Owens88
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Posts posted by Owens88
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While we are on the subject...
1) I was surprised to see mention of a varnish. Most of the ones I see are what I would call 'stained', or is that just French paint being different again ?
2) I have some large sliding shutters (patio doors) that need a bit of tlc. Has anybody any experience of unhanging and re-hanging something like that ? (I am in 'look before you leap' mode).
3) The louvres seem awkward to me. Is it easier to spray paint ?
Cheers all
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Shukra
Are you a British national, or a 'citizen' of any other eu country ?
If so the processes are simpler than for a non eu perosn. However teh 'truth slap' you refer to applies to everybody (smile).
Good luck.
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We have had two or three occurrences of this. Highly plausible and at attractive time of the season !
The frst time I didn't even register that the enquiry was from Nigeria !
However I have repeatedly said that becuase I am fearful of Money Laundering regulations I will NOT take an overpayment and return/forward part of the payment. (Theyare pretty onerous in the UK. I don't want to consider France).
BUT because I don't want to discriminate against a particular country I do say they should get a travel agent who would then book with me for accommodation only and manage the surplus elsewhere.
Sadly they never come back with these lucrative off-season long bookings !
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The ones in Vernet Les Bains have hot running water as well. Presumably spa fed.
Reasonably clean and well-maintained so I guess they get used.
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HI
I found the stuff in France to be fine and good value. I shopped around a lot but eventually a smallish Expert store (just outside Prades in 66) gave wonderful value, delivered and even wanted to fit it in !
We stayed at a Formule Uno just outside Clermont Ferrand (n. side). It was OK. we had tea in Bourges though and it would have been nicer to stay there !
Good luck.
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Ours has just given us an emergency helpline no, for calling out artisans. (Axa)
Now my equivalent in the UK (Norwich Union) has the same thing but they pay the tradesmen.
Good Luck
John
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Hi
Could you explain what you mean by commission earners ? Do you mean employees who have a commission as part of their earnings package ?
Or an agent ? (the eu Agents Directive is little known in Britain but more widely acknowledged outside the little Isle).
Or..
Cheers
John
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It goes well in Pimms !
John
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And the list goes on. We don't live in our Gite so we don't have co-occupancy problems.
However the problems with dogs, smokers, undiciplined children, sneaky guests etc. is that they might leave problems behind them that are not always picked up before the deposit is returned.
If I advertise it is OK to smoke is it ok to leave the place renching of tobacco/nicotine ?
If I advertise it is OK for dogs would that put off somebody with allergies ?
These are honest dilemma (or is that dilemmae ?)
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Lori
Don't ban children but do go overboard on saying whatever is accurate about dogs sharing the grounds.
John
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We are a gite not a CDH but here goes.
In our first season we were late but got some bookings from something that was the French version of Loot. It has regional paper editions and an on-line presence. I chose the big cities for the paper editions.
When we were looking around and staying in CDH's there was a general willingness for ones that were full to refer to neighbouring ones. You might try that tack ?
Good luck
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NB I am not a lawyer.
My guess is that 'it depends'. I am sure that the law would recognise the share of the property as part of his assets, as would you or I if he owed us money and was trying to 'get out from under'.
After all, somebody has to lose out !
In practice I think there are grey areas depending on practicalities (how much is owed) and compassion (partner's/kids' home etc.).
Do take proper advice.
John
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Anton
Indeed we seem to agree. I regard a posting to Living France as comparable as a letter to the Times; intended for publication within the context.
Whereas Living France, or the Times, or the people who publish information (whether creative or researched) on their web-site deserve some protection form outright copying, especially without atribution.
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Anton
I am not a lawyer but I question your advice. You are comparing the works that somebody 'publishes' on their web-site to a letter written to an open forum (the letters page on a newspaper).
Sureloy the comparison is between 'publishing ' on your own web site and 'publishing' in the newspaper. Newspapers regularly take people to court for ripping off their material. (NB an attributed quote is a different thing).
However the bit about an 'assertion of rights' probably strengthens the case for the publisher.
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As a renter
*the only problem we have ever had was with som A*** of an agency that acepted verbatim what their lazy cleaner said (but the porperty was subsequently dropped by them...).
*We once caused some damage in a Spanish flat, but the light in question was so badly placed that the agent accepted it.
As a property owner
* We have had some Sh** from a party who brought a 'well-behaved' dog that lefte its poops in vaious corners. I charged for it without compuction.
* We have have obviously had various glasses damaged but now we have more than we started with.
I might have preferred to have charged for it and preserved sets etc. but I am not goung to be churlish.
* I wish the parents would say when their young uns have spilt drinks on the bed !
* How easy is it to track stains on the sofa etc, ?
* What about phones ? (new one to me)
BUT
On balance I am still a bit unsure how much to charge. We take £200 which is probably less than our insurance excess, but it feels right, and we return it promptly.
I would love some informed advice.
Cheers all
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Just before I bought our place I visited. The lady of the house was great. She explained that they had created a new kitchen etc. and never bothered putting in the oven because it wasn't immediately necessary, the hob had both electric and gas.
I then bought an oven and had a local put it in. Then the problems emerged. The electric supply for the oven had not been built in to the new kitchen. donc removal of units, worktop, creation of new socket..
Femme Ecosse menonge.
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Anyhow I can confirm your story about the plug. A weird looking thing. In fact my oven supplier (expert) would have been happy to install it had the outlet been there !
Good luck.
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Apologies in advance. I am going to be very 'Brit' about this.
1) My French is not good enough to reliably discern; was the 'lifted' part done with attribution or not ?
If not then only a primary school kid should expect to get away unscathed. Web pages are as much an intellectual property as a book or a magazine.
2) If the site is truly a 'not for profit' site by definition (probably meaning it makes no charges) as opposed to a site that makes no profit (most! smile) then an apology, and promise not to do it again, is normal and sufficient to head off the legals.
BUT let me stress I am not in France or knowledgebale in French Law. I'd take the case very public if it ran against the principles above though.
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Hmmm
Other than the diversion into teacher bashing (which I personally only do amongst friends who are teachers ! - smile-) this thread has said:
*Working to avoid tax occurs both sides of the channel, everybody has done it.
*a peculiarity of France is that there is more comeback on the 'buyer' for getting it wrong e.g.if a worker injures themselves, or if the work goes wrong and affects a third party. So buyer beware and look for the Siret.
Can I suggest a further refinement:
a)there are honest artisans/professionals who do their wack officially and occasionally do a little extra on the side.
b)there are serious 'tax avoiders' who purport to be businesses and are not carrying insurance, and may not have all the professional background they need.
EVERYBODY has used an a) and frankly the world is lubricated by the existence of a). I doubt the government of any country is that bothered.
whereas Most People should fear a b) as they have an interest in subverting the system, and may not have a 'stop-line' which relates to safety, ethics or whatever.
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In a previous thread I have suggested that, in France, if we trust British artisans above French merely because they are British then we are doing what the Jews and Asians were accused of when they entered Britain, 'keeping the money within their own'.
Surely it only compounds the problem if we favour 'Brits on the black' vs. French Legit.
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Our gite is most definitely a family place (we even have stocks of toys) so I will be interested to see what the advice is about bed wetters. Our biggest problem to date seems to be kids having spilt drinks in bed, grrrrr.
As for the baby listening device, I suspect that any parents who are touring would have their own. We toured with a baby and did.
We have toured with youngsters and not used a device, but not strayed so far they couldn't find us. (One reason for a fondness for hotels with bars, see separate thread about the differences between CdH and hotels!).
The baby listening devices are not fool proof and you may choose NOT to take on responsibility for their use. It may be unreasonable for a harassed parent to lash out verbally if their child has been crying for some time 'and the monitor thing didn't work' but I assure you many would lash out regardless!
Having said that if you promoted the place as having a hard wired listening device (like some hotels do, via the phones) you might attract some business.
Good luck
John
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I'd agree with focussing on the B&B before the Gite. But in our first year we picked up our place in May (and it wasn't ready till late june). We got some rentals from a sort of French version of Loot, with regional paper editions and an on-line version.
p..s the regional paper editions were regional to where they are, not where you are !
Good luck
John
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Can anybody remember when the eu was sold (to us Brits) as a free trade area, more formalised and integrated than some, like efta that existed at the time ?
To be fair I don't think the French ever agreed with that script and have always played a 'localisation' game, except it is now proving more difficult to do that with movable labour/professional services.
Whether its Iraq or the eu or (name your issue) we'll be lied to by people who feel they can get away with it.
It will be interesting to see how things pan out. The press on the brit side of the channel don't actually say the following, but feed the following illusions:
*Chirac is a spent force, internally and within the peer group.
*CAP is not forever.
*The euro may not be forever.
Any comments ?
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We can't 'do' sun but in the heat of summer would like to be around a pool in the evening (my kids might like mornings but I'm a stranger to them!). In fact our best time recently with a pool was a hotel in Spain, after the heat of the beach and town and...
Having said that there might be safety and/or noise reasons why some limit might apply.
John
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Mind you it must be different electricity than UK.(smile)
Have you seen the number of power sockets in bathrooms ? Never mind the extent of external power sockets.
I saw somebody (an electrician) changing a socket without switching off the power , ouch ouch ooh ooh , and then it was done !
Cheers all
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I certainly did not know there was a legal requirement for a box. My house is in a co-prop and oesn't appear to have had one in over a decade.
In fact I went in to the Poste to try and arrange re-direction (which is now formalised at a lot of money per year) and they ,sort of, talked me out of it.
John
Van hire near Perpignan
in South East (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur)
Posted
You can find van hire in Pages Jaune (yellow pages) which is on the web.
Seems to have a 'per kilometer' charge for vans , which is something that went out of mainstream car hire ages ago.
Good luck with the move.
John