Warm Sunday Bread -

Coffee honey and fruit -

A few crumbs are left -

After Breakfast at Villa Roquette

Breakfast at our Villa Roquette b&b starts the day with golden warmth

It was not a “Dark and Stormy Night” – but a bright and Sunny day today, so we went to the seaside to collect some seashells for my Mum.

Not much more to say really except “Wish You Were Here” and show some photos or Marseillan Beach and Marseillan Town (the beach is on the Mediterranean and the Port is slightly inland on a huge inland sea-lake.

Marseillan Beach on the Mediterranean in Languedoc

Marseillan harbour Entrance Languedoc France

Marseillan Port

Front Entrance for Villa Roquette

We collected plenty of sea-shells, but could not get a stick-of-rock for my Mum.

Our VillaRoquette January sale has ended, many guests took our special early bird offer and have booked our apartments or BandB for later this year – we still have most of March and April free so we are starting our March Sale for any booking made from now until the end of April at half price, subject to availability. Book with a deposit now and pay the balance on arrival.

Since writing this headline I have had the poem I remember from my first school buzzing in my head – I always recall the last verse as we said it loud in class – chanting it in a quick, staccato and finishing loudly with “Cheap Tin Trays”

Cargoes by John Masefield –

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British Coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rail, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

I can’t promise Apes or Peacocks, but Sweet White Wine is on the menu.

Although home ownership in France is increasing, most people live in rented accommodation. In major cities apartment living is the usual way of life.

The Internet is changing the way we do many things, until recently nearly all property rentals were arranged through an an agent immobilier – estate agent – this was their main business, but increasingly home rentals are advertised and sought online. Sales of private properties have increased, as has the number of agencies and the rental service has changed, although there are usually some specialist agencies offering rentals in large towns.

In France the tenant has very strong rights and is protected in many ways from exploitation by landlords. But this protection has caused problems for property owners. There are many cases where an owner has not received any rent for years yet cannot gain access to their own property. This has discouraged owners from renting and there are changes now planned to some laws which give fair rights to both owners and tenants.

At present an unfurnished property will be offered normally on a standard three year agreement, renewable for a further two three year periods with fixed maximums to the increase of rent to be paid. Furnished accommodation is often offered on a one year agreement and a registered student can obtain a nine month agreement.

Unless there are restrictions (as there are in central Paris) a furnished property can be rented as a seasonal or vacation property for any period less than six months. In central Paris only one year tenancy agreements can be offered, vacation rentals are not allowed, unless the proeprty is correctly registered and rated as a commercial property (very few are).

The tenant can cancel the rental agreement with three month notice. The owner can only request vacant possession at the end of the period of the lease if they require if for their own use or intend to sell the property. If the property is offered for sale the tenant has the first right of refusal to purchase. An owner cannot artificially inflate the selling price or use other devices to inconvenience the tenant without risking expensive penalties.

If you are looking for rented accommodation and use estate agents, you need to know that there is no central listing service so it is necessary to get information from all agencies in a region to find the available properties.

Many commercial owners do prefer to use agencies to assist in protecting them from “troublesome” tenants. Agents will charge normally at least one months rent commission for finding a suitable tenant and about the same each year for managing the rental. Howeern renting diret from an owner does not often reduce the rental demanded, although you mayb able to negotiate the deposit required.

Agencies will normally demand a further two months, sometimes three months, rent as a security deposit. This is only repaid at the end of the tenancy after a full inspection of the property has been completed.

When a tenancy has been agreed, a detailed inspection (an ̩tat des lieux) is made Рther are standard foms for this and it is usually ery detailed. The tenant should check carefully all entries, note any prior defects or damage to the property and take photographs where possible. Make an note of every hole, scratch, mark or stain. For a landlord to claim a property had to be completely repainted and to charge a huge professional rate for this to the departing tenant does happen.

Unfurnished property can be very basic, a kitchen may only have a basic sink, I have seen properties where the light bulbs are removed and not offered with the property. If you are taking over a property and view it when it is occupied, do not expect any of the fittings and fixtures to remain, or insist that those items which are with the property are listed and agreed.

Be sure you are aware of any other costs in renting. You will be liable for the taxe d’habitation each year. Interestingly it is the person who occupies the property on January the first of a year who is liable, so if you move in on January the 2nd you get 364 day free of this tax for your first year. The owner of the property is liable for the other local tax the taxe fonciere. Check what this is at the local Mairie.

There are other charges on a property, especially apartments. Management, maintenance and concierge charges may apply, be sure to get these confirmed and explained in writing before you sign an agreement. These charges do change annually, rarely downwards.

Services are usually paid by the tenant, most usually water gas and electricity, but also waste collection and other services may be added charges. Check carefully what is included in the rental.

Once you have found a place to rent and are comfortable with the agreement, you will have to prove your income. This is usually proof of at least the previous three months income, a contract of employment, bank statement details. Your disposable income should be at least three times the rent demanded. If there is any problem, you may also be asked to supply one or more guarantors who have assets or proven income to support your charges. Guarantors are almost certain to be demanded if you are self employed or an “artist”. Now you know why many famous artists lived in squalid garrets, they could not get a proper apartment.

In most cases you will need a French bank account as payment will usually be demanded by autonomic monthly payment.

However, first you have to find your property – this is anther article.

Our home in the village of Montblanc is between the towns of Beziers and Pezenas. We are a few minutes from the Mediterranean, and are now the focus of a communications network of airports, motorways and high speed rail connection – yet we nestle in a calm and tranquil river valley which has not changed for centuries.

I am busy sorting out the marketing for our Apartments and Bed and Breakfast accommodation in our home and
we are offering some great deals and discounts for 2010 in our January Sale.

These are exciting times, the new Motorway from Paris, the A75, a

rrives a few kilometers from us. You cross the highest viaduct in the world, often above the clouds, at Millau.

For centuries, over 800 years, after the crusade against the Cathars, Languedoc was a forgotten backwater, lost in time. The combination of sun, soil and steam-trains in the 19th century brought enormous wealth to this quiet paradise, but not many visitors. The Internet has changed this – in under 20 years, Languedoc has become not only the most desirable place to live in France, but the wines, once considered a vast lake of  cheap plonk, are now rated as some of the best in the world. The sun shines longer in Languedoc and communications are the best in France with the best road, rail and air connections in France.

 

 

At the center of Languedoc is the city of Beziers. An ancient Roman town which still has bullfights in the arena each year. Famous for the birthplace of the Canal du Midi, a World heritage Site and also for the massacre of thousands in the crusades against the Cathars in the 14th century.

Beziers is coming back to life with a new airport and new ideas to show the world how Languedoc became the cradle of Western Civilisation in the age of the courts of love of the troubadours.

A new website from Beziers begins to show the return of this cradle of enlightenment.

 

 

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If you are finding it hard to concentrate on work after Christmas and the new year – then what you need is a holiday.

What better than coming to stay with us in our Apartments or Bed and Breakfast in Montblanc.

To relax you and get you in the mood, here is a jigsaw puzzle of a typical street in our village……

Slide the pieces with your mouse….

Or click on the picture or link below….

Montblanc street

I am a fan of Jeremy Clarkson, his column in the Sunday Times may be the only floppy copy I read each week, apart from his motoring section which rates the Lada higher than the Audi (so do I and I love the Dacia)

He got a column ‘pulled’ recently for suggesting the tying of some chap called Mandelson to the front of a van and parading him around the UK in an attempt to cheer up the increasingly fed-up population of Britain. It seems that this chap Mandy is an unelected lord of all things and responsible for supporting rich people and generally being important. There is also a Mr Brown somewhere and another chap called Darling – it all sounds like the cast of a Blackadder farce, but it isn’t.

Basically the censored article said how fed-up lot of people are with Britain and would love to live somewhere else, France for example, but JC pointed out that there is a teensy problem with paperwork and bureaucracy in France which an Englishman would not get on with.

I am an Englishman and I do not get on well with French paperwork – actually I do not get on well with any paperwork, but I get it in spades in France and really do very badly.

But this is the point – it seems a universal truth that the ‘quality of life’ in France is recognised as being among the best in the world – millions of people leave their own countries and come to live in France. More people come to France to experience the French lifestyle and culture than to any other country in the world.

Yes France does have a horrid number of civil servants, a low income level, privacy and secrecy laws to stun a goldfish and a reputation of being cheese eating surrender monkeys – I refute all of these (well not all, there are a lot of civil servants and a lot of cheese).

On another blog I started at http://2337.com I am presenting facts and opening discussions relating to some legislation affecting short term rentals in Paris. I am doing it because for over a year I have been anticipating some public announcements which will affect anyone who is involved in renting private apartments in Paris, owners, agents and tenants, many of whom read my newsletter or write to me.

Sadly this will inevitably affect some good agencies, some owners who have invested their savings in rental properties and many years of hard work. By my publishing this now and by trying to present the true facts, the good guys could adapt their services and do well – the bad guys who have robbed and tricked people will, I hope, be made to pay.

But what I found interesting in the debates underway on that blog is the assumption that the City of Paris is shooting itself in the foot and that this is ‘bad for tourism’ and will ‘lose Paris income from tourists’.

My belief is that the people of Paris do not give a fig or a tuppenny damn for tourist income and this is the point I am trying to make in this post.

The quality of life in France is good exactly because the French national character values a human lifestyle with values expressed in conversation, food, local shops, affordable homes and which respects a philosopher above transient celebrity. Whereas many other societies establish the value of everything in money.

This explains to me why there is so much control, why I have to do everything in quadruplet and in black ink yet also why health care and education are brilliant. It is because people care about their cities, villages, homes and family life and prefer to have local shops and Parisians living in Paris than chase the quick shilling/dollar/yen/whatever.

The people of Venice are protesting in the streets about the circus their city has become, the city of London is a derelict wasteland in the evenings (I lived in the Barbican for a while).

Wisely, Paris built their Disneyland outside the city – they plan to keep it there.

Now I must get back to filling in another form to wind up a company I have never wanted, never used and which has cost me a fortune but is still there because I missed a dozen pink forms which I only returned in triplicate when everyone knows they have to be in quintuplet.

Post Script…

I am delighted to see that the censored article is back on the Times online site at Tie Mandy to a van Perhaps there is hope – Yogi Blair is not president of Europe and Oz the Rupe did not tug his whatnot for Mandiavelli

I have started a blog at http://2337.com which is currently only about one subject – The Rental of Residential Apartments in Central Paris.

I did this as I believe that it is a very important subject which may be putting a lot of people at serious risk, both financially and for personal security.

It is against the law of France to rent an apartment designated as a residential property for a period of less than one year (nine months in the case of a student rental). Most apartments in Paris, the vast majority, are residential apartments as opposed to commercial property. The owner faces a fine of 25,000 euro plus 1,000 euro a day plus 5 years in jail if there is an infringement. The renter is not likely to be able to have insurance cover as the occupancy is illegal.

I have been aware of the problem for over a year and the law has been on the statutes for a long time, but the storm-clouds are gathering. Recently the penalties have been increased and a new bureau has been created an empowered to take action against property owners (not tenants) so I have been investigating this by interviewing the authorities concerned last week. I am also trying to find solutions for owners and renters that comply with the laws.

Prices charged for vacation and holiday rentals for private lets in Paris are a minimum of four times the rental charged for a regular tenant, it is often many times more than this and the acute shortage of rental accommodation in the city, partly caused by these apartments not being available to Parisians pushes prices up.

Interestingly, as in the city of London, it is actually illegal for the owner of a private apartment in Paris to offer this for rent as a vacation property, or for any form of short-term furnished letting. There are a few exceptions, registered commercial properties for example, or for rentals to students, but these represent a small number of those properties advertised on the hundreds of websites offering Paris apartments.

The laws are clear, but, like many things in France, these laws have not been applied – until now…..

To read the full posing and follow the comments on this important subject please see the full article here.

Now that I have stopped working (well almost) on the house, I am back to marketing and getting guests for our apartments and BandB. We first started this in our old home in Nizas 12 years ago and did all our marketing through the Internet – hopefully I can get back into the same flow as before, there is a lot more actiity on the internet now and the days of getting to the top of Alta Vista in a couple of hours are long gone – the tricks I used then would get me banned from Google for life. I am looking at what is on offer for help in Internet marketing, the rules and ruses seem top be the same, just follow the Google motto of ‘Do No Evil’ – a good website I found is http://www.nikkipilkington.com/about-us/ – Nikki looks good too! (plus she’s a biker)

Hopefully my 20 years experience of Internet marketing will get me started, but I will always look for good skills and help. I don’t have the strong websites I used to own, which got to the top of all French accommodation listings, but I will – Start All Over Again –

If you are thinking of coming to France – stay with us – I will try to make you an offer you cannot refuse.

Villa Roquette