After the encouragement of my reader(see Truffles galore) there will be no stopping me now!

I could probably  just write about wine for the rest of this year but that would be even more boring than my usual outpourings. But wine does dominate the landscape and the economy down here. There are of course farmers who produce wonderful goat and sheep’s cheese,producers of honey,olives, and fruit,but farmers of vines dominate,and without getting too sophisticated about it all,it is farming. Moreover they are almost without exception lovely people with a profound knowledge of their “terroir”,their soil and micro-climate,and a passion to produce fantastic wine.

One of the great joys of living here is to be able to go and buy wine from the person who produced it,to discuss with them its qualities and peculiarities,rather than slipping down to the local supermarket and picking a bottle off a shelf. For me that is an important element in the enhanced quality of life here in France.

So where to begin?Perhaps at the Château de Coujan  out in the country near Murveil-les-Béziers.François Guy was one of the instigators of the great push to produce quality wines in this area some twenty years ago. He was a lovely man, a great favourite of my daughter’s,who sadly died last year at the age of 90,upright and twinkling to the end. Now his charming daughter  Florence runs the domaine which produces some of my favourite wines,full details of which can be found on the website.(website www.chateau-coujan.com)

A little further inland in the village of Fos,  the domaine Ollier Taillefer run by another lovely lady,Françoise, and her brother Alain produce some of the best red wines in the area. (www.olliertaillefer.com)

My current favourite white wine comes from the Chartreuse de Mougère down the road towards Pézenas.This is a Muscat sec, a dry wine as the name implies but with a subtle flavour of the grape.(chartreuse-de-mougeres.com)

And for summer lunchtime quaffing there is nothing better than the reduced alcohol(9%) Plume rosé from the domaine de la Colombette near Béziers (www.lacolombette.fr) If you have doubts about reduced alcohol wine ,don’t.This is a light fruity mouthful which will not knock you out for the rest of the day and can be drunk copiously without fear.

Enough for now. If you really want to read about local wine ,the lovely Rosemary George,a Master of Wine,writes knowledgeably about it on the  www.heraultwhatson.info website,run by the excellent and exuberant Robin Hicks.

What is it about Blogging? I resisted doing this for so long strongly believing that I had nothing really interesting to say( too true says my daughter!), and now I find it difficult to keep away from the keyboard.Is it a desire to show off,to exhibit one’s knowledge,to share one’s love of France with other people,or simply a pleasant way to pass the time in the depths of winter.Maybe a combination of all these things.

Anyway whenever I have my doubts about continuing I am comforted by the fact that I have, or had, only one reader(see Truffles galore) so I am not boring hundreds of people, and after all reading this stuff is not obligatory.

The department of the Hérault has a mass of different styles of property and topographies so that the potential purchaser may be confused about where to begin.Broadly speaking you can buy on the coast,in or near a village on the coastal plain or in the valley of the Hérault river, in the hills,  or near Montpellier .Each has its own advantages and drawbacks. Also you will probably be seeking a different type of property and location if you are buying a holiday home as opposed to somewhere to live permanently.

The coast of course has all the attractions of the Mediterranean but it does get very crowded ,although this could be less of a disadvantage if you are planning to let the property in the summer. It also can look a bit bleak in the winter unless you are in one of the towns or villages on the coast which have a year round vitality and life. Most buildings on the coast  have been constructed fairly recently, but there are plenty of apartments and villas for sale on or near the coast.

Inland the coastal plain and the valley of the Hérault have  many villages with a history that goes back to Roman times and beyond, and perhaps exhibit everyone’s idea of French village life. There are villages and villages however,some full of life and activity,others rather closed in and silent. Depending on your requirements you need to know which is which. Also bear in mind that many villages on the plain are actively building housing estates so that your lovely view of the vines becomes a not so lovely view of one of these! However there are  classic winegrowers houses for sale in the villages and modern villas with pools on the outskirts.

As you move away from the coastal plain and into the hills,the landscape becomes more dramatic,the villages become more authentic,and housing estates are less in evidence,at least at the moment. Walking in the hills,swimming in the rivers and lakes,or perhaps in your own pool, make the thought of a trip to the coast in summer less appealing.Village houses with a garden are not easy to find,but they can be renovated to provide very desirable properties.Older country houses can be found but they are rare as agriculture down here really means the cultivation of vines(yippee!) and vignerons live in villages.

If you want the city life Montpellier is probably one of the world’s finest cities showing what can be done to an old town that existed long before motor transport, with vision,imagination and a lot of money.There are apartments available in the Ecusson,the old historic centre of the town from which traffic is barred,and apartments and villas further away from the centre.

So if you are thinking of buying down here,sort through your requirements before you start looking,and OF COURSE,seek the help and local knowledge of a house hunter!

Some estate agents down here purport to be house finders. This is not so. There is a significant difference.An estate agent is acting on behalf of the seller to get the house sold and receive his commission.A house finder is acting on behalf of the buyer to find a house that meets his or her criteria.An estate agent may wax eloquent about a particular property.A house finder may agree that it is a nice property, but will point out there is a pig farm next door!

They each have a role to play but they are different and the roles should not be confused.

The local news has announced that because of the snow heavy lorry traffic has been stopped on the  the A-9 motorway .Firemen are distributing packed lunches!Oh la belle France! I can’t remember this happening on the M-1.One cannot go without lunch!

Despite living in the depths of the French countryside, what a joy, this does not mean one is deprived of concerts of a very hight quality.The other night I drove over to Clermon l’Hérault,about 40 minutes, to enjoy a concert of music by Mozart,Bach,and Prokofiev given by two distinguished musicians, Conrad Wilkinson(piano) and Paul O’Hanlon(violin).It was a delight.

Conrad, his wife,and two small children have been living in the area for six years, eschewing life in the big city, and the probability of a greater variety of work,for the pleasure of living in France with the extraordinarily high quality of life and a wonderful environment in which to bring up children.At the end of the performance the theatre manager came on to the stage and announced that it was Conrad’s birthday whereupon the whole audience rose and sang “Happy Birthday”! We then went down to the foyer where a glass of wine was offered and we had a chance to meet the two artistes, a thoroughly enjoyable evening out.

La tour carrée

Standing proud above the old village of Colombières-sur-Orb,the tour carrée dates back to the 11th century and is the last remnant of a previous château.Unfortunately the rock on which the tower was built has split and it is in danger of falling down so the village of some 300 inhabiatants is trying to raise the money to save it.

Of course the first step in any project is to find out whether  a grant(subvention) is available from the local mairie, the department or the state.Fortunately as this has been declared a heritage site  a large percentage of the cost will be available in the form of a grant but the villagers  will still have to find €25,000.So this summer there will no doubt be  a busy round of picnics,dances and fêtes of all kinds to raise money.

I feel strongly that those of us who are fortunate enough to enjoy the delights of living here,and there are many,should contribute to saving these wonderful heritage sites, testimony to the fascinating history of  the France that we love.Fortunately the French state encourages people to support the “patrimoine” by allowing French residents a reduction in income tax in the following year of 60% of the sum donated.Thus if you give  say €100,you will have €60 deducted from your tax,so the net cost to you is €40.Vivent  les subventions!

One of the delights of living in this area is that we have our local Slow Food convivium  (www.slowfood.com),and very convivial we are too! Our latest outing was to a local truffle plantation.I had visions of spending the afternoon stumbling around damp woods vainly seeking the elusive truffle on the off chance that we might come across one or two with the help of the owner’s truffle hunting dog,Vicki.

To begin with there was no wood but an exposed hillside just outside Bédarieux where the truffle farmer had planted 330 oak saplings,none much more than two feet tall.Vicki was unleashed and within about half an hour had found 26 truffles of various sizes.I began to smell a rat (or perhaps I should say a truffle). If it was that easy surely they would not be so rare and expensive. The farmer owned up that he had planted them to demonstrate Vicki’s ability to find them which was truly impressive.

I must admit that I find the truffle somewhat overrated,or maybe my tastebuds find the taste a little too subtle.In my experience truffles should be eaten with something very simple like pasta,the truffle being shaved over the dish at the last minute.This is really delicious.

In the evening we all had dinner at the truly remarkable Auberge des Gorges de Madale which by the greatest of good fortunes happens to be only five minutes from where I live.

You hear endless complaints about the bureaucracy in France,and it is true that everything is laid down and codified but with the notable exceptions of R.S.I (Régime Sociale des Indépendents) and France Telecom, a national disgrace, I have had no problem with the bureaucracy even having started a business,changed my driving licence to a French one,and had a replacement Carte Grise (vehicle registratation document) supplied when I mislaid the original.

The secret is NEVER try and do anything by post unless you  absolutely have to.It is worth driving for a couple of hours if necessary to have a face to face meeting rather than trying to deal with officialdom by post.In my experience, with the approach”Can you please help me? I’m a stupid foreigner, I don’t understand this document” I have invariable been met with not only help but a willingness to bend the rules if necessary to solve a minor problem.Civil servants are people too.Never adopt an arrogant,angry or facetious approach.And if you don’t speak French take someone along with you who does.

Even the incredible RSI solved a problem overnight with a meeting after countless letters,registered letters and e-mails remained unanswered,or at least the latter answered with an automatic reply promising an answer “as soon as possible”.That was eight months ago and I’m still waiting!

Before the arrival of the Internet the initial role of the property hunter was to place before prospective clients properties that met their requirements culled from local sources whether they be estate agents or private clients. Some prospective purchasers still require this service which we happily provide.

But increasingly clients search the Internet themselves for suitable properties. Often they are unable to visit the property themselves immediately, or do not entirely trust the opinion of the estate agents who are, after all, trying to sell the property.The property hunter can then visit the property,provide additional details and photographs,both of the property itself and the surrounding area which can be equally important, and provide a “warts and all” assessment.The saving in time, air fares, and hotel costs fully justifies the fees payable in commissioning a house hunter to work for you.