Richard51

I totally agree with the report.  IMHO they should: Do away with RFL and raise the duty on petrol (significantly) Introduce congestion charging measures to all city centres Introduce tolls on all major routes with discounts depending on the occupancy of the carIntroduce higher VAT levels (i.e. 30% +)  for fuel guzzling cars - viz the Chelsea tractors etc.Mrs R51

[quote user="hollies"]sorry folks this is the real world,its not their home they have paid for it for their holiday and they will do what they like with it. respect happens,but sadly not for all guests.if youthink the english treat Gites like Hotels or expect them to be so then you have to pay for it-the end![/quote] One of the reasons we don't advertise on English rental websites.  We prefer the French....

We have a price that includes towels and bed linen but offer a discount if you bring your own.  Pretty much all of our visitors are French / Belgium and don't expect towels and linen to be included.  Some pay the full price but a lot opt for the discount.  Wording it this way may allow you to deal with the proclivities and demands of the English (which, we have discovered, are many!) whilst reducing your overheads for those French / Belgians etc who prefer to bring their own. Mrs R51

One molecule of water (H2O) less one molecule of hydrogen (H2) (or oxygen (O2))....leaves one of those nasty, cancer causing, free radicals (viz atom or molecule with an unpaired electron).... The logic of the 'one molecule difference' statement is still stupid [:)] Mrs R51

The comments in the OP are years out of date.  Most margarines do not have trans fats - they have been banned for a number of years.  Margarines also come in a variety of guises: some have added butter / buttermilk, some are based on vegetable / sunflower oils, some based on olive oil.  Even butters have added ingredients: salt, flavourings and vegetable oils (particularly in the new 'spreadable' butters).  Some of the latter butters are achieved by changing the feed mix of the cattle.  Unless you know exactly which margarine product you are comparing with exactly which butter the above sweeping comparisons are meaningless. Mrs R51 PS the one molecule argument is ridiculous.  If that argument held 'water' we wouldn't want to drink said water...as it is a mere one molecule away from the highly flammable hydrogen.

We took out our mortgage 5 years ago when MrR51 was 55 - we were allowed a repayment term up to his 70th birthday latest even though he he planned to retire at 60 and would be eligible for his (UK) state pension at 65.  We are currently both UK resident but it's probable that we will stay that way [:)] Mrs R51

We're only listed with a-gites.com and a few free listings.  We have put odd weeks on leboncoin.fr - to move them. Mrs R51 (Mr R51 has as little as possible to do with the house and it's occupants - smart cookie!)

Agree re laymyhat.  I'm probably a tad sensitive re Brits as the last Brits of the season just left this weekend.  Like the other Brit tenants they have been a pain in the arse since, well, before they arrived  (think Tarquin of Dave fame plus whinging parents).  I'm just relieved that we have only have French visitors now 'til the end of the season!  The listing they responded to was free but maybe it's still not value for money LOL. Mrs R51

When we upgraded to Sky+ (here in the UK) we had to have new cabling etc - otherwise the live pause facility etc didn't work. Mrs R51

In the absence of vinegar get some obliging soul to pee on the affected area.... Mrs R51

[quote user="AnOther"][quote user="Richard51"]don't expect bedlinen to be included[/quote]Huh ! Since when did bedlinen in a Gite become an unreasonable expectation [:'(] So French guest don't demand French TV then and what 'demands' for English food are you talking about from self catering guests ? Are you really cut out for the Gite business ? [/quote] We provide French multi-channel satellite TV (with large flat screen TV) - perfectly reasonable in France.  We also provide a PC (with a French keyboard), fast broadband (wifi - if they want to bring their own laptop), full range of kitchen appliances (dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, food processor, deep fat fryer, senseo etc.)  Large gas BBQ outside. It's pretty well equipped.  Re the bedlinen - it's the norm for French people to bring their own bedlinen (sheets and pillow cases) - so most are delighted that they are included or that we offer a discount if they bring their own.  We also have a local cordon bleu trained chef who will cater for them if required.  We have had no problem filling the season. Re food - Ques such as where can they buy 'proper' sliced white bread, English style sausage and bacon.  That kind of thing...

We focus on the French market and use a-gites.com.  TBH the Brits are more trouble than they are worth - generally dirty, complain a lot and want everything just like the UK.  It's only a generalisation but in our experience French visitors leave the place beautifully clean, don't have uncontrollable children trashing everything, don't expect bedlinen to be included and don't demand Sky TV, English food etc etc..

When we were visiting local animal rescue centres looking for our current dog we were turned down by one shelter because our garden wasn't fenced in.  As we have an acre of garden and woods etc - and are surrounded by countryside (no sheep or cattle kept in adjacent fields for said dog to worry) we were slightly bemused...and alarmed at the prospect of fencing in such a large area (we had hedges or sheep netting all around our plot but they wanted us to replace this with 5ft, wooden fencing).  We were experienced dog owners having had a number of rescue dogs over the years and had always trained our dogs so they stayed within our boundaries.  We were told that the rescue sanctuary thought it was more important that the property was enclosed than the amount of space available.  They would have approved us as potential owners if we had lived in a small terraced house which had a walled yard!  We thought they were barking mad and went to another sanctuary who approved us straight away.  Mrs R51

Not sure where you are but there is one for sale on leboncoin.fr for €300:- http://www.leboncoin.fr/electromenager/114103172.htm Mrs R51

Received this today... Some people should not be allowed to go on holidays. This was sent from Thomas Cook Holidays - listing some of the guests' complaints during the season. (Survey by Thomas Cook and ABTA) "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." “I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned." "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all." "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels." A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate". "The beach was too sandy." "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.” A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time. "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women." "We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five Euros (£3.50) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake." "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled." "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home." "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller." "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?" "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners." "We had to queue outside with no air conditioning." "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel." "I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite." "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked." I think they must be the same guests we get.. Mrs R51

http://www.francesoir.fr/etranger-faits-divers-justice-prison/singapour-sept-mois-de-prison-et-trois-coups-de-batons-pour-des-tags.8810

Right click to get the flash menu option - which freezes the animation.  Move your mouse over the (now still) ball then left click.  Voila

Beris, agree completely with you regarding both the size of the deposit and the toilet as a potential expense.  One of our delightful guests this summer let their children stuff things down the toilet - despite notices and advice when they arrived explaining not to do this as we had a septic tank.  Result - we had to dig up half the garden to access the septic tank and sort out the blockage - right in the middle of the peak letting period.  After that experience we are seriously thinking about increasing our security deposit further!!

There are a few international organisations that allow people to trade help (on various projects) in exchange for accommodation.  However, as far as I'm aware, France is the only country worldwide that has prosecuted the recipient of said help (and the volunteers).  So be careful - France is a socialist / protectionist state that doesn't recognise volunteer schemes...and neighbours will readily shop you. The couple concerned were Americans helping on an organic farm for a couple of days via www.wwoof.org scheme.  The French hosts were fined €1,000 (potential penalties are up to €5,000 and 5 years in prison) and the US volunteers were deported and banned from visiting France for 4 years. There was a lot of publicity about the case as no other country has taken this sort of action against WWOOF / HelpX guest / host arrangements. Mrs R51

Another one to the 'don't worry brigade'.  I was diagnosed with thyroid disease 17 years ago and have been on full replacement therapy since then without any problems.  When I was diagnosed my blood results for T4 and TSH were so bad they were off scale.  In fact, I was so ill they nearly sectioned me (the so called myxoedema madness)!  I was 31 when diagnosed with Hashimoto's (auto-immune thyroid) disease. Once I was diagnosed and on treatment I was feeling ok within weeks. I now have an annual blood test and a few pills a day and feel great... Re the alternative therapy post - treating under-active (or non functioning / non existent) thyroid is one of the easiest conditions to treat and generic thyroxine is one of the cheapest medications. Mrs R51

A word of support for the Nationwide here.  NW is a mutual and not a bank with shareholders (as has already been stated).  It has also been royally screwed by HM Government over the last couple of years.  It was 'obliged' (behind the scenes) to take over some of the failing financial institutions.  Having bailed them out (and so saved HMG a big chunk of taxpayers money) HMG refused to make recent changes to tax legislation retrospective (carry over of losses on merger / takeover of mutuals retrospective) - having previously promised NW that it would. So Nationwide got all the costs of taking over these institutions but were denied the benefit of their accumulated tax losses.  So if you want to know why NW is restructuring its products look to HMG (viz Mr Brown and cronies). Mrs R51

I have the CaxtonFx prepaid card - but I only use it to book Ryanair flights.  I load sterling and pay sterling so never have to convert currency.  How do their exchange rates compare with the prevailing interbank rates? Mrs R51

For those who still have a foot in the UK, the latest summary of best deals on debit / credit cards: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money I've just applied for the Halifax Clarity card - which seems to be the current 'best'. Mrs R51

As an aside it would be great if we Brits could do a similar thing in France... Viz: demand a British style account where you: 1) get a better deal by having internet only access - instead of being charged a premium, 2) get your debit card for free instead of paying some ridiculous annual fee, 3) have a bank that uses 21st century technology rather than encouraging the use of cheques...etc etc Mrs R51

[quote user="allanb"]I worked for a few years in a strictly Islamic country, and my company borrowed rather large amounts of money to finance a factory.  We didn't pay a penny in interest. We did regularly pay a certain percentage of the amount borrowed, but it wasn't interest; it was "commission."  This kept God happy, apparently. I wonder whether Lloyds has had a similar idea? [/quote] That's exactly what it is allanb.  The muslim community still 'borrow' and 'lend', 'pay' and get 'returns' and the banks still make their profit.  It's all just labelled and packaged to call it something other than 'interest'.  Bit of a farce really - but if that's what the banks have to do to get a bite of the islamic cake.... Mrs R51