WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY FESTIVE PERIOD

Best wishes to everyone form all of us here at Cle France, we wish everyone Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année....

We are open 24/7 on-line so keep enjoying all the beautiful French property for sale and all our information about buying a house in France as usual on the website, but we may take a few days to get back to you if you send in any questions / requests over the Christmas period as we too will be enjoying the festive period with our feet up!

Happy Christmas from Sharon, David, Simon, Alex and all the team at Cle France.

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is marked in France on the third Thursday in November with fireworks, music and festivals.

Under French law, the wine is released at 12:01 am, just weeks after the wine's grapes have been harvested.

Parties are held throughout the country and further afield to celebrate the first wine of the season.

The Gamay grapes that go into Beaujolais Nouveau are handpicked in the Beaujolais province of France. The wine actually originated about a century ago as a cheap and cheerful drink produced by locals to celebrate the end of the harvest season.

Perhaps the most well-known producer of Beaujolais Nouveau is Georges Duboeuf, who is credited as one of the marketing geniuses behind the wine. Selling this young red was viewed by some vintners as a means to clear large quantities of wine at decent profits, which would create a much-needed cash flow shortly after harvest. 

The idea of a race to Paris carrying the first bottles of the new vintage was conceived and this attracted much media attention. By the 1970s, the race became a national event. The races spread to neighbouring countries in Europe in the 1980s, followed by North America, and in the 1990s, to Asia.

The traditional slogan used in ad campaigns and marketing material - Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé (which translates to The new Beaujolais has arrived) was changed in 2005 to It's Beaujolais Nouveau time.

Today, there are several dozen vintners making this popular red. The Beaujolais region is 34 miles long from north to south and 7 to 9 miles wide and home to nearly 4,000 vineyards which produce twelve officially-designated types of Beaujolais known as AOCs. They include some of the finest and priciest grand crus (big vintage) wines around, including Fleurie and Cote de Brouilly. The most common two are the Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages, the former of which account for half of the region's annual output.

In 2010, 35 million bottles of the wine were put on the market. Some 7.5 million were sold in French supermarkets and 15.5 million were exported mainly to Japan, Germany and the United States.

Beaujolais Nouveau owes its easy drinkability to a winemaking process called carbonic maceration, also known as whole-berry fermentation. This technique preserves the fresh, fruity quality of the grapes without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins.

Beaujolais Nouveau - that much-ballyhooed cherry-red coloured vintage that’s best served chilled - is clearly not for wine snobs. This fresh and fruity red is the result of a quick fermentation process that ends up with a tasty, clean wine that is enjoyed by palates the world over.

There are about 120 Beaujolais Nouveau related festivals held in the Beaujolais region. 

The most famous 'Les Sarmentelles' is held in the town of Beaujeu, the capital of the Beaujolais region. Kicking off in the early evening the day before Beaujolais Nouveau, the five-day festival features wine tasting, live music and dancing. During the afternoon on Beaujolais Nouveau Day, a heated tent offers wine and a range of local foods for visitors to sample. There is also a tasting contest featuring all of the twelve kinds of Beaujolais, in which the winner nets his or her weight in Beaujolais-Villages. In the evening, a torch lit parade honours the farmers that made the wine. Fireworks at midnight mark the release of the new wine, which is then drank until dawn. 

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk young. Most vintages should be consumed by the following May after its release. However, in excellent vintages (such as 2000) the wine can live much longer and can be enjoyed until the next harvest rolls around.

The region of Beaujolais is known for its fabulous food. The famed Paul Bocuse restaurant is just minutes from the heart of Beaujolais, as is Georges Blanc’s. These great restaurants have plenty of Beaujolais Nouveau on their wine lists. The wine goes well with either haute cuisine or Friday night’s pizza.

Is Beaujolais Nouveau making a comeback?

Beaujolais Nouveau Day was once a national event in the UK. Is it making a comeback, asks Justin Parkinson from the BBC News website.

It's as much a part of 1980s folklore as massive mobile phones, shoulder pads and personal organisers. On the third Thursday of every November the City of London was awash with celebrations for the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau.

Getting hold of the recently pressed, light red wine as quickly as possible became an annual event. It was usually served chilled.

The Beaujolais Run meant teams competing to be the first to get the first case of Nouveau from Paris to London. One year it got even more "Eighties" than normal, the winner being a Harrier jet. Bars, restaurants, pubs and off-licences held tastings, sometimes lasting all day, as events spread around the UK.

"Sales of Beaujolais Nouveau reached a peak in the late 1980s," says Anne McHale, master of wine at Berry Bros and Rudd. "It was a huge success based on marketing. But it declined in the 1990s when too many producers jumped on the bandwagon and the quality declined, getting weaker and more acidic."

McHale says focusing on Nouveau damaged the reputation of Beaujolais's better-quality products, in the way "Blue Nun did with German wines". Only now are people starting to return to other Beaujolais, which are often sold under the names of individual villages, such as Fleurie, she adds.

Japan is the biggest export market for Nouveau, buying almost 60 million litres last year. UK interest might not be at its peak, but something seems to be stirring. Last year the country imported 2.27 million litres - more than two and a half times the amount for 2012. This happened after Marks and Spencer launched a "carbon-neutral" version.

The celebrations have always been commercially motivated. Beaujolais, in France's Burgundy region, south-east of Paris, started promoting its freshly pressed wines as "Nouveau" in 1951. The release date was moved ahead of those for rival wines to maximise publicity. The uncorking of bottles just after midnight became a cause for street parties.

The run to London started after wine writers Clement Freud and Joseph Berkmann held a wager in 1970 over who could get it across the Channel first. This is still going, although competitors vie to transport it via the shortest route rather than in the shortest time, to ensure road safety.

"Nouveau has improved," says Beaujolais Run director Rob Bellinger. "Because of global warming the wine has been getting better every year. In the old days really it was like drinking vinegar."

One place that's never tired of Beaujolais Nouveau Day is Swansea. "It's like a national holiday," says Becky Oliver, owner of the city's No Sign Wine Bar. "Everyone has the day off. It's always been quite big but it's growing every year."

So, with UK sales increasing, is it on the up again? "I would be pretty confident in saying that this doesn't represent a future trend," says McHale. "It's more likely to be the result of a temporary spike in retro-nostalgia. Or perhaps this entire volume is being consumed by Swansea?"

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

New Automatic Visa for Second Home Owners

Or at least the possibility of one!

France’s upper house of parliament has decided to approve a bill giving British second-home owners an automatic long-stay visa right without any formalities.

The bill will be debated by députés (similar to British MPs), at the Assemblée Nationale in December. It can only be finalised and approved after that process.

The idea is that British second home owners will be able to spend more than 90 days out of 180 days (currently the maximum time allowed following Brexit), in France without making a formal application for a ‘temporary long-stay visa’.

British second home owners would then be able to travel freely to and from their second home without having to complete costly and complicated forms for long stay visas.

Until the new bill is debated and finalised we don’t currently know exactly what will be required in terms of proof of ownership, or other documentations to qualify, but it is starting to sound like some good news for those with second homes in France! Watch this space…

Want to learn more about living in France Post-Brexit?

You can download our guide by clicking the button below.

Kind regards, 
David Evans 
Co-Founder of Cle France.

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

Like Wine? You Gotta Try the Beaujolais Nouveau!

It’s November, and for those of us in the know, the 3rd Thursday of the month is a big deal. This day marks the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine!

South of Burgundy is a wine region known as Beaujolais. The climate is a bit warmer than Burgundy, so the Pinot Noir grapes popular in Burgundy don’t thrive so well in Beaujolais. That’s ok, though – there’s another grape described as a cousin to Pinot that grows very well in the area: the Gamay grape.

The Beaujolais region had always produced a wine celebrating the end of the harvest – basically, they’d make a wine, and it would be aged only a few weeks before being consumed. It wasn’t until World War II that this young wine could be purchased outside of the region. Marketers saw the potential in selling this wine elsewhere, and in the 1970s, the release of the wine had attracted a lot of media coverage. By the 1980s, the wine could be purchased in other countries in Europe, and in 1990s, it made its way to North America and Asia.

Fun fact: La récolte (the harvest) of these grapes is all done by hand! This can take up to 35,000 people working 15-20 days!

I know what you’re thinking – wine gets better with age, so why bother having some that’s only sat for a few weeks? The shorter the wine’s fermentation process, the fruitier it will be. Plus, this quick process means the wine will be less tannin. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? (What’s that?) You know how sometimes when you drink wine, your mouth tastes a bit dry afterward? That’s tannin.

These two characteristics combined produce a drinkable wine that pairs with almost anything. I was in Whole Foods the other day with my friend, and in the wine section, they were passing out samples of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau. Another customer tried it and commented on how well it went down and how normally he doesn’t like wine. This makes a very nice intro wine!

I’ll drink to that.

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

Check your Birthday and see what your name may have been if you were French !

In the past a French child would be given the name of the saint on whose day their own birth fell. More recently it has become more common for the saint's name to be given as a second or middle name. This means that children often have two special days to celebrate.

So what would your name have been if you were French? and your parents had named you after the saint day you were born on? check out your "Saint Day" name below.

Below is the most common used Saints Day listing, certain regions of France have variations.

January 1 Jour de l'An [Ian] January 2 Saint Basile January 3 Sainte Geneviève January 4 Saint Odilon January 5 Saint Edouard January 6 Saint Melaine January 7 Saint Raymond January 8 Saint Lucien January 9 Sainte Alix January 10 Saint Guillaume January 11 Saint Paulin January 12 Sainte Tatiana January 13 Sainte Yvette January 14 Sainte Nina January 15 Saint Rémi January 16 Saint Marcel January 17 Sainte Roseline January 18 Sainte Prisca January 19 Saint Marius January 20 Saint Sébastien January 21 Sainte Agnès January 22 Saint Vincent January 23 Saint Barnard January 24 Saint François January 25 Saint Paul January 26 Sainte Paule January 27 Sainte Angèle January 28 Saint Thomas January 29 Saint Gildas January 30 Sainte Martine January 31 Sainte Marcelle February 1 Sainte Ella February 2 Saint Théophane February 3 Saint Blaise February 4 Sainte Véronique February 5 Sainte Agathe February 6 Saint Gaston February 7 Sainte Eugénie February 8 Sainte Jacqueline February 9 Sainte Apolline February 10 Saint Arnaud February 11 Saint Séverin February 12 Saint Félix February 13 Sainte Béatrice February 14 Saint Valentin February 15 Saint Claude February 16 Sainte Julienne February 17 Saint Alexis February 18 Sainte Bernadette February 19 Saint Gabin February 20 Sainte Aimée February 21 Saint Damien February 22 Sainte Isabelle February 23 Saint Lazare February 24 Saint Modeste February 25 Saint Roméo February 26 Saint Nestor February 27 Sainte Honorine February 28 Saint Romain February 29 Saint Auguste March 1 Saint Aubin March 2 Saint Charles March 3 Saint Gwenolé March 4 Saint Casimir March 5 Saint Olive March 6 Sainte Colette March 7 Sainte Félicité March 8 Saint Jean March 9 Sainte Françoise March 10 Saint Vivien March 11 Sainte Rosine March 12 Sainte Justine March 13 Saint Rodrigue March 14 Sainte Mathilde March 15 Sainte Louise March 16 Sainte Bénédicte March 17 Saint Patrick March 18 Saint Cyrille March 19 Saint Joseph March 20 Saint Herbert March 21 Sainte Clémence March 22 Sainte Léa March 23 Saint Victorien March 24 Sainte Catherine March 25 Saint Humbert March 26 Sainte Larissa March 27 Saint Habib March 28 Saint Gontran March 29 Sainte Gwladys March 30 Saint Amédée March 31 Saint Benjamin April 1 Saint Hugues April 2 Sainte Sandrine April 3 Saint Richard April 4 Saint Isidore April 5 Sainte Irène April 6 Saint Marcellin April 7 Saint Jean-Baptiste April 8 Sainte Julie April 9 Saint Gautier April 10 Saint Fulbert April 11 Saint Stanislas April 12 Saint Jules 1er April 13 Sainte Ida April 14 Saint Maxime April 15 Saint Paterne April 16 Saint Benoit April 17 Saint Etienne April 18 Saint Parfait April 19 Sainte Emma April 20 Sainte Odette April 21 Saint Anselme April 22 Saint Alexandre April 23 Saint Georges April 24 Saint Fidèle April 25 Saint Marc April 26 Sainte Alida April 27 Sainte Zita April 28 Sainte Valérie April 29 Sainte Catherine April 30 Saint Robert May 1 Saint Joseph May 2 Saint Boris May 3 Saint Jacques May 4 Saint Sylvain May 5 Sainte Judith May 6 Sainte Prudence May 7 Sainte Gisèle May 8 Saint Désiré May 9 Sainte Pacôme May 10 Sainte Solange May 11 Sainte Estelle May 12 Saint Achille May 13 Sainte Rolande May 14 Saint Matthias May 15 Sainte Denise May 16 Saint Honoré May 17 Saint Pascal May 18 Saint Eric May 19 Saint Yves May 20 Saint Bernardin May 21 Saint Constantin May 22 Saint Emile May 23 Saint Didier May 24 Saint Donatien May 25 Sainte Sophie May 26 Saint Bérenger May 27 Saint Augustin May 28 Saint Germain May 29 Saint Aymard May 30 Saint Ferdinand May 31 Sainte Perrine June 1 Saint Justin June 2 Sainte Blandine June 3 Saint Charles June 4 Sainte Clotilde June 5 Saint Igor June 6 Saint Norbert June 7 Saint Gilbert June 8 Saint Médard June 9 Sainte Diane June 10 Saint Landry June 11 Saint Barnabé June 12 Saint Guy June 13 Saint Antoine June 14 Saint Elisée June 15 Sainte Germaine June 16 Saint Jean-François June 17 Saint Hervé June 18 Saint Léonce June 19 Saint Romuald June 20 Saint Silvère June 21 Saint Rodolphe June 22 Saint Alban June 23 Sainte Audrey June 24 Saint Jean-Baptiste June 25 Saint Prosper June 26 Saint Anthelme June 27 Saint Fernand June 28 Saint Irénée June 29 Saint Pierre June 30 Saint Martial July 1 Saint Thierry July 2 Saint Martinien July 3 Saint Thomas July 4 Saint Florent July 5 Saint Antoine-Marie July 6 Sainte Marietta July 7 Saint Raoul July 8 Saint Thibaud July 9 Sainte Amandine July 10 Saint Ulric July 11 Saint Benoart July 12 Saint Olivier July 13 Saint Henri July 14 Saint Camille July 15 Saint Donald July 16 Sainte Elvire July 17 Sainte Charlotte July 18 Saint Frédéric July 19 Saint Arsène July 20 Sainte Marina July 21 Saint Victor July 22 Ste Marie-Madeleine July 23 Sainte Brigitte July 24 Sainte Christine July 25 Saint Jacques July 26 Sainte Anne July 27 Sainte Nathalie July 28 Saint Samson July 29 Sainte Marthe July 30 Sainte Juliette July 31 Saint Ignace August 1 St Alphonse-Marie August 2 St Pierre-Julien August 3 Sainte Lydie August 4 Saint Jean-Marie August 5 Saint Abel August 6 Saint Octavien August 7 Saint Gaétan August 8 Saint Dominique August 9 Saint Amour August 10 Saint Laurent August 11 Sainte Claire August 12 Sainte Clarisse August 13 Saint Hippolyte August 14 Saint Evrard August 15 Sainte Marie August 16 Saint Armel August 17 Saint Hyacinthe August 18 Sainte Hélène August 19 Saint Jean-Eudes August 20 Saint Bernard August 21 Saint Christophe August 22 Saint Fabrice August 23 Sainte Rose August 24 Saint Barthélémy August 25 Saint Louis August 26 Sainte Natacha August 27 Sainte Monique August 28 Saint Augustin August 29 Sainte Sabine August 30 Saint Fiacre August 31 Saint Aristide September 1 Saint Gilles September 2 Sainte Ingrid September 3 Saint Grégoire September 4 Sainte Rosalie September 5 Sainte Raïssa September 6 Saint Bertrand September 7 Sainte Reine September 8 Saint Adrien September 9 Saint Alain September 10 Sainte Inès September 11 Saint Adelphe September 12 Saint Apollinaire September 13 Saint Aimé September 14 la Croix Glorieuse September 15 Saint Roland September 16 Sainte Edith September 17 Saint Renaud September 18 Sainte Nadège September 19 Sainte Emilie September 20 Saint Davy September 21 Saint Matthieu September 22 Saint Maurice September 23 Saint Constant September 24 Sainte Thècle September 25 Saint Hermann September 26 Sts Côme et Damien September 27 Saint Vincent September 28 Saint Venceslas September 29 Saint Michel September 30 Saint Jérôme October 1 Sainte Thérèse October 2 Saint Léger October 3 Saint Gérard October 4 Saint François October 5 Sainte Fleur October 6 Saint Bruno October 7 Saint Serge October 8 Sainte Pélagie October 9 Saint Denis October 10 Saint Ghislain October 11 Saint Firmin October 12 Saint Wilfrid October 13 Saint Géraud October 14 Saint Juste October 15 Sainte Thérèse October 16 Sainte Edwige October 17 Saint Baudouin October 18 Saint Luc October 19 Saint René October 20 Sainte Adeline October 21 Sainte Céline October 22 Sainte Elodie October 23 Saint Jean October 24 Saint Florentin October 25 Sainte Doria October 26 Saint Dimitri October 27 Sainte Emeline October 28 Saint Simon October 29 Saint Narcisse October 30 Sainte Bienvenue October 31 Saint Quentin November 1 La Toussaint November 2 Les Défunts November 3 Saint Hubert November 4 Saint Charles November 5 Sainte Sylvie November 6 Sainte Bertille November 7 Sainte Carine November 8 Saint Geoffroy November 9 Saint Théodore November 10 Saint Léon November 11 Saint Martin November 12 Saint Christian November 13 Saint Brice November 14 Saint Sidoine November 15 Saint Albert November 16 Sainte Marguerite November 17 Sainte Elisabeth November 18 Sainte Aude November 19 Saint Tanguy November 20 Saint Edmond November 21 Saint Albert November 22 Sainte Cécile November 23 Saint Clément November 24 Sainte Flora November 25 Sainte Catherine November 26 Sainte Delphine November 27 Saint Séverin November 28 Saint Jacques November 29 Saint Saturnin November 30 Saint André December 1 Sainte Florence December 2 Sainte Viviane December 3 St François-Xavier December 4 Sainte Barbara December 5 Saint Gérald December 6 Saint Nicolas December 7 Saint Ambroise December 8 Sainte Elfie December 9 Saint Pierre December 10 Saint Romaric December 11 Saint Daniel December 12 Ste Jeanne-Françoise December 13 Sainte Lucie December 14 Sainte Odile December 15 Sainte Ninon December 16 Sainte Alice December 17 Saint Gaël December 18 Saint Gatien December 19 Saint Urbain December 20 Saint Théophile December 21 Saint Pierre December 22 Ste Françoise-Xavière December 23 Saint Armand December 24 Sainte Adèle December 25 Jour de Noël December 26 Saint Etienne December 27 Saint Jean December 28 Saints Innocents December 29 Saint David December 30 Saint Roger December 31 Saint Sylvestre

Blog submitted by: David at Cle France.