Responsible tourism in France
People & Culture
Second homes: the British invasion
The heady days of buying a second home abroad using equity released from soaring UK house values may be long gone, but France is still the favourite destination for those that are still buying overseas – from the Dordogne down the weather is far more clement than the bluster of Britain and property prices are more stable than struggling neighbour, Spain. While Brits (and other ‘non-residents’, but mainly Brits…) searching for a peaceful pied a terre may seem like a light-hearted topic, it’s actually a persistent bone of contention in France.On the one hand, the invasion of holiday home seekers in France has been blamed for making some of its most quaint villages ‘seasonal’ and half-empty for much of the year, as well as forcing prices too high for the pockets of French locals. On the other, second-home owners have been lauded for contributing to activity in rural districts with lower populations where agriculture had been previously in decline, as well as preventing rural-urban migration among young French employed to work at rehabilitated B&Bs.
The plot has been made even thicker by the decision to slap steep ‘social charges’ on British and other ‘non-resident’ second home owners in France, which has been declared ‘unconventional’ and even ‘illegal’ by those in opposition – for second home owners who had owned their owned their property for less than 22 years, the capital gains tax on property sales hiked up from 19% to a whopping 34.5% in order to remove ‘an unjustified tax advantage’ and make things fairer between the resident French and the non-resident A. N Others. The reasons that make this murkier still are twofold: firstly, ‘fair’ is probably the last word any would apply to Hollande’s tax ‘reforms’, and secondly, it’s a tax, not a ‘social charge’ because foreigners can rightly claim that they don’t gain from as many social benefits as the French.
Both sides of the second home coin have argument in their favour. There are over 2 million empty homes in France and a relevant point may be that someone who lives there three times a year is better than no one at all, but it’s likely the key lies in the owners using their properties responsibly – if you have a second home in France, or are thinking about getting one, spend your money locally when there and employ local staff wherever relevant. Having said that, an invasion every summer and Easter does not a consistent community make and will likely serve to tear apart the social and cultural makeup of a place as well and push up property prices causing resentment from local people. Get the locals on your side and work out what your place will be in that society before you take the plunge.
Our France Holidays
Mont Blanc ascent climbing holiday, France
Climb Western Europe's highest peak
Self guided walking holiday in France
Idyllic walking in France with great food, wine and ambience
Family adventure holiday to France
Life enhancing family adventure & yoga in the French Alps
Snowshoeing in the French Alps
Snowshoeing in the Alps with a high mountain guide
Dordogne canoeing holiday in France
One of France's most interesting waterways
Mont Blanc holiday, Tour du Mont Blanc
The best of the Tour du Mont Blanc
Mercantour Park self catering gite, France
Comfortable gite, Mercantour, France an hour north of Nice.
French Riviera holiday, walking, culture & cooking option
Experience real French culture while relaxing mindfully...
Guided walking holidays in the French Alps
Catered Chalet Based Guided Walking in the Giffre Valley
Alternative family winter holiday in Chamonix, France
Easter family ski, yoga & circus holiday
Winter activity holiday in the French Alps
A flexible winter multi activity holiday in the French Alps
French Alps self guided walking holiday
Catered Chalet Based Walking Holiday in the Giffre Valley
Alpine Wolf tracking holiday, France
Once in a lifetime wolf tracking adventure in French Alps
Mont Blanc walking holiday
A stunning walk through the Alps around Mont Blanc
France gite accommodation, Mercantour, sleeps 5
Comfortable gite, Mercantour, France, an hour north of Nice.
Birdwatching holiday in France
Great Bird Watching, Food, Wine and Bonhomie
Learn how to kayak holiday in the Ardeche, France
Kayaking holiday in the magnificent beauty of the Ardeche.
French Riviera walking holiday, France
Relaxed mountain and coastal daywalks
Kayaking holidays in the French Alps
A week's white water kayaking in the French Alps
Dordogne cycling tour, France
Ride through remarkable Perigord and Quercy countryside
Geneva to Lyon self guided cycling holiday, France
Cycle along the Rhône River from Geneva to Lyon.
Chateau to Chateau family cycling tour in the Loire
Unique itinerary for families to discover the Loire Chateaux
Family walking holidays with a donkey, France
Above the Rhône to discover the unspoilt traditional Ardèche
Dordogne self guided cycling tour, France
The cycling on this tour is varied and packed with interest
Portes du Soleil chalet in the French Alps
Traditionally built catered mountain eco-chalet
Ski touring holiday in France
Ski tour through Queyras Regional Nature Park in the Alps
Loire self guided cycling holiday
An interest-packed, gentle cycling holiday.
Puy-de-Dome accommodation in Auvergne
Friendly B&B in a French Spa town
Dordogne self catering cabin sleeping 4
Off-grid, off-beat self catering cabin
Wildlife & environment
Wolves vs. farmers
The French happily hunted wolves to extinction back in the 30s, but in 1992 a sneaky alpha mating pair crossed the border from Italy and since then wolves have got their own back. Today there are a minimum of 300 individual wolves in around 25 packs spread throughout the French Alps, across the Rhone Valley into Massif Central and up the country’s eastern border, and under the Berne Convention and European Law, the wolf is a protected species and can no longer be hunted or poisoned.Until now… due to a rise in wolf attacks on farm animals and much protest from farmers across France, the government has passed a ‘wolf plan’ under which 24 wolves can be legally ‘removed’ annually. The role that began as an official culling job for states marksmen however has now been extended to ‘wolf lieutenants’ too and today wolves can be shot in ordinary hunts, or in areas where they can be ‘seen to pose a problem’ – a subjective opinion and one that has conservation groups who view a return to wolf hunts as archaic and scandalous up in arms.
Don’t hunt, and definitely don’t tell a hunter if you see a brown bear. Apart from that, you’re best bet is to support any tourist initiatives that centre on either seeing wild animals in their natural environments, or keeping them happy there.
Be quiet and watch your waste!
It is not just the slopes, forests and precious alpine tundra that needs protecting around France’s beautiful mountain regions, it is also the air. And the ambience. Mountain Wilderness, a mountain conservation organisation created in Biella, Italy, in 1987, leads important campaigns to protect wild mountain places. They define these as “any untouched mountain environment where anyone who so wishes may come into direct contact with the wide-open spaces, experience solitude, silence, rhythms, natural dimensions, laws and dangers.”The most recent campaign is ‘Silence’, launched in October 2014, whereby climbers ascended to a height of 3,400m at the Col du Geant, Mont Blanc, and created an installation using plastic bags laid out in giant letters which read ‘Silence!’ This is aimed at the growing number of privately chartered tourists planes and helicopters, which are currently destroying this rare natural gift of silence on Europe’s highest mountain. Many of these flights are offered as ‘prizes’ to skiers by ski resorts, as incentives to book with them for the season. There is now rarely a moment of total silence, without hearing tourist propellers, echoes and engines overhead.
Let’s not beat about the bush, the waste issue also relates to human waste. Bring bags with you, and take your faeces away. The two highest toilets in Europe are to be found on Mont Blanc. They are serviced by helicopter in order to deal with the amount of human waste, which spreads down the mountain, calling it a ‘Mont Noir’ when the snow melts. Eugh.
What you can do
Avoid the temptation of travelling over France’s beautiful mountain regions by plane or helicopter, even if the views are spectacular. And support the invaluable work of Mountain Wilderness by following their projects on social media/blogs and so on. Before you squat, think about the unpleasant sight of shite left behind - local people have to clear it up along with all the other rubbish that shouldn’t be there. Shovel it and shift it.