The not so Glamorous Côte d’Azur Life of Home Upkeep

Contributor blog post by Jemma:

I couldn’t write this post until things had been resolved – or mostly resolved, as the case would be. Even then, I didn’t know if I should bother. It’s France. Everyone expects home maintenance problems. And how can anything be a problem, really, if we’re talking about summer in the shimmering Côte d’Azur?

But when you have a home in this fairytale land, it’s not like checking into a swanky resort, mine’s a raspberry mojito, s’il vous plaît, just pop it over there beside the lounger at the pool – yep, that’s the one, with my latest paperback splayed open on a freshly laundered hotel towel.

…Continue reading here for Jemma’s original post “Tough Love: Home Upkeep in the Côte d’Azur”.

French House Construction Terminology

Le plan d’urbanisme (PLU) = Local regulations related to constructability of the land and size of home that can be built.

L’architecte = Architect

Le maitre d’œuvre = Project manager

Le chantier = Construction site/project

Le permis de construire = Construction permit

La climatisation = HVAC – heating, humification, ventilation, air conditioning

Le chauffage = Heating

La domotique = Home automation

La sécurité = Security system

Les éclairages = Lighting systems

Les fenêtres = Windows

L’arrosage automatique = Sprinkler system (garden)

La fondation = Foundation

Les murs = Walls

Le toit = Roof

Via:: French Lessons

Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence – Montagne St. Victoire: Full-day Wine tour from Marseille

Embark on a full-day wine tour from Marseille or its surrounding cities to the captivating Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, the westernmost vineyards of Provence.

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Jemma Hélène

Jemma was born and raised in the US Midwest. A banker by trade, she slogged away at a Swiss investment bank in the UK and South Africa before moving – for decent spaces of time, anyway – to the South of France. At a similar stage, she also moved to the right side of her brain as a writer. She has published articles in Maclean’s, SuperYacht World, and various travel and university presses.

At this point Jemma lives mostly in Canada, but she spends the whole of every summer in the Côte d’Azur town of Antibes. From this seaside town of ramparts, situated midway between Nice and Cannes, she has penned her blog French Lessons since 2007. Each post captures a snapshot of the remarkable, real life of the French Riviera. “Consider these pages my summertime gift to you,” she tells her readers.

When not engrossed in things French, Jemma is - not in any particular order - writing a book, making music, performing motherly duties, expanding sustainable education in places that have less of it, promoting Canadian writing, and travelling off-the-beaten-track: over 90 countries, and counting.

You can reach Jemma through her blog site at French Lessons.