Category Archives: Chalet Locations

St Gervais is centre stage

Acclaimed French director, Claude Lelouch is starring the little town of St Gervais in his latest film.

Lelouch is well known in France , winning Palmes D’Ors at Cannes and Oscars for some of his 50 films.

His current creation Salaud on t’aime, loosely translated as We love you, you bastard (excuse my French, as they say!) has made use of a couple of our lovely Mont Blanc locations. Last winter, scenes were filmed at the cemetery in Combloux along with locations in Praz-sur-Arly.

A few days ago, the last 4 of the 40-day-long film schedule, has been centred around a number of places in St Gervais; The Tramway du Mont Blanc station, France’s highest rack and pinion tram; the Col de Voza to which the tramway passes through before reaching the Nid D’aigle -the Eagle’s nest, and which forms part of the ridge that separates St Gervais/Les Contamines from the Chamonix valley; and finally, the centre of St Gervais and the church.

The film itself is a story is about a war reporter/photographer, Jacques Kaminsky, played by none other than the French star – Johnny Hallyday.

Kaminsky has retired to the mountains following a lifelong career to which he had dedicated himself to, and this, to the detriment of his relationship with his four daughters, amusingly named Printemps, Eté, Automne, Hiver. The focus on his work is something he now regrets and the story concentrates on his friendship with a Doctor from Médecins sans frontiers, played by Eddy Mitchell. Other than this, details about the story are few and a closely guarded secret, but all we know for sure is that some of the final scenes will be filmed around the St Gervais church.

On the last day, I was in St Gervais and took a look at what was happening. Billboards with Jonny Hallyday’s image were plastered around the church (don’t worry guys about drilling into the 17th century building to fix them mind!) and large TV trucks of kits were parked outside. Initially, when I got there, they were filming inside the church, but once completed, people spilled out to make the most of the aperitifs that were laid on in the square along with a live band. A ‘thank you’ dinner was also prepared for the extra’s who were recruited from St Gervais to star as walkers, alpinists or tourist at the various locations.

We’ll have to wait for 2014 for the release of the film itself, but in the meantime, if Johnny has taken a shine to St Gervais, we will be expecting house prices to sore imminently!

Here are a few pictures from the event.

TF1’s news coverage can be seen here. http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-20h/2013/dernier-jour-de-tournage-avec-claude-lelouch-8240637.html

Like the look of St Gervais? Check out our latest gem; a stunning property which has been completely renovated on a quiet road, in the heart of the village.

A short stroll brings you to the square and church featured in this article. We think this one is a great find!

More photos of the town and area, Click here. http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=page466&lang=en

French Capital Gains Tax changes announced

The last update I published on Capital Gains Tax in France was last summer, you can see what I said here “FRENCH CGT” , François Hollande has recently been interviewed on the French TV channel M6 and one of the subjects he spoke about was some upcoming changes to these tax rules. He said that the French government intended to reduce the time taken for this tax liability to reduce to zero from the current 30 years to 22 years.  In fact 22 years was the “old” length of time that was in place before the rules were changed last year. This is in response to the fact that property transactions declined significantly across France in 2012 and they look to be down in 2013 too. Here is a link to the story in French at Le Figaro

This is good news and will reduce the tax liability for people selling their French properties.

In other news….we’ve just taken on a lovely new chalet in Beaufort near Albertville.

Chalet for sale in Beaufort

I first mentioned this village at the end of last summer after making a visit with my family. I wrote about it here. It’s a lovely place and I’m pleased we are spreading in that direction. This property is 1km from the centre of town, has 3 bedrooms and is good value at 395 000 €. Click on the picture above for more information. Some more pictures below:

Police patrols above Chamonix

Europe’s highest peak Mont Blanc, towering over the valleys of Chamonix, St Gervais and Les Contamines in France and that of Aosta on the Italian side, stands at 4,810m2 high. Though visually very much part of the Chamonix mountain range, the administration of the mountain is shared with the town of Saint Gervais and Courmayeur in Italy, with St Gervais having the largest share of the area. It is therefore the Maire of St Gervais, currently Jean-Marc Peillex who decides on matters of safety and access of the mountain (and, not Chamonix as many people think).

Since it was first climbed by 1786 by Paccard and Balmat, whose names you will see gracing the streets in both Chamonix and St Gervais (Place Balmat, Avenue Paccard), it has seen the likes of US president Roosevelt in 1886 and countless others, make attempts to the summit. Today, 20,000 people ascend on average each year during the summer months.

Many consider it a reasonably easy mountain to climb, with some routes being long , but not technically difficult for fit, acclimatised people. Despite this, the rescue service flies an average of 12 times during peak weekends in summer to assist people who are often ill equipped or ill prepared and there are many fatalities.

For 10 years, St Gervais’ Maire has campaigned for better monitoring of the situation. Finally, the Prefet of Haute Savoie- the region in which Mont Blanc is located, has just announced that the 2 mains routes up to the summit via the Gouter and Three Monts will be manned by the Gendarmes (PGHM) during this June through to September.

Whilst putting police on high mountains could be considered extreme, much of their intent is to inform and educate climbers on best practice, mountain safety, ecology and to prevent problems. This will be achieved by reviewing people’s kit, fitness and advising on the weather for summit ascents. They will also play a part in protecting the site from an environmental perspective by keeping an eye out for illegal bivouacking which is only authorised at Tete Rousse.

In addition to this, St Gervais is providing 4 “ambassadors” who will offer tourists information. They will be stationed at the Tramway du Mont Blanc that passes through St Gervais town on the way up to Nid D’aigle and at the Tete Rousse hut. These measures are hoped to reduce accidents and manage an increasingly busy area.

The announcement of police on the mountain has been met with mixed reactions; Some are concerned about preserving what should be a pure sport and wonder whether the future holds a ‘copper behind every rock’ as one internet commentary read; Others, consider that the sheer number of people visiting the area demands some management for the good of all.

Some of our properties with the best view of Mont Blanc include: Chalet Tagues, Chalet Grepon, Chalet Champoutant, Chalet Mont Blanc, Chalet Bossons, Chalet Joux and Chalet Chouette, and check out our “Views to cry for” here http://pinterest.com/alpineproperty/views-to-cry-for/ on pinterest from past and present places.

French Mortgage rates

We’ve just had an update for the French mortgages rates with the bank we work with. The last update we received was 6 months ago in January, the rates have been coming down steadily over the last couple of years and these figures are no exception.

The new French mortgage rates we have are:

Standard variable 2.65% to 2.85%
Standard variable rates from 2.65% to 3.00% with a +1% cap
Fixed rates from 3.10% to 3.90%.

Compared to the old rates of:

Standard variable rates in capital repayment from 2,90% to 3,10%
Capped rates in capital repayment from 2,80% to 3,45%
Fixed rates from 3,80% to 4,45%

If you are interested in more information just contact us at Alpine Property and we’ll arrange for a quote.

This might be a good time to mention a couple of the new properties we have for sale. From the “high end”

Chalet Lanos near St GervaisChalet Lanos, 1.390.000€, 5 bedrooms and situated between St Gervais and Les Contaimes, click on the image above for more info.

To the more modestly priced:

diamantblanca1_2

Apartment Diamant Blanc near the skiing at St Jean d’Aulps, 2 bedrooms and 203.000€

This is the time of year where we experience peak property availability. This is combined with the cheapest time to fly into Geneva too. So if you wondered when the best time to look was- this could be it!

Chalet dressing in Morzine

Lee Massey (our Morzine agent) needed to spruce up a property taken on for sale. He asked Liz Ockleton (Make Space Designs) from Chatel to have a look and see what she could do. Chalet Robri had been used by it’s owners for the last 10-20 years and had had no real attention paid to staging it for re-sale.

Chalet Robri

The original furniture layout, styling and photos of the property did no real justice to the chalet which has an unusual architectural style and huge potential for potential buyers. Liz’s brief was to dress the chalet for the purpose of adding value and to give it a freshened look.

The following pictures have been taken since the makeover:

The budget was 5000€ including design fees. For this budget Liz was able to address key areas such as lighting, decoration, bedding and the odd piece of furniture. By moving furniture around and re-dressing some of the key areas Liz has been able to add some warmth and character into the space to give it more of a ski chalet feel. The photos of the chalet now show the chalet off to its potential and this will hopefully attract more customers.

Chalet Robri is now advertised for sale in Morzine at 1 195 000 €uros with Alpine Property at http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_3_chaletrobri

The original pictures are available here:

Chalets for less than 300,000€ in the Portes du Soleil

These are some of our best selling properties. Chalets, houses or homes to buy near the main ski resorts of the Portes du Soleil valued at less than 300,000€.

First off we have Maison La Cachette, 255,000€, 6 bedrooms and in the Chatel valley. It’s a renovation project. Click on the image for more information.

Then how about the Apartment Bayard, 219,600€, 4 bedrooms and in the center of St Jean d’Aulps.

And in no particular order, Chez Patou, also in St Jean d’Aulps, 275,000€, 3 bedrooms and room to expand.

Between Les Gets and Praz des Lys in Chalet les Côtes Derrière, 299,000€ and 4 bedrooms. Only 8 minutes to the skiing and located in complete seclusion!

And finally Maison Le Biot, a 5 bedroom property in Le Biot, priced at 275,000€