A Taste of France http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:39:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Land Purchase http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/land-purchase/ http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/land-purchase/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:39:53 +0000 editor http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/?p=613 We have finally signed the land purchase documents this week, but not without a great deal of problems. It turns out the access road is private and not owned by the Montriond commune, this presented several problems with connecting to the public services such as water and waste etc. However with much negotiation, the Marie of  Montriond have agreed to take the road into the commune and therefore will provide the services up to the building plot…………..hooray.

We are currently in the process of finalising the drawings and costings for the build in order to approach the banks for the business mortgage we require. In the current global economic climate, this is now our biggest challenge. However we are hopeful that a positive outcome will be achieved and in 4-6 weeks we will get the approval and  can move on the the planning permission stage.

As I sit here writing this in south west France, the snow has and is falling. Snow is quire rare here and looking out of the window it could be the Alps, talking of the Alps and Mozine, the snow has been outstanding this year and the ski season is going very well.

Enough for now, next update in  a few weeks when I will post some drawings for the chalet.

 

]]> http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/land-purchase/feed/ 0 From Charente to Montriond http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/from-charente-to-montriond/ http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/from-charente-to-montriond/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:55:30 +0000 admin http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/?p=586 After almost 4 very enjoyable years in the Charente, we have decided to sell the house and move to the Alps to pursue our ambition of running a ski chalet. Steve finished the house renovation in May this year and was able to take a step back from all his hard work and has enjoyed improving his handicap at Cognac Golf Club. We didn’t have the house on the market, and hadn’t intended to move on for another year or so, but we received an offer from one of our gite guests and thought that maybe the time was right to start yet another project.

We plan to move to the Alps in May 2012 and are in the process of purchasing a plot of land in Montriond, which is close to the slopes of both Avoriaz and Morzine/Les Gets. Steve will then project manage a new build ski chalet with 5 en-suite letting bedrooms, which we plan to launch for the beginning of the ski season in 2013. As well as offering a fully catered ski chalet we’re also be offering accommodation during the Summer Season. This isn’t the first time we’ve looked at starting a ski chalet business and hopefully this time, we can make it happen. We’re really looking forward to this next project and as our hearts have always been in the Alps, the next couple of years promises both challenges and excitement.

As we said previously, we have had a wonderful time in the Charente and have made some great friends who we will miss. We have enjoyed our time running the gite and again met some lovely people who came as guests and left as friends. Thank you to all our clients and friends for supporting us over the last few years and we hope to see you in the Alps. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Lindsay & Steve Butcher

]]> http://www.atasteoffrance.co.uk/from-charente-to-montriond/feed/ 0