The van stops at the quay, the tools carry on by hand
Nothing drives beyond the quai de l’Amiral Courbet in the old town. You park by the water and climb through the lanes and stairways, sometimes by way of the rue Obscure, the vaulted passage that runs under the quarter and never sees daylight. What reaches your door is therefore, quite literally, what could be carried up to it.
Say first whether the door was pulled shut or locked with a key. Pulled shut, only the latch bolt holds the leaf. Locked, the deadbolt is out, and in the refurbished flats above the place Amélie Pollonnais several points are usually thrown up the height of the door. That answer decides what gets carried up the steps, and saves a second trip back down.
Up on the corniches the difficulty is a different one. A postal address rarely leads to the right gate: give the name of the property, which side of the road it stands on, and a landmark visible from the tarmac — a wall, a bend, a letterbox. Say too whether the gate can be worked by hand when the power is off, and how the front door is reached from there.
Proving you live there, in a town people pass through
No door is opened on request alone. You have to establish that you live there: identity document showing the address, rent receipt, energy bill, home insurance certificate. If those papers are shut inside — the usual story when you walk down to the plage des Marinières with nothing in your pockets — say so when you call, because other evidence can be accepted.
Villefranche runs on short stays. Between the holiday lets of the old town, the second homes on the heights and the cruise calls out in the bay, a rental contract or a booking email serves as proof, backed if need be by a written word from the owner or from the agency that handed over the keys. For a vaulted cellar or a shared room, the managing agent still has to agree.
An itemised quote is presented before any work and a detailed invoice handed over at the end. While you wait, do not slide anything into the door rebate: on the old leaves of the rue du Poilu, a blade snapped off in the seal turns a straightforward opening into joinery repair, and that timber is seldom replaceable like for like.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door opening page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Villefranche-sur-Mer.