Does the word ‘private’ in French mean the same as in English?

Even though it might sound like a dream to own a summer house where everyone loves to go on vacation, it is sure to have its disadvantages.

We can already imagine it. July rolls around, we bid our boss goodbye, and head over to the airport for a few weeks of uninterrupted freedom. The summer house is already waiting for us, having been cleaned and stocked with food by the lovely housekeeper we hired to maintain the house while we’re not around. We get there at midday, taking off our big sunglasses and stylish hat, and can practically smell the calm vacation we are about to have in our favorite location in the world.

Then we look around, and we realize the neighborhood is absolutely packed with strangers… all of them are families who had the same idea as us and booked a nice Airbnb in the area. And suddenly our quiet vacation turns out to be not so different from a packed hotel in the middle of the busiest city in the world. Goodbye to the relaxing time we’ve been dreaming about, hello parking issues, loud music, and trash everywhere.

When the homeowner in this tale realized how much the Airbnbs in the area of his southern France summer home were going to take over the place, he realized there was one thing he had to fight for: the parking. With so many guests coming in the summer, parking became scarce, so he decided to buy the open parking lot and turn it into private property. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop people from still parking there. 

No matter how many signs were put up and how many messages were sent to the Airbnb owners, tourists kept parking in the private lot. So the owner did the only thing left to do and got them all towed. Now the guests are demanding the money back for the towing fee, and the hosts are demanding money for the refunds they had to give, but the owner sees no reason to pay any of them… After all, they were the ones trespassing.