Thank you Kent ! As always the problem is the solution and the way is the destination :)
Cheers and best wishes back yourself !
Thanks Theo, children are not in the pipe line (well you get what I mean:)
I would consider to home-school or send them to some (rather expensive) Montessori - Steiner education.
I would not force this decision and base myself on the general feeling a public school (seriousness and quality of teachers, values) would lend.
I have been in the Gard, precisely Aigremont and we have family running a very popular B&B in Uzes :)
The Gard appeared to be somehow 'run' down, not much care taken for the building.
Something a bit more conservative would appeal. hence we were thinking Averyon/Rodez or Savoie. Also Basque could be an option !
Thanks for the recommandation re MAS and Nukes, thats really something we consider.
The working on yourself trough the process is something i'm really contemplating.
I have some basic carpentry and natural building experience and study so it would not be too complex, plus I can get some friend help out / or activate the community.
Will take this strongly in consideration.
Best wishes!
no offence taken Georgina ! It happens that my wife is French, i'm italian from a mixed heritage (southtyrol near austria). I culturally fit and merge very well with France, actually my destiny seems somehow entangled as I fell in love with France when I was 19-20 and after having spent a year in Bologna working as a chef decided to come/travel by myself. This was back in 2000 with less internet / communication so much more adventurous than this days.
In regards to business: i'm afraid the global economy ain't much promising better offshore this days. We are experiencing all a bit of a shrink in growth. Economies like China too are suffering from this. If you want to make a 'quick buck' you may have had to start earlier, and this days its about securing what you can save as soon as possible. The tides are changing very fast for good and bad.
I'm not looking into making a profitable business (sounds ironic after all , that's what business should do), more or less to live a tranquil life, have some holidays, run my chambre d'hote, shop and give / offer some courses.
Based on what i keep reading in forums living of holiday accomodation is not enough and I'm prepared to have a back up to face this situation. I have been offered today a 'job' as private chef and I know that this type of opportunities are key, however I second your thought: France is not the most entrepreneural friendly place on earth.
I'm here for family, I lived in Thailand before, there I could teach people about food in a matter of nothing: open the doors and every week I had guest. Europe all of it is generally slower, more depressive (well the economy is depressive), however I need to give it a try, i'm still in scouting mode so quiet honestly the decision is not yet taken.
My other backup would be to go completely offshore or to some tropical country: Central America.
I have been traveling since i'm 14 so 20 years on the road I thought it might be enough to wander but lets see. The current and next destination might be in the Hautes Pyrenees somewhere near Lourdes (lol , its sounds funny for me moving there).
Thanks for the wishes, and honest suggestion. Samewise your way :)
My advice would be to do your sums. private cheffing sounds great but the work may be patchy and seasonal.
buy a house with small gite. Advertise the house for rent as a gite and move into the gite when you have bookings. advertise the house for getaways, family holidays, and include your cooking services in the price.
At the end of season move back into your house. Seemples.
The ecological self sufficient thing is an interest not to be confused with the business of providing beds and meals.
Good luck.
As for those Jonahs who say that running a business in France is a lost cause, ignore them. There are plenty of people running good small businesses in this country. Just get the product and the marketing right! [That's making light of something difficult!]
In terms of a balance of climate, soil, lower land/house prices, I'd suggest the Ariège or certain parts of Hautes-Pyrenees [north of Lannemezan]. Auvergne gives you short seasons and long winters, Lot not brilliant for growing stuff, Languedoc often pricey [but not everywhere].
Good luck with your dream, whatever option you choose.
Lots of work, by the sound of it, but satisfying.
There are always hassles and hiccups but fortune favours the bold.
How about children? Its about school near, not too far... This would be my main focus.
Then, depending on health, fitness I would really start something from the scratch: mean get a old Mas and work yourself through progress. Energy independency, No nuke plants too close (they're getting too old here in France)
You may look around Uzes ? Gard area because you may find something which is fitting to your budget.
Good luck!
Hello Ivan, I find your "CV" ver interesting and successful. I would like to give my opinion: I do not think it is wise to invest in FR any further. The political circumstances, the "environment" for entrepreneurs, the overall development would not invite me at all. The UAE, Oman, Canada, Australia etc.: I think I would follow this route and would research this (too) in depth. Europe, in my eyes is not a much promising "area".
France, in my eyes was never a country I would have wantedt to "work" or invest in any other way but, of course I only undertook my "French project" or fun with no expectations at all regarding business etc. -
The only investment I have made is property and I am not much tempered by the fact that it is more or less lost money, time and efforts. But, as said, this is my private "pleasure".
So I hope you feel not offended, but thought, my input might be useful too. Lots of success for you and your family - whatever you decide to do.
Annette, thank you firstly. I read and will take time to further read your words/suggestion so expect a lengthier response soonish.
Hi Anthony, i recently had a convo with a french guy living in Barcelona. He is a tennis teacher and owns a tennis club. Upon discussing he said that running a sort of private chefing , part-time carering service would get you plenty of work. You'd have to come up with 1) interesting concept 2) good service and website 3) strategic location. I would think a place like Montpellier could suit that need. THere's plenty of wealthy people that have no time and experience to cook for friends / run a party in their often private villas or at events. So if you can market yourself as the 'chef' and get a good publicity I'm sure you be successful. As for my online commerce this is something I'm not going to share as i guard myself from fierce competition :)) The concept is very simple, i market natural products to an audience while giving cooking classes. Hope that helps !
Ivan, I was interested as I am also a (partially) trained chef and a practising chef, auto-entrepreneur here in France, so I was interested to know what online business was working or would work here in France? Cookery school?
Ivan, I have been in a similar thought mode for the last few years, but in South Africa. We recently sold a large residential house in an upmarket area to release funds to do similar. After two years of searching for that "right" property we decided to invest in a plot on a large farm development where we can build new residential (energy efficient) and have use of the estates land (minimal rental) for keeping horses and growing purposes BUT without the maintenance costs (shared levies), and added security, and other like minded people who want a more natural lifestyle.
Some thoughts that may help you make decisions:
Investment for properties sake (increase in value over time and added improvements) will obviously yield better in more expensive sought after areas but will cost more outlay for less. It's super easy to overcapitalise in "cheaper" areas. Equally when you do need to sell you are selling to a small market (most don't want the bother/upkeep/expanse of land). Additional staff/workers will come into play if you go too big....
The more land you have the more you are pouring money into it. Small scale can be very effective if you invest in tunnels/irrigation and some kind of synergy for soil (manure from horses/chickens etc).
Water is key and a cost factor from region to region will play a part unless you can get scheme or off grid source.
New build will be easier to create and incorporate any kind of long term savings from renewable/energy saving/free energy sources. As you know converting old buildings can be very costly....
Additional income could be created by growing to order for local restaurants/ farm stall sales etc of excess crops.
Take into consideration what your local consumers are buying and prepared to pay, and what is available at low cost (ie cheaper to buy than you growing yourself)
Heirloom seeds and organic are really taking off here and seeds can be purchased on line. If you get it right you can recycle those seeds for many years and maybe have enough to sell on too.
Both growing and guests are seasonal, main income for living costs needs to remain from another source. I have seen very few people that can do the off grid totally self sufficient thing alone!
All these questions really depend on what your family needs and what income you still need to generate for the next say 10 years? You may be better buying residential and renting a small piece of land to play with (on a five or ten year lease?) until you know where you are going with the growing/smallholding/gite idea?
As the regulations are fairly strict there I would suggest plenty of homework for both accommodation and small scale agriculture so that you are not restricted with what is allowed when you do purchase.
Good luck deciding what you want :-)
"a european online business (commerce)" - but what do you do? what does it do? What do you sell to who, how, etc?