Just over the border

Another great thing about living in the Roussillon is that Spain is just a few minutes over the border. Not only are the shops cheaper but there are great sights to see, a wide and varied selection of restaurants and the beaches.........

If you happen to be in the area 10th & 11th June then why not.......

Sant Marti WINE FAIR

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th June 2011   

With much excitement we will be exhibiting again at the Emporda Wine Fair in Sant Martí d'Empúries and what a wine fair it is!

10 & 11th June from 12-3pm and then from 5-10pm - €15 each including glass. 

  

This totally gorgeous village perched on the top of the cliff with the fair taking place beside the church surrounded by lovely restaurants adds to the atmosphere of enjoying good wine. 

  

If you would like to reserve tickets, please contact Dom at his wine shop Celler Petit in St Martí d'Empúries and if you can't make the fair you can always visit his great wine shop which has an excellent selection of local Catalan wines.

Please come and support us as we will be the only Catalunya Nord wine producer there!

Posted on behalf of Domaine Treloar

Looking to rent, sell or buy in the Roussillon - Ceret Property

Just a little further inland

If you are looking for something else to do whilst in the Roussillon area, why not visit the Cathares. starting with the ones close to Perpignan, you can travel all the way to the heart of the Cathares at Montsegur, where the

people lived in peace until in the 13 century, the Catholic Church decided it was time to root out some heretics.

Just down the road from Montsegur, there is the fascinating village of Rennes le Château, where the Abbé Sauniere suddenly became extremely rich and in the end was refused his last ritesin his death bed.

 

And did you know that in 2012 the world is going to end. Not sure which date but make sure you get to the Pic de Bugerach as this is said to be one of the areas to be spared the disaster. We went up there the other day to see what all the fuss is about. great day out but make sure that you choose the easier assent.

 

 

If you are visiting the area then I would recommend this lovely Chambre D’hôte in Quillan, which a great base for exploring the mountains and castles.

If you happen to be in the area at the beginning of June then why not visit The Vernissage of 10 Artists

Sorry to have been away for a while. Hectic times.

Saw this on PO Life and thought it was worth putting out there.

Driving home down a country road one evening? I saw a child in a car seat on the roadside, covered with a blanket. I can not explain why, but I did not stop, even though I felt bad about it. When I arrived, I phoned the police who agreed to check it out, but explained that is was likely to be a scam.

Gangs of thieves are constantly developing new schemes to rob and mug. Some gangs work by finding ways to stop cars (especially women) on quiet roads.

One scenario:

One way is to place a car seat at the roadside, usually near a wood or fields, with a fake baby sitting in it. If a woman stops, she could well be robbed, dragged into the woods, beaten, raped. Men have also been violently beaten, and robbed.

Do not stop under any circumstances!

Call 112 as soon as possible, and give details of where and what, BUT DO NOT SLOW DOWN

Another common scenario:

If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windscreen, DO NOT STOP, EVEN IF YOU CANT SEE WELL. Do not turn on your wipers either, as washer fluid or even water will make the windscreen worse when mixed with egg.

Holiday homes, long rentals and French property sales

Sunshine at last!

Heavy rain has claimed 2 lives in the Pyrenees Orientales.

After 6 days of continuous rain, the sun came out today, the temperature has been up as high as 20 degrees and spring is in the air. Over the last dank days, rivers have been swollen,  Fords impassable, river banks collapsing and sadly two people lost their lives in separate incidents when their cars were swept away on a river ford.


Now that the swimming pool that appeared in my garden has begun to disappear, I have been able to see everything suddenly spring to life as Printemps (I hope) has finally arrived.

Catalonian Government reduces speed limit.

In an attempt to save the tax payer money, the government of Catalonia has decreed that the national speed limit on the Motorways in northern Spain will be reduced from 120kph to 110kph.

They forgot to take one tiny detail into account....There are so many road works between the French boarder and Girona that it is virtually impossible to go above the speed of 80kph.

Could this be the start of a good year?

Mortgage taps are turned on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINANCE should no longer be a problem for anyone looking to buy a new property, providing they have all their details in order.

Mortgages are becoming more freely available, despite low interest rates. Finance brokers Empruntis say it is possible to get a fixed 3.4 per cent mortgage rate over 15 years and 3.55 per cent over 20 years “with a beau dossier”.
The changes have come as the banks have started to free up credit with the easing of the financial crisis and is a welcome boost for people who had plans disrupted by the restrictions.

Empruntis spokeswoman Mael Bernier said that there was even competition between the banks again and it was possible to get a loan with just a 10 per cent deposit, or even no deposit at all, as long as their financial situation was otherwise solid.

Borrowers were also now looking to renegotiate their credit, said Cafpi finance network chief Philippe Taboré and, if they could not get what they wanted, were confident enough to take their business elsewhere.

Empruntis said 45 per cent of the demand for credit was from people looking to refinance away from high-cost loans and said anyone with a mortgage dating from 2007-09 should take financial advice.
 
Looking for property in the South of France

Ceret in the news again

Due to the fact that local people could not believe such constructions were built by human hands, many bridges built in medieval Europe were given the name "the Devil's Bridge". This is the Devil's Bridge at Céret, Pyrénées-Orientales, France, a 14th-century bridge with a 46-metre span.