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Buildings account for 46% of the total energy consumption and 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in France. Insulating them is a necessity. Experts from Kingspan Insulation look at the options available.
Real Life: When Giles and Fi bought an old mill back in 1999, they never envisioned quite what life off the electricity grid would be like. In 2002 they decided to install a water turbine to generate their own electricity and now run a B&B...
So what’s it really like running a Gîte business in France? Well, in short – it beats working for a living! So forget what you think it’s like and give 5 minutes to reading a real life account of setting up and running gîtes in France...
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Hunting in Limousin is far removed from the traditional view we hold of hunting back in the UK. The hunt is an important source of free food and forms the basis of many of the traditional Limousin family meals.
Swimming pool water needs to go through a variety of purification processes in order to keep it clean and safe. Chemicals, filters, ph, water types and many more factors need to be taken in to account.
Not too many years ago, in what now seems a completely separate universe, I sat gazing out of my office window in London. I longed to be in Burgundy. Over the years, I had fallen in love with the region and its inhabitants as we passed through on holidays elsewhere in Europe...
When Steve and I were introduced to each other, on a blind date nearly 8 years ago, we discovered that we both harboured a dream to live in France. In 2002 we started our hunt for the “perfect property” and after 2 years we found plenty of properties we didn't want but none that we did...
When working out your finances to buy that dream property in France, you need to take into account the taxes involved in purchasing French property. These costs vary depending if the property is subject to VAT, as David Franks of Blevins Franks explains...
In 2008, Yasmeen and Jonathan Moore set up a gîte complex in the Mayenne with a restaurant for guests. Due to the popularity of the restaurant and also due to the pleading from local British people they decided to open the restaurant to non-residents on Friday evenings for curry nights. Here's their story..
My decision to teach French happened by accident really. I had a call from a friend who had artisans on site and both sides were having trouble understanding what was required. I was happy to help but after I’d gone I was flattered to find the builder thought I was French. When my friend understood this, he said ‘Why don’t you teach it? It would really help me and I can think of several other people who would really value it too’.
And that's how it all started...
There are numerous good reasons for considering the landscaping of flat roofs. To start with it offers an effective and practical use of space, whilst helping to sustain and replace lost habitats in the process.
Get married in France? Isn’t that difficult, people will ask, mindful of French bureaucracy? Well, I got married myself here eight years ago, I have just organised my stepdaughter’s – much bigger – wedding and I have helped various friends with the paperwork in the intervening years. So here’s how to do it! I am writing this from the point of view of British nationals, though I believe it will equally apply to other nationalities...
What do you do when you return to a familiar French city? Try something different, of course. FrenchEntrée Magazine Editor Justin Postlethwaite heads south for a three-part tour of the Riviera...
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French entrée-Limousin receives around 13,000 unique visitors each month. Predominantly from the UK and France, but we also from all over the English speaking world. So we thought it would be interesting to find out what a young Australian currently travelling through Europe thinks of the Limousin. Sean Whelan is a 19 year old civil engineering student....
Market day in Provence is not just a day for selling and buying, it’s a major social event, an excuse to chat with friends, an intrinsic part of French life. There’s nothing quite like the hustle, bustle and noise, jostling with people of all ages and sizes amongst stalls.
Although not immediately recognised as a wine producing region, Limousin has, from ancient times produced its own range of wines. Through periods of adverse weather and prolific diseases the production has fluctuated and at times completely disappeared but today the proud tradition of Limousin wine is alive and well.
My love affair with France began nearly 20 years ago, when I was 18 years old. I was drawn to France, why - I don’t know. I had never been to France, never experience the French culture or food; I just knew I wanted to be there someday. I used to dream and believe by the time I was 35, I would live 6 months in Australia and 6 months in France...
Penny and Ken Smith have been running their property management company Complete Property Care for the last six years. Situated in a small village called Neuvy Bouin roughly 20 minutes from Parthenay, in Deux Sèvres, they look after properties within a 50 minute radius, and are currently managing 10 properties...
Buying a house in France is a big step to take. Beryl Brennan discusses the different types of properties and important points to consider before you sign on the dotted line.
Like many of us Sam Parry and her family fell in love with The Limousin on holiday and decided to make it their home. They are currently renovating and plan to set up a cycling holiday business once the work is completed. They have agreed to keep a diary of progress and the ups and downs of the project here is the story so far
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Like many of us Sam Parry and her family fell in love with The Limousin on holiday and decided to make it their home. They are currently renovating and plan to set up a cycling holiday business once the work is completed. They are keeping a diary of progress. As Tim and James were making their way through slating the barn roof, our French Contractor Remy arrived to start the dalle (foundations and concrete platform) for the extension that would link the barn with our house..
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Have you taken adequate safety precautions to secure the contents of your home? Country homes are often not as secure as they could be. Old doors with woefully inadequate locks make an ideal target for thieves. How to secure your property...
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Perhaps the biggest concern for any family moving to the Limousin is how easily their children will settle here and the quality of the education they will receive. We met up with one family who came to live in the Limousin and have very much made it their home.
As a French resident you are taxed on your worldwide income, which includes UK investment income. The investments that are tax-efficient in the UK are not tax-efficient elsewhere, such as France.
Prior to April 2009, if you had a UK civil partnership (CP) and moved to France, it was not recognised in France, and you were not be able to enter into the French equivalent known as PACS (Pacte Civil de Solidarité) unless the UK CP was dissolved first...
July, with perfect weather, is the easiest of months for the organic gardener and a great time to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Here, Sheilah Kennedy, looks at how we can look after the organic garden in July...
I started volunteering at the Figeac dog refuge not long ago. I hesitated before getting in contact with them as I was worried about the old ‘tugging at the heart strings’ syndrome. With two dogs and two cats already, I know my limits but was afraid that I would end up bringing another young scamp home...
Not everyone who moves to the Dordogne is at the end of their working life and looking forward to taking it easy. It also has its attractions for those at the other end of the age scale, embarking on a new ‘career’ with a young family. Natalie and Patrick McAlpine have taken just such a step.
Lise McClendon tells us about her novel set in Dordogne... "Several years ago, besotted by the sunshine-and-grape-dream during a long winter in the American Rocky Mountains, I conjured up an idea for a novel..."
Like a good many of us who plunge straight into moving lock, stock and barrel to France, never having had a holiday home here, we underestimated the challenge of living in a foreign country...