Just updating the Cle France Office calendar and thought this was useful information for those booking and planning property viewings in France.

So here are the remaining Bank Holiday dates / jour fériés in France...

Thursday 08/05/2014 is Victory in Europe

Sunday 25/05/20 is Mother´s Day

Thursday 29/05/2014 is Ascension

Sunday 08/06/2014 is Pentecost

Monday 09/06/2014 is Pentecost Monday

Sunday 15/06/2014 is Father´s Day

Monday 14/07/2014 is Bastille Day

Friday 15/08/2014 is Assumption of Mary

Saturday 01/11/2014 is All Saints

Tuesday 11/11/2014 is Armistice Day 1918

Thursday 25/12/2014 is Christmas

Please note: A lot of business and shops, Post offices etc will be closed in France on these days.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

If you really want to learn French, you need to know a few French expressions...

Si tu veux vraiment apprendre le Français, il faut connaître quelques expressions Françaises!

You aren’t going to find these in formal language books but equipping yourself with some of these idioms, colloquialisms and tournures de phrases (turns of phrase) will endear you to the French even if your accent betrays you.

Below are a few of the more popular French expressions along with their literal translations (or close to it) and what they mean in English.

1. Ca gaz? (Is it gassing?) – How’s it going?

2. C’est pas terrible (It’s not terrible) – It isn’t that great.

3. Et patati et patata (And blah, blah, blah,) – When someone won’t stop talking.

4. Un froid de canard (A duck’s cold) – It’s extremely cold outside.

5. Faire la grasse matinée (Doing the fat morning) – Sleeping in.

6. Avoir une araignée au plafond (Having a spider on the ceiling) – The ceiling refers to a person’s head and means that he/she is a little odd but that it doesn’t bother anyone.

7. Rentrer bredouille (Returning bredouille) – There’s no real translation for the word bredouille but it means returning empty-handed.

8. Tomber à pic (Falling at the peak) – To arrive at just the right time.

9. Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre (Having eyes bigger than the stomach) – This refers to a person whose desire for food was larger than their stomach and they end up overeating or not being able to finish the food on their plate.

10. Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs (Placing the plow before the oxen) – This is similar to the phrase “Putting the cart before the horse” and has the same meaning.

11. Bête comme un chou (Dumb like a cabbage) – Refers to a person who is dumb, similar to the expression “Dumber than a sack of hammers/rocks.”

12. Avoir le feu au derrière (Having fire on your behind) – To be in a hurry.

13. Donner sa langue au chat (To give one’s tongue to the cat) – To give up or to stop guessing.

14. Avoir d’autres chat à fouetter (Having other cats to whip) – Similar to “Having bigger fish to fry” meaning having other things to do.

15. Boire un coup/Prendre un verre (Drink a blow/Take a glass) – To have a drink.

16. Avoir le cafard (Having the cockroach) – Feeling down or depressed.

17. Être dans de beaux draps (Being in nice sheets) – Being in a mess.

18. Dormir sur les deux oreilles (Sleeping on both ears) – Sleeping well, having restful sleep.

19. Vieux/Vieille comme Hérode (Old like Herod) – Referring to King Herod in the Bible, this simply refers to a very elderly person.

20. À fond la caisse (At full throttle) – To go real fast, especially in a vehicle.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

I spotted this article on a site called 'French Language blog' and thought it was interesting so I am sharing it here, I remember our neighbours children pointing to the ducks on our pond years ago and shouting 'quand quand' as opposed to what it says here 'coin coin', either way surely 'quack quack' is more accurate? I can't believe I am saying this?..............

The word onomatopée (onomatopoeia) has been floating around the Internet as of late and I thought it would be fun to devote a post to French onomatopoeias vs. their English counterparts.

What is an onomatopoeia? An onomatopoeia is a word meant to mimic a certain sound made by un humain (a human), un animal (an animal) or un objet (an object). The spelling of an onomatopoeia should sound as close as possible to the actual sound it is trying to imitate.

The word itself comes from two Ancient Greek words: onoma meaning name, and poieo meaning to produce.

So let’s run through a few onomatopoeias in both French and English to give us an idea of how people hear things differently. You’ll find a number of these in both French and English bandes dessinées (comic books), dessins animés (cartoons) and livres pour enfants (children’s books). Keep in mind that there can be several onomatopoeias for the same sound but these are just some of the more popular ones.

The first onomatopoeia will be in French and the second in English.

Human Sounds:

1. Sleep: ron-ron vs. zzzzzzz

2. Sneeze: atchoum vs. achoo

3. Expression of pain: aïe! vs. ouch!

4. Crying baby: ouin-ouin vs. wah-wah

5. Drinking: glou-glou vs. slurp/glug

6. Beating heart: poum-poum vs. thump-thump

7. Hushing: chut vs. shh

Animal Sounds:

1. Rooster: cocorico vs. cock-a-doodle-doo

2. Pig: groin-groin vs. oink-oink

3. Bird: cui-cui vs. tweet-tweet

4. Duck: coin-coin vs. quack-quack

5. Frog: croac-croac vs. ribit/croak

6. Snake: siff vs. hiss/sss

7. Owl: ouh-ouh vs. hoo-hoo

Sounds made by objects:

1. Clock: tic-tac vs. tick-tock

2. Ambulance siren: pin-pon vs. wee-woo

3. Gun firing: pan-pan! vs. bang-bang!

4. Car door slamming: vlan! vs. wham!

5. Water dripping: plic-plic vs. drip-drip

6. Doorbell ringing: dingue-dongue vs. ding-dong

7. Telephone ringing: dring-dring vs. ring-ring

Here endeth the strangest blog I have ever posted!

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Just had a client email in to us their criteria and thought I would share it with everyone, having a solid criteria helps us find a selection of properties for you to visit and although we will need a little more to go on.... this criteria is a good one!

Our criteria is:

Don't mind some work

Got to be have good workshop

An hour from serviceable airport

An hour to get to coast

Detached, edge or not too far from town with train access

Cheap wine

Good food

Sunshine

Relaxation

They are looking for property in Herault in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon with Cle France.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Fancy running your own vineyard, of course you do!

Set near to a lovely town bursting with art and culture, 20 minutes from the sea and not far from the A9 and A75 motorways in Languedoc-Roussellin. 

A change of lifestyle, a change of context, living closer to nature and creating noble products: wine, olive oil, truffles! 

Become a wine, truffle and olive oil producer in the south of France! Here on this small estate, on a very human scale, which can be run by a couple, find everything you need to produce quality, live close to the elements, and provide an income by the fruits of your labor, while living on site in the simple cosy home of 70m2. 

Find here 1 hectare of olive trees (230 trees) with a half in Lucca variety, in total producing between 260-500 litres of oil per year (2000 - 4000 kg of olives per year depending on the year).

And the vineyard, planted in wide rows and on wire, offering 1.5 hectares with 5000 plants, planted around its beautiful underground winery, with a production capacity of 80 hecto-liters representing about 8000 bottles a year (white and red combined). All winemaking equipment included (barrels, fibre-glass tanks, press, tractor, etc.) so no additional material investment required. 

In addition, 120 truffle oaks just starting to produce, so additional revenue coming! 
To live off of this activity, you must do all the work yourself (no full time employee), but that's the beauty of this place, it can be done by a couple (or family). 

Property ref: SLR00497

Blog submitted by: Sharon at The French Property Network - Cle France.