Great weather, golden beaches, outstanding culture and a low-cost lifestyle make southern Spain a prime retirement choice for Europeans. With a wide choice of properties now on the market for under $100,000, it could be the perfect place in the sun for you too.
Beaches, mountains, flowery countryside; history, art and opera under the stars; delectable food and wine---Italy offers the lot. Even glorious Tuscany has its undiscovered places where you can still bag bargain properties for full or part-time living---discover how affordable ‘La Dolce Vita’ can be.
Beaches, mountains, flowery countryside; history, art and opera under the stars; delectable food and wine---Italy offers the lot. Even glorious Tuscany has its undiscovered places where you can still bag bargain properties for full or part-time living---discover how affordable ‘La Dolce Vita’ can be.
From gastronomic pleasures to the world’s best health care, France is all about the art of living well. Even renowned locations such as Paris and Provence can be more affordable than many people realize. And if you’re entranced by rivers, castles and fairytale market towns, bargains abound in the countryside of the Dordogne.
From gastronomic pleasures to the world’s best health care, France is all about the art of living well. Even renowned locations such as Paris and Provence can be more affordable than many people realize. And if you’re entranced by rivers, castles and fairytale market towns, bargains abound in the countryside of the Dordogne.
Roman arenas and triumphal arches suggest Italy. Bullfights and paella sound remarkably like Spain. But they’re as much a part of France’s sunny south as lavender fields and bouillabaisse. So, too, are village houses for $100,000 to $187,500. Southern France isn’t only a dream-turned-reality for seriously wealthy buyers. Not if you target lesser-known locations.
IL Euro Editor, Steenie Harvey, is enchanted with Provence. As a teenager she had pictures of lavender-spun landscapes and old Roman towns. These days she’s there in person...listen to her latest audio debrief as she reveals what she’s discovered in France’s most alluring region.
Provence. Saying its name evokes memories of sun-drenched hills, starry nights, and the scent of sea- salted rosemary and thyme. Birds sing in olive groves, bees drone in vineyards, flowers spill from terracotta pots. In villages with crinkly-tiled roofs, lizards scurry into niches just as their lizard ancestors did in the Middle Ages.
A Boulevard St-Germain landmark, Café de Flore is one of Paris’s most hallowed literary cafés. I adore art deco elegance, but it isn’t somewhere I’d frequent regularly. Not after seeing the prices—$6.86 for a cafe crème, $8.45 for hot chocolate, $11.22 for a small beer. If it’s the hangout of the next Simone de Beauvoir or Picasso, I’d be astonished.
Not needed: coat, scarf or sweater. But some sun-block would be welcome. Early December and the afternoon temperature is nudging 70 F. Sunbathers are on Isla Plana’s beach, and children are building sand-castles. I can even see swimmers.