Own a vacation cottage in France - how to accomplish the dream appear true

Those of you who dream of buying a place in France should find the French property system very safe compared to places such as Bulgaria or even Spain.  The French property-buying process is straightforward and well-regulated.  The Euro has recently dropped in value so it may be a good time to consider making that dream come true as French property prices dropped quite considerably during the financial crisis also and are only now just starting to recover.

France- The Safest Place In The World To Buy Property

It has recently been announced that 30,000 homes are due to be torn down in Spain this year as they have been classed as illegal developments with insufficient or incorrect documentation or simply without planning permission. This sort of thing may come as no surprise to many of you who have been reading the papers over the last few years where cases such as these have been well documented. This is in addition to other problems in Spain such as the "land grab" scenario by local authorities in Valencia where hundreds of home owners have ended up losing their homes which many have their life savings locked up in. Now it seems that this type of thing is now happening in other newly "fashionable" cheap countries which promoted cheap investments with seemingly incredible projected capital growth prospects such as Bulgaria. The OPP magazine recently discovered that 200 developments in Bulgaria have now been torn down in just the 1st 6 months of 2006 for very similar reasons to the properties in Spain- namely insufficient planning permission. This type of rogue developing and false selling is not only a financial disaster for the poor individuals who spent vast amounts of money on their properties in these countries but is also incredibly emotionally draining for them, many of whom have based their pension plans on the capital growth of these properties or are in fact already retired and may be planning to live there.

Unlike any other country in the world the French have a fascination with paperwork, contracts and the rule of the law and although this can be seen as a hassle at the time to comply with all their regulations and complete all the necessary paperwork it does in fact protect the purchaser to the extent not found any where else. Vast numbers of developments being torn down by mis-selling and illegal construction activity by developers in France is simply unheard of and therefore makes it the safest place to buy property. It is therefore an excellent location to invest as it provides very reasonable capital growth with a steady rental and resale market. Some Bulgarian developers have been boasting capital growth of 20% per annum in some areas but with no way of verifying their statistics can these figures really be relied upon and will the property actually still be there in a couple of years? On the other hand capital growth in France was over 10% in 2005 which coupled with its very low deposits and ease of mortgage application makes it a highly rewarding and yet sensible place to invest.

Of course there is still the choice of where in France is the best place to purchase and from whom. For property hunters who can often be bombarded by developments from every location it is hard to distinguish which are the savvy investments and which are not so savvy. Leapfrog properties works with only the most reputable and established developers in France and has nearly 150 developments to choose from placing it in a unique position where its consultants can give totally unbiased advice on where and what to buy. They can advise on which are the areas currently performing the best but also on where future growth is predicted and whereabouts in France the best deals are to be had.

Interesting Facts About Olympic Nations - France

Did you know?

France is the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin, who is the father of the Olympic Movement. This Frenchman was born on January 1, 1863 in Paris. Pierre once said, "The Olympic Movement gives the world an ideal which reckons with the reality of life, and includes a possibility to guide this reality toward the great Olympic idea".

The Summer Olympic Games were held in Paris in 1900. For the first time, sportswomen were allowed to compete in the Olympics ( six tennis players ). France won first place in the Games with 26 gold, 41 silver and 34 bronze medals.

Marie-José Pérec was one of France's greatest sportswomen. She was born in Guadeloupe ( Caribbean island ) and moved to France with her mother when she was sixteen. Marie-Jose became the second female athlete in the history of the Olympic Games to sweep the 200m and 400m ( Atlanta'96 ).

Like Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Reunion, New Caledonia -French territory in Oceania- is not member of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ). Why? France does not allow its territories to compete in the Olympics. For this reason, New Caledonia's athletes can not compete in the Olympic Games. Unlike Guam ( American territory ), Aruba ( Dutch territory ) and Bermuda ( British territory ), it did not compete in the 2004 Olympics. Ironically, New Caledonia has several famous sportspeople in the South Pacific. Aquatics: Olivier Saminadin, Thomas Dahlia, Thomas Chacun, Reine-Victora Weber, Lara Grangeon, Diana Bui-Duyet, Adeline Williams and Gilles Durnesnil. Archery: Laurent Clerte, Emmanuel Guilhard, Henry Shiu, Isabelle Soeno and Sylvena Plazenet. Athletics: Vaikula Elise Takosi, Candice Soulisse, Erwin Casser, Bertrand Vili, Eric Frederic, Bina Ramesh, Eric Revillard, Phoebe Wejieme and Daniel Kilamo. Badminton: Nicolas Martoredjo, Florent Mathey, Marc-Antonie Desaynoz, Johanna Kou and Cecile Sarengat. Boxing: Christophe Lestage, Ataale Gyan and Hannequin Benoit. Judo: Sandrine Perel, Kyo Lussaud, Melissa Kaddour, Stephane Courtine, Jonathan Berger, Cyril Chevalier, Paul Dulac, Abedis Trindade de Abreu, Vaea Chadfeau and Diane Hillaireau. Sailing: Chrisptophe Renaud, Alban Rossollin, Feri Malhieu, Michael Borde, Cawle Dabin and Paiscillia Poaniewa. Shooting: Theodore Tein Weiawe, Fabrice Azarro and Phillipe Sinoni. Table tennis: Frederic Quach, Laurent Sens, Maxime Bataihard, Ornella Bouteille and Alexandra Heraclide. Taekwondo: Annie Odino, Kevin Belhameche, John Trouilet and Arnord Sariman. Tennis: Julien Couly, Elodie Rogge and Nickolas Ngodrela. Triathlon: Oliver Bargibant, Stephane Lacroix and Benedicte Meunier. At the last South Pacific Games held in Apia ( Samoa / formerly Western Samoa ) in November 2007, it finished 1st among 22 countries and territories. Certainly, New Caledonia has won more international gold medals per capita than any other country of the South Pacific.

Paris hosted the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in 1986. Final standings: 1.United States, 2.USSR ( currently Russia ), 3.Bulgaria, 4.Brazil, 5.Cuba, 6.France, 7.Argentina, 8.Czechoslovakia (currently Czech Republic/Slovak Republic), 9.Poland, 10.Japan, 11.China, 12.Italy, 13.Greece, 14.Venezuela, 15.Egypt, 16.Taiwan.

Jean Schopter became the first Frenchman to win the Roland Garros in 1892.

France send 243 athletes to the 1984 Los Angeles Games. It participated in 19 sports: archery ( 2 ), athletics (45), basketball ( 12 ), boxing ( 4 ), kayak ( 14 ), cycling ( 16 ), equestrian ( 11), fencing ( 20 ), football ( 17 ), gymnastics ( 9 ), wrestling ( 16 ), modern pentathlon ( 3 ), rowing ( 22 ), shooting ( 15 ), swimming ( 19 ), tennis ( 4 ), weightlifting ( 2 ), wrestling ( 8 ), sailing ( 12 ).

This European country won the gold medal in soccer at the 1984 Olympic Games in the United States.

France is the birthplace of fencing. Fencing was made part of the official program for the Olympics at the 1896 Athens Games.

Paris has hosted the Summer Olympics in 1924. There were 3,092 athletes from 44 countries who competed in 19 sports: athletics, aquatics, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, soccer, tennis, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling. France came third with 13 golds, 15 silvers and 10 bronzes.

Eunice Barber is one of the most famous athletes in France. She was born on November 17, 1974 in Freetown, Sierra Leone ( Western Africa ), the world's poorest country. Eunice says, "I was fortunate to grow up in Sierra Leone, an English-speaking African country where sport is very present". For political and economic reasons, she moved to France when she was 18 years old. In the 1990s, Sierra Leone had one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars. More than 70,000 Africans had been killed and 150,000 had left the country. Under the banner of Sierra Leone, Eunice finished fifth in the heptathlon competition at the 1996 Olympic Games in the United States. For many sportswriters and experts, her Olympic performance was amazing. Three years later, she become a French citizen.

Top performances:

1999: European Cup-1st heptathlon

1999: World Cup-1st heptathlon

2003: IAAF World Championships- 1st long jump, 2nd heptathlon

2003: European Cup-1st long jump

2003: IAAF World Athletics Final-1st long jump

2005: IAAF World Championships-2nd heptathlon, 3rd long jump

2005: IAAF World Athletics Final-4th long jump

2006: European Cup-2nd long jump

Eunice's favourites:

Movie stars: Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore

Music: From French to pop music

Hobbies: Theater, cinematography, music, reading

Fashion designers: Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gautier

Music artists: Celine Dion, Withney Houston, Wyclef Jean.

All the Goals of France '98 Part 4

All the Goals of World Cup France 1998



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzq2vRlrYb8&hl=en

Forget Exotic Ski Resorts, France is Still Favourite With Brits

The world of skiing is becoming increasingly more interesting as new ski frontiers open up, offering snow sport fans the chance to ski in more exotic locations than ever before. Japan, Chile, Lebanon, Slovakia, Bulgaria and many more countries not renowned for their mountains are attracting British skiers who are looking for a ski experience that's a little out of the ordinary.

However, despite the availability of these new destinations, which are gaining a bigger slice of the ski market, France still remains the most popular location to ski for the Brits and it's not hard to see why.

France offers arguably the best skiing in Europe, with dozens of huge resorts in the Alps, not to mention the lesser known range of the Pyrenees. It also has one of the best cuisines in the world and due to having the highest mountains in Europe, (with resorts like Val Thorens), you can be fairly certain that you'll actually have real snow to ski on, even in this age of global warming which is threatening the survival of ski areas situated at lower altitudes. And on top of all this, France's close proximity to the UK and the huge number of cheap flights now available means that skiers can be on the slopes in just a few hours.

Resorts like Brides Les Bains, Tignes Val Claret, Morzine, La Clusaz, Chamonix, Thollon and Les Arcs are all close to major airports, and with ever more airlines offering low prices on flights to Lyon and Geneva, getting to these resorts is quick and easy and won't break the bank.

France also offers skiing in the lesser known ranges of the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, mountains that are completely separate from the Alps. Although not as famous or fashionable as the better known French resorts, these areas can offer cheaper and often quieter alternatives to the old favourites.

So, although some skiing and snowboarding adventurists are seeking snow further a field, France's close proximity to the UK, its ease of access and the low cost of travelling there, are likely to keep it at the number one spot as the Brit's favourite ski playground.