View from the Foothills of France

Some personal views on living, working,
bringing up family and making the dream happen in the most beautiful region of France. View from the Foothills of France also includes some personal and professional thoughts and tips on finding and buying the perfect property in the Ariège and Haute Garonne regions.

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School lunches in France

By nadia, on 2nd October 2013

Starter Main Chees Pudding

I always tell people that one of the things that worried me most when we decided to move lock stock and barrel to France was our children and how the move would affect their lives. As it turned out, it was the best thing we could have done for them, providing them with a much better quality of life, huge amounts of freedom and broadened horizons as well as, of course, a second language. We also discovered that children are incredibly adaptable, quick to learn and in fact settled in much more easily than we did.

The contrasts between our lives here and the life they would have had in the UK are huge but none is more obvious than the quality of the food and the culture of eating. This has been well and truly brought home to me in the last month with our youngest daughter starting secondary school or college as it is here. While I have spent her first few weeks worrying about the early starts, the school bus, the long days and the homework, my daughter clearly has different preoccupations. Every day, she has been taking photographs of her delicious school lunches for me to enjoy while I chomp on my apple between viewings! And I am jealous; see above – starter, main course, salad, cheese and pudding and this is just one meal on one day; I wouldn’t be at all surprised to spot a carafe of wine somewhere in the photo.

I couldn’t be happier about this; it is one of my great soapbox subjects, the lack of interest in or education about food and nutrition in UK schools, the constant debate about increasing obesity and the fact that the obvious link is just not being made when it is so clearly the result of a generation of children who have been brought up with no education and hence knowledge of how to feed themselves well. This generation now has children of its own and has no cooking or nutrition skills to hand on and hence we are stuck in a downward spiral.

Thank goodness, the same cannot be said in France; at our primary school I am always amused that at every school meeting, most of the discussion focuses  around the lunch menus and I am delighted that, at my daughter’s new school, there is a great emphasis on using local, seasonal and organic produce and serving this in balanced and delicious meals. Moreover, at home, children see their parents cooking fresh meals every day and it is the norm for every family sits down to eat together at least once a day if not twice (50% of the children at our primary school go home for lunch.)

I know this has nothing to do with property but to me it has everything to do with living in France and understanding the French culture and underlines yet again why we are here.

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La Rentrée for the property market

By nadia, on 5th September 2013

The foothills in September

As it is ‘La Rentrée’ (back to school time) and traditionally a very busy period for house hunters, I thought it might be a good moment to take a look at the property market here so far this year. For me personally, the year got off to a slower start than usual but then took off in February culminating in my busiest two months ever in July and August. Talking to the agents here confirms a similar picture and certainly July was very busy for everyone across the board although August quieter for many agents as is usually the case.

So far this year house prices and property transactions initially stabilised and they now appear to be on the increase in the Midi-Pyrénées region. This could be down to French mortgage rates which are at an all time low or because, thanks to the financial crisis, there are some stunning houses on the market right now, many for sale at less than their true market value and hence investors are moving in. If you have been waiting for the best time to buy a property in France, I would suggest that this might be it. Belts are being tightened here as everywhere but quality of life remains high. What’s more, the Midi-Pyrénées region has an unusually high stock of beautiful and solidly built stone houses in lovely locations and this, combined with record low mortgage rates (the lowest for 65 years and the best in Europe), means that it is a buyer’s market here right now.

Hence it is no surprise that I am getting lots of interest from investors looking to lock in some long-term capital in consistently high value and stable French bricks and mortar. However, I would still suggest that your reasons for moving to this region should not just be financial; when you choose this region, you are buying a way and quality of life, not just a property investment and a ‘good buy’ means more than just getting a bargain.

How the rest of the year will pan out is yet to be seen but, by the number of enquiries I am getting, it certainly looks as if the Ariège, Haute Garonne and Southern Gers are the places to be right now.

 

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On your bike; the joys of cycling in France

By nadia, on 26th July 2013

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Before moving to France, I didn’t do much cycling: in fact I didn’t even have a bike. This wasn’t just because of the weather (although cycling is never that appealing in the rain) but because I am not really into adrenaline sports and getting on a bike in the UK always seemed a dangerous rather than relaxing pastime. I think it is something to do with the mentality of many British drivers and the fact that it appears to be ingrained in drivers in the UK to see cyclists as pests; hence cars pass far too close, hoot if they think you are in their way and generally seem to resent sharing the road space. Fantastic as it is that we now have the positive cycling role models of Wiggins, Froome and Hoy who have certainly hugely increased the popularity of cycling in the UK, it certainly doesn’t seem to have made the roads any safer and I never feel that England is a fun place to ride a bike.

The problem is that there is no real cycling tradition in the UK, unlike in Holland, Italy and, of course, France. In these countries push-bikes are an integral part of the culture, and drivers have an in-built respect for cyclists. No wonder Britain’s best professional cyclists base themselves abroad, where they are assured of a warmer climate, better road conditions and a positive attitude to cycling.

In France, there is not only respect for cyclists but a real cycling culture so that you will see both lycra-glad super humans ascending apparently vertical mountains but also old ladies on pre-war bikes with a baguette under one arm and a basket of vegetables balanced precariously on their handlebars. And both sorts of cyclists are given equal deference and distance by motorists and will also greet each other politely with a cheery bonjour as they pass; you don’t have to be an Olympic medal hopeful to be given respect on the roads here.

Perhaps it is also to do with the slower way of life but cycling in France is more relaxing and a great way to spend some time en famille. There is much more space, open countryside and pretty villages to explore, as well as course as numerous bakeries and cafés to sample en route. And you can guarantee that anywhere you arrive en vélo, you will get a warm welcome. The French are generally interested in bikes too; my first trip on a bike to France was on a tandem with my future husband (yes we still got married!) We borrowed the tandem from friends and took the ferry to France and cycled to Honfleur and then Pont L’Eveque. Now riding a tandem is something else again and we were so wobbly we could only stay upright by emptying the panniers of everything save our toothbrushes but we improved as the days went on and everywhere we stopped, a crowd gathered to admire the bike and chat; somehow a rosbif on wheels is deemed more acceptable.

Now we live in an area perfect for cycling; we have the back drop of the Pyrénées yet live in a wide open valley where we can cycle for miles along the river and on quiet, back lanes with hardly any cars. And when a car does pass here, they give you as much room as if they were overtaking another car and often hoot to warn you before they do so. Often they will wait ages behind us until the opportunity is right for overtaking which is extraordinary because the French can be terrible drivers, happy to overtake another car on a blind bend but somehow they react differently to cyclists, making this probably the safest way to get around here. The children have the bug too because a bike provides instant independence so they can go off to the tennis court or riding stables on their own or just to buy an ice-cream with their friends without having to rely on us. When it comes to cycling, I would say that France wins hands down (well apart from the Tour de France but the less said the better there as far as our neighbours are concerned!)

 

Girls en velo

 

 

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Buying a house and starting a new life in France; a real life story

By nadia, on 8th July 2013


I have a guest blog this week from some past clients who have just written the following piece for the excellent ‘Buy Your Dream House’ Blog and were kind enough to send it to me so here is their experience in their own words:

Buying a huge country home (like a ‘château’ or ‘maison de maître’) and moving to France to start a new life is truly the stuff dreams are made of! Yet most people only dream of it. This inspiring couple has done it! Find out how and get their advice.

 Exterior of house and barns

Maison Bernis, our new country home in the South West of France

Why Move to France?

Gavin and I lived in London for about seven years before moving to France. London was a vibrant place to live, offering entertainment on tap and interesting and challenging job opportunities. There was, however, something missing. The moment we started thinking about starting a family, London’s charm diminished further!

By the time our second little one had made his appearance, we were set on moving from London to the South West of France. It seems a crazy leap, but we did our homework and now find ourselves opening our heavy French shutters to views of the Pyrenees Mountains every morning. It is still surreal!

 

Our First Steps

So, how did we do it? One of the first things we did was to set-up a subscription to Living France magazine. It offers just the right amount of practical information and inspiring stories. We found ourselves reading a lot of the informative articles and it helped us greatly to get a good understanding of what we would encounter.

 

We’ve bought a piece of history

Selecting the Region

Next, we placed a large map of France on our kitchen wall. Beside that we hung an office-sized white board. Planning had started in earnest!

We used marker pens to draw in the hours of sunshine on the map in the various regions of France. We plotted the locations of the international airports (Gavin would need to commute often to London for work). We even indicated the locations of the nuclear power stations! (By this time it was 2011 and the Fukushima nuclear disaster was in the news.)

Every snippet of information was used to help us identify the region that we would then investigate further! It was the South West that won our hearts after considering all angles important to us.

 

We fell in love with the balconies and shutters of Maison Bernis, amongst so much more!

Finding the Right Property

Very importantly, we attended the France Show at Earls Court in London. It was here that we learned of a company that specialises in finding French property:  French Entrée.

We recognised that, with two young children in tow, we needed some help sourcing properties. And wow, what an incredible find French Entrée turned out to be! We could not have done this without them!

 

Nadia Jordan, THE property finder in our area (Gers), looked at over 80 properties on our behalf! We narrowed down the short-list together via emails and Skype. In September 2011, we flew to Toulouse to view the seven properties on our short-list. Remarkably, Maison Bernis was the very first property we visited.

I still remember doing a twirl near the open barn and noticing the views of the surrounding mountains and fields. We felt like we had found our home!

Maison Bernis is a Maison de Maître. Directly translated, that means ‘House of the Master’ or ’Manor House’.

It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms in the main house, all of which was in pretty good shape. It also comes with many outbuildings that all need extensive renovation. We are in the process of doing those renovations now – but that’s a whole other story in itself!

 

Unlocking our future…

Getting a Mortgage

Our mortgage advisors (Elena & Rob) of International Private Finance were also instrumental in helping us find the right mortgage. In December 2011, we signed for the property and by September 2012, we had moved in – just in time for the new school year.

The whole purchase process was remarkably easy and we couldn’t be happier with our decision to make the move! As soon as the sale of the house is signed, the house is essentially yours and you can start making other plans with the security of knowing the sale of the house isn’t going to fall through (which often happens in the UK).

 

Our new French kitchen

Our Future in Maison Bernis

From central London to rural France after four years of planning and the adventure has only just begun! We have been here for nine months now and have been loving every step of learning about life in France – and every step of our renovation projects!

Our plan is to welcome holiday guests starting in the summer of 2014. We will be only too excited to share our new home with them – and help them to love this region of France as much as we do! In a few years, we even plan to have our Maison Bernis to the stage that we’ll be ready to host weddings on our property!

Unlocking the door into the unknown has brought us to Maison Bernis

This is our dream and every day we are living our lives in pursuit of this life that we want. This truly is Wodara for us. It took four years of planning to make this happen – and not every day is easy – but we can honestly say that we are living our dream!

  • Contributed by:  Nicole and Gavin Erasmus
  • For more information:  Maison Bernis on Facebook
  • Photos:  all photos are courtesy of Nicole and Gavin

My dream home website: https://WODARA.WORDPRESS.COM/2013/06/26/BUY-YOUR-DREAM-HOUSE-IN-FRANCE/

 

 

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