Greetings from the South of France! We're vacationing in Nice, France, on the French Riviera. Très magnifique! It's gastronomical heaven, though we're doing so much walking that I might actually lose weight. I haven't spoken a word of French since I studied it in 7th-10th grades, but it's slowly coming back to me. The people are friendly (and tolerant of stupid Americans), and the climate is of course perfect. This is only the 2nd time in my life I've been outside North America -- we really must get out more.

Anyhow, my wife is quite intent on our buying a small apartment/condo here, or somewhere nearby on the Cote d'Azur such as Cannes or Antibes. The real estate market here is red hot -- a couple of good deals already slipped through our fingers in a matter of a week or so, including holes in the ground scheduled for completed construction next year. Overall, units are said to be appreciating in value about 40% per year.

Does anyone know anything about buying in this area (any Enthusiasts-of-the-Year, for instance )? Any advice is most welcome.

First of all, Nice is to be avoided.It is just one big, spreading, industrial, overcrowded , traffic-ridden, monster of a town which happens to have a seafront. It can be pleasant enough the first time of visiting the Cote but is soon seen as very unattractive once you get your eye in and adjusted. It hasn't got one classy hotel, though the Negresco likes to pretend and live on past glories, and the whole town has gone down over the years.

Cannes is in a different class altogether. It has passable to good beaches and genuinely classy hotels ,shops, bars and restaurants. A great feature of Cannes is that there is a good mixture of shopping in a fairly small area, catering for everyone. It's difficult to suggest a new development in Cannes because they seem to be quite a way from the centre,generally along the seafront to the East, though there is one being built on the rue d'Antibes, the main street, and another just by it (but you might not care to be without a sea view).

Antibes is, of course, perfect ! It is a comparatively small town , contrasted to Cannes or Nice, but it has everything you are likely to need (including an excellent English bookshop, 'Heidi's English Bookshop', due South of the covered market near the archway to the harbour ) It is wonderfully French provincial and has long existed without tourism, so has never been spoiled or much affected by that.We always say that Antibes closes at 11pm but that's when Juan les Pins starts ! Juan les Pins is legally and administratively part of the same town and lies just the other side of the narrow isthmus of the Cap d'Antibes and was built only for tourism, back at the end of the C19. It remains quite classy, if exuberantly so, in season. It has quite the best place for a sundowner viz the terrace of the Hotel Belles Rives (you are now nearly at the end of the season in Juan, so check beforehand whether it is still open).

Antibes has another advantage which is that it is midway between Nice and Cannes (and on the airport side of Nice, too, so convenient for that)It is, incidentally, perfect for yachties because it has the biggest and best yacht harbour on the Mediterranean; it is worthwhile to stroll down to the quays, having eyed the yachtbrokers' windows, and gawp at how little $10 or $15 million may buy you afloat

The main advantage of buying a new property is that the tax on the sale is far less than on that of an old one. However, inevitably, it is much harder to find a brand new property which is exactly where you would like to be. A result is that there has been a marked rise in demand for properties that are a few years old; prices of such apartments rose by 26% last year. Newbuild ones that are central are very expensive per square metre, too (says he,even though he has one brand new central two roomer to sell at the moment. How honest is that? )Older properties usually have bigger rooms as well. Note: the writer himself has a property built in the 1970s, chosen because location is everything and you just cannot find or instantly create old established gardens like it has .(It was built in what had been the grounds of a chateau )

A visit to Heidi's bookshop in Antibes or to the English bookshop in Cannes, which is near the main post office (sorry, I forget the street name) should provide books on buying in France. You may be able to get a copy of English Yellow Pages too, listing businesses of all kinds that have English speaking staff.

For estate agents try any ORPI agency for convenience: http://www.orpi.com for their online lists. That is a national association of agents who work together and share details and clients. In Antibes try any in Boulevard Albert 1er ('Premier' ). Brun is recommended, at the far end, because they are particularly good at suiting property to a client's taste and make good suggestions, though some others such as JJC, midway up, can do that quite well too.

The best guide to the region is the Michelin Green Guide 'Cote d'Azur' in English. A great delight of the region is unknown to most travellers, who think the place is just beaches and shopping. The hinterland is a great surprise, with its gorges and its fertile slopes too, and all so close to high mountains as well. The Guide will give you some clues to all that.

Professor: Further to the above, I'm reminded that the following site is excellent:

http://www.angloinfo.com

and click on to 'French Riviera'. The site has a lot of useful information and has proved invaluable to many an ex-pat.

Fred -- just a quick post to sincerely thank you for your prompt and thorough reply. Give us a while to digest the information and follow your links. --Prof

Yes, he is a star, is he not, Professor? Mind you, so were you when you answered my query all that time ago...cheers!...

Hmm. I don’t quite agree with Fred’s insight into the Riviera, except in giving a ringing endorsement to his praise for the hinterland. A real joy with superb views, lovely villages and delightful little restaurants. Of the four towns cited though, I personally would list Nice top, Cannes second, Antibes third and Juan-les-Pins fourth. I find Cannes a bit artificial as cities go and just can’t cope with all the classy fashion shops and jewelers after a while. It’s a quieter sister of Nice, yes, but expensive. It does have a sandy beach whereas Nice has a pebble beach, though even so, I happen to prefer the small rounded stones at Nice myself – (don’t like sand - must be all those Charles Atlas adverts I grew up with as a kid!), but the views as you walk along the sea front aren’t a patch on what Nice’s Promenade des Anglais has to offer. Yes, it’s not like the old days of course (I studied there in 1967) and the number of cars has made driving a pleasure to be avoided, but the sea front is truly beautiful and a stroll along the promenade at all times of the year is a delight. I note you were there in early October, so check it out at the height of summer (and the depths of what passes for winter) before you buy. The best places to look for a place to live are either out west, two miles or so away from the sea but still the town side of the airport where there are some pleasant houses with huge gardens or, alternatively, right at the other end up on Mont Boron if you’d prefer a flat. But best of all is the area on the northern rim of the city where it’s very quiet and tourist free.
Another thing to remember about Nice is that it’s big on cultural events, concerts and rock. I remember listening to Ella Fitzgerald in the open-air theatre in the Albert I Gardens one summer evening – magic - and there are still some good restaurants in the old part of the town (Try La Tapenade). I drove along the Côte d'Azur last November and Nice is a genuine year-round city. Not the case elsewhere. I like Juan-les-Pins, but out of season it all but gives up on being a resort, though the streets away from the beach are full of small and interesting shops and the cafés remain open fortunately! The big one the centre (Le Cristal I think it’s called) does excellent breakfasts of coffee and croissants and tartines. The town used to be a bit wild in the evenings when I was living in Nice and Marseille but there’s more of a “family” feel to it these days, I find, except for very late in the evenings. Antibes is more residential and much quieter, though there’s little beach. Still, if you lived there, you are right next to what Juan-les-Pins has to offer, as Fred points out. My preference though would still be for Nice, especially if you plan to be there outside the July/August rush. The whole area is full of British and American tourists, but I feel I can hardly complain when I’m there on holiday or business as I’m not a resident myself! Finally, remember that there are other places to consider away from the Côte itself, so don’t just restrict yourself to these four towns. Parts of Provence are still unspoilt, then there’s the area behind Montpellier (I had lunch in a fabulous village there two days ago) or out towards Toulouse, the Lot et Garonne, etc. Good luck!
PS Sorry to disagree a little Fred, you being a local ‘n all ...Apologies and Regards

Colin,
Opinions and information is always welcome regardless if it is from an "Old Sweat" like Fred or a Newby like you.

All of the posts were well thought out and deserving of consideration. It makes me really wish I could visit the region, but I can't see how I will ever be able to remotely afford it. I do not know of many places that include meals and lodging in the same price.