Before committing to the home you have fallen in love with, heed some expert advice from Susie Hollands, one of FrenchEntrée’s partners for real estate in Paris, on how to buy with your head, not your heart. “Litigation concerning property…
This is a favourite recipe with a Charentaise touch, and is a delicious way of serving beef tournedos… and very quick and easy to do! It will quickly become your favourite too.
This is a quick and simple recipe for a french savoury ‘cake au jambon et aux olives’ or ham and olive bread. Very popular for snacks, picnics or informal apéritifs … just cut it up and serve!
With a strong pound and property prices still low in,France it is a great time to find a bargain and buy your dream property in France for less. Av€200,000 property will now cost you £18,900 less compared with January 2014!
Daube is a classic Provençal stew made with inexpensive cuts of beef braised in wine. Perfect for a dinner party as you make it well ahead of time to allow the flavours to meld together.
This is the Charentaise take on a traditional seafood favourite, that typically French mussel recipe of moules marinière with a dash of Pineau.
The Île d’Oléron, off the west coast of the Charente-Maritime region, boasts a lengthy tradition of gastronomy. Daily markets take place all over the island, from the towns of Saint-Denis and Saint-Georges to La Bréeles-Bains and Dolus, showcasing over 90…
As with every region in France, Poitou-Charentes has its own speciality food and drink. Below are a few things you wouldn’t want to miss out on when visiting the region.
Founded in 1974, the history of the House of Rémy Martin is one of a family, the family of five generations of vintners and cognacs driven by the same ambition. Creation of cognac is the work of the Cellar Master, Pierrette Trichet – the fourth person to take on this prestigious role in the House of Rémy Martin and the first woman to ever reach this level of expertise.
Jacqueline Miller, FrenchEntrée property finder for La Rochelle and the Vendée coast, has noticed that an increasing number of properties are being sold with a dependence – well worth knowing about if you are looking to buy a house in France.
Val Walmsley tells the story of how she snapped up a renovation project as a second home. But once work had begun to transform the two C18 farmhouses (one habitable, the other in a sorry state) she couldn’t bear to leave and soon persuaded her other half to make France their permanent place of residence
Penny and Ken Smith have been running their property management company Complete Property Care for the last six years. Situated in a small village called Neuvy Bouin roughly 20 minutes from Parthenay, in Deux Sèvres, they look after properties within a 50 minute radius, and are currently managing 10 properties…
Gordon and Jocelyn Simms are writers and poets and, when they decided to retire to France, it was important that they found the perfect place in which to ‘live their dream’. Gordon tells the tale of how they found their mill home by the river.
Looking for a real bargain?
Charente may just be the right place to begin your search….
Following my last article on the healthy state of the “French property market” I thought it would be useful to highlight the five most common mistakes UK purchasers make when looking for their dream home in Poitou Charentes…
AVF (Acceuil des Villes Francaises) is a national association (registered under French law) with 350 local branches throughout France including 3 in Deux-Sevres. It is a non-political organisation, run by trained volunteers. There are plenty of events and also French conversation groups.
This is the next recipe in our Charentaise series and this time we are on éntrees and here are three ways to serve a lovely Charentaise melon.
A quick and easy recipe to use up walnuts from last autumn’s harvest. A perfect dish to serve with fresh bread, salads and cheese for a light summer lunch or picnic…
This is the next recipe in our Charentaise series and is a French version of a traditional English bread & butter pudding, lovely!
Lynn Beaumont & Tony Webster started ‘Open Door’ in Civray – or Association La Porte Ouverte to give it its official name – almost two years ago as a Drop-in Centre to support people affected by long-term illness, either as a sufferer or carer …
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s feasible to start a gite business in France, you’re not alone. Many people now say that the industry is ‘saturated’ and that it …
This is the next recipe in our Charentaise series, a bit more adventurous but definitely in the Charente style – do let us know what you thought of it.
After a year in which I stopped taking bookings due to the poor standard of caretaking, I moved to France to manage my own property and that of a friend who had also had unsatisfactory help. Fortunately our changeovers were on different days, as the houses are 25kms apart.
With all the fuss over school dinners in the UK, and headlines such as “Not fit for a dog” in the national papers, we asked Graham Downie how school meals compared …
Pineau des Charente was not made by trial and error, utilising various grape forms to produce a magnificent wine. No, legend has it, back in the 16th Century, …
The English, Dutch and Scandiavians have been enjoying the wines of Poitou Charente since as early as the 13th Century. In the 16th Century the wines were transformed into …
You can’t live or visit France, without experiencing the local markets and fairs, and Poitou Charentes is no exception. They are generally held in the mornings so be prepared for an early start………..
