Our climate is a gentle Mediterranean one, mild and healthy  - we have 300 days of sunshine each year – we live at the heart of the largest area of vineyards in the world and we have the ocean and mountains protecting  one of the oldest areas of civilization.

We also have many local activities to attract visitors, local golf courses, many rivers to fish, water sports, from white water to jet-skis – the longest golden sandy beaches in France and historical buildings everywhere.

I discovered tantric sex, would you believe, In Bahrain at a book fair. I happened to be there one January and was helping a fascinating chap sell his libraries at an exhibition – I forget why I was there, it may have been to do with de-gaussing missiles or setting up a kitchen for an air-force base – possibly doing some woodwork – whatever I was doing there is was it was definitely to do something I am not good at.

Anyway, I was not rushed off my feet at the book fair, so sat quietly going through the books – I found a fully illustrated book on Yoga – Tantric Yoga – Sexual instruction for Tantric Yoga – it was a large book, well printed, I could not put it down.

Bahrain does not seem the best place to develop an interest in Tantric sex, but that is another story. I mention this because last Sunday in the British Sunday Times paper there was a two page report on a chap in London teaching tantric sex – it would once have been my ideal job, I like the idea of getting paid to make people relaxed and happy.

So I am wondering if I should offer Tantric sex therapy as a service at Villa Roquette – although the golf, fishing , walking and cycling  is excellent, this sort of exercise interests me more and is something I would like to try.

All I have to do is lose a bit of weight and persuade Carole this is a good plan to bring guests to stay with us.

My dislike for telephones is increased every time I rush to the room where a phone handset has been left from the last time it was used, only for it to quit ringing the moment I find it. I have noticed that the number of rings people wait on has dropped dramatically in the last couple of years.

The rare times I call someone I wait 12 rings, if no answer I hang up and call again for 12 rings. But I just missed the last call to me after five rings from the caller (the phone was in my hand at that moment) and no second call. I had to run down three flights of stairs so 5 rings was fast moving, the wretched phone is now on my desk smirking at me.

Is this impatience the result of mobile phones where the phone is usually picked up in a couple of rings – except for my wife who has the phone in her handbag which has six million pockets and the caller always ends before she has found it – but then there is a message or something telling her who called so she calls back.

I know phones have features which can tell me who called, or take messages, whatever, but this phone is about the 90th model we have had in the last five years, all have different programs and I have a big cardboard box full of not-working handsets, instructions which bear no relation to the phone and bits of wire with enough plugs to fix the Hadron accelerator thing. So I just want a phone to pick up.

If you have the solution to this please call me – or much better, email me

Sterling is 20 percent stronger against the euro in the last few weeks so property in France is 20 percent cheaper than it was before Christmas. Prices in France have dropped about 10 percent on average over the last 12 months, but are now stable – people have waited for the last year to put their property on the market, now there is a lot available which makes it a buyers market with a stronger pound – so I conclude now is a good tome for Sterling of Dollar buyers for French property

…..I am also basing this on the feedback from guests at our home Villa Roquette since March most guests staying with us have been seriously looking at property for sale – two have made offers, three are returning with the intention of buying. In twelve years of renting and selling I have never seen such a high level of interest, even if the euro gets weaker, the demand for property will mean increases in asking prices soon I believe.

I am only referring to Languedoc as this is all I can observe but I guess the euro/price effect is similar elsewhere.

A lot of my blogs and notes are to try and let people share our experiences and to offer help – I try not to advise or preach, but I am bound to be biased by my own experiences and thoughts, but I do believe what I write and my aim is to “tell it as I see it”.

I do try hard to reply to all emails, this came in today……

==

I’m a 53 year old male and I currently work for a delivery company. I’ve been studying French for about a year because I would like to relocate there eventually. I would like to spend some time there this year to familiarize myself with the area and people. I’m not a tourist. I have worked as a chef and also have skills with hand tools. I can also drive a truck.

===

Hi

Carole and I relocated to France 20 years ago with our two very young daughters and have never regretted our decision for one single second.

France is not perfect, but it is a lot better than most places I have been and better than any place I have lived in.

I would like to say that “everything is possible” – but this is a silly statement (I can’t fly and will never win the lottery as I don’t buy tickets) – but – the big issue with moving to live in France will be earning a living – unemployment is high , usually in double figures and higher in the South, you need good French language skills, a recognised education standard, an accepted professional qualification (very few overseas trades, skills and professions are accepted). Finding a job is very hard for a French person, much harder for an ex-pat.

But, if you have a dream, the best solution is to come and try, stay a while, see for yourself, tens of thousands of people do come to live in France.

Let me know your thoughts and keep in touch

Bonne Chance

Tony

– When at the first I took my Pen in hand
Thus for to write; I did not understand –

For twelve years now I have written my thoughts and comments about our life in France, to share with readers our pleasure of living near the Mediterranean in Languedoc, the problems, pitfalls and perils of paperwork and bureaucracy and the joy of seeing our family grow and blossom. Over 2000 articles and stories are in various archives and blogs scattered all over the Internet.

Interestingly this has also been the time of the beginning of the Internet, when I started writing and emailing newsletters, the word blog had not been invented, there were only a few thousand websites and getting to the top of the early search engines was simple. Now we use Facebook as we once used email and before that pen and paper – but now, perhaps, I understand a little more.

This has been the time when Carole and I started our Gite rentals and BandB from our home, first in Nizas and now, a few kilometers nearer the sea in Montblanc – it has been the time of Internet booms, new services for owners and renters of properties – new ways of meeting people and working – exciting times.

Now I am come full circle – starting again with our own rentals in our home in Montblanc and writing about France, a slightly different, stronger viewpoint, but still a love of France and what it can offer.

My aim is to help you discover some of the joys and excitement we feel.

I will be writing regularly and we are offering accommodation in our home and help with property purchases in France from some new websites. These will be launched next week.

Follow me on Twitter and join me on Facebook for the latest news, special offers and great deals in renting or buying.

– By reading the same lines? O then come hither,
And lay my Book, thy Head, and Heart together. –

He seemed very grateful and we chatted the rest of the flight. He was fascinating, talking about selling mules to the armies in WW2 and many things and he was now dealing with bits and pieces in Saudi Arabia – he invited me to dinner later that evening.

Later I went along to his Hotel and he rushed out to meet me, very apologetic he said it was awkward as his sponsor in the Kingdom has asked for an early meeting – I understood the protocol and excused myself saying I also had other appointments, at that moment his sponsor, King Faud, arrived and I was introduced – “Ah, you are the man who helped my friend Attila Turkhan” said the king to me – I smiled and left. The man I met on the plane was the agent for Boeing and General Motors

At a loss to where to go, I got a cab and asked if he knew where the Al Ahli football club was as I had made friends with a chap in London Abdul Abudowud, ‘You know this great man” said the cabbie and gave me a free ride to the club if I would introduce him – I did not know this was the national club and he was the team captain and Vice President of the club.

I met my friend Abdul and we sat on mats, I was at his right hand, and met many people, ate delicious things and drank tea for hours.

Around midnight, the was a big fuss – Abdul asked me to move down as the president of the club arrived unexpectedly – yes, it was the King – Abdul introduced me and King Faud said ) “Ah yes, I know Mr Tony” – so I sat at the Kings right hand until it was polite for me to make an excuse and leave for my modest little room downtown. He sent me in his Mercedes 1000 (probably only a 600 with a bigger badge) the drive was embarrassed to leave me in such a district – lucky he did not see my hotel

After retreating three years ago to heal my wounds from a grievous mauling, I am again entering the jousts and offering homes for sale in our part of Languedoc.

Working with an honorable man through the long established estate-agency Coast and Country in Mougins, we are rebuilding our website SouthernFrance.com to give information and services for property buyers, sellers and renters in Languedoc.

My modest stillness and humility will now be augmented – so come one come all to France – I am here ready.

After the ceremony, in which a speech is given in Latin with lots of jolly jokes and puns – oh how we all tittered – the group plod upstairs to a big windowed hall where I took photos of them – a group of about 15 peeps usually – all looking forward to a spiffing lunch and not bothered about a hack photographer trying to get their attention.

Prince Pip wears a gown with lots of gold on it, which is a bitch to light, I nearly got beheaded for rearranging his frock once – getting them all to look at the cameras (I used three to be sure I got the shots) and having the critical lighting in the right place as essentially the shots were always ‘contra-jour’ meant I had to get the attention of all the chattering throng for the group shot at the same time. Using studio flash lighting I needed to synch the strobes to the camera – and my gambit was to hold two cameras and have one on a tripod – I called for their attention (which I did not get ) and triggered the tripod camera – which was not connected to the synch cable.

Making a display of clicking the shutter of the Sinar camera – and nothing happening – I said “shit” very loudly – got their immediate attention and a round of laughter from the whole group – then got them with the hand-held Hasselblad which was synched – so I have a happy snap of Dukes and mega-millionaires, the creator of Figaro, a brilliant bookbinder, et-al (the Latin again) – I had their attention after that, took the snaps and they went off for lunch (I did not go as I had to develop the piccys)

I have the highest praise for Olive Oil – good for salads and stuff, but my respect for the green slippery liquid is the magice it performs on my fingers.

When I am building there are many cements and mortars which have lime in them – there are other corrosive compounds I am sure, but it is lime which attacks my hands and splits open the skin on fingertips. Once the lime has got hold it eats the flesh as aggressively as a pyranha. I tried everything, quaint Norwegian fishermen’s salves, stuff from chemist costing an arm and a leg, nothing worked, my hands looked like something from Friday the 13th – but a French mason said ” Olive Oil “he said it in French of course and he had his mouth full at the time – but I tried it and it works.

Now I massage my hands and fingers with olive oil – it does not have to be super virgin (can’t see the point of virgins anyway) – voila – no split fingers, and if I get some skin eaten by lime, it mends quickly.

Luckily we use a lot in the house, it is in all the meals, just I have it on mt hands as well

This blog post was going to be about my happiness of getting my cement mixer going and mixing both mortar and concrete for the first tie this year – but I have sidetracked myself onto the dangers and superficiality of Google and the Internet in general.

I have been involved in the Internet since it was the internet, pre ARPA, pre CERN – it is a great tool, a wonderful communications service, but that is what it is – a simple tool a service to use.

I get hundreds of questions each week asking for information which is only a “scratch” from the surface of a simple Google search string – it seems people now demand instant answers and the Internet services claim to offer immediate solutions – meercats offer insurance advice, everything can be solved with a 118 call – your iPhone can find the nearest Starbucks.

This is crazy – the information given is superficial – it is very very often inaccurate – sat-nav is ridiculous in most situations, yet most people now do not bother to remember anything, it is all there on demand – but no it isn’t.

I am going to think carefully of the uses I put information technology to – it creates nothing – it stultifies the brain – I can write faster with a keyboard than with a pen, but that is about it at the moment.