Fontremy

Sorted for Le Francais in Pons for lunch then rugby. Thanks ever so for the suggestion. Come on Wales!

Thanks for both suggestions. Bar in Pons sounds interesting - I'll give them a call! Cheers

With the rugby on sky tomorrow and next week (England v Wales)does anyone know any bars which have sky sports in 17 (as close to Mortagne as poss)? I usually frequent Le Doublon in Lorignac but their Sky is broken. Please help a desperate rugby loving Welshman!

Sorry for the tardy response but it's been a while since I had the time to catch up with the forum. Installapool are very good and reliable.  They also install the modern salt water pools which are friendlier to the skin and easier to maintain than the traditional pools. FR

Hi George   Take a look at www.fontremy.com. Email with any queries.  Good luck finding something. Regards Huw

Llwyncelyn, thanks for the support.  Slip of the keyboard (or brain cells anyway) - his name is actually Owain Lawgoch - he came a generation before Owain Glyndwr.  You can read the story briefly here if you're interested http://www.castlewales.com/lawgoch.html You can probably see why I was taken with it. Ian, actually as far as we could tell the property didn't have a name so I don't know if one needs permission to call it something.  We'll need to enquire of the local Mairie next time we're out there.  Or maybe we'll just leave sleeping dogs lie...

Cerise and Chrissie many thanks for your replies - that helps a lot.

Apologies for not responding generally earlier to the many kind (and not so kind) replies.  It appears most worked out who we were talking about in the end. Very surprised the issue caused so much debate but shows the forum is very much alive and kicking. As a matter of interest we did defer to the sensibilities of the relatives and have changed the name to something far less controversial.  We considered naming it after the Place rather than directly after the author and also briefly considered calling it after Yvain De Galles (Owain Glyndwr), the Welsh soldier who fought against the English in the 100 years War and now has a monument to his memory in Mortagne.  However, I imagined the wrath that might bring forth from anyone English or French who may be offended or Yvain's long lost relatives so decided against it! We've written confirming what we've done to the family of the "famous" author so hopefully this will satisfy everyone.

Sorry, just caught up again with this thread.  Your assumptions are quite incorrect.  The house didn't have a name and it seemed logical to name it after the square in which it sits which happens to be named after the author whose family house it is. We had certainly never heard of him before and you would have to be a French literary historian to have done so.  So there is no commercial benefit whatsoever in the use of the name, particularly as we advertise the property (and have named the website) after a shortened version of the name (which is also a very common English Christian name.

Can anyone confirm that the approximate uplift for social charges is around 50% under this scheme and is it simply taken from your bank account in addition to the amount you have paid the employee when they cash the cheque?

Does anyone know of anyone who may be interested (or are themselves interested) in managing 4 gites on the same site in Charente Maritime just outside Mortagne-Sur-Gironde (south of Royan)? Our current managers are moving away so we need to find someone else. Thanks Fontremy

We purchased a property in the Charente Maritime 2 years ago.  It's the main house in the village (a big mnor house or debatably a chateau) and we decided to name it after a famous (allegedly) French writer who was born and brought up in the house and whom the village square on which the house sits is named after. A couple of months ago we were contacted by descendants of this writer telling us that we had no right to name the property after their relative and asking us to change it.  They seemed to be under the impression that we were gaining commercially from the name and we explained why we had named the property after their relative.  We offered to change it more specifically after the Place (square) rather than directly after the writer but they have said this is unacceptable. We are reluctant to significantly change the name, firstly because I have an aversion to bowing to pressure in circumstances like these but mainly because all our marketing literature, website etc are in the existing name.  They have now written to say that they will commence legal action against us if we don't change the name to something completely different and un-related.  I am pretty sure that in the UK they wouldn't have a leg to stand on legally, particularly if we shortened the name or named it after the square rather than the individual.  However, we don't know what the legal position is in France.  Does anyone have any experience of such issues or iof not know any French English speaking lawyer who could advise us? Many thanks

We used a UK lawyer who was very good - only deals with French property transactions and is fluent. They picked up an important inheritance issue which the notaire hadn't dealt with. Some friends of ours recently bought a house with permission for a swimming pool only to find it was in a non-construction zone. A UK lawyer could have picked it up but in any event far easier to have come back against a UK lawyer than the French Notaire. Ican recommend them if you like. FR

Pangur, I think you have missed the point - the relatively simple economic fact is that money spent in the local economy, whether in the shops, local artisans, restaurants etc is then "in circulation" i.e. re-spent and benefits the wider community as a whole. Money spent in restaurants benefits the waiters and waitresses, farmers and local food suppliers etc, builders pay labourers, tool suppliers etc. Many people think that this is a more efficient way of benefiting a community than having politicians deciding when and where taxes should be spent. Having personally spent a small fortune with local artisans and on other local services and being responsible for bringing around 650 high spending people a year into the area I feel I have done more than enough to assist the local economy without being taxed more for the pleasure! Val2, you may not have been expressing your personal opinion but if you have sympathy with the other views expressed here, why don't you pass these on to your colleagues in local government? I appreciate the difficult balance between the benefits to local communities through rental homes (which probably should be distinguished from pure holiday homes) bringing often significant investment and therefore wealth (and jobs) and the risk of pricing locals out of the market. I'm not sure what the answer is but I am fairly certain that it's an issue for the free market to resolve rather than local or national bureaucrats, all of whom have their own self interests at stake. FR    

What nobody has mentioned is the difficulty in getting cash out of French banks, even by cheque.  Evidently, it's a way of frustrating the black economy.  If we need cash, we take it from M&S or First Direct, both of which offer extremely good exchange rates. To transfer cash to pay direct debits, mortgage etc, we also use First Direct, whose rate is generally better than the commercial providers such as currencies4less.  The transfer can be done over the phone at a charge of £21.

I only just realised when trying to book a flight back from Bordeaux that Ryanair appears to have flying to and from Bordeaux from Stansted!  Does anyone know when this happened and why?  I can't find anything on the Ryanair website either. Regards FR

Hi Lizzie Thanks very much for your reply - yes it is on satellite (the pay version). Do you know what the names of the bars are so I can call them? FR

We have some guests who are desperate to catch the lions rugby tomorrow morning. Does anyone know of anywhere in the Charente Maritime where it may be on (are there any English bars anywhere - I usually make a point of not seeking them out!) Many thanks FR

Some Parisian friends of ours come to London quite regularly and comment on how expensive it is in comparison. Not relevant in their case, but property prices alone are 30% more on average in London (one reason why Paris is still touted as a good place to buy for investment).

We are in your locality and have found Insallapool very helpful and efficient. We previously used a more local company but I think they just had too much work and wouldn't do what they said they would when they said they would do it! Email if you want details.

Can anyone recommend a good accountant in Charente Maritime, preferably with some English?

Clair, I would be very careful about doing what you suggest as it may leave you open to the "poodle in the microwave" scenario where if you haven't specifically told someone not to do something then you may be liable, however stupid the action may be. I suggest being general in your warning that use is at the renter's risk and that kids must not be left unattended.

What I would be interested in is a translation of key web search phrases in the different languages so that a google search in say German would bring up my site. I suppose I could use a dictionary but I'm not sure literal translations would be accurate compared to everyday language. Any volunteers? I would be willing to pay!

We are still very dissatisfied with the response from FC but like Deby have to wait until next year to see if it's the availability which is stopping the enquiries as we are pretty much full for the summer. It's interesting to see that some people are not getting a response even with vacancies. Again, I agree with Deby on the search facility which I think is rubbish. It was a lot easier for someone to find a suitable property and then check out the area before than it is now. A final gripe - they can't cater for activities and facilities which aren't on their standard list and they seem unable (more likely unwilling) to update this.

Funny you should have posted this as we're looking for the same thing as we've bought a large property with a ridiculously small kitchen. It needs a double oven and hob with 6 rings (all electric). I've found a suitable Brittannia oven in the UK but can't find any distributors in France on the internet. Does anyone know of any?