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Cerise

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Everything posted by Cerise

  1. Acccept - you are the customer, you are WRONG!  Once you understand this all is easy.
  2. I promise you - you have to go there to see it.  It is not just the priorité à droite but the fact that the sign posts are hard to read and the road leads into  the town oneway system.  This means that unless people are local they don't know where they are going.  The locals (except Ron Aveyron and me [:D]) are all over 100 years old and driving sans permis whilst simultaneously smoking and leaning out of window to talk to passers by in thick Aveyronaise accent.  The lost foreign truck drivers are trying to find someone who they can understand who does not speak in said Aveyronaise to tell them the way.  And the papis in battered citroens (Mr Polremy honourable exception I'm sure) have spent half the morning in the Café des Sports before venturing out onto the junction without giving a hoot who has priority.  It is much, much easier to go to Villefranche market by train!!
  3. Nope - half the world is the mamies in sans permis, the foreign truck drivers, the papis in battered old citroens, the confused from other parts of Fance.  If you have ever been to that particular junction you will know that everyone hesitates because they are not sure what to do and then everyone goes at once.  It is not really a crossroads, more a triangular sort of thing and  I think it is some special kind of population control device for the Aveyron[6][6].  I certainly know about priority to the right, but I always warn our visitors about that particular junction.  If it is the first one the OP has come across - particularly if it was on a Thursday which is market day - I can understand why he was alarmed.
  4. Having almost died at that particular spot more than once, I sympathise.  It is one of the most ill thought out bits of road and as it is used by many tourists and a lot of thundering great lorries it is very dangerous.  There is another similar one on the Albi/Carmaux/Blay-les-Mines road (where you turn of for Hyper U if coming from Monesties).  Neither of these junctions are well marked and as half the world doesn't know what is going on it is a recipe for much fear and swearing
  5. Sweet17 - nice of you to care, but no chance of me going without food, EVER!  I love my food.  Sleep sometimes manage without, booze not bothered, but grub, got to eat.  However must admit that I never used to get cravings for junk food when I lived in UK.  Living here cooking 4 course meals most nights and having to eat it I just long for some fish and chips out of the paper or KFC.
  6. Cos I check the e-mails last thing at night and sometimes 5 minutes in the office is the only time I get alone!!  When I'm really tired I can't always sleep.  2 days without meals now so I can behave like a proper person and go swimming later and go to bed at 11.00.  Bliss.
  7. It's 2.15 am - I've just got in.  Up again at 6.00. A nice restful life indeed.
  8. Pah, I thought we were on the same side Dave!!  How dare you lie around in hammock while I have been tackling the ironing pile from hell.   3 solid hours this afternoon and that after doing changeovers all morning.  My motorbikers have just informed me that breakfast needs to be at 7.00 so they can get to their trials on time.  I hope your Maltesers Bars melt[6]
  9. How about getting a white plastic patio chair and nipping over the border to Spain and hanging out on the side of the N9 Does anyone know the going rate?  It currently looks like a more attractive option than my next 3 hours of ironing.[6]
  10. Dave - my guests are obviously moving on to your place[6].  Our loonies are in general nice enough but I've had some really strange folk recently.  I really think you should write the definitive gite book!
  11. I don't need TV in my rooms, I think I'm taking part in some surreal play.  I've got an elderly entomologist and his wife in one room, making a collection of dead bumblebees and beetles (honestly)!   In the attic are a lot(I think 5 but from the noise it could be 25) of vintage Spanish motocross riders.  They are shouting loudly in languages I don't understand.   For the past few days we have had a Canadian lady with Aspergers and her mad professor husband - perfectly pleasant but bonkers, walked round using ski poles all the time. One of my husband's Indian cousins has taken up residence in our spare room.  It is fête weekend in the village and I've turned away 5 sets of people today.  More motorcyclists (don't know what nationality - but reliably informed they don't speak French or English) tomorrow and on Monday it is all change for a family with 3 young kids, Mr & Mrs Rose Tinted Specs Househunters and Mr & Mrs Perfect Parisiens.  I'm changing towels at such a rate I just hurl them through the doors of the rooms and they land somewhere.  I don't care because I've got to hurtle back downstairs and concoct meals for a load of people who don't know what time they'll be here for meals and are vegetarian/allergic/fussy/pain in the backside.  I've forgotten to order the croissants for tomorrow morning and Martine at the bakery gets a bit vicious if you do that (do you think I can send Mr Cerise?) and tomorrow night I've got to go to the fireworks and stay up all night for the rock concert. Why would we need TV in the rooms?  Real life so much more entertaining.  
  12. If the picnic goes well, really freak them out and invite them to a buffet at your house[6]  A French friend joined me in drinking a milky cup of coffee the other afternoon - she said she enjoyed it but giggled all the time as though she had done something really naughty!  I find the regimentedness (is that a word?) of it all somewhat wearing.
  13. I have been travelling in Greece for many years waiting to use the following immortal phrase from my Greek phrase book. "I say my good man, show me your hand woven stuffs" Strange really, the occasion never seems to have arisen![:D]  
  14. Not sure I want to book if he uses language like that![:)]
  15. Cow, goat or sheep?  I feel I need to know before I book![6]
  16. Wooly - I know we need their money but, as OH points out, they are paying to stay here, not buying US.
  17. Hi there Llantony We bought box, dish et al in Bricodepot here for 65€.  Works just fine if you can set it all up yourself.  If you need a man who will sell you what you need and install (not too expensive) I can send you details of chap in Montauban. While you at it can you PM your e-mail address please as my computer seems determined to eliminate you from my life.[:@]  But I think it nice over there in Lauzerte, honest so would like to get back in touch.  
  18. In most supermarkets the dosettes seem to be near the 'puddings' i.e. where ever you find evaporated milk etc.  Make sure to check the dates on the back as they are long life but supermarkets don't seem to check them that often (you can usually buy with 6 months shelf life). Without exception our French guests have all been delighted by kettles etc in their rooms.  At the beginning a few thought they had to pay but I now explain when showing them round that it is 'offert par la maison' and they are impressed.  As I have a non-English name and reply to their enquiries in French they often don't realise we are English until they get here.  I can't imagine any of them being ignorant enough to complain about such a thing. We've got a guest fridge separately in the downstairs hall for picnics etc, so if anyone wants to have their own milk they can do so.  Milk in the rooms is not practical.  And, tell the GdF lady that I quite enjoy making a cuppa in my own bedroom.[:)]    Whenever I go away, as I'm an early riser, I hate it is there are no tea of coffee making facilities.  Don't want to wait 2 hours for himself to surface before I can get a drink, and I doubt most people would want me down for breakfast at 6.00 am
  19. Often do hot milk for French guests with coffee.  Just ask what people want.  Croissants are straight from bakery and sometimes still warm so I don't re-heat them (except Monday out of season when bakery not open). Supermarkets sell little packets of milk (Regilait) in dosette things.  Fine for bedrooms.  Surprisingly large number of French guests love kettles etc (large percentage of our guests are French) and I put tisanes in the container as well as ordinary tea and coffee.
  20. Catalpa is right.  Ignore his complaints, deduct the damages and move on.  There are always one or two of these.  I'm still wondering what to do about the man who complained that frogs in the nearby river had prevented him from sleeping.  He demanded I do something about it.  I went down the river and I TOLD those frogs!!  They still didn't shut up[:D] Don't dignify his complaint with a reply.  Even if the worst happened and someone from the local Tourist Office comes to say they received a complaint (and that is about the worst thing that could happen - dead insects not being a guillotine offence) then you know you have a lovely gite so it will be fine.  At our local TO we get the occasioanl whinger and the guy there just makes mmmm noises and then ignores.  We all know these people exist.  Think of all the nice people who have been and forget about him.  Genuine complainers complain nicely at the time.
  21. Cor, Mackyfrance, I honestly thought I'd arranged to have all guests with computers eliminated[:D][:D]  Proves you can't be too careful!! Thanks anyway for your good wishes.  We've got booking til end of October so whatever happens we are committed here for this year.  OH has got full time job and it is just too tiring feeding and watering people when he comes home at 7.00 at night.  It has been a great way for us to get established here but time to do something else.  If house doesn't sell I will have a re-think anyway.  The problem as I see it is that we need to find a house with little guest accomodation as whilst we have the B & B we can pretend the rellies are just troublesome guests.  Once we have our own home they'll be less easy to get rid of.  Here we can say 'Oh you must go - the room is booked tomorrow!'[6]
  22. Puzzled - my website is not attached to this forum for exactly that reason.   I occasionally have other B &B or gite owners as guests.  they are always wonderful.  People often don't realise they are being inconsiderate. One of my brothers has rung this week and asked if I'd pick them (he and adult family) up from an airport over two hours drive away.  He seems OK about this, he does not realise that WE are not on holiday even though I've explained it in words of very small syllables
  23. Actually dave, sometimes the world ending might be easier than cleaning yet another toilet.[:D] I loved your post and recognised every word of it!! I can add a few of my own, like:- I'd love to go to bed early but I can't because the guests have forgotten the directions, can't read a map and they are 3 hours late.    
  24. We both chose.  I'm not appologising because I'd never have chosen to do what you did and I really hope you'll enjoy what you do next.  But I'm afraid your comments are a bit like the dinner lady at school telling me that starving african children would have loved the disgusting dinner she was trying to make me eat.  I seem to remember telling her they were welcome to it. People like moaning about trivia - it is what keeps most of us sane.  If you run a B & B or gites in France you don't employ poor people, you are the poor people[:D]  We are enjoying our little whinging thread here and today we'll all be back smiling politely at our customers.  Please don't take us so seriously. Hope your French dream is good for you and that you too will have a nice whinge a bout your life in a little while.    
  25. Changed 6 beds yesterday and 3 this morning.  Another 4 tomorrow.    Did 4 hours ironing this afternnon in 35° heat.  Also put house on market today, expect it will take years to sell but the idea that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that one of these days I'll no longer have to clean others' toilets is a cheery one. 
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