That old demon the mid-life crisis is causing me to dally with the idea of buying one of those run-down houses in France and fixing it up, but I know naff-all about such things as building regs and electrical wiring requirements over there. Can anyone suggest somewhere where I can find such things out?
Thanks Steve
Far more important is the politics and legals. You should go and talk to the local mayor first and if he/she even slightly hesitates try elsewhere.
Living France is a very good magazine to read for everything French. Personally, I went for buying a house that did not need a lot of work, mainly because I don't want to live there, at least not yet, and I don't want to spend my time in France doing anything that resembles work. I have re-roofed the conservatory, but that, and a lick of paint inside it, is about all I plan to tackle.
What the French usually do when they want to keep costs down is to buy a piece of land and build a new house on it, which is one reason there tends to be a lot of run-down wrecks for sale to the British. The most important thing by far is, however, getting to know your local mayor. He has a huge say in what can and cannot be done and you do need him on your side whether you plan to build or to convert. Make the first meeting as early as possible after you buy. It is considered an essential politeness in France and the French are very strong on being polite.
Colin Bignell
Yes, oddly enough the wife's mother is the mayor of their town, in fact she actually married us!, so what mother-in-law put together, let not god himself split asunder!...
However, god help her if she turns someone down for planning permission. On a good week she'll receive around two death threats and poison pen letters, and sometimes one or two a day;(
Dunno quite why she does the job either...
The best advice she'd give for anyone contemplating this activity is to make some effort to learn the language, as in rural parts the local knowledge of English isn't that good.....
Yep. Late 80s I had a meeting in the extremes of Brittany and found their Breton and my very poor Welsh were the nearest we had to a common language.
Unless they're Parisians. In which case they don't GAS.
I am quite often surprised how many people try to live in a country without even a fairly basic knowledge of a language. That, as much as anything, was what decided me on France as a place to buy. (While I prefer the food in Germany, the weather is less attractive). However, in Languedoc the locals don't speak French as I know it. Fortunately the mayor not only speaks understandable French, but he also speaks rather good English.
Colin Bignell
Think this may be something of a French urban myth. Spent five weeks living in Paris for a job, and the first really rude person I met was a officious security man at Waterloo as I got off the Eurostar on the way back. However, don't behave like some American tourists do in Paris, or you WILL get rudeness.....
Charles F
No there is a difference it seems to be Paris and the rest of France from what SWMBO and her froggie mates reckon....
only one of whom is from Paris and agrees with that notion.....
That was our feeling also when travelling through Paris with our childern a few years ago, all the people we met were friendly and helpful. We do speak a reasonable amount of French though, not 'like a native' but enough so that we just need to ask for something a bit more slowly occasionally.
Thank you for your advice. It looks like I'd better start brushing up the "entente cordiale".
Steve
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