French Property in Dordogne and Life in France

French property for sale in Dordogne - France | French estate agents

2012-01-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

Our updated agency homepage!

French property for sale in Dordogne - France French estate agents

Prestige Dordogne riverside property

2012-01-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this stunning video. We love this property!

Prestige Dordogne riverside property

Take a look at the property details here

I won’t be long love…. I’m just nipping down the Château!

2011-12-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

I remember well the days, back in the UK, when shopping for wine generally meant a trip to the supermarket or off licence. More often than not, it was a bottle of mediocre and generally overpriced wine shoved hastily in the shopping basket after work or frantically trying out the numerous “wines of the week” or current promotions in order to search for a palatable tipple. It never seemed easy to choose wines and we never had the time. Well, that’s not how we do it anymore…….

Last weekend we spent a splendid afternoon in blissful early winter sunshine, driving around the wine Chateaux and many farms in the Dordogne region of Bergerac. Less well known than the Bordeaux varieties, one of the top quality wines produced by the Dordogne region is the Bergerac “Pecharmant” appellation. Situated to the northeast of Bergerac town it lies on predominantly south-facing slopes, covered with approximately 1,000 acres of vines. It produces very rich red wines with excellent ageing potential, with considerable complexity and finesse. Most of them are perfect for drinking now too!!

The actual process of choosing our wines was every bit as romantic as you could imagine. Armed with our “Hachet” wine guide and a few hours to spare, we drifted around the rolling hillsides, from producer to producer, trying the various wines and buying a dozen or so bottles at each stop. The producers of these wines vary from large and famous names, producing many tens of thousands of bottles, to the smallest farms making perhaps 5-6000 bottles a year from about 4 hectares of vines. When arriving, we were always warmly welcomed and then treated to a full description of each of the wines on offer, the chance to taste them all and even complete and unprompted tours of the full wine making facilities. One of the winemakers even sits you down the lounge of his farmhouse whilst he lets you sample his much loved products!!

Even though we have lived here for many years and can buy the wines of France very easily, you simply cannot beat the sheer thrill of visiting the Châteaux yourself and the satisfaction of choosing you own wines to suit your exact taste. The South-west of France including the neighbouring Bordeaux appellations, produces some of the world’s finest wines. We felt very privileged to be able to take a great day out to step back and appreciate the area as well as supporting our local producers directly and saving money as a result.

PS: I won’t tell you how carried away we got but suffice to say that we now have enough wine in our cellar to last us until Christmas 2015!!

Full circle for French cheese!

2011-12-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

We adore our life here in the Dordogne region of France. We have now lived here for many years, have built successful businesses, have made many friends, have got married here and have enjoyed the birth and the raising (ongoing project of course) of our 2 young children in the village community, and we feel just about as integrated as one could be....

But, even hardened expats suffer cravings for some of those good old fashioned foodstuffs that you just cant get (easily) in our beloved Dordogne region of France. One thing we love to have is real thick rashers of smoked back bacon. Sorry, there it is and you cannot get it here for sensible money.

Luckily, help is at hand and there are some excellent services who provide regular deliveries to the region from the UK. You place an order online and they deliver it here. Brilliant.

I don't think i have honestly ever laughed as much as when we opened our latest "parcel" from the UK. We had only ordered (this time from Asda) a couple of packs of bacon but somehow our order seemed to have got mixed up with an item from another customer's goodies. What did we find inside?.... a pack of "Asda" own label Bleu d'Auvergne cheese!!!

Some poor soul had ordered his or her favourite French cheese, a cheese which is widely available in every supermarket in France, online, from Asda in Brackley to be shipped to the Dordogne region of south-west France. Arrghh! You got to love some people :-)

Vat rates on eating out and home renovations set to rise

2011-12-06T06:32:00.001-08:00

As part of the French government’s ongoing austerity plans, an increase in the current reduced rate of VAT increase has now been voted through by MPs in France.

The normal rate of VAT (TVA in France) is 19.6%. The reduced rate of VAT currently applies to a wide range of goods and services such as home renovations and restaurant meals. The current rate of 5.5% will rise to 7% although certain areas such school canteen meals in France have been spared.

Despite the increase the reduced rate at 7% still looks a good deal given the normal rate, in our opinion!

Extra road safety measures on the way in France

2011-12-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

With effect from early 2012, all drivers in France will have to carry a breath test kit in their vehicles as part of new safety measures to be introduced with the aim of cutting the roads death toll.

Other measures include 400 new speed cameras, including high-tech radar units that operate from moving police cars and measures to bring in automatic speed reduction systems in cars.

Despite severe criticism, President Sarkozy denies that these measures are a designed as a sure fire way to increase revenues for the French government.

Great news concerning French healthcare for “early retirees”

2011-06-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

The chance of having “la belle vie” in France has again become easier for early retirees who are seeking a life-changing move to France.
It has been announced that early-retiree expats in France will once again be given easier access to the country's healthcare reimbursements system, following on-going pressure from the European Commission who had challenged France’s stance as being illegal.

In 2007, France enforced a tight policy of denying state healthcare rights and access to the CMU (couverture maladie universelle) to Europeans who were under state pension age and who were moving to the country without having worked there and without plans to seek work. They were told that in order to have health cover - an obligation for legal residence in France they would need to buy private insurance policies. In the case of persons with pre-existing conditions this could be very expensive and prohibitive, making a move to France out of reach and potentially disconcerting.

This is a hugely significant development for many potential buyers of French property, the profile of which are often people of under retirement age looking to relocate to France in their search for a better quality of life.

France is due to publish a circular before the summer break that opens access to CMU on the basis of EU regulation 883/2004. This regulation, relating to the coordination of social security systems, applies to all EU citizens.

2011-06-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

For French property for sale in all other regions of France, Dordogne Property Agency are very proud to recommend our new French property website - click on the link below!

www.frenchpropertyagency.com

French Property Agency - Finally... a French property website actually built with the client and their needs in mind!

Putting Your UK Car on French Plates

2009-12-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

A guideline on the Procedure for homologation of English cars imported into
France (Putting Your UK Car on French Plates)

In order to put a car on to French number plates it is necessary to go to the Préfecture or Sous-Préfecture in the Département in which you live. You will be asked to complete an application form and to pay the charge for this service by cheque. However, you will have to assemble the following documents to submit with your application :

A certificate of conformity - this is normally obtainable from the manufacturer’s head office in France and will cost something over 100 euros. However, it is sometimes possible to ask your local dealer (concessionnaire) to obtain this certificate on your behalf, and this may be free of charge.

If the car is at least 4 years old it will have to pass its French MOT (contrôle technique). This will probably mean that the headlamps will need modifying. You will need the pass certificate from the contrôle technique and possibly the invoice(facture) for the headlamp modification for your visit to the Préfecture.

(Please note that some UK vehicles which are not generally available in France or are over a certain age may also have to be inspected by the DRIRE)

Once the above documents are obtained it is necessary to take these documents,plus the car’s UK registration document, your passport and a French utilities bill as proof of your residence in France, to your local Hôtel des Impôts to obtain the « Quitus » for the vehicle (a free document proving that the VAT on this vehicle has been paid in a member country of the European Union).

Now that you have all the above documents, the final step is to take them to the Préfecture together with a Distingo 20 envelope obtainable from the Post Office for 1.66 euros (this is for the “carte grise” to be sent on to you). There you will normally be helped to complete the application form if necessary, and you will be given a receipt for those papers (car’s
registration document etc) which will be retained by the Préfecture. This is just in case the Gendarmes ask you to show your car’s papers before you receive the new French registration document (“carte grise”).

Within ten days or so you will receive the “carte grise” which gives your new number plate.

You need to take this original document to your garage so that they can supply and fit the plates (there will, of course, be a modest charge for this.) And, finally, please remember to issue your insurance company with a photocopy of this new document so that they can issue you with a revised insurance certificate.

Will it?

2009-11-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

A popular English language French newspaper reported on recent EU proposals which could allow UK inheritance law to apply to British expats living in France and to their whole estate, including property.

This would totally change the current rules where owners of French properties are subject to long standing Napoleonic laws which require that property is almost always passed through the blood line to children etc with little choice available for the owners.

This decision, if converted to law would allow you to choose your heirs.

Not signed off yet and could take years to be approved, but a very important development which affects hugely the affairs of Brits who choose to live in France.

One to watch!

It's official - Britain & Ireland have worst quality of life in Europe!

2009-10-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

A recent article posted online by the Telegraph, states that British people have the worst quality of life in Europe, according to a report which highlights the long hours, bad weather, low life expectancy and high price of many consumer goods.

In a study of ten of the largest European countries, Britain came last followed by Ireland, with France and Spain topping the table.

The report which analyses 10 European countries against various key benchmarks, from the price of gas, electricity, fuel, food and drink to the amount each country spends on education, health to working conditions and the weather.

The top three countries are France, Spain and Denmark, with Sweden, Ireland and Britain coming eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.

The study comes less than a week after the United Nations moved Britain out of the top 20 list of most desirable countries to live in for the first time.

New low cost routes serving Dordogne region

2009-09-30T01:50:00.000-07:00

Ryanair recently announced 4 new routes for SW France served from their newly formed base at Leeds-Bardford airport.

From March 2010 it plans to base two of its fleet at Leeds Bradford and will offer flights to Carcassonne, Limoges, Montpellier and Nantes. Limoges airport, situated just to the north of the region and only 75 mins drive from the Dordogne capital of Perigueux will shortly enoy this additional service to the region offering easier access from the North of the UKFlight times

This comes close on the heels of the announcment that Jet2.com would start a new service next year between Leeds Bradford and Bergerac.

Flights depart every Saturday from May 17, 2010, and will include an additional Tuesday service available between June 28 and September 12.

Prices start from £29.99 inclusive and are available for sale already - planned timetable is:

Leeds Bradford to Bergerac
Saturday, departs 8am, arrives 11am
Tuesday, departs 11.30am, arrives 2.30pm

Bergerac to Leeds Bradford
Saturday, departs 11.30am, arrives 12.30pm
Tuesday, departs 3pm, arrives 4pm

Do you have a French accent.... on your keyboard?

2009-09-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have always wondered how you can type your French grammar correctly on an english keyboard, here are the shortcut keys to press for each. Practice and Enjoy!
á é í ó ú accent aigu Press Alt Gr + press vowel

è accent grave Ctrl + top left key (`) then press letter

ç c cedille left Ctrl + comma then press c

â accent circonflexe left shift + ctrl + 6 then press vowel

ü trema Shift + Ctrl +( ;) key then press letter

Now you have no excuse whe emailing your French friends!

UK car plates to French?

2009-09-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

One of our cars, a left hand drive, that we recently purchased in the UK, is still currently on GB plates. The car has been correctly exported from the UK and is insured in France. Naturally, we had intended to get the transfer or "rematriculation" to French plates in due course.

Having just recived a letter from our insurers, this has now gone up the priority list somewhat! - In short, the insurers have stated that following recent pressure from the French government, they will refuse to insure any vehicles, at renewal of the policy, that are not on French plates.

A fair cop guv! and rightly so - for our useful guide on how to go about this click here: http://www.dordognepropertyagency.com/links/info.aspx

Tell us what you would like to know about living in France!

2009-09-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hello to all "Francophiles" and lovers of France!

This is our first post on our blog and we love to hear from you!

My wife and I first moved permamently to the Dordogne region of France at the end of 2002, having made the decision to leave the UK for good. Our reasons for making the move were a straightforward combination of our desire to get of the UK (we were becoming very concerned about the decline of quality of life) and the simpe fact that we loved France as a country.

We gave up our regular contact with friends and family, quit our very comfortable jobs in the UK and took the leap, having decided to set up a business as professional registered estate agents - see http://www.dordognepropertyagency.com/

We have since moved house three times, got married here (one of the most magical days imaginable) have been blessed with our two lovely sons and we are loving every minute of our lives here in France.

In our business lives we now spend our time helping many other people to acheive the same dream.......therefore:

We are posting our first blog to now ask all of you, what is it that you would like to know about life in France? Do you have questions about property or the market here? Are you thinking of making the move yourselves?

Please tell us about any subject that you would like our comments on. This is very much an experiment for us as we are new to the world of blogging - hopefully we can help some others who would also like to "make the leap" whilt creating some interesting discussion threads at the same time.

Hope to hear from you soon!
Tony - Dordogne Property Agency