vette
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Posts posted by vette
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If you want to be sure, just empty the magazine!!!That reminds me of an old Special Forces joke;Q; Why did you shoot him 19 times?A; Because I ran out of bullets.
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A friend of ours had a Mazda registered in his name by the local Peugot garage, even though he didn't buy it from them. It was really hassle free apparently.
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We are fortunate here as the Butcher we use, an English chap, hangs his beef for 21 days and even sells UK rare breed beef.As for the rest of his tales of woe, it seems familiar, especially the locals not wanting to speak of the past. Some old stories are too embarrassing apparently.
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We went the 'Dick Strawbridge' route and bought an 800 year old Chateau. Lots of work but worth it. 11 years on and still things to fix up.As for Brits buying, we've now had 7 UK couples stay in the B&B this summer who have all bought houses in this area. None of them have mentioned Brexit affecting their decision.
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Back on topic. Free WiFi here in our B&B.Maps and detailed instructions also sent to clients, especially the French, many of whom seem unable to operate Sat Nav's.
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A little story for you.When we first bought our place here in the Mayenne, we also bought a French registered Volvo from a dealer in London. It was on a 75 Paris plate before we re-registered it.When we moved in, the word soon went around the village that Parisiens had bought the Chateau.When they found that we were English, they were really pleased. They genuinely don't seem to like them.For our part, we've had lots of folk from Paris stay with us in the B&B this year. We find them quite charming and also that they always want to speak English rather than French.Why some locals don't like them is a mystery, although I believe that they think of them as arrogant.Then again, we have a French friend who refuses to sell fire wood to a German lady here.
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I presume that if you sold up after 10 years, any insurances would be null and void anyway.
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[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]Vette, are those selling in the village British or French ?[/quote]Hi ALBF.All but one have been bought from British owners. The other was from an English chap who inherited from a French friend who died unexpectedly. He just wanted to offload it quickly so as to pay the taxes.
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[quote user="idun"]I agree with JJ, I remember well, even when radiation was found in France[:-))], all the prefets rejected the very idea that anything had crossed the frontier.[/quote]They were probably sticking to the well known French rule of, 'a problem ignored is a problem solved'. As for fallout, anywhere down wind would suit me.
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Further to my last post, we have yet more people from the UK staying with us next week for 3 days whilst they finalise a purchase in our local village.
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We have had 6 separate UK couples stay at our B&B over the past few weeks. All of them have bought houses in this area of the Mayenne.So, it appears that some people are still buying, regardless of Brexit.
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That was my thought exactly. A perfect way to lock up and silence the opposition.
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Edwin Railway-Eyeball. No, doesn't work too well does it?I'll stick with what I've got.
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Well, having been round to their place last week, I can at least confirm that they are both fit and active. So, the floor must have held up! They still have lots of work to do though.I'm looking forward to tonight's episode, although Dick did say that the last one is the best.We shall see.
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I will solve your mystery.The noise is made by small Toads.They sit a couple of inches from the wall and emit that peeping sound. They face the wall so the sound echoes. We had quite a few some years ago but these days we have flowers growing along the rear wall where they used to congregate. The flowers prevent them from echoing the noise off the wall.If you go out when they are peeping away, they usually stay quiet, but if you take a torch and look along the wall, you will see them. They are grey and about 5 to 6 cm long.Hope that helps somewhat.
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I'm sure it will cost them more. Then again, they both have work. They both write books, Dick has TV work and Angel has her Vintage Patisserie company, the one featured Dragons Den.Having taken virtually the same path as the two of them I know what's involved. We bought a smaller dilapidated 800 year old Chateau. My costs to date are around £60K, but, other than new rendering and two Fosses, we have done all of the work ourselves. Rewiring, plumbing, you name it. Well worth it in the end though. Oh, it's taken us 10 years too, but, we feel that we have saved our beautiful home for the future and we now take great pleasure in hosting paying guests, all of whom to date simply love the place.Would I do it again? Not a chance.
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Just a heads up folks.There is a program on C4 tonight, Sunday 5th June, at 7pm UK time.It follows Dick Strawbridge as he and his wife renovate their Chateau in the Mayenne.We visited Dick this morning for a chat and it sounds like it’s going to be an interesting 4 part show.Probably remind me of what we went through with our place for a few years too.
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We give our guests the Livebox password. In fact, I changed it to the name of the house to make it easy.Everything else, my e-mail,etc, has it's own different password.
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Hyper U in Mayenne had big queues this morning and the drive through part off the main road was shut.Our local one had a limit of 30 euros.
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Thanks for the laugh Chancer. Your comment about the Pizza machine is very funny. I am going to use that quote in the bar at the weekend.As for prices. The starter on my Renault tractor failed. The local chap wanted around 800 euros for a new one.I found the same part on e-bay Germany for just 180 euros delivered.When I told my French farmer friend, he looked at me as though I was from a different planet.The following week his wife asked me to get a new laptop charger from the internet. 30 euros in the shop here, 18 euros off e-bay. I think they have now been converted to the ways of the modern world. God bless em!
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[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Vette, I'm reliably informed by the cyclists in my family that the inflating sealant completely nuggets up your bicycle tyres. I love that autocorrect changed what I actually wrote to "nuggets", but it wouldn't have passed the rude words censor on here anyway ?[/quote]Thanks Betty.Fortunately, it's not for my own road bike, but for the ones we lend to guests. Just a get them home measure. A new tube is only 3 euros but some folk haven't got the nouse to remove a wheel, etc.Les.
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After the damage mine suffered a few weeks ago, I feel for you.
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Lots of cars come with slightly tinted windows as standard. They are of course perfectly EU legal and are nothing like the 'Gangsta look'. YUK!It's to do with the percentage of light that can be transmitted that defines illegal or not. Also, the regulations for front side and rear windows is different. That's why you see Limo's with blacked out rear windows.I'm sure the French will have their own idea's on this subject.
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No, no tints on mine other than how it came from Crewe.Betty. My Aston didn't have a spare. Just a canister of inflating sealant. Actually, not a bad idea in an emergency.I have just bought a couple of small ones for the push bikes that we lend to guests. The same canister also fits the ride on mower, etc.
How easy is it to fix a small dent in a car ?
in Driving in France
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