So what do Angelina & Brad, Johnny & Vanessa, David and Victoria, and George (Mr. Clooney) all have in common? They all have vacation homes in Provence Verte, or the Northern side of the Var. Well, okay, George has been rumoured to have recently purchased another pad here by the name of Chateau Fontainebleu. It's a hop skip and jump from chez Brangelina, whose Chateau Miravale is situated in Correns. This would be so "green" and convenient-they wouldn't even have to use their helicopters to visit each other! George can even drive himself in his Prius, or walk alongside the vineyards and olive groves to see his chums.

These celebrities are not stupid. They bought property here because they know it's quiet, private, beautiful, and a bargain compared to anything on the Côte d'Azur. And you too should get in on this real estate bandwagon now, before it's too late and prices go climbing back up again. And I guarantee they will.

Cotignac experienced a property boom back in 2003. Prices went sky-rocketing in correlation with the big British invasion (alongside the strength of the pound sterling). Since then, however, and after the global financial crisis of 2008 in particular, prices have dropped to reflect a more realistic market, but Cotignac still stands out from the villages that surround it.

Take a typical 4 level village-house with basement for storage. For a 130 metre-square pad, nicely renovated (i.e. needing no extra building work or improvements) in the heart of all the village sundries and life you can find a place for around 250,000 euros. For an equivalent place in Valbonne, you'd pay close to twice that, and in Cannes (Banane area), upwards of three times as much. But should you find even the 250K range too expensive, you can look at neighbouring villages like Carces or Montfort or Entrecasteaux. For a family home in the middle of these villages you can find places for as low as 180,000 euros. This is an affordable price for almost any family, even on local French salaries.

Down the street from my home in the heart of Cotignac there are several places for sale. A massive 400 square metre house (actually it's two villages houses connected), on the corner near the Place de la Mairie, is on sale for 150,000 euros, albeit needing extensive renovations. Another small but charming village house (95 square metres) on three levels, stunning views of the cliffs and with massive 45 square metre garage was going for 175,000 euros. A family house on 5 levels with 145 square metres of space, big basement and a small garden is on sale for 250,000 euros. There are several real estate agents here, all offering a range of properties from village house-studios to 80 acre estates and chateaux, but the only office I found that is truly English-friendly is Cotignac Immobilier. Sophie Carrere, who owns the business, spent a number of years in New York and speaks English fluently. Her friendly and professional efficiency is admired by many locals here. She pointed out that "prices are definitely lower now than they were a couple of years ago. The country will be raising interest rates to fight fiscal debt but the lower prices will counteract this expense for buyers and eventually prices will climb back up due to higher demand." So, the time to buy is now and within the next year.

Cotignac is definitely more up-market (let's call it classy) and with a good number of wealthy inhabitants from all corners of the globe - like a former CEO of Coca-Cola, who has made his home just outside the village. There are also several famous artists and celebrities walking around, whose names I cannot mention here, but live here all-year-round, hassle-free. My immediate neighbours include Norwegian, Dutch, German, English, Canadian, and Australian couples and families with children. And let's not forget I'm half Japanese, which makes for a nice mix of "etrangers" among the local French whom, I might add, are not all from Provence themselves. Many French people here are Parisien or generally from northern towns and found this little village the ideal place to raise their families - away from the loud noises, the traffic, the dangers, and all the annoying aspects of city life. Here you have an active yet peaceful village life combined with great weather, good access to toll ways, train and air transport. The international airports of Toulon and Marseilles are less than an hour's drive away, as is the TGV station in Aix.

It's no coincidence that Cotignac is nicknamed 'le petit St Tropez' by the locals. This village has a relatively large number of shops that sell quality goods - shoes, gifts, decorative items, new and vintage clothing, art in show-offy galleries, Oriental rugs, jewelry, a flower shop, a butchers', nine restaurants, a small but well-stocked supermarket, a deli (traiteur), several hair and beauty salons (with a fully-organic one opening soon), several stylish bed and breakfasts with swimming pools, a wine cave selling champagne and exotic wines (expensive rarities like Petrus) and a popular outdoor organic and local produce market on Tuesday mornings.

The schools here are smaller but retain a high standard; because of the desirability to live here, they attract the best teachers. The size of my daughter's 2nd-grade class is only 17 pupils. Cotignac even has its own active Parents' Committee (the AAPE or Association Autonome des Parents d'Eleves) which organises pleasure trips, activities, parties, and festivals for children and parents alike, within and outside the village, throughout the year, and has a permanent six-member volunteer team assuring that no kid misses out on the free fun.

In contrast, in Brignoles (the largest nearby town, 17 km south of Cotignac), parents who do not work or are in between jobs are forced to take their children out for lunch in the Maternelle and bring them back in the afternoon. Overcrowding is a problem, particularly where schools are experiencing cut backs in staff. In Cotignac, crime is next to nil - compared to Brignoles. Apart from the odd break-in outside the village (hardly ever within the village itself), burglary is a rare occurrence. On the otherhand, the Côte d'Azur is rife with this kind of activity - more than 20 per cent increases in some areas (source: Nice Matin, 2010) have been seen in the last year, even in the residential areas away from tourist activity.

If your profession (or travel plans) requires that you regularly commute to areas like Cannes, Nice, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, and Toulon, then Cotignac and the villages of Provence Verte would give you the best quality of life in a central location.

And last but not least, the recent heavy rains brought destructive flooding once again to the Var and the Côte d'Azur but Cotignac was relatively untouched due to its positioning of being 200 metres above sea level. Flooding possibility is something to take into priority consideration when looking at house purchasing these days. The June 15 floods that overwhelmed Draguignan last year (2010) have no doubt affected property prices negatively. Just this week the Caramy river over-flowed in Brignoles and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

Cotignac is an affordable utopia for now, but this may not last for long. I'm going to bet that this village and its immediate neighbours will enjoy a renewed sense of esteem, attract a healthy class of international and French habitants and merchants, and find themselves the crème de la crème of the Var.

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