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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All in a day’s work

By nadia, on 15th February 2011
Fresh snow at Guzet

Woke up this morning to sunshine, blue skies and a fresh blanket of snow on the mountains. So my husband and I did what any sane person would and decided to play hooky! Computer off, a quick drive up to our nearest ski resort, Guzet Neige and skis on – all in the name of research of course. By 9.30 we were standing at the top of our first run of the day, just about the only people on the slopes. A bit over five centimetres of new snow had fallen overnight – hardly worth a mention in Vail or Salt Lake but still enough to provide that fabulous sensation of being the first person to carve tracks through fresh, untouched snow.

By the time we were enjoying our first coffee, the sun was warm on the terrace and a few other skiers were beginning to venture out. I would like to say that we then tackled a few black runs, a steep mogul field and some serious off-piste before lunch – but I would be lying! However, we had a fantastic pootle around the pistes followed by a late lunch in what I am convinced is one of the best on-piste restaurants you will find anywhere. Chalet Beauregard is on top of the world – or so it feels – with a big sunny terrace and views over to Spain and, what’s more, you will be served delicious local mountain specialities from some of the friendliest waiters you have ever met. This is my idea of skiing!

Chalet Beauregard

We got back at 5pm and crept into the school playground to pick up the children hoping that nobody would spot our salopettes and glowing faces (everybody did!) I am not sure I will ever get used to the idea of being able to take off for a day’s skiing on fresh snow and still be back in time to pick up the children from school but days like these are why we live in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Fellow workers on the piste!
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Car Trouble in France

By nadia, on 7th February 2011

I don’t normally write about cars but my trusty 20 year old estate car finally gave up the fight last week and I found myself stuck on the side of the road going nowhere when I should have been en route to a packed day of viewings and appointments.

Always a stressful occurrence, I was expecting a similar experience to the last time I broke down which happened to be on the A303 in England. That time, I had a baby in the back but I also had AA breakdown rescue insurance so I telephoned the emergency number and was told that I would be a priority and a rescue vehicle would be with me as soon as possible.

As soon as possible turned out to be three hours later, when a man and a van finally turned up. He fiddled under the bonnet for half an hour before telling me he couldn’t fix the problem and would have to call a tow truck. That was another hour and a half arriving and by the time we finally got home, both me and baby were stressed, hungry and fed up as well as no nearer to having fixed the problem of a broken-down car.

So when I called the break-down number which comes as part of the French car insurance (the number is always fixed to the inside of the windscreen), I was expecting to spend most of the rest of the day waiting for help to arrive. As luck would have it, I had managed to break down just yards away from a café so, having made my call, I decided to wait for the rescue van in the warm over a coffee, where I then planned to start telephoning around to cancel all my viewings and appointments. However, I had barely got to the bottom of my espresso before the waiter pointed out that there was a breakdown truck outside the door and sure enough, he was looking for me (having made the assumption presumably that I would obviously be waiting for him in the nearest café!) I showed him the car which he immediately hoisted by winch onto the back of his lorry and then asked me to which garage he should deliver us both.

Ten minutes later me and car were on the forecourt of our local ‘garagiste’. I simply signed a form and the breakdown service was complete. At which point, Patrice, the garage owner, suggested that I take his car for the day so that I could go to work and he would take a look at mine before I came back that evening.

So I whizzed off and managed to make all my pre-arranged viewings and appointments and what could have been a stressful and frustratingly wasted day turned into a very positive experience. There are many things that the Brits and French do differently but, when it comes to breakdown rescue and helpful mechanics, the French win hands down – in my limited experience anyway.

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Testing Times for French Houses

By nadia, on 26th January 2011

Anyone looking at French property for sale this month is probably wondering why, all of a sudden, house particulars are illustrated with these coloured graphs, identical to those found on washing machines, dishwashers and other electronic equipment. This is the latest ‘green’ measure from the French government to reduce energy consumption and emissions, particularly in the building sector. Hence since January 1st this year, all properties for sale have to be graded for DPE (Diagnostic de Performance Energetique) and the results of this energy-efficiency rating has to be displayed in all ‘for sale’ details.

Both agents and private sellers must obtain and provide this information to all prospective buyers; failure to do so could result in a 37,500 Euro fine or even imprisonment. This is all part of the ‘Grenelle Environnement’ legislation designed to reduce energy consumption in the French building sector (which is the biggest consumer of energy in the economic sector in France) by at least 38% in the next ten years.

What does this mean for the buyer? Well the building tests (expertises) in France which have to be undertaken before a property can be finally sold are already some of the most comprehensive in the world and this will just provide more information for the buyer; of course it is useful to know but it probably won’t make any difference to the buying decision. However, right now it means that the market is at a bit of a standstill. Properties cannot be advertised until the tests have been done which has resulted in lots of frustrated agents with a big stack of properties to sell but which they cannot advertise or show to potential buyers until the backlog of testing has been cleared.

Well-meaning also as these tests are, let’s hope that they won’t result in owners of old properties replacing their traditional wooden windows with the even more un-ecological PVC to improve their energy ratings. This would be a disaster and, personally, I would rather turn the heating down and put on another jumper than see the character of French houses and thus France being changed so irrevocably.

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A year to buy in France

By nadia, on 18th January 2011

How lovely to be back in France after three days in London at the France Show in Earl’s Court; to walk the dog in the fields behind the house this morning, breathe some fresh mountain air and drink my coffee on the terrace in the sun. And it seems that I am not alone in preferring this life; many people I spoke to at the France Show were looking for a similar change of lifestyle. Noticeable this year were the number of serious buyers ready to make their long-planned move to France, who have done their research, know where they want to be and have sensible and realistic expectations of what they can afford and will get for their money.

Winter sunshine and a cat’s life!

It was also interesting at the show to see how many more people now understand both what a property finder does and the benefits of using one. Our services are well understood in places like America, Canada, the Middle East and Australia but it is only recently that professional buying agents have entered the collective British consciousness; mainly it has to be said, as a result of Kirstie and Phil.

Clearly we save our clients money that they would otherwise have to spend on house hunting trips to France with flights, car hire, petrol and accommodation but also by knowing average prices in different areas of the region and ensuring our clients buy for the best possible price. Equally important however, is that our clients get to choose from a much wider choice of houses because we source properties from all the agents in the region as well as notaires and private sellers.

Moreover, we save our clients a great deal of time and frustration by doing all the time-consuming initial trawling thorough property details and then by visiting all possibilities and eliminating the time-wasters, before drawing up a short list of houses meeting the buyer’s exact requirements, complete with photographs and descriptions. We have no vested interest in selling so they can be sure of unbiased advice; we are working just for the client and our only aim is to ensure that they find exactly the property they want at the best possible price and to make sure that they avoid any pitfalls.

This is one of the most important purchases we make so professional help makes sense both financially and in terms of finding the very best properties available.  Now that more and more people understand these benefits, it looks as if we all have a busy time ahead.

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