A House In France
Yet another of my friends have said they are going to buy a house in France. I could be rude about the idea, but I won’t be. On the other hand, I have been there and done it and it never works out how you think it would.
When we bought Les Ondes, we saw it as an investment, a place to stay on holiday and also a place to move to, if we ended up with an extreme left-wing socialist government.
So what happened? In those days getting to the South of France by the airlines was expensive and difficult, but I did have my Cessna 340 and I could fly easily to Cannes and get a hire car to the house.
- The low-cost airlines came along and opened up lots of other places to visit for weekends and longer.
- Small repairs and the builders proved difficult, and things that take a few hours here, took a few weeks there.
- We got burgled a couple of times and had three hire-cars stolen.
- Our children always had other things to do and didn’t want to come.
- We got more involved in horse racing in the UK and this took up more of our time.
- Something you wanted was always in the other house, so you had to have two of everything.
- We missed the theatre and the cinema and started spending virtually every Saturday in London.
So circumstances change and the ideals of the first few holidays quickly disappear.
We sold the house, when we moved to Newmarket to open the stud and then there was another set of problems; the French taxation system, which meant we didn’t get some of the money for ten years.
I’m glad that we sold the house in France, as now after my stroke and C’s death, it would be yet another millstone around my neck and a worry on my mind.
To me now, properties are for two things; living in and for renting out. I have a few of the latter and they give me some income, that if I wanted to, I could use to travel the world. But at the moment, I’m enjoying doing up my new house and travelling all over the UK by train. I’m actually now starting to plan an adventure and it might be somewhere like the Amalfi Coast by train, where I’ll stay somewhere warm for a week or so. There is also Berlin, where I want to see the new museum. But I’ll wait for warmer weather for that.
So although it’s a nice idea on paper, a house in France, is a money pit, that restricts you in your enjoyment in life, by tying you to one place.
Incidentally, I know lots of people with second houses. The ones who use it most have a beach hut on the North Norfolk coast.
So take the money you would spend, invest it wisely and use the returns to rent some other fool’s house when you want a long stay in the sun.
The Anonymous Widower 
Interesting as well as amusing take on this! Often daydreamed about a 2nd home abroad butyou’ve really put me off as your negatives could easily be mine.
Amalfi Coast is fabulous. Did it by train and bus couple of years ago with a girl friend (and to veer towards another of your posts) we shared a room to save costs and for friendship. WONDERFUL with stunning scenery and things to see! Is Italy ideal for a gluten free diet though?
Comment by Karrie | January 19, 2011 |
I forgot to say that variety is the spice of life, so only boring people holiday in the same place all the time, unless of course there are special circumstances, like a disabled child or an elderly relative to visit.
Italy is wonderful for a gluten-free diet. Just learn to say celiachai, pronounced almost as cheliaco. any good Italian restaurant in the UK will ech you and it’s the one word of Italian I use.
Comment by AnonW | January 19, 2011 |