Long lets in the South of France.

Do you have a nearby short term management contract or are on loan to an organisation? ITER, On a Major Construction project or an Inter governmental project….?

Do you just want to take a Sabbatical or a Big trip?

Are you looking to find a property in Provence as a holiday home or to live in?

Are you an artist , computer specialist, Painter or writer, looking to find an artistic hide away so that you can concentrate on your work?

We have the answer.

In all cases we can provide you with the ideal place for a short stay or long let which is away from it all and yet right in the Provence experience you would like to live in. Plus our easy access to the autoroutes, puts everything at your feet.

You only need to bring some personal possessions and you could start right away, how simple is that. All of the main items you would expect in a fully furnished high standing home are already in the property.

Here at La colle you will find a peaceful hideaway from the stresses and strains of life, yet when you want to discover and explore you will also find that we are not really far from the sights and pleasures of Provence. (see our Points of Interest page here) or (see our Overview page here)

We have already explained in our, Winter presentation pages about what it is like to live in Provence in the winter, yet most people only see Provence in deep summer. What about Autumn and Spring which is full of wonderful moments of contrasting periods.

Before we explain about the the specifics of your needs let me explain how you can profit from our dry sunny climate, and how because the main holiday letting season is at it's low points you can enjoy the French living experience

Sunny climate

Check out these annual weather records and compare them to where you are:

Forcalquier Weather

New Dawn, New Start, La Colle en Provence! This is what you can wake up to.

French living experience

Outside the main holiday season France still lives on, but in a very French way. Living in this period means adapting and discovering how life really works away from the tourist bustle.

One of the key things you need is time to adapt, stroll around the markets, discover the shops and supermarkets. Take a coffee and croissant in the local bar. Learn how to not get sunburnt even in the off season, increase your speaking ability. Plus much more.

This is a process which you will need to experience and draw from. Dependant on your circumstances you can either explore this during your first few months or on your free weekend outings.

We provide the base for you to start from in a fully maintained property, no gardening or swimming pool chores for you to do. Just letting you adapt to the living experience and get on with your project.

Here are a list of key points.

• Lost in the countryside haven but near to everything.
• On site French / English speaking help (I also travel).).
• Fully maintained by the owners NO WORK!).
• High speed boosted 4g and soon to be fibre internet covering all the property.).
• Near and quick access to Airports and the rest of France.
• Well positioned for all of Southern Europe.
• Real French living experience.
• Property has everything you’d expect in a real home at a high level.
• Close to one of the regions cultural centres Forcalquier.
• Access to an additional 4 x 4 to facilitate travel to and from the property for shorter stays.

For individual points try these:

• For the short term Contract Manager:
• For the I’m taking a Sabbatical or on my Big trip:
• For the House buyer:
• For the Creative:
• Rental Rates
• Getting the right vehicle
• Read what one of our long let guests have said
• Map
• Make an Enquiry
• The properties
• Other key links on this site
• Back to start of Long Let section

For the short term Contract Manager:

(Or back to the “Individual points list”)

If you are working on a short term contract in the area yet do not want to get bogged down in city life or suburbia and you would like to have that place to hide away in and profit from the big country feel, then this is just the place, no pizza deliveries here!.

With Aix en Provence about an hour away and ITER about 35 minuets we can be a serious contender for your base.

We have staying here at La Colle, key support management who work on a major construction project just south of Aix. They have liked the experience so much that they have extended for another six months.

Senior management need the time to relax and think, one well thought out plan or idea can save or make hundreds of thousand or even in this case millions.

If you are in the right frame of mind you can achieve a great deal. It is no different than the creative process, but can just be counted more easily in benefits.

Our open access ADSL internet connection lets you keep in touch with the rest of the world.

Other important access points are :

• TGV access North at Aix en Provence 1hr 15mins
• International Hub Airport Marseille 1hr 30mins
• This area does not get bogged down in the summer months with traffic as some areas on the South Coast.

Everything you need lies waiting and is already installed in the property…. You just have to walk in with a few personal possessions and start.

For the I’m taking a Sabbatical or on my Big trip:

(Or back to the “Individual points list”)

Planning your well deserved sabbatical or Big trip?

Do you want to soak up the real French living experience as some of our Long let guests have done.

We’ve had families with their children, early retirees, friends revisiting their youthful experiences and many more at La Colle.

The big question is really: Are you taking the kids with you or not?

In France if your children are of educational age and you are going to stay more than a month in the area. You have to put them into school.

We were able to successfully organise this for our first Canadian family who stayed for over four months

It wasn’t that difficult and didn’t cost anything apart from the normal school meals and transport.

The next important point is : Getting the right vehicle.

This very important point will make your stay so much more enjoyable and we strongly recommend looking at a long term lease booked from outside the country

There are several manufactures that offer these services and supply the specially plated vehicle at very advantages rates.

Here’s a list:

• A good introduction to leasing in Europe
• Renault Australia
• My recommended vehicle for La Colle is: A Dacia Duster or similar.
• Auto Europe

This vehicle is an ideal touring car, economical and has been tested on the rough access track rigorously over four months doing school runs with no problems at all.

What to expect

The easiest way to explain this is to re-quote what my Canadian guest wrote on TripAdvisor after leaving.

As I sit here by the pool, sipping rosé, I am trying to come up with words to adequately describe our experience here at La Colle en Provence for the last four months.

It is with great regret that we leave this haven of solitude and beauty. Hopefully, we continue to return here in the years to come..... THE FAMILY V

The family also created an extensive blog about their life and trips here, in fact when I read it I realised that they had been to more places than I had.

Everything you need lies waiting and is already installed in the property…. You just have to walk in with a few personal possessions and start.

For the house buyer:

(Or back to the “Individual points list”)

If you are looking for a holiday home in Provence or equally a second or permanent home. You should know that you will need to explore and prepare before you buy. Only the brave will search the small ads and then fly in to inspect and buy.

Some people are lucky enough to have friends within a region who will help them, others take many years exploring a place during the holiday season looking to buy.

Before we bought our property we lived in the area and then decided to look to buy. It is important that you gain a living experience and test out your personal adaptation to the area. If you only look at a place when it's showing it's best side, then you might find that you become disappointed latter on.

In fact the best time to see a place is in the off season, by seeing a potential home out of season you can look for important points like; whether it gets any winter sun, whether it gets damp (some places are very damp in the winter because of their position). Also you can explore at leisure and find out about what the area is really like. Is the area completely closed out of season? What facilities are open all year? Some places are made up of mainly second homes that are locked up for most of the year and therefor have that empty feeling for the rest of the time.

In brief you need to sample the living experience out of season!

And we can help

Use us as your research base and you could find your real dream property at the right price and without some of the pitfalls. A little investment of time before you take the plunge could make all the difference.

Everything you need lies waiting and is already installed in the property…. You just have to walk in with a few personal possessions and start.

For the Creative:

(Or back to the “Individual points list”)

We have already mentioned that this part of Provence is an established area for artists and creators. However not everyone wants to buy a second property, or rent for a year just to have access to the creative spirit of the Provence.

You may have a particular project that you want to do, one that's been at the back of your mind for some time. Or maybe you just need the facility of being able to concentrate on a particular project away from the hustle and bustle of your currant environment.

Here we can offer you just that. La Colle has a long association with the creative forces. The immediate previous owner was an accomplished; painter, writer and poet. The currant owner worked with the commercial creative arts for over 20 years and has been very involved with computers. Our Dutch neighbour is an inventor and also an accomplished computer specialist, our other neighbours’ partner was a German Painter.

A short walk to another neighbour and and you will find out that they where commercial artists who specialise in artwork for wine labels. Their house was owned before them by a Belgium painter and before her by a French Film director.

All these people came here because of the peace, tranquillity, sun, nature and off course the uniqueness of Provence. It is something to do with the blending of all natures elements that lets us develop our creative talents.

This area has been chosen by World renowned Artists like Cezanne, Vuillard, Matisse and even his mentors, Seurat, Picasso and Bonnard and continues to draw exceptional talent from all over the world ...... to create their next vision.

You too could join us for a while and let your talents run wild.

Our open access boosted 4g ()soon to be fibre internet connection lets you keep in touch with the rest of the world.

Everything you need lies waiting and is already installed in the property…. You just have to walk in with a few personal possessions and start.

Rental Rates

(Or back to the “Individual points list”)

The base cost of renting the property on short or long-term let includes maintenance. No gardening to do, which is a big job considering the size of the garden area, and no pool cleaning, which is a daily chore. Plus, the owners help when needed. You are responsible for the everyday maintenance of The Main House—a minimum of three calendar months in the off-season to obtain these rates.

Additionally we split the utility costs between the properties which so far works out as about 350-400€ per month per property the bills are shown to you and then split according to our agreement.

The changes to these costs are dependant on the number of months requested and whether the period requested spreads over the inter season or high summer months when the per week rental rates are at there highest and in there highest demand.

Therefor it is best to ask for a specific quote for the period you are interested in. If you wish to rent for one year or more then we will quote based on the start month and the end month.

Example:

• The Main House : Annual (includes Christmas, Spring and Summer) 2500€/month plus utilities.
• The Main House : From Sept to July inclusive (three months min) 2300€/month plus utilities.

Everything you need lies waiting and is already installed in the property…. You just have to walk in with a few personal possessions and start.

To make an enquiry or a booking

The following table shows you the different value of the periods in the year. Dark green is the cheapest and dark orange the most expensive. A minimum of three months are needed for long lets and we need to quote on the period requested. If you request a period that includes higher value month(s) then the value of that month will be included in the monthly rate.

Travel tips to save money Checkout our equipment and facilities Discover more about Galileo / La Colle from our picture gallery Long let rentals are also available Visit Forcalquier * Visit Lurs * Visit Sigonce General Terms of Rental Gîte Galileo La Colle enquiry form The Main House La Colle enquiry form   What our guests have said about us Home Page | Points of interest | Contact us | Compare rentals at La Colle | Map Gîte Galileo La Colle = 4/5 | Main House La Colle = 5/6 Unless otherwise stated : All photographs by R. Cook Copyright 2023