Owens88

Thanks all.   I will stick to our standard practice. Bank the cheque and give a prompt return cheque. Don't charge for trivial breakages but be thankful for replacements .   One renter even replaced a sun lounger !   Cheers   John

>We had a French couple for B&B for a couple of nights.  The first morning, Madame came down to breakfast and asked "Do you change the sheets and towels every day?"  I was struck dumb for a nano second ..... you can imagine all the sarcastic comments that ran through my mind, but all I said was "No, Madame, this is bed and breakfast not a four star hotel !" with a big smile ! !   This is an interesting conundrum. I don't run a B&B but do stay in them and in hotels.  Ecologically I can see that sheets don't need to be changed every night, I don't at home.   BUT then why do not hoteliers/B&B ers offer a discount for 2nd/third night stay ?   (Aside. Changing every night is not just the habit of 4 star hotels. New towels were provided every day in all my recent stays in any hotel.)   Cheers John

[quote user="Cerise"] Anyone can like almost anywhere for 2 weeks in the summer.........................Alone in mid-winter when many things are shut may make you feel differently. [/quote]   This is an even more acute point in France than Britain. Not only will you not have the easy 'fallbacks' of F&F (and Pubs and UK TV !) that you have in Britain but the French villages have much more acute peaks and troughs of 'life' than in the UK.   We searched the Canal du Midi area extensivelly looking for soemthing that suited us, but everything that fitted the 'physical/budget'constraints fell down on life  ?  In fact I now think that only 'towns' in that area would suit us.   Eventually we settled for Languedoc Roussillon (Vernet les Bains) Great views, year-round village life, varaiety of options from beach to skiing etc. Good luck   p.s. I believe that you would get good internet connection around Vernet, cheaper than UK.

[quote user="EcoPower"][quote user="Owens88"] AFAIK the difference was significant. Electric boiler less than a quarter the price of the oil one - and we freed up space by getting rid of the oil tank.   John [/quote] And if you spent what you saved on some sort of renewable energy product (wind, PV etc) then maybe it makes financial sense in the long term as well? [/quote]     Long term Oil vs Electricity seemed uncertain anyway. Ceratinly the perceived 'per kw' advantage of pure Oil CH vs electricity is narrowing if not disappearing.   I don't live there. If I did I would certainly look to add the air-to-air heat pump that adds aircon in summer. I might also look at wood burners and solar (as at home in the UK). If building from new I would always look at ground source heat pumps.

Is there an equivalent to a kit car in France ?

>left the plate with a note saying sorry and 10 euros by way of reparation.  Never heard anything back.  Did I do the right thing?   I think that you did more than the right thing. FWIW we would not charge for minor breakages, though it is always nice to see that somebody has replaced a glass .   John

Hi   We are not on site and so handle all our bookings 'remotely'. We take a damage/security deposit at the 8 week mark (probably 6 !) and pay back as soon as poss when they leave.   Some renters think that we should not bank their cheque. What is the norm ? Our renters come from UK, France and other countries so it is a mix of banking systems.   I suspect that it is easier to cancel a UK cheque than a French one.   Thanks   John

Are you sure it is paint you want ? What do the neighbours use ? John

Sorry   When I said 'wet' I meant that the pre-existing radiators and pipework stayed in place - so the effect in the rooms was the , largely radiant heat, from radiators using hot water as the heat distribution. Nicer than the fiercer (drier ?) heat you get from electric convectors.   AFAIK the difference was significant. Electric boiler less than a quarter the price of the oil one - and we freed up space by getting rid of the oil tank.   John

We bought a place with a central heating wet radiator system and an oil fired boiler.   The boiler was defunct (though the etsate agent had 'sold' the CH system, another story) and we took some time to rework it.   The costs for a replacement Oil Boiler seemed silly, even though the existing radiator system had been pressure tested and was sound.  We were on the point of tearing out the wet system and putting in a mixture of electric radiators and electric convectors. THEN we changed our thoughts and put in an electric boiler serving the wet CH system. It works well and was a lot cheaper to install than an Oil boiler. We gained several cu meters when we took out the oil tank as well. Using electric to serve a wet system seems weird but is more 'comfortable' than direct electric. However, If I hadn't had the wet sytem in place I wocould not justify putting it in (go for underfloor instead !). If I was adding to the property (or starting from scratch) I would also consider the air to air heat exchangers which can also be aircon in summer.   Good luck  

Many sympathies. Dunno what to say though.   A few years ago I was hit repeatedly by a LHD Artic while I was on the M1. He was in the 'slow lane' trying to get into the middle lane where I was. He hit my rear left hand side 4 times before he noticed that the space was occupied. TG I was in a heavy car on a dryish road otherwise I would have spun and not be here now (crowded M1 70ish  mph  !).   Anyway that truck was part of a fleet of 50 lhd artics owned and  insured in Austria but had been working Britain for 6 months at least. Yes I had the police there and yes MIB eventually kicked in (Months rather than days) for the truck's insurers but NO nobody impounded a vehicle and NO nobody was in the slightest way disciplined. Apparently the police officesr concerned only filed a minimal report as I had no apparent injury at the time. Mr O seems to be on the wrong end of a bizarre story. I hope he is out soon.   Bon Courage.   John

Of course you can have an inset wooden fire fitted into the fireplace. Flames behind the glass window of a door, but without the 'standing proud' aspect of a stove.   Go for a big window and effective air flow controls and you don't lose any ambience.   John

I fitted one recently. As far as I can recall I had to dissemble it, taking the bulb out etc., then fit it then reasssemble.   Bon courage

So.   A family with luggage faces: £24 per head additional fee round trip (assuming paying by credit card - essential given Ryanair's record) (assuming one piece of luggage per ticket, even if the toddler cannot carry it). John  

The British education system allows for many ways to be marked 'correct' and good teachers will teach more than one way as different kids pick up on different methods. p.s. there are loads of good web sites to keep in touch from bbc bitesize etc.

This thread is veering towards a social strata judgemental 'bashing' session.   With the risk of being boring I refer back to the original post. I do believe that 'the style' of an organisation is affected (if not actually consciously created ) by its management. #Ryanair is harsh dismissive and evasive. #Easyjet is a bit more open and easy going. Whereas Virgin has a brand value of openness and perceived fairness (though it doesn't compete as 'cheapest')   Perhaps more importantly it seems clear to me that Ryanair is anti-family. Whether it is equally clear that it will work for them is moot.    

Vernet Les Bains is technically a village, though with some life outside of Summer ! (Pyrenees Orientales)   The snow does hit the village occasionally ( I can recall digging vehicles out ! ) and it is less than an hour to skiing. Less than an hour to the Med as well. One Easter we skieed and coasted both in one week !   However the snow sits on the top of the Canigou for months and is a great sight dispelling any sense of grey.   Good luck in your search.   John    

We have rented out for mid-term rentals. The legalities were, as previously suggested, a repeating holiday let.    I suspect your biggest problem is the time of year. Landlords will be paying their yearly mortgage and other costs  using summer months rentals !  Good luck   John

My limited understanding is that  wet UFH is the way to go on any new build or restoration - it delivers the heat where you want it and the low 'actual' water temperature allows for any of the newer energy sources to work well. So even if you started off feeding it electrically and then somebody invents a hamster wheel / kitchen waste converter / plasma screen re-director that will power radiators then you can just connect that in to the UFH.   BUT it is not designed for quick on/off heating. Wall radiants would be better for that. Electric mat UFH ? I would happily use it in a bathroom or bedroom (which has quite clearly focused usage times) but not all over the house. the 'lock-in' to one energy source is too high.   Another comment. We recently put a system in our apartment in france (electric boiler feeding the existing wet rads). What was surprising was the sophistication of the programmer and the standard expectations. Both are different than in Britain. *Standard expectations - run the system constantly just vary the target temperature according to time of day/ day of the week. This includes running it overnight but drop the target down to 15 deg C or so.  Subjectively I agree with that though I find it difficult to prove on pure physics !  *Sophistications - the thermostast includes many overrides (even a Monday strike day or 'throwing a sickie' - I kid you not !) and it even learns about heat up and cool down rates and chages its instructions to the bolier to meet your targets. Overall I belive that to be more efficient as you then set targets for what you want for comfort and the system balances more smoothly than humans do. Whereas in the UK  I bet 'most' thermostats don't even differentiate between days, and the most they do within the day is on/off.    

This might be stating the obvious but...   You are going to travel through some nice scenery. Its worth giving yourself time to enjoy the nice roads. It dark at 4 pm and not very light at 3.30.  Also view a reasonable map to look out for places you could stop and pause. We don't really 'do' rest areas very well.   Other than that I doubt the driving is that much different. Within France there is much variance, ditto Britain.  p.s. I disagree with the comment about Brit drivers being off hand. There is a wide spread. Best to avoid commuter traffic if you want to avoid the highly stressed but under-experienced ( less competent , less trained , less considerate  - delete as you wish !) drivers.  Oh. Beware lorries. It is 'de rigeur' for a lorry on a motorway to avoid indicating a 'pull-out' until micro-seconds before the event. And a continental lorry has no hope of seeing you as the driver is on the wrong side anyway.  But you might feel at home when you get a gallic shrug (probably from a belgian or austrian) after they side-swipe you. Bon Courage (I vote Birmingham the worst place to drive. Big roads so people drive fast, but heavy traffic and short stretches so it is hairy. In comparison London is a doddle)   John

We have anti freeze ('anti-gel' ) in our radiators. We also leave the thermostat to frost (but its indoors so I suspect it woiuld kick in quite infrequently).   However no proof that any of it is working !   John

It is possible to extend, though with an AP not a router.   Bonne Courage   John

I'd reply by PM but I cannot see your button. I might be too far from the coast.   Ooops seen it now. It took a very long refresh.

I use Internet explorer 6  1152*864 Your foot of page text is running off into the copyright bar.   Otherwise (and this is not meant to be nasty) may I suggest that you have used  too many colours ? There may well be problems with readability for many people. Thre are web sites / forums  where you can submit your web site for comment (expect constructive bruising). I think that webproworld is one of them.   Good luck   John    

In recent past Morgan auctions and Morgan computers used to offer a lot of laptops with US keypoards. At good prices (for the UK !) Thier current web site is less 'open' with information and I find you have to enquire more.   Good luck