Bo Xilai, the disgraced Chinese communist spent 3 million dollars on a luxury mansion on the French Riviera in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods, although on offiicial records neither he nor his wife [the one in prison for murdering the Englishman Neil Hayward, their business partner] own the property.
A tangled web woven here but reading the story reminded me of the problem of houses on the French Riviera. A lot of these properties are owned by huge corporations and companies and many are even part of complicated money laundering schemes. So what do you get - empty estates outside of July and August.
We knew some people who moved from Midi Pyrenees to the Riviera but they found after two winters there were no communities, nothing open [and Sue Hunt thought St. Antonin was quiet] and just huge estates with nobody there.
One thing about our area as opposed to the Riviera we have people living here all year round, great communities and community spirit and always something happening. We may not have beautiful coast line but we certainly have beautiful country landscapes and rivers aplenty.
Val says For tell me more - Perhaps if you are selling a house in the SW we should be proudly declaring " you can live here all year round and have a sense of community" must be worth a few thousand on the price.
Chris says... wouldn't actually be that special a property, given prices in PACA. And in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods you'd get even less for your money! In reality, it's probably quite pokey and horrid. And surrounded by empty dwellings most of the year, as you say? Not really all that enviable...!
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