Bergerie de la Foux

Our home is a converted sheepfold on the outskirts of Vence, five miles inland, half way between Nice and Cannes. We are situated on a hillside above the town and have beautiful views. We are a ten minute walk from the Hôtel du Chateau St. Martin.

As well as the main house, we have a self contained independently accessed apartment where we have run a successful AirBnB for the last two seasons. You can look this up on AirBnB under the name of our house, Bergerie de la Foux, where you will find further description. It has a double bedroom, large kitchen, sitting room and generous bathroom, and outdoor terrace for al fresco dining.

We have been here for thirty years and have completely renovated the property; it is comfortable and well equipped. It has oil fired central heating, two double and one single bedroom, two bathrooms, one with shower and one with a bath with shower over. From the sitting room there is a large terrace with sea and mountain views. There is a moderate sized garden, dipping pool and use of garage for bikes and sports equipment, e.g. skis and surfboards. There is off street parking, and a bus stop, on demand.

Our house is well furnished in the English style, with plenty of colour and local flavour! The kitchen is very well equipped. There is a dishwasher, Viking stove and Belfast sink, two fridges and a freezer, as well as lots of small appliances, air fryer, rice cooker, steamer, Moulinex etc. There is a separate boiler room with washing machine and drier with plenty of space for airing laundry. There are a lot of books, music, CDs and games!

About the location

This unique area has a style all of its own. In the foothills of the Alps, we are nestled under the Baou des Blancs, surrounded by nature, greenery, natural springs and walking paths, yet only 20 minutes walk into town, 20 minutes drive to the beaches of the French Riviera, the hilltop village of St. Paul de Vence and half an hour from Nice International airport. The city of Nice is the Queen of the Riviera with its colourful daily markets, restaurants, shops, cafés, jazz clubs, theatres and opera house. Eze, Italy and Monte Carlo are only a short half hour further away, all easily accessible by train and tram. Our area is very popular with walkers, cyclists, sailors, skiers and mountain climbers as well as artists and sculptors.

There are three ski stations within a one and a half/ two hour drive, Isola 3000, Auron, Valberg, where my children used to go with the town ski club on Saturdays. There are over seventy clubs and associations in the town for activities for all ages and cultures; these can be found on the Mairie de Vence website. There is a thriving cinema in the town with a committee that goes to the Cannes Film Festival to choose films for the local club, `Culture et Cinema`. They have their own mini film festival in April/May, with films from all over the world, as well as year round new releases, many in English with French subtitles.

For art lovers, Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir, Raoul Duffy, Pierre Bonnard, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Alexandre Calder, Miro, Yves Klein, Armand, Tinguely, César, Nikki de St. Phalle, Fernard Leger and many others have been inspired by the beauty of the light and landscape to live and work here, either in Vence or in the neighbouring towns, and some of their houses can still be visited. There are art galleries and museums aplenty where their works are on display.

The property is not suitable for young children as it has staircases, dry stone walls, gravel paths and a pool, and it is on a hillside, but for older, responsible, secondary school students there are four international schools in Nice, Valbonne CIV, Mougins and Monaco.

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