Living it Up at La Rentrée

La Rentrée fills our agendas and our souls. This weekend, all of France celebrates its heritage by opening the doors to its finest sites and monuments to the public during Les Journées du Patrimoine. This is your opportunity to peak inside and marvel at the luxurious interior spaces of France’s most grandiose structures.

The Paris by Night theme continues with La Nuit Blanche, scheduled for October 1st, when once again, many of the cultural domains will be open and available to the public…all night long. Drink lots of coffee and plan on taking a “grasse matinée” the next day, but don’t miss it.
In today’s FPI, we discover a little-known part of Paris situated on one of the seven hills of the city — a country town of houses and small abodes nestled between a couple of big streets and tall towers looming overhead…in the 13th arrondissement where one might least expect it. Visit La Butte aux Cailles and some great buys there — it’s a wonderful place to live, if not the hottest spot for a big return on rental revenues.
Author and journalist David Downie contributes a few poignant words about the architectural faux pas of François Mitterand with an excerpt (Part I) from his newest book, “Paris, Paris” and Cheryl Taylor and Henry Harington “Liked It So Much” they “Bought the Vineyard.” You could be the owner of a French vineyard, too — scroll down to see the vine-covered properties for sale.
There’s more on the auction block and some new stats to support the high quality of life in France…plus a deal on a couple of apartment rentals to lure you into coming to France sooner than later.

A bientôt…

Adrian Leeds
Editor, French Property Insider
Email: [email protected]

P.S. Next Friday I’ll be at the FRENCH PROPERTY EXHIBITION in London and on October 16th, we have stand #1 at the Welcome to France Fair here in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre (tomorrow is the deadline to get your free tickets). Then we head for San Francisco and New York for our U.S. conferences. Now’s the time to register for the Living and Investing in France Conference in San Francisco or the Invest in France Seminar in New York City while you can still save $150 on each registration (on or before September 21st). Visit https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/parlerparis/liveinfrance/index.html for more information on both and the other conferences, workshops and seminars we host.
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Volume III, Issue 36, September 15, 2005
In this issue:
* Climbing the Hill in the 13th
* Celebrating French Heritage
* The Latest Statistics
* Miterrand’s Mess (Francois’ Follies) by David Downie
* “Welcome to France” Fair – Get Your Free Tickets
* Sleepless in Paris
* Buying More Than a Bottle of Wine
* Upcoming Conferences
* Hot Properties: Vineyards and On the Hill
* On the Auction Block This Month
* Classified Advertising: 40% off last minute apartment rental!
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The Hilltop in the 13th
By Adrian Leeds
There’s a corner of Paris few tourists ever venture, nor even Parisians for that matter. I ventured there to visit an apartment for sale on a well-lit pedestrian street with nothing particularly special about it except for an unusual lavender brick building with deep lavender painted shutters.
Just off the Place d’Italie, this is the highest point in the 13th arrondissement, one of the seven hills of Paris, from which one has a panoramic view of the city. It’s the unassuming “quartier” known as “La Butte aux Cailles.”
No, it’s not the “hilltop of the quails” — which one might easily assume — but named after Pierre Caille who purchased the land on this hill in 1543. His son, Clément, developed the family heritage by acquiring additional land until it became known as first, “Butte de Caille,” then “Butte Caille” and now today, “Butte-aux-Cailles.”
On November 21st, 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, who was a French chemistry and physics teacher, and one of th
e first pioneers
of aviation, made the first manned free hot air balloon flight in history, accompanied by the Marquis d’Arlandes. During the 25-minute flight using a “Montgolfier” hot air balloon, they traveled 12 kilometers from the château of La Muette to the Butte aux Cailles in (what was then the outskirts of Paris), attaining an altitude of 3000 feet. Engravings representing the landing display a tranquil country landscape. The landing spot today is the exit to the underground parking called the “Galaxie!”
The Buttes aux Cailles and the 13th arrondissement has changed quite a bit since. One century ago, it wasn’t even part of Paris, but part of the Commune of Gentilly. (Gentilly is also a name I grew up with as the eastern part of New Orleans, now sadly under water.) Still, the moment you step off the main streets that run between rue Bobillot, rue de Tolbiac and boulevard Auguste Blanqui, onto the one-way tiny streets spilling off the main street of rue de la Butte aux Cailles, you will sense that you’re in another world altogether.
It’s a strange sensation. The Butte aux Cailles is one of the few areas of Paris with single-family two-level homes, many covered in ivy or dripping with vines. Scattered among them are contemporary apartment buildings with chic architectural style and as a backdrop not far away lie the looming high-rises the 13th is so famous for. I stood in the center of the street rather dumb-founded by the contrast and wondered for a moment whether I was in Paris at all!
The neighborhood is awash with old-world charm — cafés, bars and restaurants, most of which still sport original decor. Quaint shops dot the landscape along with one of Paris’ most well-know swimming pools — Piscine de la Butte aux Cailles at 5 place Paul Verlaine — in art-deco style, supplied by a natural hot spring of a constant 28°C. You can still see a performance at The Théâtre des Cinq Diamants, once known for its Folie Bergère shows between the two world wars and as a hideout for the Resistance during World War II(see what’s playing at http://www.theatreonline.com/indexation/t/detail_theatre30.asp).
I wandered along the streets until my nose led me to land at Le Temps des Cerises for authentic “boudin noir,” served in a casserole covered by crispy thin slices of apple. The authenticity of the bistrot with its “petites ardoises” nailed to every available spot on the cluttered walls, wood tables and bentwood chairs, each elbow to elbow and deep burgundy upholstery, overshadowed the quality of its cuisine, but no matter…it reeked of Butte aux Cailles charm and didn’t cost enough to be a bad value (18-20 rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 01.45.89.69.48). Around the corner at L’Avant Goût, your check will be double (31 Euros for 3 courses), but will be a better bet for an outstanding meal — known as the quartier’s best dining experience and one of the city’s best values (26, rue Bobillot, 01.53.80.24.00).
There was even more action at the many bars and cafés, spilling out onto the street in the warm evening air. La Bonne Cave didn’t offer even one seat for the weary. Others to test include Papagallo (25, rue des Cinq Diamants), the Sputnik (14-16, rue de la Butte aux Cailles and the Folie en Tête (33, rue de la Butte aux Cailles), each offering a different ambiance to set the mood.
If you can’t get there in person, (it’s in French, but…) click here for a great little tour of the neighborhood: http://www-inf.enst.fr/~premiere/butte/ If you CAN get there in person, make a point of discovering a Paris you wouldn’t have otherwise.
 
 
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Les Journées du Patrimoine
“La Rentrée” in all of France kicks off with the annual “Journées du Patrimoine” — when the whole country takes a peak inside the sites and monuments only the privileged normally get to see. September 17th and 18th will be your opportunity to visit France’s most impressive edifices. View the entire list at the official site, http://www.journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr
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France Indicators
Source: Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris
* SMIC: Guaranteed Minimum Wage
The institution of a government-fixed minimum wage applicable to all employees dates back to 1950. The present statutory national minimum wage, which was introduced in 1970 (“salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance” or SMIC), is intended to guarantee the lowest-paid workers their purchasing power and a share in the nation’s economic growth. To this end, the SMIC is not only pegged to one of the consumer price indices but may also, through the application of a review procedure, be raised by decree of the Council of Ministers.
The SMIC is an hourly rate of pay but since 1972 it has been complemented, for all employees whose working hours are at least equal to the statutory working week (35 hours), by a minimum monthly pay level.
In addition, it is the traditional role of collective agreements at industry level to fix minimum rates of pay for each occupational category.
The SMIC as of July 1, 2005, was 8.03 euros per hour for 151.67 hours monthly.
* Unemployment
The unemployment rate reported for the first quarter of 2005 for France was 10.2%.
* Tourism
Hotels reported an occupancy rate in May 2005 of 60.6% in France and 69.6% in the Ile de France. Also for May 2005, the department stores reported a decrease in sales by 1.1% in France and 2.3% in the Ile de France
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Francois’ Follies PART I
By David Downie
Excerpt from “Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light”
http://www.parisparisthebook.com
“The idea that Paris in a century or two could become the privileged enclave of Japanese tour operators is a thought that makes Mitterrand bristle.”
Luc Tessier, director of the Coordinating Body of Les Grands Projets, 1988
“Pharaoh,” “emperor” and “king” were favorite titles given former president François Mitterrand. Admirers and detractors alike also called him “Tonton” for his avuncular charisma, or “Le Grenouille,” because he looked startlingly like a frog. Mitterrand’s presidency lasted from 1981 to 1994. But his heritage as a builder lives on. Like a pharaoh, he commissioned a pyramid (at the Louvre) and a Great Library of Alexandria (the Très Grande Bibliothèque, at Tolbiac). With Napoléonic imperiousness he ordered a triumphal arch (at La Tête Défense) and one-upped Napoléon III with a bigger opera house (at La Bastille). To prove he could subsume his presidential predecessor, he adopted the unfinished projects of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing: La Villette; the Musée d’Orsay; the Institut du Monde Arab.
Anyone who thinks Mitterrand’s so-called Grands Projets are old news should rethink: the international conference center he planned for the Quai Branly near the Eiffel Tower is only now getting underway (and will house Jacques Chirac’s African art museum, instead, as excogitated by star-architect Jean Nouvel).
With something approaching awe and horror I watched Mitterrand’s follies coalesce and had the good fortune to scramble through many while interviewing the projects’ prime movers. Recently I revisited the president’s main offspring. Have they, as Mitterrand hoped, saved Paris from becoming a “museum city” cut off from its suburbs? Have they lastingly boosted the prestige of French architects, while indelibly impressing Mitterrand’s name in the history books?
Métro line 1 links the troika of sites that were closest to Mitterrand’s heart: Bastille, Louvre, Grand Arch. For the sake of chronology and convenience my first stop was the Louvre. Mitterrand’s earliest and most ambitious operation was transplant surgery on what had become a dusty, dreary place whose decline threatened Gallic “gloire” and “histoire”, not to mention tourism revenues. After visiting Washington’s National Gallery, Tonton highhandedly hired its designer I. M. Pei to create Le Grand Louvre. No architectural competition was held, a technical illegality. Mitterrand briefed Pei to respect the Louvre’s historic components. His solution was the now-familiar 22-meter high pyramid of glass and crisscrossed steel, with an underground entrance, a theater, state-of-the-art restoration labs, a shopping concourse and parking facilities.
Like most Paris denizens Pei’s proposal didn’t thrill me. But I recall my bafflement when critics claimed the pyramid would “deface” the Napoléon Courtyard’s façades. A historicist’s hodgepodge, they were as kitsch in their day as the pyramid was in the early ‘80s. In reality, at issue was the Socialist president’s perceived defiling of a royal enclave. As some pundits put it, Mitterrand marked it as a dog might.
Swept by crowds from the métro station into the Louvre’s subterranean maw I couldn’t help marveling now at Pei’s success in hitching high art to consumerism. Where the weary masses of old once deciphered turgid texts or strained their eyes on the museum’s badly displayed, unloved and largely looted treasures, here were smiling hordes stuffed with exotic delicacies from the merry-go-round of Louvre restaurants, casting beatific glances at skillfully lit artworks before loading up on reproductions, CDs, designer sportswear and gadgets.
Pei’s entrance was conceived to simplify the Louvre’s labyrinth. Experts claim it takes less time than ever to reach the Mona Lisa (the goal of 90 percent of visitors). Persnickety regulars at first grumbled about a crass Grand Louvre for beginners, and militated for a reopening of doors in the museum’s many wings. But they soon learned to slip in through the Pavillon Flore, via whatever temporary exhibition is currently being mounted there, skipping the subterranean feeding frenzy. More doors will soon reopen, the Louvre’s director now promises. Everyone seems happy enough in any case.
Early on boosters said the pyramid would blend into the cityscape. They were right. As Pei predicted, the glass panes reflect changeable skies. They also collect soot, despite frequent scrubbings. Cosmetic
concerns aside, I saw nary a grimace now as I shuffled with thousands from sculpture courts (where cars once parked) through restored Renaissance rooms and lavish Second Empire salons (formerly the Finance Minister’s office), to excavated medieval bastions. Back outside, I took a table at Café Marly and watched visitors dance in feathery water sprays or soak their feet in the fountains flanking the pyramid. Attendance has risen from 2.5 million in the early 1980s to nearly 6 million today. What better sign of approval might a monarch desire?
Laid out in 1670 by Louis XIV’s royal architect Le Notre, the so-called “Triumphal Way” runs west from the Louvre’s Cour Carré through the glass eye of the pyramid and nearby Carrousel Arch, across the Tuileries and up the Champs-Elysées, under the Arc de Triomphe, straight across town to La Tête Défense, crowned by Mitterrand’s Grand Arch. My subway train covered the distance in 20 minutes. Even
though from La Défense’s highest point I couldn’t see back into central Paris, I knew the Tri
umphal Way,
alias the “Power Axis”, was there, also extending east from the Louvre to the Bastille.
Unexpectedly the Grand Arch is the sole Mitterrand project to have garnered near total support. It actually improves La Défense, a paragon of architectural mediocrity bristling with mirrored-glass skyscrapers and studded with concrete apartment bunkers. The absence of cars, and recent landscaping, are the saving graces of this Moscow-meets-Manhattan satellite city.
As I queued under the Grand Arch in the windy vortex comically termed a “piazza”, then rode to the roof in a glass bubble elevator, I recalled watching back in the late ‘80s as the viewing deck was poured
into place at a height of over 100 meters. Building the arch required much engineering wizardry. The vistas from on high aren’t nearly as spectacular as those you see from the Eiffel Tower, but if you’re into cannon-shot perspectives you won’t be disappointed.
Arch designer Johan Otto von Spreckelsen adroitly poised his bobble 6.30 degrees askew, mirroring the skew of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée without blocking the Power Axis. In theory a superhuman bowler could
roll a ball through the arch’s wind-tunnel piazza to the grubby panes of Pei’s pyramid. At a distance of 20 years this sounds like manual self-pleasuring, but it long preoccupied Tonton’s planners.
A nitpicker might carp about the arch’s smog-stained Carrara cladding, the threadbare carpets inside, or the prison-camp aesthetics of the rooftop terrace. Even arch devotees cannot help noting that the
suspended canvas windbreaks called “Nuages” look less like the hovering clouds Von Spreckelsen had envisioned than a tattered and stained Bedouin tent. They simply don’t work. Wind or not, the arch is standing up to time’s weathering, and it seems a pity that Von Spreckelsen died before it was completed.
A lesser archway, this one clad with sparkling dark granite, graces the entrance to the Bastille Opera at the historic axis’ eastern end. Of all Tonton’s arch-follies it has aged the worst and looks, though still jail-bait, like a shabby, overweight old cocotte with a hairnet. The netting is there to keep the shoddily anchored gray granite cladding from falling onto passersby.
In a rush to make a July 13, 1989 bicentennial celebration deadline, but desirous to appear fair this time around, Mitterrand held a “blind” competition for the project. Everyone in Paris soon knew that the pres-ident’s choice was remote-controlled by associates who mistakenly believed they had identified star-architect Richard Meier’s opera house mockup. The fruit of this cock-up is Canadian-Uruguayan Carlos Ott’s $350 million behemoth. It measures nearly half a mile (800 meters) around and 150 feet (48 meters) high. “People don’t like my opera house because they say it’s ugly, it’s fat, it doesn’t have any gold or red velvet inside, and it looks like a factory,” a red-faced Ott told me in 1989. “And all those things to me are compliments!” Ott has received many compliments since Newsweek first compared his masterpiece to “the alien mother ship that spawned the public toilets”.
However, as I bustled into the behemoth with droves of elegant opera aficionados and enjoyed a tear-jerking performance of “La Bohème”, I had to admit that the main auditorium is a formidable resonating
chamber (Ott had help designing it). The blue-gray granite walls, oak flooring and black velour seats that seemingly disappear when the lights go down are as handsome and functional today as the building’s outside was, is and always will be ridiculous.
Read Part II next week…
Editor’s Notes: David Downie is a leading journalist whose articles on culture, food and travel appear in top newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has lived in Paris since 1986. His latest book,
“Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light,” was just released by Transatlantic Press with a foreward by Diane Johnson and Black and White photographs by Alison Harris. It is available at https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/parlerparis/books/booksaboutfrance.html
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Get your tickets to the “Welcome to France Fair” today!

At the Expatica Welcome to France fair you will get the information you need from companies and agencies specialised in expatriate services.
You’ll find information on house hunting, finding a job, immigration and permits, staying long-term, and much more.
Meet the people who make expat life great, including the top clubs and associations, travel agents and sports teams.
Welcome to France October 16, 2005 Carrousel de Louvre Paris, France Tickets are FREE before September 16 if you sign-up online. Click here
Editor’s Note: Adrian Leeds of French Property Insider and John Howell of EuropeLaw.com will be at booth #1 during the fair. Be sure to stop by and say hello!
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Sleepless in Paris
On October 1st… a welcoming atmosphere, soft lighting, new angles…La Nuit Blanche is back and more surprising than ever. The Paris City Council invites us to take a different look at the capital…
… by asking talented artists from all horizons (music, visual art, video, sound, lighting…) to deploy their skills in order to amaze and move us.
In the space of a few hours, Paris becomes home of the night-owls. Dressed in their evening finery, museums, libraries, swimming pools and churches throw open their doors. Unconventional illuminations, offbeat sound
s, unusual
exhibitions, original ideas… are all on the agenda for this night without sleep.
Click here for more information.
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I Liked It So Much I Bought the Vineyard
By Cheryl Taylor and Henry Harington
http://www.thebusinessonline.com
None of those worthy investment tomes that fill bookshop shelves tells you investment should be fun. And, those wine books are no more helpful. Yes, they tell you which vintage to lay down, but offer no advice on combining your passion for wine with the purchase of a vineyard.
Fine vintages remain a good alternative investment. When stock markets go to hell in a hand basket, at least those bottles of 1990 Château Latour or 1985 Lynch Bages, which have risen in price by 500% and 467% respectively, can help drown your sorrows.
But, what if you buy a whole vineyard as an investment? Won’t your romantic notions be punctured when you have to plough, manure, plant and prune the vines? Do you have the resolution and resilience to deal with rain and pests? Not to mention French bureaucracy.
Fortunately, it is possible to indulge your passion for wine and enjoy an investment in a vineyard without the hard work, according to Wine Estate Capital Management (WECM) (www.wineestatecapital.com). The company is creating investment vehicles that allow you not only to own a share of a specific vineyard, but also to treat its château like a home from home and enjoy its product without becoming a son of the soil.
An investor buys a share in a tax-efficient Luxembourg company that owns a wine estate in a specific appellation area. Estates are located in appellation areas in Bordeaux and Bergerac but châteaux in the Médoc, St. Emilion, Fronsac, Côte de Castillon, Bergerac and Graves are being evaluated.
The minimum investment of 100,000 euros not only buys you a stake in the French property market, it gives you the free use of the château for weekends and holidays. The investor is able to stay and imbibe the atmosphere of the estate or use the château as a base to explore the surrounding countryside. A shareholding entitles investors to 144 bottles (12 cases) of the château’s wines each year. You will also be able to invite your friends to grape picking and to break a “baton” or two over a harvest lunch.
A clear advantage of this route to vineyard investment is that WECM do the financial, operational and biological due diligence, acquire the vineyard and manage it. Hedge funds have coined the phrase “eating their own cookie” to describe the fact that hedge fund managers have their own capital tied up and at risk in the funds they manage.
A shareholding conveys the right to participate in the “wine quality council” and “wine commercial council” and shareholders appoint three members of the “audit committee” that oversees the running of the château.
A potential drawback of the investment is that there is restricted liquidity: property in France is not as easily sold or transferred as in the UK. The shares in the château are not listed on any stock exchange. Other shareholders must be given first refusal by those seeking to redeem their investment.
Investors are not simply buying a French property, they are exposed to the risks of the wine business: changes in farming rules and regulations, weather, pestilence and not only to the £/Euro exchange rate but, strategically, to variations in the exchange rates of other wine producers and consumers.
If your heart is still set on buying a whole vineyard, there are bargains to be had, according to Sarah Francis of French property specialist Sifex (Tel. 020 7384 1200, www.sifex.co.uk) who spends weeks at a time scouring the French countryside for such properties, and has several little gems on her books.
You can pick up a fully-fledged château vineyard in the Gers – a rich farming area, close to the foothills of the Pyrénées, famous for its Armagnac brandy – for the price of a two-bedroom flat in Fulham. A turreted 15th century château, with 14 hectares of vines (including Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and 50 hectares of farm, park and woodland, can be yours for 810,000 euros (around £558,620). But, expect to pay another 230,000 euros for the stock of 50,000 litres of Armagnac dating from 1965 to 2002.
In the warm, fashionable south, a charming little “domaine” in the Luberon – north of Provence, known locally as the 21st arrondissement of Paris – with 14 hectares of Appellation d’Origine Controlée Côtes du Ventoux vines, can be had for 1 million euros. It comes with a converted white stone Provençal farmhouse and a swimming pool, set amid vineyard and olive groves. Also, a second house, ripe for renovation, a wine shop, stock and farm machinery.
Moving up the price scale, a listed 15th century château vineyard in 30 hectares in the heart of Anjou, in the Maine et Loire, is on offer at 2,358,400 euros. The price includes 17 hectares of AOC Anjou Red vines in full production and wine making equipment. There is also a converted “longere” and three corner pavillions, a chapel with a superb painted ceiling and a large vaulted barn.
Or, you could buy a château domaine in the Lot et Garonne, with 60 hectares of vineyards, plum orchards and agricultural land, for 3,230,000 euros. It includes 26 hectares of AOC Buzet (Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30% and Cabernet Franc 20%) and 1.5 hectares of Armagnac. Also, a beautiful, turreted 16th century château, with large outbuildings and wine-making equipment, parkland and a swimming pool. The wine is bottled on the property.
A 300 hectare vineyard estate in the Aude, with views over the Mediterranean and mountains, will set
you
back 3,811,225 euros. It comprises 43 hectares of AOC Corbières, 60 hectares of farmland and 200 acres of rolling moorland, offering hunting, shooting and fishing, a renovated seven-bedroom 18th century château, staff accommodation, a range of converted outbuildings, a wine shop, farm cottages and a chapel.
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Upcoming Conferences
LIVING AND INVESTING IN FRANCE
San Francisco
October 21 to 23, 2005
Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf
Our popular three-day Living in France Conference will give you all the information you need to make your Paris dream a reality! The line-up for the conference includes seminars, discussions, dinners, cocktails with well-known Paris, Europe and U.S.-based experts. For West Coast folks, or those wanting more comprehensive information on all aspects of living in France, the San Francisco conference is a must.
INVEST IN FRANCE
New York
October 26, 2005
Harvard Club
Take just one day and learn from some of the finest experts in French real estate about the best ways to make your money and real estate investment grow. Join us at the prestigious Harvard Club for this power-packed one day event.
 
 
 
 
INVEST IN FRANCE
Paris
December 28, 2005
Chez Jenny
Enjoy your Christmas vacation in Paris, and set aside JUST ONE DAY of your busy schedule visiting museums and dining on foie gras to learn how to make your money grow, while building a portfolio of some of the most desirable real estate in the world.
For more information on The Invest in France Seminars or Living in France Conference, until we have our Web site up, contact Schuyler Hoffman, Projects Manager, at [email protected]/parlerparis to be put on a special mailing list to be notified when the details are in place (very, very soon!).

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FRENCH PROPERTY EXHIBITION
London, England
September 23 – 25, 2005
National Hall, Olympia
Now in its 16th year, the London French Property Exhibition gives you the opportunity to learn about all aspects of buying property in France. Visit the John Howell and Co. booth to meet John Howell, and Adrian Leeds of Parler Paris and French Property Insider.

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FOURTH PARIS POETRY WORKSHOP
Paris
October 2 – 6, 2005
This is your opportunity to spend five days in Paris as a poet among poets. Over the past several years, the success of each Paris Poetry Workshop has contributed to the creation of an expanding international community of poets writing in English, who come together from all parts of the world to generate new work, hone their craft, share and support one another’s creative endeavors. This is your chance to become part of this exciting and vibrant community.
 
 
 

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THE ART OF TROMPE L’OEIL SEMINAR
Paris
December 29 – January 2
Join a unique community of artists, engaging in hands-on painting and conversation with internationally renowned trompe l’oeil muralist and educator, Yves Lanthier. An award-winning artist, Yves has created large oil paintings and elaborate trompe l’oeil that adorn the ceilings and walls of many East Coast mansions and Palm beach estates, including Celine Dion’s estate in Jupiter, Florida
 
 
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FPI Property Consultation, Search and Relocation Solutions
Let French Property Insider expert property consultants find your dream home in France for you. We consult with you to help you make the best decisions, ferret out the finest properties to meet your criteria, schedule the visits and accompany you, negotiate with the agencies and owners, recommend the notaires and other professionals, schedule the signings and oversee the purchase with you from start to finish! You could never do it so easily on your own. Let us take the time and effort off your hands.
FPI Offers More Relocation Solutions!
Let our experienced relocation expert help make your move easy and hassle-free. We offer complete property and relocation services normally only provided by employer hired relocation firms…but at a price much more affordable for individuals.
Solution #1: Property Consultation and Search Services
Solution #2: Purchase Assistance
Solution #3: Getting a Mortgage in France
Solution #4: Property Appraisal Service
Solution #5: The “Après Vente”
Apartments for Rent: Long-Term
To book your services, click here:
https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/frenchproperty/insider/booking.html
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TODAY’S CURRENCY UPDATE
Visit the FPI Web site and click on the link on the left panel “Click Here for Currency Convertor by Moneycorp” for up to the minute conversions of all major currencies.
Compare currency values easily and quickly by visiting: https://adrianleeds.com/frenchproperty/loan/moneycorpconvertor.html
Charts http://www.Moneycorp.co.uk/members/charts.asp The charts below are updated every ten seconds.
The prices shown are “inter bank” exchange rates and are not the rates that you will be offered by Moneycorp. Your rate will be determined by the amount of currency that you are buying. Please speak with an Moneycorp dealer or your consultant for a live quotation.

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Read the Report
September 13th meeting:
https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/parlerparis/apresmidi.html
Parler Paris Après-Midi
NEXT MEETING: October 11, 2005 AND EVERY SECOND TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, 3
p.m. to 5 p.m.
This is your opportunity to meet every month, often with local
professionals who can answer your Working and Living in France questions. You are invited to come for drinks and share your questions and comments about what it takes to create a life here, own property and enjoy what France has to offer. It is also an opportunity to network with other Parler Paris readers.
Upstairs at La Pierre du Marais
96, rue des Archives at the corner of rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris
Métro Lines 9, 3 et 11, stations Temple, République or Arts et Métiers
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HOT PROPERTY PICKS
Each week French Property Insider features a range of properties which we believe are on the market at the time of writing. These properties are featured in order to give readers a sample of what is currently available and a working example of prices being asked in various regions of France and districts of Paris.
As we are not a real estate agency. These properties do not constitute a sales listing. For those readers seriously interested in finding property in Paris or France. you can retain our services to do the whole thing for you. For more information, visit https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/frenchproperty/insider/propertyconsultation.html
A “Vine” Place to Call Home
*** Languedoc-Roussillon, Vineyard Estate, 30 ha
Languedoc Vin De Pays, Varietal Wines
This estate, found in the heart of the vineyard, enjoys a 30 ha one-plot vineyard. It is located 10 minutes from a large Languedoc town with motorway and airport, and 15 minutes from the seaside resorts. The estate offers 28 ha classed Vin de Pays, of which 25 ha are planted. The one-plot vineyard offers well exposed and easy to work large parcel. This genuine vineyard property has low production costs.
The U-shaped buildings offer a total surface of 1000m² at ground level dating from the 19th century and made of country stone. The 140m² main house offers the opportunity to be expanded and opens onto its park and swimming-pool. 4 gites with the opportunity to strengthen the estate’s activity.
The winery and outbuildings consist of a huge 675m² farm shed, more recently built and completed by a 60m² shed, shelter the farm machinery. Traditional cellar equipped for vinification. A storage shed of almost 100m² allows the storage of bottled wines. There is full farm machinery but no harvesting machine and no employees. Part of the wines are sold through bottle contracts in Vin de Pays.
Asking Price: 800,000 euros to 1.5 million euros + 2.5% Finder’s Fee
*** Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, 6 ha
Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Appellation
A terroir classed as UNESCO world heritage. This magnificent 6 ha vineyard in the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru appellation is situated on a hillside limestone terroir. Formerly a monastery, the imposing build
ing is situated on the Saint Jacques
de Compostelle road. The winery and outbuildings include temperature controlled vats, large barrel and storing cellars. The equipment is complete and in good condition. A “made to measure” property for Saint-Emilion wine-lovers.
Asking Price: 2.5 million euros to 5 million euros + 2.5% Finder’s Fee
*** Bordeaux, Château, 70 ha
Prestigious Bordeaux Appellation
The magnificent château dates from the 17th and 19th centuries and is situated in the heart of the wooded park with swimming pool. The property also offers numerous outbuildings including 5 apartments. This property of 70 ha of contiguous grounds is 15 minutes from Bordeaux in a privileged environment.
The 5 ha of vines planted on a high quality terroir.
Asking Price: 2.5 million euros to 5 million euros + 2.5% Finder’s Fee
In the Heart of Butte aux Cailles
*** Paris, 13th Arrondissement, 3 rooms, approx. 53m²
Near Butte aux Cailles on the 5th floor of a Haussmanian building. Beautiful and bright apartment with balcony. Large living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom with separate toilet and cellar. Parquet floors, moldings, 2.8m high ceilings, individual heating, southern exposure.
Asking Price: 399,000 euros + 2.5% Finder’s Fee
 
 
 
 
 
 
*** Paris, 13 Arrondissement, 3/4 rooms, approx. 62m² environ.
Close to Butte aux Cailles, apartment in a superbly restored cut stone building on the 3rd floor with elevator. With an entry, large living room facing south, bedroom, office, kitchen on the courtyard and bathroom. Newly remodelled with parquet floors, fireplace, moldings, electric heating.
Asking Price: 435,000 euros + 2.5% Finder’s Fee
 
 
 
 
 
 
*** Paris, 13th Arrondissement, 6 rooms, approx. 130m²
Exclusive! Near Butte aux Cailles and Métro Tolbiac. Beautiful 1880 residence with elevator. Duplex on the 5th and 6th floors. Large living room with balcony, kitchen, 3 bathrooms, toilet, bedrooms and office. Bright, with a clear view and western exposure, gas heating.
Asking Price: 675,000 euros + 2.5%
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Paris Auctions
http://www.encheres-Paris.com
Next session: September 20, 2005, 2 p.m.
Notaires de Paris
Place du Châtelet
12 avenue Victoria
Paris 1st
Additional information on Les Ventes aux Enchères des Notaires can be found on the website at http://www.encheres-Paris.com/ Though the site has a button for an English version, it isn’t reliable to work.
To read Schuyler Hoffman’s article about the property auctions in Paris, click on:
https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/frenchproperty/insider/subscribersonly/articles/auctions1.html

3 rooms 84,40 m² 15 rue du Louvre 75001 PARIS 1st Starting Bid: 484,000 Euros Deposit: 96 800,00 Euros	4 rooms 134,6 m² + parking 12 avenue Montaigne 75008 PARIS 8th Vente avec prix de réserve Deposit: 230,000 Euros
Storehouse 295 m² 68 rue des Vignoles 75020 PARIS 20th Starting Bid: 900,000 Euros Deposit: 180,000 Euros	3 rooms 64,5 m² + parking 47 rue des Solitaires 75019 PARIS 19th Starting Bid: 190,000 Euros Deposit: 38,000 Euros
4 rooms 91,3 m² 109 avenue Gambetta 75019 PARIS 19th Starting Bid: 369,000 Euros Deposit: 73 800,00 Euros	3 rooms 62,4 m² + Parking 3-5 rue de Pouy 75013 PARIS 13th Starting Bid: 235,000 Euros Deposit: 47,000 Euros
4 rooms 55,6 m² 20 rue de Lourmel 75015 PARIS 15th Starting Bid: 175,000 Euros Deposit: 35,000 Euros

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HELPFUL CONVERSIONS FOR REAL ESTATE

1 square meter = 10.7639104 square feet

1 hectare = 2.4710538 acres

For more conversions, refer to: http://www.onlineconversion.com/

==== CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ===

==APARTMENT RENTAL==

Last minute special offer!
Beautiful Medieval suite in the Marais for up to 3 people at 40% off September 14 to 24. Only 100 euro per night instead of 140 euros per night — call now Paris time 00 33 662 236 240 or e-mail mailto:[email protected]. Includes a fully equipped kitchen, luxurious bathroom, cable TV, adsl Internet and free local calls included.
View this fabulous apartment at: http://www.parismarais.com/medieval.htm
==APARTMENT RENTAL==

Leeds Marais Apartment
Available in its entirety October 19 – 31, 2005

Located in a 17th century Le Marais Hotel Particulier, this 70 square meter two-bedroom apartment with lots of light is nicely furnished and is perfect for up to four people when rented in its entirety or a single woman in the freshly renovated guest room when owner Adrian Leeds is there.
Pictures and more details available at
https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/parlerparis/apartments/rentals/leeds.html
==APARTMENT RENTALS==

For all short term rental apartments in Paris, take a look at https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/parlerparis/apartments or https://adrianleeds.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/frenchproperty/insider/longterm.html for long term apartments.

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