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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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France Voila - Newsletter #63
Pezenas - France - July 27 , 2002 1. How to Get the Best Rental Deal 2. Property Experts - and How to Avoid Them 3. Buying a Car in France 4. Investing in France - Some Advice 5. Yoga and September in Provence 6. New Services for Owners 7. Summer Camp - au revoir Jack 8. Save Money on your Next Vacation 9. Nizas - Volcanos, Water, Wine and Saxophones Plus answers to some of your questions and a new regular series of restaurant reviews starts at... http://francevoila.com/ == Sent from France by.. http://francevoila.com/ All you need to know to visit - or live - in France. Full details to subscribe, change address and unsubscribe are at the end of this newsletter. Write to me at mailto:tony@nizas.com I really do try to answer all letters - if you don't hear from me in a few days - write louder. ===== 1. How to Get the Best Rental Deal In a recent report from American Express, they found that over 30% of their members purchased their travel and vacation needs directly through Internet sites. Similar studies are proving that the Internet is now the main source of travel information and bookings. If you are looking to get the best deal for your vacation rental - then by using the Internet wisely you can be sure to get the best price, best value and safest contract by using these simple searching guidelines. Our business is renting to visitors privately owned villas, apartments and cottages. We put onto our sites like http://rentalsfrance.com/ Properties which we have seen to be good value, are of good quality and have "charm". Most of these properties are not exclusive to us, although many owners find we can rent all the weeks they offer. Many of the owners have their own web sites and also advertise on other sites or through other agencies. Tip 1. When you have found the property suitable for your needs, do a search on Google for the property name if it is unusual such as - paraisette, or for some unique words which are likely to be in other adverts. Put these words in " " such as - "apartment in a medieval house" (try it now) http://google.com You are likely to find other sites with the same property listed, check that the price and conditions are the same as on our site. If it is listed at a lower price or with better services - we will either match this price or remove the property - we will never knowingly be undersold. Tip 2. Check for extra charges for electricity, mains-water or mains-gas. In France, it is illegal for an owner to charge for any of these services, even at cost. The French Electricity company EDF are now tightening up on owners over this and it is getting a lot of news on the radio and press. We are rewriting many of the adverts on our sites, but if you are asked for any payment for these services you can refuse. Tip 3. Some owners still require a security deposit - we do not recommend this as we have found it unnecessary and inconvenient - but if you are required to pay, ask for it to be in your own currency, so that when it is returned you do not have to change it back to sterling or dollars etc. Both the renter and the owner should have sufficient insurance to make any security deposit irrelevant. Tip 4. Check to see if sheets, towels and other linen is supplied. Many more people are arriving by air now and it is unreasonable to expect them to carry sheets and towels as excess baggage. The rental charges should include this and all laundry, it seems very petty to us on a rental often over 2000 euro to charge an extra 50 euro for these essentials. Tip 5. Check if final cleaning is included, or if you have the option to leave the property as you found it. You are usually renting a private home and not a purpose designed hotel suite. You should be given the option to clean and leave the property as you found it or to pay the owner or their agent for this service. This should be a normal washing and dusting, not stained carpets or wallpaper as this would be damage and covered by insurance. Private regular maid service may be an optional extra and is not considered normal cleaning. ===== CAR LEASING Hi Tony, Looking forward to stopping at Nizas during our September trip to France. Here's a savings tip you may want to pass along. This trip we decided to lease a car from Renault. (Must be a min. of 17 days.) In searching their site we came upon a press release, a year old, which mentioned a 10% savings off the lease cost for American Express Senior Card holders. I then checked the Amex site and found that the same deal applies until December, 2002. Well, although of age (63), I didn't have a Senior Card, so I contacted Amex and converted my existing Gold Card to a Senior Card. I then contacted Renault and saved 10% of the lease cost. As a bonus, my annual fee to Amex is also $20. cheaper - Regards, Jerry - West Hartford, CT == Hi Jerry Thanks for the tip - you can always lease from Renault through our site at Car Hire and I earn a small commission - perhaps next year Tony ===== 2. Property Experts - and How to Avoid Them Suddenly it seems everyone I meet is a property expert - there seem to be seminars, exhibitions and conferences about buying a home in France everywhere. In our market town, Pezenas, when we came here 8 years ago there were 5 real estate agents, now there are 27 and new ones are still opening. In France the real estate agent (immobilier) is a qualified professional, they are strictly regulated in a similar way to lawyers and accountants. It takes years to get a licence and the bonded insurances are expensive. Remember, their job is to sell property - not to give advice - only you can make the decision if a property is good value or what you wanted. The services of a good agent can be valuable, the trick is knowing what questions to ask. But the people to avoid are those unqualified "experts" who charge for seminars. You are invited to "explore" a corner of France for a week and to "discover" charming villages and local restaurants and cafes. You are sat in front of agents and others with a commercial interest in meeting you and, guess what, you are asked to pay for this. Often the people running and speaking on these "discovery" visits have spent very little time in the chosen area themselves, they are simply jumping on the bandwagon. We have had mixed reports about these packages and seminars, if you have any experiences I would love to hear from you. mailto:tony@nizas.com If you are thinking of buying a home in France, instead of paying to listen to a sales person, use the money to visit a few places you have heard about on your own or with your family. This way you will not be influenced by the hype or distraction of other ex-pats in a group, or indoctrinated with superficial nonesense from people whose only motivation is to sell you a tour or seminar. We know a number of people who can put together an excellent itinerary, advise you and help you for a fraction of the price of an organised "tour". ===== EDUCATION IN FRANCE I was interested to know read the article about an English woman who sent her 6 year old child to school in France but I could not find the article on your website. Could you tell me where it is - Thanks - Eileen == Hello Eileen I have put this article on http://francevoila.com/features/karen_tears.html We are adding a lot more information about living in France so keep watching - best wishes - Tony ===== 3. Buying a Car in France If you are thinking of buying a car in France, first read Dawn Ramsays' experience http://francevoila.com/features/ramsay/car.html ===== CELL PHONES AND HANDICAP PARKING Hello there Tony. Two quick questions after I tell you how much I like your newsy letters from France. How does one rent, buy, borrow, or steal a cell phone? I've had three hip displacements and want that kind of communications should it happen again. Secondly, does an American "Handicap" placard carry any weight in France, for parking or whatever? We will be visiting family and friends in Provence Sept. and Oct. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely - Orrin Hello Orrin == There are sites which "rent" cell phones - but I have no personal experience of these - however they seem expensive and I have heard horror stories that when you get home you find a bill on your domestic phone for thousands of dollars as they charge you twice - I have written reports about this they are on our sites on the archives. My advice is that if you are in France for more than a week, buy a cheap cell phone from any supermarket which you can "charge up" with a pre-paid card - you can buy a phone for as little as 45 euro and the cards cost from 12 euro which will give about an hour of calls. It is not the cheapest way to make lots of calls - but you are completely in control. Stealing a phone will be even cheaper - but I don't think you can make calls from jail. I believe the handicap placard is a universal sign and would be understood here in France. In most car parks there is a clearly marked area for handicapped people and I am sure you would be safe in parking there without any recriminations. I am trying to gather information about facilities, accommodation and services for handicapped people in France to make a special website - if you have found any information I would be most interested to hear it. best wishes - Tony ===== 4. Investing in France - Some Advice We get hundreds of letters about living and working in France - all have some questions about taxation, inheritance and investment. Here are some very useful articles from an independent consulting group which give straightforward and up-to-date advice without trying to sell you their services. http://francevoila.com/finance/ ===== VERY INTERESTING - Research published by Expedia.co.uk shows that around the world the Germans are the most welcome foreign visitors and Brits are the least, scoring worst in all but one of five key criteria: their behavior; politeness; willingness to learn the lingo; enthusiasm to try the local delicacies; and how much money they put into the local economy. - For the full report Click Here ===== 5. Yoga and September in Provence Yes - most of Gar (department 30) is in Provence. The first week of September (harvest time) in Provence in a beautiful traditional stone house, top quality cuisine - good company - leaning how to lose stress through yoga, or just relaxing by the pool - seems a great idea. I want to go, but it took me years getting to this level of stress and no-one is taking it away from me, it's all mine. Still a few places left $900 per person, food lodging and tuition included. http://rentalsfrance.com/granddarene/ See you there, perhaps. ===== DO TRY TO SPEAK A LITTLE FRENCH Hi Tony - I'm an Aussie in the uk and don't speak much french. How will I get on if I come over to France on a tour? Do many people speak English? And are the tourist signs in English? - Robin == Hi Robin - France has 73 million visitors each year so we are getting used to welcoming people from other countries. In tourist areas, Paris and the south of France, English is understood in hotels, shops and restaurants and you would have no problems. If you are traveling the signs are in French, but all you really need is the name of the place you are going which is the same as on you map so there should be no problem. Road signs are universal, Stop means stop in any language. But do lean a few words - bonjour, merci and s'il vous plait - will get you a long way. French people are polite and curious and will do a lot to help you. Have a great trip - Tony ===== 6. New Services for Owners Our service is to offer seasonal rental accommodation though sites like http://rentalsfrance.com/ We only market these services through Internet sites and we have grown by looking for and offering homes which are good value and interesting. We do not accept paid advertising and make no charge to the owners for showing their properties or making their web pages but simply charge a fee if our clients make a contract with them - if we don't succeed, we don't eat. We try to check that the prices on our sites are the lowest advertised, if you find the same property advertised at a lower price (at the time of booking), that is the price you pay. Many owners prefer to make their own sites or do their own direct advertising, so after 5 years of experience in Internet sales and over 30 years of working with computers (I was working on pioneering Internet projects 20 years ago) we are offering some commercial services to owners who do not want to be represented by us on our main sites. These range from a FREE website - to a full web hosting and design service. We now have our own servers and hosting company at http://23333.com/ You can have a FREE website like... yourname.rentalsfrance.com yourname.1stvacations.com yourname.gulliverstravels.com which will also include you in our main index. Write to me at mailto:tony@23333.com ===== PRIMARY SCHOOL PROJECT Hi Tony, I am teaching French at a primary school and my students from Year 4 to Year 7 (8-13 years old) would like to correspond with a school by email or snail mail (post)! Please match us: Morphettvale East Primary School Monarch Ave. Morphettvale 5162 South Australia A U S T R A L I A Thank you very much and we look forward to getting letters from children of the same ages. My students want to practise their French so the students there can practise their English with us. Sincerely, -Madame Fe Gilbey == The schools here are in the second week of the 12 week vacation - I will pass this on to our local school in September and put an advert in the newsletter. There are some pen-pal postings on our classifieds section on http://francevoila.com/ Best wishes - Tony ===== 7. Summer Camp - au revoir Jack A French tradition during the summer is to send your children off to a colonie des vacances where they apparently have a happy communal time with lots of activities and under trained supervision. Our grown-up French friends have mixed feelings of their own experiences and our older children were not interested. But our son, who is a social animal as well as very sportif does not find enough to occupy himself with during 2 long summer months in our small village. Now aged 7 and a half, he was keen to go last year but we weren't ready for the separation. This year we decided to take the plunge and signed him up with an association that runs several holiday camps here in our region specifically for French school children. The brochures are handed round at school and though it is not itself a government organisation, as it is closely linked to the education system this led us to believe it would be well-organised and monitored. Because, of course, as well as the children's happiness our main worry is their safety. There was plentiful paperwork to fill in, a reasonable sum to pay plus a grant through our child benefit allowance (another reassuring point as they obviously approved of our choice). The parents do not actually visit the centre but deliver the children to a meeting point from where they are shipped off... This was of course a delicate moment and we all felt sad, and a little cruel, at our last view of him tucked in the back of the coach, waving, trying to smile. There is a photo Jack leaving at... http://nizas.com/about/colonie/ His holiday there will last 2 weeks, and there are now only 5 days to go. Parents are allowed to ring once a week and are encouraged to write letters to their children there. We have had a couple of letters, very touching and reassuring. There is such a wide range of activities and opportunities offered to children that we really hope this has been a good experience so that it can become a annual summer treat for him. ===== COST OF LIVING IN FRANCE Hello; - My wife and I are retired and have our long stay visas. We were in France last fall and enjoyed it very much. We want to live in France permanently. Could you tell us which area of France is the least expensive - cost of living , buying a house, etc. As we are retired and have limited funds we were wanting something small ( one or two bedrooms - detached) - David and Iona == Hello David and Iona - This is a very big question - France is the largest country in Europe and has a variety of climates, from the freezing cold winters of the central continental climate to the soft warm Mediterranean and the temperate Atlantic coast. In remote areas property is very cheap, in the south of France prices are rising very fast and the population is scheduled to increase by 50%. Over 100,000 properties were sold last year to people coming from other countries to follow their dream to live in France and this is having an affect on property prices in the popular areas of the South, North West and the Atlantic Coast. As a guideline, a small detached house in our region, Languedoc, would cost from 70,000 euro - a classic old village house (not detached) can still be bought in fair condition from 40,000 euro but they are highly sought after and you are more likely to pay from 60,000 euro. The average price for a 3 bedroom villa in Languedoc is 180,000 euro and in Provence from 300,000 euro. Please let me know where you are thinking of living and possibly I can help further -Tony ===== 8. Save Money on your Next Vacation By reading this, you have already saved 10 euro on any vacation rental which you book from our sites. Simply go to our form at... http://rentalsfrance.com/coupon/ ...fill in the form and we will send you a coupon for 10 euro off any rental accommodation booked through us. But this is just the start - when you receive your coupon, you will also get a special identity reference. Tell you friends also to send for one of our gift coupons and to fill in your unique reference. If they then book accommodation through us, we will send you another 10 euro coupon. Your friends can recommend their friends and there is no limit to the number of coupons you can earn. I think it makes sense - it is really a way to get some new booking software we are building sorted out - but you could get a free vacation. ===== BANK CHARGES IN FRANCE (AND EVERYWHERE?) Hi Tony - Thanks for a great newsletter. I will try to be short and to the point. I live in Bournemouth ( South of England ). I am hoping to buy property in France this year for use as a holiday home initially but for semi-retirement within 5 years. I need a French Bank account (obviously) and have a CA Britline pack on my desk right now. I notice that they make a charge for holding a bank (debit) card and a 50% charge for a joint/second card. Is this not taking the proverbial? seeing that they will have my funds held on deposit. Can you recommend any other Banking services for Brits just moving to France? - Regards - Steve Jones. == Hi Steve - It is easy to open an account with a French bank, but, as you have found, here they are all crooks. We pay for everything and they are often lazy, incompetent and criminally expensive. It is no wonder that the French have a reputation for keeping cash under the mattress and not trusting banks - I wish I could do without them. Seriously I cannot recommend one over another; You may find a better local service, but the managers keep changing so you end up the same - paying. Hope you find what you are looking for - best wishes - Tony ===== 9. Nizas - Volcanos, Water, Wine and Saxophones 55 million years ago the area around Nizas was covered with active volcanoes. You can still see the remains of these and you can enjoy the results of the magical minerals and soils, the underground water and the 300 days of sunshine as it makes this region the center for some of the best wines in the world. One volcano erupted near Neffies, a village about 5 miles from us, and the lava flowed down the course of a river which then moved to the present route of the river Herault. This flow of lava was a hard black rock. Over the next 55 million years, erosion has left this huge lump of black basalt as a plateau, 100 foot high covering over 20 square miles, it shelters Nizas and some surrounding villages. The plateau is home to some unique wildlife and plants and is a mysterious and scented playground. It is also very valuable for the hard stone to make motorways and railways. For centuries people have quarried this stone, the old houses in Nizas are made from it, now the old quarries and roadways are havens for wild boar, orchids and a huge variety of plants and trees. The quarry company is still very active and their expansion will slowly eat up more land, even our little grass airfield in Nizas, up on the plateau may disappear. Progress? Vandalism? Jobs? Money? Heritage? I don't know enough to judge. However, last week I walked with Terry our neighbour, from Nizas to Pezenas through some of the old back trails and across some of the ancient quarry workings. The walk was about 7 miles, but it could have been as far as the moon for the sense of total isolation. From Nizas there is a nature trail with carefully labeled trees and plants which takes you around the airfield. But this is only about a mile of the trail - from the edge of the airfield it is mainly wild scrub land, with the occasional sight of a vineyard on the hillside. I found the deserted and overgrown stone workings just as beautiful as the open fields and terraces of vines. Terry is a professional saxophone player, I have written about him a few times in the newsletters http://francevoila.com/archives/ He says he has hung up his sax now - if you meet him do ask him what he said to Miles Davies. New water mains are being laid in Nizas - a lot of noise and big holes everywhere. They are filling the holes with the black basalt from the quarry on the plateau ! Ray and Dobbin (see archives) are back from Geneva and a wonderful statue has been unveiled in Pezenas. Full details in the next newsletter. http://francevoila.com/archives.html ===== FLIGHTS TO NIZAS Hi Tony , my wife and I are coming to Nizas soon. Do you know which is the best airline/route to take? There are UK flights to Montpellier but not many . - Can you best advise? - Regards Ian and Chris == Montpellier is the nearest about 45 minutes drive - Ryanair have two flights a day at present and there are other carriers. Montpellier is scheduled to be the third International airport in France after CDG and Nice. About one hour drive are Nimes, Carcassonne and Perpignan - these are much smaller - there is an airfield in Nizas, but only for very light aircraft and helicopters - there are usually sheep on the runway. I prefer the train to Montpellier, only just over 3 hours from Paris. We are in a very busy season and I doubt I will get the newsletter out before the weekend. My aim is for twice a month Hope this helps Tony ===== We love to receive your letters and comments and we really try to answer all mail but it does get lost, filtered or vanishes somewhere to a planet of lost e-mails, (there they are turned into wire coat hangers which appear at random in our wardrobes) so if you write and don't hear from me, please write again. mailto:tony@nizas.com ===== |