Alan

We get ours from the local tourist office, also if we visit a place of interest then we pick some up from them as well

Yes its safe to say it is , i have also received about 10 in the last 2 weeks  email address ending jumpy .it i think it was, all different names stays ranging from 2 weeks to 1 month

I dont like paypal , but hey ho. In the height of season i always now take a deposit. Outside season then ok i am more relaxed , if its the uk i tend to take a sterling cheque and dont normally cash it, unless i have a no show and trust that the cheque has not been stopped, for others countries then i tend to let it ride. However that is only for my off peak period

Well for us the season is short; you would think someone turned the lights out on August 31st. However we still have a few more bookings this month and next. Our Guests this year have been a dream, mainly french and first class, they have been the best we have had in the last five years? One french family even took the hover and hovered the room before leaving and cleaned the bathroom. Its been hard work but its been a real pleasure dealing with all our guests .  

[quote user="liz"] That's interesting since it was a Clévacance accredited property.  If it happens again I will ask. Liz [/quote]   In that case you should complain , even for the 1 cle they have to supply at least one towel, not sure how often it has to be changed i know for 3 cle its every 3 days and you have to supply one bath and one hand towel person, for 4 cle you also have to supply face cloth and  you use to have to change the towels daily

Lidli had them today 14.99 in our local store

We are graded with clevacnces , the prices have to be in the room and also displayed outside either on the door or the gate.When we were inspected we were told that breakfast has to be included in the price and all our prices include breakfast. Having said that though we have a contract to send guests on this contract you have the option of stating if breakfast is included or not and if not the cost of the breakfast

I like the idea of food trips maybe incorporated with a cookery class. I think people would view that differently as you are recieving something in exchange. If you see what i mean.( maybe a meal or tasting at the end of it) Our guests all seem to think that the places of interest should have information in English or German etc and i dont think they liked the idea of having a stranger going along with them. The person in our area did not take them she only met them for the visit

Ok i know we are not in the same region. But we have had a problems where guests have come and do not speak french and do find its a pain going round a chateaux etc and not understanding anything about their visit. In some cases we have found that they do not bother to go in the end as they feel it is a waste of money. One poor family went into a local maze only to find that the clues where all in french and they needed to solve them to key in the numbers to get through the locked gates and ended up going round with a french family to get out. Having said all that a local French teacher did do as your teacher wishes to do and asked me to put her details in our chambre d hote but the feed back from the guests was that the cost was too expensive, she was also chargeing 40 euros for the afternoon and last summer none of our non french speaking guests took her up on her offer

[:D][:D][:D][:D] Glad to hear it

Luckly we have only had this happen once this year , a last minute booking and dinner was requested, guests did not show and the mobile number i had did not work, so was unable to bill them.   Last week had a party of 4 turn up with dog in toe, we dont accept dogs, i knew they had friends staying elsewhere and asked if the dog was staying with them. Oh no was the reply, to which the responce was that at no stage was a dog mentioned in the booking and we would not allow the dog into the house, ( we also have a dog and ours was going mad) So guests said in that case the dog would stay in the car , but it was just assumed that it would not be a problem   On the whole this has been a good year so far but still  3 more weeks to go

Looking at you web site i would be a little bit disappointed if i was given that for breakfast. We have used it once for a very early departure but to be honest the bread was not eaten Not sure about the GDF, maybe for a 1 then it would not matter but i know for a 3 grading you have to offer pastries or home made cake or fruit loaf

[quote user="Tresco"] Crumpets. If anyone sees Crumpets please tell me.[:)] [/quote] Carraffour in Toulouse sell them made by Hovis, Bought 4 packs last month and froze them.Going back to Toulouse next week so hopefully will still being selling them. The kids prefer muffins , which you can buy in most local supermarkets

As a child my grandmother when using somebody else loo always use to line the seat with loo paper before letting us sit on the seat, and she would also put a couple of sheets in the bottom just in case of a splash

[quote user="Forum Admin"] Perhaps I should offer say 5 forum users the opportunity to advertise on the site for a year for free....see how they get on.   [/quote] Admin never did offer 5 free places, they said perhaps they should , not that they would. If Quillan has been offered one free or at a reduced rate good luck to him , afraid its none of our business. With time if the site does not pull in business then i expect like all others they will then try to rope punters in with special offers. Like others though i would be reluctant to part with 85 pounds unless i see some results, coco you are correct in saying for  a gite 85 pounds is a drop in the ocean not so for B&B

  We have white for the ease of washing, also if they get stained you can boil wash them without loss of colour.We do have one set of pale yellow ones for one of the bathrooms that we mix with the white but the colour has faded with the amount of washing they get

Unable to pass comment on GDF, but Clevacenes do.

i currently accept euro cheques,cash and bank transfer, if the euro cheque is non french then i add the clearing charges to the bill. We have thought about a credit card machine but not sure that would pay us to go down that route. Sometimes have also accepted sterling but i then normally set the exchange rate to ensure i dont lose out when the money is banked. Deposits i do tend to take them for our peak season, tend to be more relaxed when we get bookings out of our main season apart from Americans (sorry) then i do insure i have a deposit. Of course not having a machine is a problem when you get short notice bookings as its sometimes not possible to get the money transfered or to receive a cheque I tend to bill guests at the end of their stay for the whole amount less any deposit paid, some like to pay when they arrive and then just pay for extra's at the end

[quote user="Miki"]Hi Soz, Loss of water, that is leaks after the meter and therefore your problems as far as paying for water you haven't actually used but simply lost ! It happens ! [/quote]   This is a good point as it happened to us last year and to be honest never thought that i could have been covered. Did not know i had a problem until we received a letter to say that we had used double the amount of water to previous years

I have ordered from amazon uk no problem france and germany also , ok the postage is high. I also order from cdwow and have never had to pay postage , ok not done so for a few months so thought maybe they have changed they conditions etc. but checking the web site when you log onto the web site in the far right hand corner its states free worldwide deilvery on all orders.Also states for france delivery is 6 to 8 days  

[quote user="St Amour"] We come up against the same problem here with the B&B in that people expect to pay less for a room in the winter but because we have to heat the whole house it actually costs us more.  When we're here alone we wear more layers and only use the woodburner but the oil gobbling CH has to be on if we have guests in. [/quote] It’s the same for us, but if you want trade in the winter months then the rooms have to be heated. Don’t think it would go down to well with a surcharge on the bill for room heating .But I agree with what you are saying , I have had guests in during the winter that leave heating on full and the window open and then go out for the day.   When  we have rented a gite in the winter months then i  expect some kind of heating to be included in the cost of the gite, regardless as to it being oil electric or wood, I am afraid I am like Bob and would not book a place who charged for the main source of heating as being an extra. Maybe on the other hand if the rent was considered to be low I would not mind, or if the wood fire was a second source of heating then i might go along with that idea

[quote user="Afy"] 3. The Marie will put up a notice for 30 days, and you will need to publish it in a newspaper.   [/quote] Two years ago we never had to publish it in the paper, Marie just put a notice up

If you are living in France then pop along to the Mairie, they will give you a booklet and form which has to be completed along with a time schedule for blood test and paperwork etc to be returned .

[quote user="timc17"] A family of four will need an income of around 2000 euros a month to survive assuming you've got no mortgage and jobs are very hard to find unless you have a transferable skill or trade. . [/quote]   I wish, we have 2 children a mortgage and live on a lot less than that a month after paying our bills.   However i do think you really need to do you homework , finding work is not easy and you have to be flluent in french, i think if at all possible i would rent your ik house out so if it does not work out at least you still have a place back in the uk. Also i think you might have to look at others area to work , people have said toulouse but to get into airbus you really need to know someone in the know a friend has tried to get a job theire for over a year now with no joy, also rents are high and house prices are going up However whatever you decide i wish you luck

[quote user="Cassis"]How many points was it, Alan?  I only ask because I gather there is some leeway, and for one or two points they may not make you change the licence, but I've no idea how far this police discretion stretches. [/quote] 2 points at the time i was driving a friends hire car ( as he was not to keen on driving ) had my passport with me and uk licence and for a split second when he asked if i lived in france i thought about saying no, but thought i had better not . He then said that it was likely that i would have to change to a french one due to the points , took my cds details etc and that was that