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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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France Voila - Newsletter #66
Pezenas - France - October 12, 2003 To see this newsletter on-line http://francevoila.com/archives/66.html 1. The 2003 Season is Here 2. Angouleme Historic Car Racing 3. Restaurant Reviews 4. School Advice 5. A Unique Way to Learn More in Paris Museums 6. The How to Book For Rental Properties in France 7. Discounts and Coupons from us 8. Decorative, Safe and Wet- Pool Enclosures 9. Nizas - Rain Wine and Wild Wild Women Plus answers to some of your questions and a new regular series of restaurant reviews starts at... http://francevoila.com/ The archives with over 600 features and articles are at... http://francevoila.com/archives/ ====== 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. ===== To keep up with all your mail and to give a better service, we are now publishing every week - the good news is that this newsletter will be even better as I am delighted to welcome Dawn to the team. Regular readers will have seen some great feartures from Dawn about her experiences in setting up home in France. As a young mother her concern and her campaign to increase awareness about swimming pool safety is ruffling a lot of feathers. Dawn will be keeping us under control and is sure to keep this journal useful for everyone visiting or living in France - over to you Dawn Tony == Thank you to everyone who expressed support of Tony's mixed English-American spelling habits! Tony needs some help to keep up with the ever growing questions and requests. So, to add to the fun and confusion on the language front, "the American," as I've been dubbed since arrival, is going to jump in. I'll try to assist with some of the work so we can address more of your questions. Nice to be with you all. I hope you enjoy the newsletter. Dawn Eleanor Ramsay ===== 1. PLAN AHEAD FOR SPRING AND SUMMER 2003 It seems like just yesterday we were on the phones looking for the last available rentals for late Summer plans! Now, inquiries are beginning to come in for 2003! We've seen a big rise in the number of companies offering services over the internet specializing in France- most of them not here, but trying to break into the world's favorite destination. We have some new technology we will be introducing this year, you will gradually see it added to our sites. Our plan is to make it easier to search for the type of property you want. Don't worry, you'll still have our hands on help with your holiday, and we will keep it simple! It seems a good time to remind people to start planning their 2003 trips. By looking ahead, you can layout your holiday time to both get the most from your time and money. Most of our properties have updated their prices for 2003- many have left them the same. The few that haven't will do so soon. New properties are being added as we speak! (right team?) In addition to self-catering holiday homes, villas and apartments, you can find discounts and link to many other services you may find useful. We only recommend services we have tried and gotten good service from in the past, so you might want to check them out. There is everything from Car Rentals, to River Cruises, to Paris guided tours and more. We look forward to seeing you in France! http://rentalsfrance.com/ ===== 2. Angouleme Historic Car Racing Though I'm a new voice here at FranceVoila! you'll soon see that I'm always up for a bit of fun in my favorite part of France. I moved here after 15 years of dreaming caused by a year spent abroad as a 16 year old (please don't do the math, unless you are 30 something, and single!). Though I spent most of my year in the Alps- going to school in Annecy and living near Geneva, my visit here to Charente made a great impression. This is where I chose to settle- and yes, I admit, the weather had something to do with it! Come along on my adventure to the high-speed historic car racing around the crooked streets of this Medieval walled city. You've missed it this year, but the race happens annually, so there's just enough time to left to plan for the 2003 Race of the Ramparts! I'd love to see you in Charente. "It's a warm September Sunday. As we approach the ancient French town of Angouleme, the autumn sun shines on the stone of the ramparts of the old town as we climb the steep hill. Nearing the marketplace we search for a parking spot, not easy this close to the cordoned-off streets. Most spaces are taken by a plethora of classic and exotic cars... names such as Lamborghini & Bentley sitting next to Triumph and Simca, Plymouth and A.C. all polished to perfection...." http://francevoila.com/features/ramsay/carracing.html ===== PLANTS IN FRANCE Tony, We are moving to Brittany in October and are wondering what the situation is regarding bringing plants into the country. I have a number of garden plants that I would like to take with me, including a couple of small fruit trees. I know it sounds crazy to consider taking them but are we likely to have them confiscated by the French customs? Margaret == Hello Margaret- This is a very good question - you can find some information from these sites http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/travel.htm http://213.86.179.120/beforeyougo/byg-5-1.htm It seems that as long as it is for your own use and there are no dangerous plants you are not restricted. Tony ===== 3. Restaurant Reviews As soon as we introduced the Restaurant Review feature, we started receiving reviews from you. We've decided to mix them in with the reviews we told you about by our soon-to-be neighbor in Nizas, Graham Tigg. http://www.cix.co.uk/~gtigg/> We've enjoyed Grahams' recommendations for 5 years and have never found his judgement or comments to be wrong. Now, you can read some reader suggestions too! This week is from Trish. Restaurant Les Palmiers Rue Merciere 34120 Pezenas Tucked away in a narrow pedestrian street in the old town, the enticing entrance to Les Palmiers opens into a courtyard room. Creeping plants have conspired to create a canopy overhead and bare stone walls are hung with large sculptured paintings. The environs, combined with the blues/jazz/modern music mix, immediately induces one to relax. Our waitress was helpful, the food superlative. I chose a goat's cheese and courgette entree: small parcels of cheese imaginatively wrapped in long courgette slices, accompanied by a herb and garlic sauce. Another of our group tried an entree of anchovies; large and deep fried. I was delighted to find a vegetarian main course on offer: assiette vegetarienne. It comprised tasters of pates and tapenades, quiche, filo parcels, garnished with rocquette. Tasty and satisfying. My partner chose merlan which was beautifully presented in a carefully blended sauce. On the wine list we chose an excellent local red. Unfortunately, for those with a sweet tooth, we were so well satisfied with the entree and main, that none of us dared take on another course...you'll have to find out about desserts and cheeses for yourselves. If the first two courses are anything to go by, you won't be disappointed. Reasonable price for the quality of food: 125 euros for 4, including 2 bottles of wine. Trish ===== 4. School Advice Dear Tony I was particularly interested in the article by Dawn Ramsay - What's going on at school? Having just put my two daughters to school in France - the oldest (17yrs) returning for her final year and the youngest entering for her very first (3yrs), the article had great relevance. All of the advice is excellent and I am distributing it amongst my large network of English speaking friends in Grenoble. I would also like to add that if there is any possibility, no matter how remote, that your family might be returning to live in the country of your origin it is a jolly good idea to ensure your children can read and write well in that language and at the expected level of that country. While they are here in France they may learn to speak English at home, but are not necessarily taught how to read or write in it. In the UK information about the expected standards of literacy can be got from DfEE (Department for Education ...) or indeed, from any local authority's education department. Best wishes Amanda == Thanks Amanda, I appreciate your comment as I am beginning to see the effects of sliding English skills here in our little corner of France too. When I first thought of moving here, I planned to teach English. This changed my mind when I realized how inundated France is with people more qualified than I to teach English as a Foreign language. My attention shifted to the native English speaking residents- but they haven't seemed interested. Most students here on a more or less permanent basis, (rightly) focus on meeting the French standards at school. They seem enough of a challenge for children in the first couple of years. The fact remains however, that most Expat children will eventually return home; for work, university, or family. In cases where children arrived in France quite young, this can require another stressful effort to catch up with their peers. At an older age, with more subtlety required, it isn't easy to pick up lost ground. After all, most Expat children are content to be seen as someone who speaks excellent French as a second language, but at home, they don't want to be seen lacking compared to 100% natives. It seems more sensible and balanced to find a way to learn English writing, reading and public speaking skills alongside French studies. I don't believe many teachers in the French system would have difficulty understanding this need. In the local cases I know of, parents have had little difficulty excusing their children from "ENGLISH" in their French school in favor of extra French lessons or a higher level of English Instruction. You've picked up on one of my current interests. I would love to help find local resources for Expat families. If you know of anyone, anywhere, please send me their contact information. I personally offer an English writing and public speaking class in the South Charente for all ages of children in the area. So far I've gotten no interest- it is a concern. Thank you Dawn Eleanor Ramsay ===== LEGAL ADVICE Hello Tony, We are considering buying property in the Aquitaine region (in a small village between Perigueux and Limoges) and wonder if you could advise us on how to find a local lawyer who has handled other property transactions for Americans and who would be familiar with American tax laws as well as French inheritance laws. Thanks very much. Regards, Jodie == Hello Jodie There are no such things as "lawyers" in France as we are used to in the UK and the USA. The Notaire in France is a sort of government official with a legal "skin". All property sales must be done through a Notaire, who also collects the sales taxes (plus his fee which is not negotiable and is a part of the tax). They usually act for both parties in a sale at the same time and a supposed to be impartial (impossible). You are wise to look for advice and someone to be "on your side." We are constantly looking for resources, and try to be one by sharing all that we discover here and on our sites. best wishes Tony ===== 5. PARIS MUSEUMS- A UNIQUE WAY TO LEARN MORE Like many visitors to Paris, Rose and Bill Meade always loved their trips to the city's museums, but over the years they still felt they had only scratched the surface of the grand collections. With a particular penchant for the Impressionists, the Massachusetts couple wanted to understand more about the history, the personalities and the technique behind the painting. So in their latest visit, they hired their own private art expert to guide them through the Musee d'Orsay, tapping a new service called Paris Muse. "It totally transformed our museum experience," said Bill Meade, a 46-year-old lawyer. "We've taken those large museum tours before, but they were so crowded and superficial. With Paris Muse, it was just two of us and our guide. It was very interactive, and she helped us see details we never would have noticed ourselves. "We've been to the Musee d'Orsay before," Meade added, "but we never saw so much." Paris Muse is a smart, sophisticated new service offering private guided tours in all of the city's great museums. All Paris Muse instructors are engaging speakers with teaching experience at American universities, and they are specialists in their tour subjects. In addition to the Impressionism tour at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris Muse offers tours at the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Musee Rodin, Musee Picasso and Musee Cluny. "We offer a unique educational experience," said Ellen McBreen, the American art historian who founded Paris Muse. "It's like a one-on-one university art-history seminar, but you learn directly from the masterpieces themselves. It's a very friendly, intimate way to discover the subtleties of the art." And it's convenient, too. Lines at some Paris museums are notoriously long, but Paris Muse handles tickets in advance, cutting wait time significantly. We like this service. They have focused their offering so they can truly be "experts" at what they do. To make a reservation, or find out more before your next trip, please use this link. We do get a little credit for it. Paris Muse- Expert Guides to Paris Museums ===== 6. THE HOW TO BOOK About half of our mail is centered around how to buy a property and move to France. Most of those questions are from people that also wish to rent those newly purchased homes seasonally. We also get a lot of questions post-purchase. Once the dust has settled, or often before the dust has settled, people look for help in marketing their property, setting up a viable web site, registering their French business and protecting their investment properly. We already offer a lot of information on our site: http://francevoila.com/rentals/ But, we are currently compiling all this information into a comprehensive guide on "HOW TO OWN AND OPERATE A RENTAL PROPERTY IN FRANCE." Information will be from our own experience working with successful owners, legal "experts" and official research. Since we have already addressed many of the issues, we are well placed to offer such a guide. If you are interested in THE HOW TO BOOK, please email : mailto:howto@rentalsfrance.com We'll reserve you a copy and keep you posted on the progress. ===== STARTING A PON(E)Y CLUB Dear Tony, Firstly, thank you very much for your Newsletters, I find them really useful. I have a little question about starting my own business in France.... I would like to buy an equestrian property in France and keep a few horses (5/6) on livery or maybe open a small "Poney Club" (but nothing too big). Is there any particular regulations I must follow. I realise that, as in England, I will need proper insurance. But would I need to register to the "Chambres des Metiers" (you mentioned this in one of your newsletter)? Also do I need to have any "Certificate". Obviously, I can take care of horses and can ride but I haven't had the opportunity to pass my tests yet (they are very pricey and take a long time so I wanted to check first if I truly needed them).. Thanking you in advance, Celine == Hello Celine You will definitely have to be registered at the local Chamber of Commerce as you will need premises. If you individually are also working as an individual artisan, you will have to also register at the Chambres des Metiers as well - both have fees for this. You will also need to determine under what statute and tax framework you need to work - there may be some agricultural benefits for this type of business - this may depend on the area of land involved - this may also then depend on the local Mairie/Prefecture. For this you will have to talk to the local people and their offices. Plus a local accountant and the local tax office. For a Pony (Poney) club registration you will need to find the relevant local administrative center for this, but if you are simply offering a personal service, your own registration at the Chambres des Metiers may be sufficient. Obviously any diplomas etc. will enhance your marketing and credibility, but I believe the only thing you must have will be adequate insurances to cover you, the horses and most importantly the clients - this may be the best strategy to find out what else you need to do. Best wishes Tony ===== 7. Discounts and Coupons from us As I get more deeply into the new design and services for our websites, I am finding that a few of the properties we are listing have different prices on some other sites. In earlier newsletters I explain some ways you can search for other listings for a property and I say then and repeat now WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD - what I mean is that if you find any property rental we are showing on any of our sites is listed at a lower price somewhere else, we will make sure you get that property at the best price available. Not only that, we will give you a voucher to use to reduce the cost even more. As a starter we are offering everyone who subscribes a free coupon, if you have not yet got yours get it now (only one per e-mail/surface-mail address) http://rentalsfrance.com/coupon/ Checking my logs it seems a few people may not have got the page correctly so if you have not printed your coupon out yet do try again. The database will tell me if you are trying to print out more than one so no cheating. Some agencies and owners we deal with may be offering discounts for next year. We will be adding a special link on their property pages which will enable owners to instantly show special offers. ===== LONG TERM RENTALS IN FRANCE Dear Tony I am looking for homes to rent in Northern France, on a long-term basis, rather than a holiday, as I am wanting to move over to France with my family. Can you let me know of any links that you may have as I am unable to find any properties that offer long rental periods, only holidays. With thanks, Sandra == Hello Sandra Rentals in France are either seasonal - that is furnished up to 93 days, summer or winter - or a standard lease of 3 years (in special circumstances 1 year) unfurnished. Longer term rentals are usually done by a local immobilier - other types of rentals are rarely done as the tenant has very strong protection in French law and this often causes difficulties, therefore owners are very reluctant to enter into any other type of agreement. We do specialise in seasonal rentals, but some owners will accept other rentals, usually if the renter is non-French or preferably non European (EEC) as they are more likely to leave. Please let me know where you are looking to stay. best wishes Tony ===== 8. DECORATIVE, SAFE AND WET I've been researching viable options for meeting pool safety rules now scheduled for enforcement beginning January 2003 in France. I've gotten numerous letters from those of you who have been to your local Gendarmerie and Mairie looking for the requirements. About 1/2 of you say that the local offices have no information. The other 1/2 of offices say there are rules, but don't know what they are! I'm currently taking a commonsense approach to the issue. Since the goal is to protect children under age 5 from accidental drowning, we should be able to come to some relatively safe conclusions. I'll keep you posted on specifics in the upcoming editions! If you missed the guidelines from the last issue, pick them up here: http://francevoila.com/features/ramsay/pools2.html ===== POOL ALTERNATIVES Hello Dawn: Thanks for your reply. I have found a company in Monaco that installs infra-red alarm systems around the pool. The problem I have is that I cannot determine if this sort of protection is accepted by the new law. It is a fantastic system and allows you to keep the beauty of your pool and garden without installing an unsightly (in my opinion) fence around it. I stopped by the Mairie here in Bedoin and talked with the person who runs the dept. of urbanisme (the folks who give you your permit to build a pool). They told me there were no new rules. I called the Gendarmerie in Carpentras and they told me there were no new rules forcing you to enclose your pool. I called the Prefecture in Avignon and they too told me they had no information regarding upcoming requirements for pool closures. I called a major pool installer here and asked them if they had heard about any new regulations. They had not. I stopped by my insurer to ask her (Groupama - major big company). She had heard nothing. I explained to her the new rules go into affect in January, 2003. I asked her how a private individual could comply with a law on January 1, 2003 that no one even knows about in October. This is not Paris, therefore having anything installed here in Provence can take months. I expect no one will be complying with the law in January - at least no one around here. Since you have information about the law, can you point me to ANYONE, ANYWHERE who might have a copy of the regulations? We are very interested in the infra-red system (you can find it on the internet too), but need to know if it would be accepted or not. Thanks so much for your help. Sorry for the sound of frustration..... Many thanks, Lori == Lori There is a copy of the provisional law available from AFNOR in French at a cost of 45 Euros. I have been cautioned that it is PROVISIONAL. So far, I have to still say that the infra-red system will not meet the safety regulation. Since it has to be monitored, it is really only a means of notifying of a victim in your pool. The goal of the law is to prevent accidental drownings which implies limiting access to the pool in the first place. I am contacting the company that supplies the infra-red systems and will publish their response here in the newsletter. We are also exploring varied solutions for those of you who are reluctant to install fences. However, I do caution again, that even though there is a general lack of information available about the law, it does exist. That notwithstanding, none of us should be too reluctant to protect children from the obvious risk. I know you are eager to do this, as you were considering an expensive piece of equipment to buy. Hopefully, people will comply, even without a Gendarme at their door. Dawn ===== 9. Nizas - Rain and Wild, Wild Women The grape harvest is almost finished in Nizas - just in time as the weather is now very wet and windy. Local growers seem happy enough with the quality of the wine, although the quantity is certainly lower this year - the balance of sun and rain is critical. We are back in full swing now after our few days of rest and relaxation (see the last newsletter #65). The kids have been back at school for a month, our 7 year old Jack, a future football player for the French team, is not very excited about learning tennis with his new teacher, but time will tell. We had a supper last week for all the people now involved in Rentals France, I was pleased to find the dining room full - it only seemed last week the company was just Carole and I, working all night on the computer in the bedroom. This means we can give a faster and more personal service, keep our web sites up to date and reduce costs and charges by being much more efficient. The travel business is going through some big changes due to the Internet and we plan to be there. Either that or I make wine and keep goats. The Wild Wild Women tag at the top of this article was wishful thinking, I just found out this is what the www really stands for. ===== AMERICANS WORKING IN FRANCE Dear Tony: I can't get a clear answer to the following questions: Is it considered "employment" for an American who owns property in France to legally rent the property? If we register, declare, and pay taxes can we rent out our place without going through all the paperwork for working in France? Look forward to your reply, Rob == Hello Rob No it is not "employment" for you to have a rental income from your property in France. The simplest thing to do is to go to the local French tax office next time you can and ask them - they have leaflets about this and are (usually) most helpful. I am sure you do not have to get involved in the paperwork for social security etc for rental income - a lot depends on you main residence and if you are resident in France for more than 6 weeks each year. I am getting much more data on this and will be publishing in the next few weeks 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 |