Clé France

Hi Sharon, Just to let you know the viewings went well and we even fitted some more in thanks to your agent - he was an absolute delight and we can fully recommend him. 

We saw some other properties also during our trip and we are now considering next step but it is likely we are going to focus more around Coutances now so we won't we pursuing any of those we viewed. 

I will keep you posted. 

Kind regards, David.

We all know that you may not find your perfect property on your first viewing trip, in this case David has learnt about the area he likes and can focus in on a particular area of Lower Normandy near Coutances.

Also with thousands of properties for sale in France with Cle France your choice will only get better with time!

I highly recommend Cle France for providing me with an informed, hassle free purchase process with outstanding customer service. I welcome the opportunity to deal with them on my next property venture and wholeheartedly endorse them.

Regards, Neil

Neil bought his 'first' French House with Cle France to use as a base whilst looking for a house for sale in Mayenne of more substance, a good idea to keep accommodation costs down. We continue to work closely together with our client to find him a good selection of houses for sale in France to view and choose the best house from.

Thanks - Great local support

Hi David - thanks for all your help with both the marketing and sale of our property. The whole process was very efficient and straightforward. The local estate agents have been fantastic with regard to general communication and managing the overall process.

I have also found it very simple using your currency partner with regard to currency transactions, I will recommend Cle France and partners to others.

Best Regards, Mark.

Cle France help as many people to sell their house in France as we help people buy a property in France. We sold Mark's holiday home in Pays de la Loire recently.

Mark took advantage of our Gold Level Marketing package to make sure he got the maximum exposure and interest in his property, so we have a happy vendor and we also have a happy buyer.

With his property sold by Cle France, Mark needed to move Euros back into Sterling, no problem... we are always on hand to help and make sure everything goes according to plan and without a hitch especially where your money is concerned!

With the return of summer comes beach season.

Volleyball, bikinis, and ice cream, what more do you want?

Because France is surrounded by water on 3 of her 5 sides, you are bound to find a beach you’ll like and we have many coastal properties for sale across France to tempt you.

Tu veux faire un petit plouf (want to make a splash) in the Atlantic? try Aquitaine properties for sale.

Try a beach at Les Sables d’Olonne, a beautiful beach town in Western France, we have many houses for sale in the Vendee.

Prefer une petite baignade (a little dip) in la Méditeranée? Can’t go wrong with the options on our property for sale on the French Riviera down south or even our properties for sale in the Languedoc region in the south west of France. 

Want to sunbathe on the sand but still look up to see the Eiffel Tower? Sorry, Paris is landlocked. No beaches there… or are there?

In 2002, Bertrand Delanoe, the newly-elected mayor, decided to bring the beach to Paris. August is a prime time for vacation, and many shops close down for a few weeks. It’s the perfect time to head out to the beach. Some people aren’t able to leave the city, but that’s no reason to not be able to feel le sable (sand) between your toes. The banks of the Seine river are  blocked off to host various beach activities including volleyball and sandcastles. To top it all off, il y a également des palmiers (there are also palm trees)!

At first, there was only one beach on the Rive Droite (The Right Bank of the river). Four years later in 2006, an additional beach was opened on the Rive Gauche (The Left Bank). Paris-Plage as it was called would henceforth be known as Paris-Plages (notice the –s?). The budget for the improvised beach has been cut in the past few years, but thousands of tons of sand are still brought in.

This year, Paris-Plages is back for its 15th year. It opened on le 20 juillet (July 20th) and will run through le 23 août (August 23rd). In addition to the normal oversized lawn chairs, Paris-Plages is introducing some new events this year for everyone! There are chances to win entrance into the Louvre museum (they sponsor Paris-Plages and have a stand), see cute animals, and see The Little Prince and his plane. Want to learn Tai Chi? You’re in luck – there are free lessons! Coca-Cola has put into place quite a few sports: le football, le disc-golf, et le badminton, par exemple (soccer, disc golf, and badminton, for example). In August, there’s a dance competition on un grand dance-floor on the beach. And that’s not all! You can read all the events planned here. It’s all free!

So, if you have the “misfortune” of being “stuck” in Paris and want to get out to the beach (or if you can’t decide between staying in the city or going to the beach), look no further than the Seine river! Just don’t swim in it.

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

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

My computer problems quickly led to hardware problems, which meant finding a DIY / hardware store. Les problèmes were that my hardware vocabulary isn’t very good in English never mind in French, and that it was still incredibly hot. I needed a very small screwdriver to take off the screws on the bottom of my laptop and get to its insides.

My original thought was to just go to le magasin d’informatique (the computer store) and ask them for what I needed, but on the way there I ran into un ami (a friend) and we had a brief conversation.

It went something like this:

– Ça va ?

– Oui, ça va. Je vais au magasin d’informatique. Mon disque dur a planté et donc j’ai besoin de le remplacer.

– Ah ouais ? tu sait comment faire tout ça ?

– Oui, il faut juste enlever les petites choses en bas et puis c’est simple à faire.

– Les petites choses ? Ah tu veux dire les vis ! Demande aux gens du spuermarché ! J’imagine qu’ils ont ce que tu veux.

Hey, how’s it going?

It’s going alright. I’m going to the computer store. My hard drive broke and so I need to replace it.

Ah yeah? You know how to do all that?

Yes, you just have to take out the little things on the bottom and then doing it is easy.

The little things? Ah you mean the screws! Ask the people at the supermarket! They probably have what you want.

So I went to le supermarché and asked:

– Excusez-moi, est-ce que vous avez la chose pour enlever les vis ?

– Un tournevis ?

– Oui c’est ça !

– Oui, suivez-moi.

– Voilà toutes les tournevis qu’on a.

– Vous n’en avez pas des plus petits ?

– Non, désolé. Tout ce qu’on a est ici.

Excuse me, do you have the thing for taking out screws?

A screwdriver?

Yes that’s it!

Yes, follow me.

Here’s all the screwdrivers that we have.

Do you have any smaller ones?

No, sorry. Everything we have is here.

Dans une ultime tentative (In a last ditch effort) I decided to ask another shop I passed, une bijouterie (a jewelry store).

– Bonjour Monsieur.

– Bonjour.

– Est-ce que vous avez des très petits tournevis ?

– Non, je suis désolé.

– Et bien, est-ce que vous savez où je pourrais en acheter ?

– Oui ! Allez au magasin de bricolage. Ils en ont j’en suis sûr.

Hello Sir.

Hello.

Do you have any very small screwdrivers?

No, I’m sorry.

Well, do you know where I could buy some?

Yes! Go to the hardware store. They have some I’m sure of it.

Vive la France!

And after asking a few people along the way where exactly le magasin de bricolage is located I found mon tournevis (my screwdriver)!

I learned trois nouveaux mots (three new words)! Now to learn the difference between un tournevis plat (a flathead screwdriver) and un tournevis cruciformes (a Philip’s head screwdriver)!

Voici un petit vocabulaire :

La vis screw

Le tournevis screwdriver

Le clou nail

Le marteau hammer

Le magasin de bricolage hardware store

Le matériel informatique hardware (computer)

Le hardware hardware (computer)

La quincaillerie hardware (tools).

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

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