Greening It Up and Other Matters

SO SIMPLE: OWN A FULLY TURNKEY APARTMENT IN FRANCE…TODAY!

It was a first for us…the webinar presentation was so clear that the audience had almost no questions! Joey Byrne, Pacaso’s Head of Europe, and I explained how Fractional Ownership works and why it makes so much sense for so many people. Plus, we highlighted a few of our available properties in France where shared ownership might suit someone perfectly.

Pacaso is a company that specializes in co-ownership of luxury vacation homes…what we call Fractional Ownership. It allows buyers to purchase a share (anywhere from 1/8 to 1/2) of a second home, rather than owning the entire property outright. Pacaso manages the property, handling maintenance, scheduling, and expenses, making vacation homeownership more accessible and hassle-free.

Fractional Ownership is NOT “Time-Share.” It is a hybrid of direct ownership and time-sharing, combining the best elements of both. Ownership brings together a few individuals in a single property with shared usage and shared expenses. Most fractional property opportunities in France are properties that have been purchased, renovated, and decorated by one developer who then sells off the shares to individual buyers. Most of these offerings are six to thirteen shares to minimize the investment amount while maximizing the size, location, and quality of the property.

Here are a couple of the questions we answered during the webinar:

• How are the properties serviced between rotations of owners?
• How do the owners handle differences in utility costs? i.e. when 1 or 2 people are using the place, vs when another owner has 4 people using it.
• “Great presentation! You covered it so well that we had a hard time coming up with questions ;-)”

If you want to learn more about the concept of Fractional Ownership and how you can become one of the happy owners, then be sure to tune in!

You can watch the entire webinar on our YouTube channel.

A FRESH GREEN RIBBON IN THE HEART OF NICE

(Photos courtesy of Patty Sadauskas & David Cardy)

I haven’t seen it yet, but I hear we’re all in for a treat. On October 18, 2025, Nice inaugurated the second phase of its celebrated Promenade du Paillon. The city has added eight hectares of parkland to the existing “Coulée Verte,” delivering a verdant, peaceful space for residents and tourists. Landscape architect Alexandre Chemetoff designed this extension to echo the city’s hidden valleys and historic gardens, filling it with 3 500 drought-resistant trees and 1 500 shrubs. The result is a mosaic of shaded undergrowth, meadows, paths, clearings and aquatic gardens.

One of the project’s slogans is “from façade to façade.” It’s not just poetic; it means that the streets flanking the park—Risso, Gallieni, Saint-Sébastien and Saint-Jean-Baptiste—have been re-qualified with widened, landscaped sidewalks, a bidirectional bike path and bus lanes. The plan is holistic: a green corridor that also improves mobility and reduces urban heat.

The extension isn’t just for strolling. “Season 2” of the Promenade du Paillon prioritizes forest-themed play. Children can explore zip lines, natural-wood climbing courses and swings, and the Natural History Museum will host workshops on biodiversity and urban agriculture. Dogs are welcome to romp, and ecological features like dry-stone walls provide homes for insects and lizards. Water is everywhere—mini-ponds nestled among rocks encourage infiltration and support plant growth.

Art lovers will be delighted: monumental sculptures punctuate the path. Arman’s bronze “Music Power,” Niki de Saint Phalle’s Loch Ness Monster, Bernar Venet’s “Ligne indéterminée” and Max Cartier’s “Homme de pierre” are among the pieces on display.

I heard that the day after it opened, the place was already buzzing. The park’s central path and exotic garden beneath the Tête Carrée are already popular spots for selfies. Visitors posed with Niki de Saint Phalle’s monster, the Loch Ness sculpture or look out over the pond. Three generations from one family—Agathe (8), Raphaël (42) and Michèle (71)—told reporters the space “opens up the view and muffles car noise,” and it’s much quieter than the older green corridor. Raphaël noted how valuable it is to have a place to escape the city’s din. Two tourists from Aix-en-Provence, Nathanaelle and Koren, said it’s not on the scale of the Promenade des Anglais, but it offers a green, calm pause just steps from the city bustle.

Not all comments were glowing. Véronique (63) liked the layout but misses benches with backrests and picnic tables; she worries the unshaded central path will be hard to traverse in midsummer. Accessibility is still an issue: rough stone paving and wooden sleepers make the promenade bumpy for people with reduced mobility, and there are fences, a cycle path and pedestrian crossings still to finish.

The new green space isn’t just attracting joggers and families; it’s also redrawing the local economy. Nice-Presse spoke with merchants in the Risso/Gallieni neighborhood a few days after opening. Jean, owner of the Lebanese restaurant Le Cèdre at the northern end, is delighted: he says the extension is “clearly more beautiful than before” and believes it will bring more clients. He has a little terrace that now overlooks greenery, adding “value to the neighborhood.” He visited the park with his family and “loved” the result.

As someone who helps North Americans find their dream home or pied-à-terre in France, I always look at urban projects through the lens of quality of life and property value. An 8-hectare park is more than landscaping—it’s an amenity that raises the appeal of nearby apartments and improves the everyday experience of living in the city. Buyers often ask about noise levels, access to green space, and family-friendly activities. The Promenade du Paillon’s extension ticks all these boxes, and the façade to façade improvements to surrounding streets will make the neighborhood more livable and walkable.

I’ve been telling clients for a while now that the streets that border the park and overlook it will have gone from zero to 100 in terms of desirability and now is the time to take advantage. If you’re making an investment in Nice, this is a good spot to do it.

Look there’s still work to do—shade trees need to grow, benches and picnic tables should be added, and accessibility must be improved—but the core is there. Local restaurateurs expect the real test will be next summer when tourists return in droves. For now, it’s a lush lung breathing new life into Nice—an indication of the city’s commitment to climate resilience and urban vibrancy…and no one misses the Acropolis building that ate the life out of the space until now.

Special Note: According to the most recent Observatoire ranking, Angers, Rennes and Strasbourg are currently considered France’s greenest major cities. They combine extensive accessible green spaces, significant tree-planting programmes and policies to protect biodiversity. However, other metrics highlight different leaders: Nice and Montpellier have the densest tree canopy, while Grenoble has been recognized at the European level for its climate and urban greening strategy. Ultimately, the “greenest” city depends on whether you prioritize parkland per inhabitant, canopy cover, biodiversity initiatives or broader sustainability efforts.

If you’re considering a move to Nice or looking at opportunities on the Côte d’Azur, this new chapter for the Coulée Verte should be on your radar. It’s a sign that Nice continues to invest in its future—and that can only be good news for those of us who love living (and owning) here.

THANKSGIVING DINNER IN NICE—SOLD OUT!

Last year and the year before, we had 55 people for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner in Nice, much to our surprise and pleasure(!) and realized then that the venue needed to be larger to accommodate our entire community. So, we moved from the Oscar Restaurant location to their sister restaurant/café, Le Carré d’Or on Place Magenta—just steps away—that can accommodate up to 100 people. It didn’t take long before even 100 seats were sold out!

It’s evidence that our community in Nice has grown by leaps and bounds. I regularly joke (not really) that it would be impossible to move here and not make more friends in 90 days than you’ve had your entire life! If that’s one reason you’re hesitant to make a move to France, then take it off your list of concerns…as long as you choose an internationally-minded community, such as Nice (or Paris and a few other cities in France).

If you want to be on a waiting list, email us, and we’ll do our best to fit you in!

NICE MAYOR CHRISTIAN ESTROSI IS “JEWISH AT HEART?”

(Photos courtesy of the Times of Israel)

This is far from the only time Estrosi has sided publicly with the Jewish community. Nice—France’s fifth largest city with a Jewish population of perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 people—has been re-electing him since 2008. In recent months he hosted a ceremony marking the second anniversary of October 7th and laid the cornerstone of a future Holocaust museum. When vandals chopped down a memorial tree near Paris honoring Ilan Halimi, he planted an olive tree in Nice in its place. He has inaugurated a Wall of Remembrance listing Jews from the region deported to Auschwitz and, with Yad Vashem, a Wall of the Righteous Among the Nations honoring those who saved Jews during World War II.

Estrosi is acutely aware of Nice’s wartime history. The city served as a refuge for European Jews under Italian control during World War II until the Nazis seized it in September 1943 and began hunting its Jewish residents. “Antisemitism is a poison,” he says, warning that France risks returning to the atmosphere of the 1930s. He sees the spike in antisemitic incidents since October 7th as part of a wider battle that will be fought for years.

The mayor’s biography is as colorful as the banners he hoisted. Born in Nice to Italian immigrants, he first made his name as an international motorcycle racer. Later he entered politics, serving in Parliament and national government posts before becoming mayor in 2008. He has visited Israel many times, declares himself a “proud friend of Israel,” and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa for his contribution to Franco-Israeli relations. In 2016 he married Jewish journalist Laura Tenoudji, though he insists his commitment to Israel predates their relationship.

Estrosi emphasizes that flying Israeli flags and hanging hostage banners is about human values, not politics. He did not intend unconditional support for any specific government. Instead he sees Israel as “a rampart” against Islamist terrorism, noting that Nice itself suffered a horrific truck attack on Bastille Day in 2016. He criticizes President Emmanuel Macron for advocating a Palestinian state before Hamas is neutralized and all hostages are returned. He fears that antisemitism in France is growing and will require sustained commitment to counteract.

As someone who helps North Americans find their pied-à-terre or primary home in France, I pay attention when a local official takes a stand that affects the quality of life and sense of security of the Jewish community. Nice is one of our most popular destinations for second homes, and many of our clients ask about safety and community. Seeing a mayor publicly hang a banner for Israeli hostages and face down a court order to remove flags shows a level of moral conviction that’s not always present in politics. It also signals to potential residents that Nice is a place where solidarity and remembrance matter. While I don’t expect every mayor to fly foreign flags, I respect Estrosi’s willingness to act on his convictions and defend what he calls the values of civilization.

If you’re considering investing in property on the Côte d’Azur—or simply want to understand the context of life here—keep this story in mind. Urban policies and community attitudes shape the experience of owning a home as much as weather or architecture. Christian Estrosi’s Nice is not just about sun and sea. It’s a city where the mayor is not afraid to plant an olive tree, honor the deported and remind us that democracy sometimes needs a banner to tell its story.

This is just one of the reasons we love Nice so much! And we have Christian Estrosi to thank for most of it. I’ve watched the city change and blossom since 2011…and it just gets nicer and nicer.

A la prochaine…