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Bordeaux to the north is of course the major gateway to one of the most well recognized wine regions in France, while Toulouse to the east opens the way to the Mediterranean coast. Forays into Spain are fun and an easy day trip. Gascony is a vast area, long fought over by the French, Romans, British and Spanish. It is a land rich in culture and as diverse in its history. There lies evidence in almost every village of its earlier invaders and inhabitants, going back some 2000 years. The region is full of magnificent splendour, chateaux, bastides, rolling hills, sunflowers and of course a great viticulture. Not only is it the birthplace of King Henry IV and Sweden´s first foreign appointed king, it is also the birthplace of Armagnac, a relatively unknown “eau de vie” outside of France, but considered by many, to be equal in character and taste to that of its better known kin, Cognac. The Bas Armagnac and the Cotes de
Gascogne region doesn´t have the international recognition it truly
deserves. It should, for it produces wines of outstanding character.
In particular, for my taste, a recent sampling of a local red and
white from the Cotes de Saint Mont was difficult to distinguish from a
great Californian wine maker I have a penchant for, at a fraction of the
price. Then there are light, fruity whites such as the local grown
Florenbelle and Colombelle, priced at less than a bottle of Perrier.
Sharing this part of paradise is to escape to a calmer, less stressful, less litigious, less “must have”, way of life. Here wealth lies in the “soil”, body and mind! There are few fancy cars and few signs of overt and extravagant displays of wealth. What you will find are happy, smiling, healthy land-loving people. It is not uncommon for a retired person to continue to manage his vineyard, build his own fences, raise his livestock and produce his own wine, and consider him self retired. Many attest that it is due to the daily consumption of fat from the goose, which is used in all kinds of Gascon cooking. With the average life expectancy rate in this part of France at 94 years, who would argue? Living in Gascony, is indeed another way of life. It is tranquil, slow, yet refreshing and enlightening. We have found the local citizens, on many an occasion, to be more Spanish than French and Spanish customs and influence abounds, with tapas and paella to name but a few. But perhaps the biggest Spanish custom is that of the Corridor….. The bullfights. Almost every village has its own bullring with the traditional Spanish Corridor and the South West French version called “course landaise”, where the bull is spared! I do prefer the French version! And no Corridor would be complete without the village brass band, opening and closing all of the festivities. It is also a region where people possess a very strong and individual identity, no doubt due to its shared border with the Spanish Basque people. In fact, many of the older residents speak Spanish, which was taught as their second language in school. Now it is English. In addition, the local dialect Occitan is a language that pre-dates the Roman occupation, but is sadly fading. Here in Gascony, and in particular the Gers, is a part of France that seems to have been left behind modern times. It is still one of the most rural departments, least populated, least industrialized and as yet, unspoilt. Crime is almost unheard of, and where else can you leave your car and house doors unlocked? One of our neighbours speaks of their former life in Lille where even the police are afraid of apprehending suspicious looking persons for fear of retribution. To return to the country is truly to enjoy a long lost way of life.
The average foreign resident is either retired or usually self employed, since employment opportunities are very low. Industry is almost unheard of in the western Gers, and unfortunately for the young, opportunities to stay in the area are difficult to obtain. Many students graduating school opt for the larger cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse. For the gifted artisan, self employment is usually the route. Employment for a non-European is almost impossible. Usually, the Europeans who do come and reside in the area find themselves working in the building and restoration business or find themselves running a form of hospitality business, such as a small B&B or Gite business. Others with bi-lingual ability seem to do quite well in real estate for foreign buyers. The second
home market attracts a number of Europeans primarily from England, Ireland,
Belgium, and Holland and of recent note, Scandinavia. With a huge
number of discount airlines flying in to the area and opening up numerous
new routes, the second home market is booming. There are multiple
flights per day and there are more than a dozen new easy access routes
into the region, flying in from an equal number of different locations
in the UK, and Ireland alone. Most of these flights are under 1 ½
hours from the UK, and with one way flight often costing less than 50.00
euros, a secondary home in the sun has become very affordable.
A new direct, daily flight from Stockholm to Bordeaux was introduced this
spring by Sterling, opening up yet another location in the sun for sun
loving Scandinavians, and Ryan air now has a direct flight from Dublin
to Biarritz. The American enclaves have usually kept to Bordeaux
and Toulouse where they have active social clubs. A few are now venturing
into the heart of the Gers.
A few other
frustrating ways of the French includes the closing of small business for
at least 2 hours for lunch and the infuriating 35 hour working week, which
effectively closes a lot of small shops on Monday too.
In summer, day temperatures climb up into the high 80´sF and low 90´sF, with spring and fall temperatures hovering in the mid 70´sF. Refreshingly, the nights stay cool, with no need for air conditioning. It is as close as I know to the climate of Napa and Sonoma valleys. No wonder some of the wines here could easily stand alongside some of the gold medal winners of California, but without the same price tag. So, for those of you who might like to explore this region, or even have thoughts of an “escape”, a few things to keep in mind. A little French goes a long way and a little Spanish makes things easier too. For the most part, English is widely spoken and is growing with tourism. Many of the Gers´ traditional homebuyers are from England, Belgium and Holland, but today there seems to be renewed interest from the French too, who are moving in to escape the large, crowded and often crime ridden cities. Good properties move quickly. So what does all of this do to house prices? Well, they are heading upwards, but not at the same pace as other well known, very pricey and British invaded places such as Provence and the Dordogne, where a small 3 bedroom cottage, more than one hour from the coast will set you back more than 400,000.00 euros. Here is the western Gers, depending on your budget, 100,000.00 – 1,000,000.00 plus …. You can still find a nice cottage for 200 thousand euros and if you don´t mind lots of hands-on work, it is still possible to buy for under 100 thousand euros. For some people
though, the thought of owning a home or vacation property in a traditionally
non English speaking area can be daunting. Dealing with the taxes,
insurance, property maintenance, etc. and when only using it 3 – 4 times
each year, it is often not cost effective. Handling rentals from
a long distance can also be difficult and without good local management
almost impossible.
A second form of shared home ownership, not unlike the above, is when a much larger property is desired, and these are often these are on the market, since they are not economical for one family ownership. In this case a large property may have a main farm house with a number of outbuildings. These could be former wine making building, stables, storage building and even bread maker´s building. Following local rules governing refurbishment and renovation, it would then be possible to convert the secondary buildings into vacation residences. For example, a restored property with several refurbished outbuilding may provide 4 – 5 individual vacation cottages, all on one property. Again, capital would be invested in the SCI company and the shareholders would then have an individual ownership in a “defined” building but with co-ownership of the entire property. This is also managed through the creation of a Home Operating Agreement, but in this case, annual fees would normally only cover taxes, building insurance, grounds maintenance, pool use, and possibly water use, with electricity, heat and personal content insurance being paid for separately. The above two non traditional foreign home ownership options may be of interest to those persons wanting to test the overseas market, but with a more cautious approach to that of full home ownership. Whatever your
dreams, if you have an interest in France, come and visit Gascony.
Once you do, it will be hard to tempt you away.
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