Clé France

Set in the department of Mayenne, Pays de la Loire.

To the south of the Department of Mayenne lies the historic hilltop town of St Suzanne. Here you can find more that 1000 years of heritage, perhaps even more if you count prehistory – the Dolman des Erves, which date from about 4500BC. These are the oldest megalithic monuments in the Mayenne department and are about 15km from the town.

William the Conqueror -

In the same direction but much nearer the town is William the Conqueror's fortified camp, complete with earth ramparts. In 1083 Hubert of Beamont, Viscount of Main, revolted against William, a bad thing to do. William immediately marched against him. Hubert, in an effort to find a safe haven, chose St Suzanne, even then a well fortified village with a decent castle and impregnable walls.

However, William was not one to overlook such indiscretions or let them pass, however, after a lengthy siege even the indomitable William gave up and no doubt Hubert breathed a big sigh of relief.

Hundred Years War - 

During the Hundred Year's War the English did manage to to breach the walls and occupied the town till one of their own betrayed them to the French. They retook it in 1439 and it remained a sleepy little outpost till the 17th century when the barony was purchased by one Fouquet de la Varenne. Apart from his quaint name Fouquet's main claim to fame was the development of the castle in St Suzanne which he never really finished but still exists today.

19th Century - 

During the 19th century a burgeoning cottage industry grew up along the river Evre in the valley below the town. This came about because Mayenne was a centre for cotton material production and some bright spark came up with the idea of turning the scraps of material into paper.

Others copied him and now, if you visit St Suzanne, I strongly recommend that after the visit and a couple of beers in the town centre you drive down to the valley, a kilometre and a half away and have a stole along the foot path that follows the river.

Here you will pass a number of old water mills, sadly all unused today but all converted to living accommodation and in good condition.

A truly beautiful walk!

If you want more? then follow the links above, in the images, where you can buy Fraser's published books.

Fraser Blake, 70, author of 'Dear Chips' and 'A Rant Too Far?' grew up in Africa, was at school in Scotland, and worked for the British South Africa Police in Southern Rhodesia. He has taught English in Saudi Arabia and sold and renovated hundreds of properties in Northern France.

In 1998 Fraser was selling houses in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire region and so was the obvious choice, when Cle France was started, to be their first agent on the ground in France. In retirement he writes, blogs, cooks, drinks wine, and hosts to dinner unlimited numbers of ex-pats.

Always on hand with a viewpoint, Fraser is going to share his views on France, the French and the British, and other people who buy in France. Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, painfully true, outrageously opinionated but always entertaining so we hope it adds a slightly different dimension to the usual normality of searching through the fantastic properties for sale on the Cle France website.

Watch out for more rants and opinion next week or buy the book today for a rollicking good read.

Hi Sharon,

We have made a start on the house but have quite a few commitments over in the UK for another few weeks so won't get back for a while. We are getting things done though. 

We must extend our thanks to you for all your help over the months, it certainly made the whole searching and buying process so much easier than we anticipated. 

We were also grateful for you recommending your Currency Trader and Allianz Insurance, both of whom we used. 

In fact once we had contacted you, everything seemed to run so smoothly.

I will let you know when we finally move into the house, meanwhile, feel free to post any of this email to your testimonials, I think it is important for people who are starting out buying a house in France to know that there are people like you out there willing to do so much for them.

Kind Regards,

Allan.

Buying in France need not be difficult or stressful, it should be an enjoyable process where you know what is happening and when. That is why more and more people are choose Cle France from the start and with 8000+ properties (soon to be 10,000+) there is certainly the choice of houses. Allan called us 3 months ago and now he is the proud owner of a lovley house in Brittany, you should call us too.

Dear Sharon,

Many thanks for your help and advice in setting up our meeting with your agent on the ground in Normandy. Given all the difficulties we put in your way and the lack of sufficient time it was a very rewarding start to our eventual finding a place in France. Thank David for the information he sent accompanying his e-mail. We will certainly be taking advice on several issues prior to making any firm decisions. 

As far as the meeting with your agent went, we both thought it was very successful and we found him a very approachable, informative and friendly person. One in whom we could place our trust to satisfy our requirements critically and honestly.

We did not in fact go to view any of the properties that he had selected from our list, one that best suited us had unfortunately been sold the day before, the others, on further reviewing, taking into account our more specific requirements, were found to be unsuitable for more reasons to make a visit worthwhile. 

After much useful time spent with him in his office, we did actually go and visit two very different properties with the specific purpose of getting the feel of and trying to understand the complexities of French Estate agents information! The main problem we encountered with most of the property information was that it failed to give more specific location information. Which actual village, location with respect of roads fronting house, facilities in said village etc.

Which is not to say we did not completely understand the need for being as fair as possible to the vendor.

The second of the two properties visited had me looking seriously at the structure and small details of the building and grounds, almost as if we were on the point of purchase. It was very appealing. However after your agent left us we explored the village a little and on reflection would have had reservations even were we ready to purchase. Not about the building but more about location parking etc. 

However as you asked us to give feedback for your agent, it will give him a better understanding of what we are really looking for. 

What we really need is a Cle France agent in every town!

When we visited another agent on our way to Brittany it was difficult to make our needs clearly understood despite Daphne having an adequate command of French. 

Overall considering our limited time given to the project we think it was very worthwhile and we have a far clearer idea as to the parts of Normandy we are most inclined to favour. We also have a clearer understanding of the type of property and its location within the community that will best suit.

Once again thank you very much for your help. We will continue to peruse your site. If there is other information that you would find useful in helping us please do not hesitate to ask.

Best wishes, Paul and Daphne.

Well... we always like to ask for feedback following a viewing trip and it is great for us when we have a good dialogue with our clients as that way we will always find them the right property in the end. Thanks Paul and Daphne for the feedback and we will find them a property very soon I am sure.

Many owners of a property in France will recall the various documents that were produced as part of the purchase process. The contracts, together with their annexes, will have been substantial.

Following recent legislation known as the Loi Alur, even more information is to be produced in advance of an apartment sale. This has left some agents, notaires and sellers feeling a little exasperated. The seller of an apartment is now obliged to produce extra information, including the co-ownership agreement, the latest accounts, work carried out by the managing agent, and Minutes of the AGM.

In practice, when instructed on an apartment purchase, we have always looked to seek this information, not least because the contract will often state that it has been produced to the buyer.

The rationale, then, of the law is to ensure that this information is indeed produced, and this is reasonable. A buyer should review previous AGM Minutes and co-ownership accounts: they could reveal problems such as future works that may be necessary, litigation and so on.

The problem though, especially prevalent with older buildings, is that many different notaires could have registered small amendments to the co-ownership papers, all of which will have to be obtained, increasing time and cost. Most of those amendments will probably have no relevance to the particular apartment.

This is likely, then, to increase the complexity of the process, without perhaps much relevance on a transaction. As to how this will develop, only time will tell.

For individual advice, please contact Matthew Cameron at Ashton KCJ here...

A bientôt!

Matthew Cameron

Head of French Legal Services.

We at Cle France - The French Property Network are proud to work in partnership with Ashton KCJ - Legal services. If we think our clients need further legal advice or have a specific legal question that needs solicitor involvement when buying or selling a property in France we can recommend Matthew Cameron and his team for expert advice.

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!

Bored with your everyday use of the French language? Are you looking to add un peu de variété (a little variety) to your daily discourse?

Language is often limited by the extent of our vocabulaire (vocabulary), our grasp of proper grammaire (grammar) and, to a lesser extent, our knowledge and application of colloquialisms. People’s ears always perk up when an expression befitting the topic of conversation is carefully inserted. If you’re a native English-speaker learning French, judicious use of expressions can make quite an impact on a native French listener.

You may have a terribly thick accent or your grammar may be a little weak, but driving home a point with a serious or humorous saying can place you in the category of étrangers (foreigners) who have cultivated a deeper appreciation of French by studying its aphorisms.

Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 for a bevy of witty little French idioms you might have missed.

*Phrase in (parentheses) is the literal translation, or as close to it as possible.*

Travailler pour le roi de Prusse (Working for the king of Prussia) – Working for nothing/Not receiving proper compensation for one’s work.

En voiture, Simone! (In the car, Simone!) – Let’s go/Let’s get started!

Tirer le diable par le queue (Pulling the devil by the tail) – Scraping by/having difficulty providing for oneself.

Mordre la poussière (Biting the dust) – Suffering defeat/being beaten (this is a common expression in the English language as well).

Mettre sa main au feu (Placing one’s hand in the fire) – Being certain of something beyond any doubt.

Avoir le bourdon (To have the bumblebee) – To feel sad.

Voir Naples et mourir (To see Naples and die) – This refers to having accomplished something so great that life becomes meaningless afterward.

Avoir des yeux de lynx (To have the eyes of a lynx) – To have very good vision or to be gifted with great insight into certain matters (in English, this expression might be translated “eagle eye”).

Un foudre de guerre (A lightning of war) – A capable/competent person or a high performance machine.

Mon petit doigt m’a dit (My little finger told me) – I learned something from someone who will remain nameless

Un œil au beurre noir (A black butter eye) – A black eye.

Fumer comme un pompier (To smoke like a fireman) – To smoke excessively.

L’huile de coude (Elbow oil) – This expression is similar to the English one “elbow grease” referring to hard physical work.

Un soleil de plomb (A lead sun) – A very hot/draining sun.

Il y a de l’eau dans le gaz (There is water in the gas) – Trouble is brewing.

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

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