Noe Valley Entrepreneur Offers France for Rent

By Corrie M. Anders

Remember the seductive refrain in that Southwest Airlines TV commercial, "Want to get away?" Well, Noe Valley resident Claude Nederovique gets away frequently--jetting off to France on trips that are part pleasure and part business.
Nederovique runs an online service that finds furnished apartments in France for U.S. vacationers and business travelers who want a little more authentic French flavor than that offered by hotels.
He opened the rental-listing business, appropriately called France for Rent, six years ago in his home office on 28th Street near Sanchez Street. In addition to www.franceforrent.com, he recently launched a second web site for upscale vacation rentals, www.parisluxuryrentals .com. "[Both sites] offer you a way to live in Paris like a Parisian," Nederovique says.
Nederovique, a French citizen who personally owns four apartments in Paris, backed into the business. In 1992, he founded the French American School in Silicon Valley, but discovered "you don't make any money with a school." To supplement his income, he published an ad to rent his Paris apartment, and "I was deluged with calls and quickly understood there was a business niche."
His France for Rent web site shows rentals by neighborhood in Paris, such as the Latin Quarter, Champs-Élysées, Marais District, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Each listing includes photos, a map of the area, a complete description of the apartment, neighborhood amenities, and weekly room rates for both high and low seasons.
France for Rent draws clients from around the country and all over the Bay Area, Nederovique says. Some live right here in Noe Valley. His local clients may even benefit from his personal recommendations. You can make a booking online, he says, or "we might work out the details over a cup of coffee at Martha's on Church Street."
Ever the consummate traveler, Nederovique returns to France at least four times a year.
"I often mix business with pleasure, because even though I was born and lived many years in Paris, there are still places I discover or love to rediscover," he says. "And one never gets tired of Paris." h