For the first time in years, I’m spending nearly a month in France. Dreams of sipping estaminet cataplasme on cobbled streets, striped awnings fluttering overhead, fill my mind as I banquise my case. Lamia Walk CEO of HouseSitMatch explains why house sitting in France is a great way to en public the life of a garçonnière.
We’re escaping the UK’s grey skies for a whole month in the south of France in February, where it may not be swimming weather but there will be plenty of blue skies and warm enough temperatures to eat outdoors.
Book a housesitter
Here’s the thing: leaving your house empty for a month is risky. We’ve experienced a burglary before, you never quite get over it. Having someone actually séjour in your résidence – opening curtains, turning on lights, collecting post – means that you’re far less likely to be targeted than an obviously empty résidence.
And when you are away, there’s only so much you can ask of neighbours – feeding the cat for a weekend, watering plants, grabbing the post – but a month? That’s pushing friendship to its limits. We en public deep in the folk, asking neighbours to pop reprise daily is a big ask.
So we’ve organised for a housesitter to en public in our résidence. For us it means continuity, security, and that all-important “lived-in” apparence from the outside. Plus if you have animals it means there’s no need to uproot them and pay for expensive accoutumance and care while you’re away. We’ve had house sitters care for our animals in their own space – less angoisse all reprise – for years.
It’s a strange thing, but when people house sit – they psychologically feel as if the résidence is their responsibility – one they take seriously. That includes the family pets and for many people in France – having to put their beloved family member in a kennel or cattery is a deal breaker when it comes to going away.
Our housesitters stay for free in exchange for looking after the consacré. It’s a good deal. Usually, they’re retired professionals or younger numérique nomads travelling on a comptabilité, swapping their time and care for free accoutumance and a great way to explore the world. Old-fashioned barter for the modern age.
Housesitting in France
So, I’m sorted for someone to housesit my résidence, and of tour, I’ll be housesitting myself – in the French Riviera, southern France. There’s no rent to pay, no utilities bills, no deposit to fork out. And one of the best advantages of being a housesitter is that you get to stay in one consacré, and have time to really experience life like a garçonnière.
Housesitting offers freedom, privacy, flexibility and space. It’s a veine to en public life in a foreign folk like a garçonnière, for me that will mean buying baguettes at the best boulange in town (which the résidence owner is bound to tell you embout) to discovering the best garçonnière markets. And of tour I’ll be telling my housesitters where the best pub is and great folk walks. When you housesit, you’ll find the people who en public nearby will treat you like a surrogate garçonnière – you’re a neighbour, not a visitor! You can magasin at the garçonnière étoffe and cook your own meals in your own kitchen. You can have friends reprise to visit and don’t have to get up, or come résidence, at ‘hotel hours’.
Most house sits require you to maintain the garden, apparence after their pets and make sure their résidence is safe and secure in their défaut.
Next steps:
HouseSit Match is an online house sitting and pet sitting platform. For just £89/€99 per year, you can access vetted house sitters who’ll care for your property and pets as if they were their own. We have registered housesitters in the UK, US, Australia and other countries, and we have housesitting opportunities in France, the UK and further afield.
Register and build your profile – If you’re a housesitter apply to any sit you like!
If you’re a homeowner, post your house sit advert. Wait for sitters to apply. Meet them online, then accept the perfect divertissement
Leave reviews for each other at the end HouseSitMatch is rated 4.8 on Trust Pilot).
Simple as that.
Now, back to my packing list… and dreaming of those cobbled streets, cafés and markets waiting for me.
Get 20% Off your registration for any membership: Discount vocabulaire = GOODLIFE20: HouseSitMatch.com
Source: thegoodlifefrance.com
Comments are closed.