Tag Archives: bed and breakfast

If You Are Thinking of Buying Property in Languedoc

Posted on by

In most of France, sales of property have been slow, but Languedoc is bucking the trend and continues to attract a lot of people to come to live here. However, although Languedoc is the most popular area, prices in Languedoc have only risen slightly as a lot more land has been released for new building.

According to the up-coming exhibitions like “A Place in the Sun” and “Vive la France”, the numbers of people now thinking of moving from Northern Europe to sunnier places, like here in Languedoc in the South of France, has increased steadily in recent years and is still very strong, although in many other regions of France the oposite seems to be happening – I fully understand, we left the UK over 20 years ago to find a better life (and we found it here by the Mediterranean).

If you are coming to Languedoc to look for property, stay with us in Villa Roquette and take advantage of my free service. With over 20 years of experience in France, buying, selling and renovating properties. I know which agents to trust and those to avoid, I know the region well and I can show you round and save you a lot of time.

My aim is to offer you accommodation in our home. I am not hasseling for sales commission, or pushing “bargains”. I give straightforward help and advice as a free service, no strings attached.

Make your base Villa Roquette in the heart of Languedoc, it will save you time and could save you a lot of money.

 

Adding a Heating System to our Swimming Pool

Posted on by

Villa Roquette is located in the South of the South of France – recently, to avoid confusion with the other bit of the South of France, North of us, the coast from Marseilles to Menton, including St Tropez, Cannes and Nice, the tourism people here started calling this area Sud de France. Call it what you wish, but Languedoc gets more sunny days than any other part of France and is in the same temperature belt as North Africa.

With all this sun it seems silly not to use it for heating. I have been planning to do this for years, but always had something else to do more urgently – I still have a pile of work to do, but next week (if it is not raining) I will start on a heating system for our Swimming Pool.

Thanks to the Internet I have found plans which are simple, inexpensive and work – I found a calculator online which takes into account pool size,  latitude, sun, shade, and a host of other factors and reckon I need about 15 square meters of solar heating to give me a very comfortable pool temperature and this will extend the use of the pool from April through to October.

Making and fitting the system is straightforward and materials cost abut 100 euro, but I already have most of the items in stock, piping, plastics, tubing, mountings etc – so, hopefully the cost will be very small and the befits enourmous.

I will make notes and write up the progress.

Here is our pool as it is – next time I will outline the first stages of construction and installation of the heating system.

Heated swimming pool at Villa Roquette in Languedo the South of France

The Pool at Villa Roquette

Guest House in the South of France – Sud France

Posted on by

Villa Roquette is a guest house, but it is difficult to define what a guest house is. Is it a Chambre d’Hote (a bed and breakfast) or is it a hotel, is it a Gite or a lodge ?

Even defining a Bed and Breakfast establishment is difficult, are BB or a BnB, B&B, banb etc the same thing?

In France, a Chambre d’Hote is clearly defined, it is a home with a room or rooms specially set up to receive paying guests and which supplies a breakfast included in the price of the room. The home must have the owners living in it and must be registered wit the local Town Hall (Mairie).

A guest house has no clear definition, we call Villa Roquette a Guest House as we also offer evening meals for guests and have individual private self catering apartments, plus a lot of other services and extras for guests in our home.

To further complicate our marketing, we are in Languedoc, or Languedoc-Roussillon, which is now named the Sud de France and is further south than the South of France , so we get more sunshine and have a better climate than the traditional South of France.

Whatever you call us, a Guest House, Bed and Breakfast, Gite, Holiday Apartment , B&B bb banb -whatever – we guarantee you a warm welcome.

Road to montblanc and villa roquette

Welcome to Montblanc and Villa Roquette Guest House