Cerise

Hi pads The GSD shouldn't have to wear a muzzle either.  Will send you a pm later to answer a few more of your questions. Maggi

No pads dalmatians don't need to wear muzzles (there are a few breeds who do)  They are not terribly well known as a breed here - and yes they are very funny.  Mine think they own the B & B and are quite gracious to their guests[:)] We speak French at home if we have French friends or neighbours in and when we have French clients.   I think it would be rude to expect them to speak English, though occasionally we have some who want to. On our own, no, we usually speak English.  I do dream in French sometimes and talk to myself in French - wondered why people keep staring at me[geek]  I find I muddle the languages up and often talk a sort of garbled franglais at home.  Radio always on in the car though in French - that is good for listening - you won't understand to start with, then suddenly you find yourself answering the radio quiz questions and realise you have understood.  While you are stil in Uk force yourself to read French magazines (if there aren't any in the local shop W H Smith will order them for you) and get DVDs to watch in French or with subtitles. Are you 'retiring' to France or will you work there? Maggi  

I don't think you need to worry about tax bills Nick - by the time you've paid your cotisations and actually earned any money it takes a while to pay tax.  With Mr Cerise working full time and a B & B which is pretty successful we get by - but not yet paying tax!!  Depends what you want in life.  We're not starving to death, but by no means any where near as well off as we were in UK.  When I went to the impots to complete the scary forms last week the guy who I dealt with said he couldn't decide whether we Brits were brave or mad.  If I had known exactly how difficult it is to make a living in France maybe we would not have come - but then we'd have spent the rest of our lives thinking 'what if ....'  If you are prepared to work you will get by and you will have a different life to the one you had in the UK - whether better, worse or just different - for you to decide.  One thing sure though - you won't get rich here. Maggi

Still no dog owners have said whether kennels at B & B would be welcome.  Shall I take that as a 'no' then? Maggi

When I signed up with my (rather splendid) doctor, the neighbours warned me gloomily that he was 'no good'.  When I asked why they said that you never came away with a nice lot of medication!! Cultural difference? Maggi  

Hello pads I used to live in Callington but now I live in France in the Tarn & Garonne not so far from your new home.  Also have 2 dalmatians so reckon we have plenty in common.  Not much use to you at the moment, but I do speak fluent French so if when you arrive you need a helping hand with the translation  (or telephone call to connect an essential something or other) feel free to give me a call and I'll do my best to help.  Once you're here you will be able to learn if you put your mind to it.  My other half had no French on arrival 4 years ago and now works for a French company - he went to college here and made a real effort to join things, plus we do not have English television or papers.  Sounds cruel but I cancelled his English classic car magazine and made him get a French one instead.  It worked - he now speaks French if not fluently certainly well enough for most situations.  He did not even learn French at school - and was the same age as you when he arrived here, so it can be done.  Keep smiling and keep practising. Maggi

Traci - you have my sympathy for the situation you find yourself in.  You don't say whether you or your daughter speak French, but if not unless you really want to live in France don't be pushed into doing so just because you are getting divorced and 'someone' (lawyer, ex?) says it is cheaper.  You may of course see it as a new adventure and life and if so, I wish you good luck.  However, you say you have never lived in France and my experience is that in the end the cost of living is not a great deal lower than the UK and wages are a great deal lower.  As you have a young daughter I assume you will have to work and I think you should factor the cost of that (in lower earning possibilities for example) into your costs and if you don't have any French the cost of a translator all the inevitable necessities.  A person earning the SMIC takes home about 950 euros a month before tax - not that they'll pay any on that - and after cotisations.  That is about £675 and you will be very lucky to earn more than that unless you are a bi-lingual professional.  If you start up your own business you have all the associated costs, so do remember that when talking about money.  Getting divorced is horrible (been there, done that) for all concerned and at a low time in your life it is easy to grab any opportunity without thinking it through.  Starting a new life in another country is hard even when you have love and support but alone with a child to raise when you don't feel that sparkling anyway could be horrible.  Note I say COULD as some people manage whatever the circumstances. I know this is none of my business and I dare say dozens of divorced single parents who have 'gone it alone with only 10 euros and no French' will leap out to prove me wrong, but whatever you do don't underestimate the cost of living here or the difficulty of being alone in a place where your language skills may not be up to every day living. Good luck anyway.   Maggi 

I've got dogs - the two dotty dalis on my avatar - and I'm afraid we don't allow dogs in the B & B rooms.  At the beginning I said yes and offered to provide cages for dogs to sleep in (which is what mine do if we stay at anyone else's house)    However, people did not like that idea and wanted them to sleep in/on beds, furniture etc.  Unfortunately, the people who wanted to bring their dogs on holiday wanted the dogs to be treated like people and I'm afraid that is not on.  My own dogs -and I was a dog breeder for 30 years - have never been allowed in beds or on furniture and I really don't want other people's doing that.  I have refused a room in a French hotel which really ponged of dog and however much I love dogs myself I appreciate that not everyone shares that love.  Sorry for the people who like bringing their dogs on holiday.  I have seriously considered putting a couple of kennels in the garden - but am not convinced that the usage would merit the expense.  What do you think other dog owners? Maggi

I changed my first name and therefore the name on my passport and marriage certificate is not that on my birth certificate.  I had never actually done so by deed poll in UK (you don't need to) but knowing how bureaucratic France is thought I had better do deed poll document before coming here.  The only people who have had problem with this are CPAM so now I have a Carte Vitale in a different name to my Carte de Séjour and passport.  In practice it hasn't caused me any problems other than a few raised eyebrows and comments on the fact it wouldn't be allowed in France. Maggi  

Try the tourist office in Toulouse itself, or one of the other towns - not sure where you are?   Maybe Castres, Lavaur?

Sorry if my first reply sounded a bit sarcastic, but I have honestly never heard of anyone making that kind of money with one gite.  The most expensive gite I could find round here was only 1500 euros a week and I think an 18 week season is unusual - though maybe not impossible in some areas.  I would be very very cautious about any kind of rental property requiring a mortgage.  Catered chalets (which are not really quite the same as a gite) require staff and staff in France are EXPENSIVE one bad season and you could be on the road to ruin if you have a mortgage.  Only my view not trying to sew doom and gloom.   Maggi

Hello Nich After I posted last I had a look at your website and, in the nicest possible way, I don't think you are making enough of your property.  The front page is confusing - but you say you are dealing with that - and I feel that your descriptions are rather boring.  The house itself looks nice so you need to elaborate a bit more about the facilities you offer to give people a little more feel for the place.    If you advertise with people like Chez Nous, Visit France, etc, ring them up or e-mail them and ask how they think you can improve the site.  Ask friends or other gite owners to criticise it for you and maybe spread the photos out a bit.  You have a gallery as well so think the photos need not all be clumped together. Please don't take this badly - am trying to help as I know how difficult it is to get it right.   Look at other sites for cottages near you - decide which ones you like best, and why, and crib a few ideas.  The market is now so vast that however nice your property is prospective guests have to be grabbed by your publicity.  I think it is often difficult to see it yourself as you look at it so often you no longer really see it as a guest would. Hope you find your improvements bring you more guests. Maggi

My parents aged 78 and 80 were amazed to find that they can get to us - 100 km NE of Toulouse - quicker than they can get to my brother in North Wales.  They love to come here for holidays but would not like to move.   My mother says the thought of being ill anywhere you don't speak the language is horrendous.  Much as I love my parents I do not consider it selfish to have my own life.  They have brought me up to be independent and I feel like I am repaying them by showing them that they have given me the confidence to do the things I want to do in life.  I always chat for an hour a week on the phone, can actually get back pretty quickly if I ever needed to and they have their own friends and social life.   If your parents love you - as I am sure they do - they would want you to be happy and not spend your life guilt ridden about them.   Maggi

If I, or anyone else, was able to generate that kind of income from one gite, however luxurious, I would consider it astounding!! On an average season of 10 weeks that's 6000 euros a weeks - please can you tell me where anyone can get customers who pay that much - cos I want some[:D]  Most people earn more like 6000 euros a year!

Don't honestly think it will stop you getting bookings unless you insist on no smoking in grounds!  Our B & B site clearly says no smoking in bedrooms but we have a lot of smokers who stay and they are happy to smoke on patio/balcony/in garden.  Even in mid-winter when I have said that someone could smoke indoors (but not in bedroom because it really does cling to soft furnishings) they have gone outside. What you should realise is that lots of clients wing off a dozen e-mails to different properties so a lot of enquiries do come to nothing (at the beginning it is easy to get paranoid and think you are doing something wrong).  Make sure you answer enquiries promptly as often first to reply gets the business.  As Zeb says loads of properties for them to chose from so make sure your site is as attractive as possible. Good luck Maggi

Which end of 82 do you want to got to?  It is a long department and the Moissac end is a long way from the Aveyron/Tarn end - about 100 km and quite different in terms of countryside etc.  May be able to recommend place to start looking if you know where you want to be.

I assume you mean you are moving from Antwerp to France with the plants.  If so why not advertise for a 'plant sitter' in your new area and let plants go there until you arrive.  When we moved the people in  the removals office took my 3 biggest plants - looked after them and delivered them here couple of months later.  Are there no forum members near your new home who might like to take care of them for you?

Last year the police helicopter was out all afternoon looking for an elderly local fisherman 'presumed washed away' in the Aveyron after his wife reported that he had not returned home for lunch.  Seems that the chap was having a bit of a celebration with a mate and forgot the time!!  The worst thing - for him - was that he was in a garden only 3 doors down the road from home and he and the mate kept saying 'I wonder what that helicopter is looking for?'  Villagers were all in stitches when it came out - but I bet his face was red[:D]

No it 's not you Beryl.  In this part of France anyway, not keeping appointments, not informing anyone, or being days/weeks/hours late seems to be the norm.  I belong to 2 local committees and nothing ever starts on time.  People ring up to tell you something is cancelled after you've already set out to go to it and (most irritating to my mind) no-one seems to think it rude to cancel things at the very last minute without a decent excuse.  My husband works for French enterprise in building trade and finds himself in a real state when he knows that they should be at a customer's 2 hours ago.  His boss did not like it when he mentioned that this made him feel uncomfortable and said everyone did it.  Oh well, cultural difference I suppose. Maggi

Donna Don't know the area you are looking in - but round here little rental seems to be done through agencies.  Try the Mairie, the school your children are going to attend, the maison de la presse and the boulangerie.  Also put up notice of your own looking for house to rent in local supermarkets etc.  It may not work, but that seems to be the norm here rather than passing through the agents who take commission.  Just because it is not through agency does not mean people will not do things properly with proper contract etc, but they may be less fussy about the guarantees - particularly if you give them a decent advance on rent.  Hope you find something soon.   Maggi

We came for an adventure - to do something different whilst we still could.  We were not running away - had a perfectly nice life in the UK - but wanted to give something else a try.  Chose France because I spoke French and we knew the area. Would I do it again?  Probably not if I knew what I know now - so in fact I'm glad we didn't know.  I do not regret having come and even the things which I don't like are interesting.  I don't think any amount of preparation can let you know how things really are.  We didn't have the internet at home in UK so didn't have too much of other folks experiences but we did try to find out as much as we could nad make realistic financial plans. FOR We renovated our house quickly and within budget (we had a good well planned budget).  If we sold we till be able to purchase elsewhere including UK. We have been accepted and welcomed locally and lots of participation in village life.  Got the B & B up and running successfully, enjoy doing it and we live in beautiful house we could not otherwise afford My husband has learnt to speak French and has a full time job re-training for another skill.  This has given us both us a big confidence boost.  Previously he had been in the same trade all his working life so being able to make a change - and in a foreign language - makes us feel we can move on again if we want too. We are making our living albeit not a great one and don't have any debts. AGAINST The mind numbing difficulty or French administration.  Blocking of all entrepreneurial spirit.  Life often seems like one up hill battle against a sea of paperwork.  Seems like most of the time the odds are stacked against anyone who wants to work. Miss my friends terribly - as I didn't live near a major airport in UK is not easy or cheap for people to visit often.  Everyone here is very friendly, but the cultural differences make having real friendships difficult.  I'm afraid I don't count elderly French peasant saying 'Bonjour' every day as a friend as lots of my English acquaintances seem to do.  Nice chap and all that, but we have little in common.  People are nice to me and I do try to understand the culture but that is not very relaxing.  Strangely I don't miss my family as much even though I'm fond of them,  as I didn't live near them in the UK so was used to only telephone contact and sporadic visits. Miss diversity of culture of UK.  Foreign restaurants - even the village I lived in in Cornwall had a Chinese takeaway! Lack of activities/eduactional opportunities for working folk.  No evening classes - most activities organised for pensioners or schoolchildren. Don't actually like struggling for money.  In the UK we were not wealthy but managed OK (although we did of course have mortgage, car loan etc which we don't have here) BUT we could always earn a bit of extra money legally if we wanted too.  Here, it seems how ever hard you work it makes little difference and legal extra part-time work is simply not available.  I don't want to work on the black - not because I'm so honest, but I'm too cowardly[:(] - but I understand why people do CONCLUSION Glad we did it - but like St Amour am amazed at the number of people who launch themselves across the Channel without thought or resources.  We will probably not stay here forever, but the move will mostly have been of interesting and positive experiences and we will not have lost out too drastically financially if we decide to return to UK or move on elsewhere.  One thing which people might find interesting is that I don't always feel that speaking the language fluently helps me.  The reason for this is that I DO understand what people say and frankly understanding the messy politics of the country, realising how poor a lot of my French friends are and knowing how miserable a lot of people are is not always good and certainly doesn't help towards happiness.  I've noticed that the French speakers on this site seem to often have a  different perspective to the others and certainly find that a lot of the other English folk I meet live in an unreal world, not realising how things are.  Do they really believe - as one person said recently - that it is 'quaint' that people in rural areas in live poverty without proper sanitary arrnagments.  Can't see anything 'quaint' about that myself - just sad for me. Maggi        

Cheer up wen - I had one 4 year old that was up at 6.00 am demanding breakfast (fortunately I'm always up that early) but without mum and dad!!  They wished to stay in bed until 10 and thought it was a tad unreasonable of me not to want to look after the little blighter until that time![:'(]  The first morning I had to kind of do this as I was unable to wake the parents without waking everyone else in the house. The same lovely parents sat out on the terrace and let their 2 kids go to do painting in the  rooms! I too was tempted to ban kids, but we have had some delightful ones as well and you can't win them all.  I do let people have early breakfasts if they ask in advance - but they will get frozen croissants as the bakery is not open until 7.30.  If I were you I would inform this lot as politely as you are able, that you are not a hotel with 24 hour room service. Good luck Maggi

Blimey - it did!!   That's the only technological thing I've ever done in my life[8-|]

What pink hats or pink poodles - furrynix isn't a bit unkind to dye poodles.  tired to make an avatar thingy and am only posting to see if it works  

Hastobe The Mairie will probably be better place to ask for local volunteer associations, ADMR if there is one where you live may also be able to help and the library will tell you whether anything cultural needs a helping hand.  Don't worry about not having children at the school if you want to ask there.  The infants or primary or the after school club if there is one may be glad of someone to do a little 'English' group - it won't be paid though. Maggi