are so “economical with the truth” that what is left totally misleads people looking – I try to do justice for the owner of the property, but I try hard to describe any property so that someone living on the other side of the world can make a real evaluation as to whether it is worth the plane fare, hotels and car hire to come to France and view the property.
Clients very often send me a link to another agent’s description asking for my honest evaluation of the property – only too frequently I have to respond with details that I really believe should have been in the advert in the first place.
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A day of dreams
May 26, 2007 by Tony · Leave a Comment
A lot of my time is spent in reading and replying to emails from people looking for property or asking about making a life in France.
Carole and I came to France to escape from, what we saw as, a decaying society in England in the early 1990’s – education promised nothing for our two infant daughters. The Thatcher years had left an inheritance of selfish exploitation of commercial interests and it seemed to me that the rich would become richer and isolated and the rest could buy lottery tickets.
As an estate agent I am seeing the dreams of people from all over the world who are looking at France and seeing a “Shangri La†(with wine) – don’t get me wrong, I believe it is a great place to be or we would not stay – I can’t think of a better place to live with the resources and skills we have – but I do try to strip the “rose tinting†from glasses.
Where we live, at this time and in this region I sincerely believe is just about the best place in the world for us to be. If you are mega-rich, then you are not like me and have different problems, but if you have some freedom of choice about where and how you will live, then perhaps I can help you find your dreams – a little.
I have answered a lot of mails today about old, inexpensive stone houses near the Mediterranean, there are not many are left to find, it is a finite resource. What will I do when they are extinct?