Buying In Nice: Negotiating Real Estate A La Niçoise

October 12, 2011  by Adrian Leeds

Navigating the real estate scene in France can be tricky — even more so when you are unfamiliar with the labyrinthine bureaucracy and unusual quirks the French can be known for.  Adrian Leeds, who specializes in helping Americans negotiate the market to secure their dream pied-à-terres in France,  just recently ventured into the market in Nice. She shares a few anecdotes  from her colorful experiences here. -Geneviève

The beach in Nice: Marisa Williams

Years ago I set my eye on the goal of purchasing a “pied-à-terre” in Nice for a long list of reasons:

1. Nice is nice. Let’s face it, it’s the Riviera, the Côte d’Azur, the land of the rich and famous with the blue Mediterranean Sea, balmy weather, palm trees and Italian flavor. What could be so bad?

2. Property in Nice and its environs is increasing in value on a steady basis. With an international airport and an active port, the blue coast is France’s second hotspot after Paris. This makes Nice, and just about all of the coast, an excellent real estate investment.

Nice - Marisa Williams

3. R and R…the moment one lands at Nice’s contemporary and easy airport, and you head toward Nice down the Promenade des Anglais under the swaying palms with the sea at your side, the stress just melts away. Traveling to Nice from Paris is fast and inexpensive, making weekend getaways about as easy as it gets — a perfect antidote to the cold, gray, rainy winters in Paris.

4. Rental potential of vacation apartments, particularly for the North American market, is ripe for business. While the British and Italians are well served by their own compatriots, Americans have been overlooked. Americans want and expect a higher standard of luxury and service than their European counterparts know how to provide. From a business perspective, Nice was looking awfully nice. Continue Reading »

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Rosa Jackson – Food Guru in Nice and Paris. Tour & Interview

June 10, 2009  by Erica Berman

Photos Courtesy of Rosa Jackson

We recently found ourselves in Nice for a night and were fortunate to be able to book a morning tour of the Nice food markets with Canadian food guru Rosa Jackson. I had heard about Rosa’s  food tours of Paris and Nice from numerous clients and was intrigued, and ready, to discover.

Olive Photo Erica Berman

We met Rosa at the  Cafe La Civette du Cours on the edge of the central market - Cours Saleya. A cafe noisette and a brief history of Nice and the  old marketplace which started in 1861, and we were on our way.

We wandered the market admiring the mounds of  olives, basil, and sundried tomatoes, the amazing variety of herbs and spices, the heaps of  fresh produce, and the fresh seafood (although we learned that there is only one local fisherman left in Nice). We met with some organic farmers, and purchased some deep red cherries to munch on. Rosa bought us a wonderful tourte de blettes sucré to taste, which was delicate and delicious – layers of dough, cheese, raisons, rum and blette (swiss chard). I bought a thick tomato fougasse (the French idea of foccacia) to sample later.
Continue Reading »

Posted in Food, Tours and Classes, Travel | 2 Comments »