By Sophia Mose: French Property and Taxes Traditionally, France did not have a reputation as a tax-efficient country for wealthy residents. In particular, the pre-2018 French wealth tax on worldwide net assets made headlines for chasing away celebrities such as Gerard Depardieu. However, as of the 1st of January 2018, …

Contributor blog post by Caroline Longstaffe Don’t you ever wonder when you ask your friends how they are and they always say ‘wonderful’? Really, always wonderful, no-one’s life is wonderful all of the time, is it? I know I’m a sharer, I write a blog after all and admittedly I mostly write about …

Contributor blog post by Caroline Longstaffe: Back in March I wrote about the excitement of returning somewhere special, to Lourmarin, quoting from Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” I also mentioned that I had an appointment with a real estate agent…. A great deal has happened since then, but …

Before spending time in Provence, I had never heard of a buyer’s agent. To a North American with the benefits of a transparent residential real estate market, the concept seemed vague and excessive. In Canada, we have Multiple Listing Services (MLS) which serves two purposes; “Unilateral offer of compensation by a …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: It has just dawned on me that this time last year Andy was frantically packing the car, filling every possible space with bits we wanted to take with us to France ahead of setting off in the early hours to drive to Provence to …

It can be difficult to find stores near you in a foreign country. Your common knowledge of simple store names just isn’t there. If you’re renovating a house in France, depending on where you’re located, this is where you’ll find your building materials: DIY Stores (French equivalent of B&Q or …

How to Renovate in France on a Budget So you’ve bought your fixer-upper in France. The romanticism of Peter Mayle has snared you into the dream (or perhaps my blog?). You’re not a millionaire but you’ve got essentially a ruin of stones to work with. At least that’s a start. …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: The last 2 days have gone by in a blur of builders, rubble & dust, but it’s been worth it. Having got rid of the hideous pellet burner (affectionately known as Growler) back in August, we’d been keeping our fingers well and truly crossed …

Here are a few pictures of the before and after renovation of our living room. Can you believe the difference? The locals are, unfortunately for us, still so curious that I’m often confronted with a face pressed against our window… But thankfully, everyone seems impressed. Next we’d love to renovate …

Our Kitchen before and after the renovation If you’re interested in the full Before and After of our house renovation here in Provence; voila! The kitchen, when we first bought the house, was entirely brown. The last time the house had been renovated was in the 70s. The ceiling was …