Clé France

Almost Août!

Today, as I was standing à la caisse (at the checkout/cashier) to pay for my groceries, la cassière (the cashier) mentioned that she couldn’t believe all the back-to-school ads she saw all over the place. "Summer isn’t over!" she cried. I agreed heartily with her, but then I realised that next week will already be August. How the summer flies! by.

In French, the word for the month of August is Août. This comes from the Latin word augustus, which evolved into the old French aoust. The circonflexe in French typically signals that there was previously an “s” in an earlier version of the word.

Of course, the original root of the word dates back to the Roman Empire, when the emperor Augustus decided to rename the Roman month sextilis after himself! (Of course, changing the names of months or switching up calendars is not rare).

August is known as le mois de la moisson. What is la moisson? Moisson means “"harvest" and refers to the reaping of crops toward the end of the summer. Take a look at this verse by the Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren in his poem Les Villes tenaculaires (1895):

"Dites! L’ancien labeur pacifique, dans l’août Des seigles mûrs et des avoines rousses, Avec les bras au clair, le front debout Dans l’or des blés qui se retrousse Vers l’horizon torride où le silence bout.”"

(See below for vocabulary words to help you decipher these verses)

But, in French, as in English, there are many derivations of the word août. And typically these derivations are associated with August’s familiar activities—including harvesting produce and taking vacation. For example, l’aoûtat is a kind of harvest mite that eats mature crops (and, thus, appears in August). And the word aoûtien literally means “someone who goes on vacation in August.” Can you think of any derivations of the English word “August” (or for any other months)?

Happy (soon to be early) August to all. Don’t worry, the summer isn’t winding down just yet.

Vocabulary List

pacifique—peaceful

des seigles—rye

mûrs—mature or ripe

des avoines—oat

des blés—wheat.

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

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

Hi Sharon and David, sorry haven't replied sooner but as you know getting the keys to your property is just the start, still lots to organise and sort out, in a good way of course! 

I would personally like to thank you both for the excellent service and connections your company has provided.

I have written a brief overview of our experiences, here goes...

3 months from dream to reality:

I think back over the years when the children were young and the many holidays in France from tents to gites, I hate to think about the amount of money I've spent on accommodation over that time.

In recent year's its just been the wife and I, still visiting that wonderful country and with retirement not too far in the distance, we found ourselves looking in the estate agents windows every new area we would visit and surprised at what great value for money house prices were, particularly in the countryside areas, where little work opportunities were to be had! 

So last year we decided next time we went away to make it a house hunting holiday. This is when we first became aware of Cle France. Choosing an area to visit we looked online for suitable properties' and with just a click a request for viewing was answered promptly.

This is when Cle France comes into its own. English/French speaking they organised all times and viewings with the local agent in the different areas. All that was left was to turn up on time at the agents office.

On the whole most agents spoke English making it easier for question and answers on site but

If we needed more detail Cle France would ask your questions and give you feedback normally within 24hrs. 

Just a word of warning, if the property looks unbelievable cheep then there's probably a very good reason but that's not to say, you still can get very good value for your money.

Although our first trip didn't bear fruit, it was an invaluable insight into the whole process and what to look for next time to suit your needs.

What the Cle France site does really well is to give you regular updates on new properties available in your selected price range and area.

This made our search so much easier for next time around. When a property came up that matched our criteria and then with a few more background checks made by Cle France, we had no hesitation booking an appointment and hopping on a plane for a long weekend viewing.

On viewing the property and area, both my wife and I had no hesitation in our decision, so putting in an offer.

This again is when the Cle France support and services were invaluable and without fault! 

From their remortgage advisor Tim Durkin, whose excellent advise and service meant we had the money required in our bank account in less than a month for a cash purchase.

Also there was the need for money exchange, again, Cle France put us in touch with a trusted company to deal with all those matters again without any issues. The only depressing factor was the volatility of the pound v euro!

Finally their local estate agent in the area selling the property has changed my view of estate agents for ever, she took us through the whole process, from offer to completion and provided translation and intermediated on our behalf along the way. I cant thank her enough, It made the whole journey of what seemed a very daunting process, to an effortless delight. Even now, after the sale is complete the agent still supports us in our needs. You couldn't ask for anymore.

So from the First viewing to having the keys was just under 3 months, an amazing feat of professionalism from all those involved and many thanks everyone.

Well done Cle France!

Paul Davidson.

Buying a House in France is easy with Cle France, You can do the same, it is easy for you because WE guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process from the very start to completion and beyond!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"!

With the summer getting hotter the chance of thunderstorms is ever present so we thought we would put together some vocabulary around the weather, after all it isn't just 'the Brits' who like talking about the weather, the French do too especially in rural areas.

En France, l’été is the height of la saison touristique (the tourist season). The colder months of the year do not attract as many visitors, but the hot months of l’été bring in les touristes (tourists) from all over the world to France. It definitely makes it easier to voyager (travel) when you don’t have to worry about packing les vêtements d’hiver!

Remembering ces orages quotidiens (these daily thunderstorms) does remind me of holidays in Provence, but also that la foudre et le tonnerre (lightning and thunder) used to be somewhat rare in northern France, now it gets very hot and there is even the occasional averse de grêle (hailstorm), summer thunderstorms are more regular than ever.

This became apparent when I tried to share mon expérience estivale (my summer experience) with mes amis (my friends) in France. They were used to the couple of weeks of la canicule and la fête de la musique, but mes amis loved talking about un orage rolling in every day!

Voici un vocabulaire des orages :

L’été – Summer

Estival – Summer (adj)

Le temps – Weather

La météo – Weather forecast

La chaleur – Heat

Chaud – Hot

L’orage – Storm, thunderstorm

L’ouragan – Hurricane

La saison – Season

Le nuage – Cloud

Nuageux – Cloudy, overcast

La pluie – Rain

Le soleil – Sun

La grêle – Hail

L’averse de grêle – Hailstorm

La foudre – Lightning

Le tonnerre – Thunder

Tonner – To thunder

Le tourisme – Tourism

Le touriste – Tourist

La climatisation – Air conditioning

Le ventilateur – Fan

La brise – Breeze.

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

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

Question: Bonsoir, I am wondering if Brexit prevents me from renting or buying a premises in France, in which I can live upstairs, and create a social venture, in the ground floor? Can you advise me please?

Merci, Sandra

Answer: Hi Sandra, thanks for your message...

Brexit is a big question, and quite complex for me to try to answer succinctly: 

but there are quite a few articles on our blog pages on the website from various sources, especially from our legal contacts, so do have a browse over those. 

My own view is that the process of 'BREXIT' will potentially take a number of years to negotiate, and in the meantime nothing changes, British people are  still moving to France to live,  in fact we've just had our busiest month in 8 years.

So the consensus of opinion is that for now not much will change. The  process of withdrawing from the EU will not be a speedy one, and the  residency of those ex-pats living in France and elsewhere in the EU will no doubt form a part of that negotiation process.  

When I moved to France a residency  permit known as the ‘Carte De Sejour’ was required; it was a  relatively straightforward application process (or at least as  straightforward as a French bureaucratic process can be!)  Perhaps this could be re-introduced for British residents in the future, but for now we just don't know. Of course owning homes abroad will remain as it is today, there is no restrictions for non EU members on owning a house in France.

Clearly there remain many questions to be answered, and fine details to be ironed out. But what is becoming apparent is that this will be a long process, possibly years in the making, and we will of  course bring further news as and when it becomes available during the  coming months. But in the meantime life continues much as it always  has done: the British have always lived, worked and retired to sunnier  climes, and that will doubtless continue, even if some administrative aspects of live abroad may change.

Here is a link to 4 articles which we have published on the subject that you may find useful on The Legal Implications of Brexit: 

Thanks, Alex.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

Hello Sharon,

We had a lovely time with your Cle France agent, she could not have been more helpful, friendly and professional. While we were happy with what we viewed and one or two were very tempting, ”I have to think with my head” not my heart as my wife kept reminding me.

We have not yet fell in love for any but so still looking.

We love visiting the region so “we will be back” as Arnold said.

Best wishes, J&S.

Buying a House in France is easy with Cle France, You can do the same, it is easy for you because WE guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process from the very start to completion and beyond!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"!