My house in the South of France

[country]

We have a nice 18th Century house in the old town of a small village on the south coast of France. As teachers we spend most of the summer down there, and we try to rent it out when we are not there (to cover our taxes, water & electricity bills etc down there).

If anyone is interested in spending some time there when we are away, check out my web-page for info about it.

Go directly to www.lmcd.se/frankrike.htm
and check it out. You can e-mail me from that page (and my home phone number is there too).

[Carolyn]

Sure looks nice to me. Of course, I'd like to see some photos of the house as well. I adore that part of France, one could have one's own "Year in Provence" really, although nearer the coast.

That part of France is not only fascinating, but for all Americans who have heard how "snotty and rude" the French are, don't you believe it. Outside of Paris, I've only run into very courteous people and have marvelous times.

[country]

Finally got 30 pictures of the house, inside and outside, scanned and up on my web site.

[Carolyn]

Went and had a look already. I imagine I could spend a LOT of time up on that third floor patio, sipping my glass of wine with a bit of cheese and a fresh baguette.

Je parlais lousy French, any problem down there? I mean, I'm willing to give it a shot and such, but people are fairly patient with folks like me, I assume?

[country]

Carolyn,

The local population does not know that there exits anything at all outside of France ;D You either learn French or you continue to act and sound like the village idiot

That said, they are really kind and generous and helpful in all kinds of ways. Our neighbors, accross from us, are pensioners from Paris and they do not know a single word of English, which doesn´t stop them from talking to me anyway (in French), and the more they talk, the more I understand! Great people.

The younger people all say that they understand English when you ask them, then they go right on speaking French anyway. They are scared to death that they might make a mistake, so they don´t say anything in English at all.

The top floor is where we are from 8pm onwards, first with a late dinner, then ice cold Rosé or White, and discussions long into the night. For some odd reason we have lots of friends coming down to visit us a lot

If we feel lazy we can even collect pizzas from a local restraunt (everything is within less than 8 minutes walking distance), or a kebab sandwich from a small hole-in-the-wall place where a Tunisien guy does wonders in such a small space.

We discovered last summer that you can borrow a big styreofoam plate when you buy Oysters from the places where fisherman´s wives sell them - and it is then covered with ice and the oysters are opened for you and arranged on the ice! All you need is a little lemon to squeeze on them.

The cheese is great too, and so many kinds to chose from.

Only 10 years left to work and then I can be a happy pensioner in France ;D

[Misty]

Your house looks great! I wish my husband and I could rent it for a week! The only problem is us all getting down there! I cant rent a car nor can he because neither of us have driver's licenses. The train fare would probably be too much! I took french in high school and college but I am a little rusty. I have always wanted to visit though. Is it far from the ocean?

[country]

Fly with "el-cheapo" Ryan Air from Stockholm to Montpellier (via Hamburg, where Ryan Air has an airport), then take the train to Agde. Then taxi 6km to village. From Motpellier to Agde is only some 50km, so the train shouldn´t be too costly for such a short distance.

I have a faint recollection of the train having a station connected to the airport in Montpellier, but your local travel agent would have all the details about stuff like that. You can always ask for a cost proposal for such a trip and see if it is do-able.

The house is 300m from the Med.

[Carolyn]

I recall in 1995, I was "touring" France, in a manner of speaking. It was a tour, in the sense that a route was planned and the travel and rooms in a pension were paid for but otherwise, we were on our own.

My French is limited to reading menus and cookbooks and couture (not buying, history). One Sunday night, I was in Dinan, the old capital of Brittany. The bus I was due to leave on took off the next morning at about 8:00 a.m. I was walking through the streets of the oldest part of town with the bus driver at about 8 p.m. and noticed a sign across the street about what I understood to be an exhibit of Breton costume in the local museum. The driver kindly popped into a small tabac to ask about the exhibition. He came out and informed me that the exhibition didn't open the next day until 10 a.m. I was in the process of telling him that I was going to miss the bus and would meet up with them at the next stop in some way, shape or form when one of the men from the tabac came out and started talking to him.

He had heard the driver (French) say that an American lady was interested in the exhibition and when the driver explained to him that I was going to leave the bus so that I could see the exhibition, the little guy went kind of nuts and started waving his arms and such, talking madly. The driver let me know that if I was willing, the little man was the curator of the museum and because such a charming American lady was interested, he was willing to open the museum that night if I would care to go. The driver would be unable to accompany me.

Okay, I speak no French (or Breton). The little man spoke no English (and didn't really want to speak French). It's 8 p.m., Sunday night, the streets are kind of deserted, my bus is leaving the next morning. What do you think? Of course I went.

This charming man took me down a few streets to this ancient building, HUGE wooden door, opened the museum up (it wasn't the Metropolitan, by the way), turned on all the lights, and for the next 2-3 hours, he and I wandered through the costume collection. Turns out, he was a Breton nationalist (wants to separate from France). Somehow, in some way, shape or form, he managed to explain Breton politics to me, we discussed the costumes and the means of manufacturing, the differences in classes of the different costumes, when they were worn, by whom (occupationally linked). Sometimes, we drew pictures. He let me touch the costumes, turning up the skirts and such to look at the other side. He opened a small bottle of Breton something or other (Calvados possibly, tasted appley) and toasted America and I toasted Brittany.

ABout 11 p.m. that night, he walked me back to my pension (small B&B type place), kissed my hand and walked off into the night. ANYBODY that tells you that ALL the French are a snotty bunch, put that in your pipe and smoke it. Viva le (or la or l') France.

[Misty]

Country, if I may ask--how did you come by this house? I have been looking ALL day long at websites in France for housing listings or affordable houses..your comment about retiring there struck a chord in me I think. I was just curious!

[country]

North Carolina...
I grew up in Aberdeen, about 30 miles from the SC border.

Yeah, about the house:

First we picked a non-commercialized area that we felt happy with, and then we contacted a Swedish Real Estate agent that happened to have his agency in that general area. He has since retired, but his agency is being taken over by a Swedish lady and her French husband. www.franskahus.nu is their web site.

He (Lars Hansare) showed us around all day and when we came to "our" place we knew at once that this was it - so after thinking it over for 15 minutes, we bought it.

The total cost, including all the fees, was "only" 700,000 Swedish crowns. That was late in 2000, and prices have gone up about 20-25% since then.

The legal system works just fine:

When you decide to buy you sign an agreement and have 2 weeks to pay the 10% non-refundable down payment. After that you have 3 months to make the final payment - that is done when the final change of ownership documents are signed.

The transfer of ownership is done by a Notarie Publicus and included in his fee is a special insurance that covers any problems relating to the purchase, so when the Notarie is finished (could take as long as a year!) you should have no unexpected "extra" costs to surprise you.

Now all you have to do is get yourself an Internet-banking account and have your French taxes, water, insurance, and electricity bills drawn automatically from your account. Total costs per year for all that is around 10,000 crowns.

When all that is fixed, you are all set up!