Suandpete

We have a gite in Deux-Sèvres and from the beginning of 2006 will be liable for taxe de sèjour. I know that some areas already have this and wandered what most people do - do you absorb the cost and pay it on behalf of your guests or do you charge them whatever the going rate is?

It's this years partially fermented wine - to be treated with caution!

We live permanently in France and just received ours today - even within our commune people have been receiving them over the past couple of weeks - so there's still time yet!

Hi; "water will be turned off for 21 hours a day" - who is saying that Dave? We haven't heard that one before!

HI, we are also in Deux-Sèvres and have been hearing this same rumour throughout the summer but it hasn't happened yet! A good site to keep an eye on is : http://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=741 (not really sure why that isn't showing as a link) - it is updated daily. Scroll down to "Tableau des arrêtès préfectoraux..etc and then click on "cliquer ici", then just scroll through the list of departments. It has rained here today - for a couple of hours on and off this morning but very lightly and within an hour of it stopping everything was just as dry as before. We are in the north of the department and probably slightly better off than the south - our paper last week said that Niort had less than 100 days of drinking water left...

I have just looked on one of the government web sites which details the current situation in all the different departments.  The site is: www.ecologie.gouv.fr  then go to the section "Arrètés prefectoraux" and then go to dept 17.  This clearly states that only private pools must not be filled (interdiction de remplissage des piscines privés) - as you are running a business then as I understand it your pool is not considered to be private.  Certainly when the fencing regulations were first brought in gite pools were not regarded as private! Hope this helps

We take a damage deposit of £150 which is paid with the balance 8 weeks before arrival and retuned during the week after the end of their holiday.  We don't worry about things like glasses - people quite often buy a set of three to replace one broken one!  We have charged twice however when guests have put the gas cooker lid down when the gas was either still on or the ring was hot - both 'fessed up and we charged the 98 euros which it cost to get a new lid each time.  This was accepted with no problems by both couples.  When a young child was "helping" to clean the fridge on the last morning and dropped the glass from the bottom of a virtually new fridge we didnt charge either - but replaced it wih a piece of thick perspex which is much safer anyway.

The reason that I mentioned French Property News was that all the people we have had "off-season" so far have been property hunters.  We also considered The Lady but thought that it was too expensive.  It hadn't occurred to me that French people might expect a lower standard of accommodation from a gite - although in my experience of staying in French owned Gites de France that is certainly what you get! Quite possibly the way ahead for us is just much more exposure on internet only sites which might appeal to the North American market.  We will keep our Chez Nous advert as that has been superb for the main 4 months of the year - we are just looking to fill more off season weeks.

We have one gite with a pool which we have been advertising for a couple of years with Chez Nous; we seem to be able to fill June, July, August and most of September without any problems but are considering various options for the remainder of the year.  One of the options is an advert with French Property News - but more importantly we are considering applying for registration with Gites de France. Can anyone tell us how much it costs and whether or not you have to guarantee them a specific number of weeks.  Has anyone found that they are useful for out of season bookings?  We are in North Deux-Sèvres so the area isn't particularly touristy - although we are within an hour of the Loire Valley Châteaux etc.  Any info/comments on registering a gite with them would be much appreciated.

We don't put any restrictions on at all.  We put the automatic cleaner in around 9pm and take it out at 0815 - but it only operates between 5am and 8 am and we tell people this and advise them to just move it to the side if they are swimming after 9pm.  The people we have staying here at present used the pool around 11pm last night and before 0730 this morning - with no problems.   As for covering it - we explain the benefits of covering it and suggest that they open it when they want to use it and cover it afterwards.  Our pool is only shared between us and the people staying in the gite so this may make a difference - but I don't think our visitors would be very happy with restrictions meaning they could only use the pool for ten hours a day.

Hi If your pool is an above ground one you are not required to do anything; however if it is an in ground pool you must have either fencing or an appropriate cover or an alarm which comply with the AFNOR regulations.  They are quite complex but if you do an advanced search using AFNOR as the key word in the swimming pool section you will find a large number of postings which will give you a steer.  If an individual piece of equipment - be it fence panel or alarm system - does not state on it that it complies with the apprpriate AFNOR regulation (different sub-numbers for the different methods) then you can be sure that it doesn't comply.  In your individual case I am not certain how your pool would be regarded - but where safety is concerned "better safe than sorry".  

Hi Try:  http://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=741  

Not a lot of difference - and possibly not 100% correct, but I would write : quatre cent soixante quatre euro 31 cent - none of ours have been returned yet!!    

Off peak electricity is available - it all depends which area you are in and which tariff you pick.  We live in Deux-Sèvres and there is a choice of 4 different start and stop times for "les heures creuses".  We have chosen 1230 until 1430 at lunchtime and 0130 until 0730 at night so that we have 2 opportunities to use the washing machine, dish washer etc.  There is quite a difference between the rates but I believe it depends on where you are living and who your supplier is - we have "Ouest Energie".

The Francine range of flours is available just about everywhere - and the mixed cereal bread flour in particular gives very good results. Some flours are sold by type number and you need type 65 for bread. Bread makers are becoming increasingly popular in France and you shouldn't have any trouble getting yeast either.   

Hi The company used to be called SIEDS but is now Ouest Energie; their HQ is in Niort but they have an office in Ste Radegonde on the edge of Thouars - phone number is 05 49 66 10 66.  We live in St Varent and have had a few dealings with them - they are efficient and do things when they say they will which is always useful!

Hi Welcome!   We're quite close to you - we live in St Varent and have been here for 3 years now.  There are quite a few English speaking people around - including a few in your village but I guess you'll have met them.   Su www.inchocks.co.uk

I have always understood that in order for any "foreign" car to be legal here it must be legal in the country in which it is registered. Su www.inchocks.co.uk

Hi We took a pack of colofac into a local pharmacy and came out with Duspatalin (mébévérine chlorhydrate) - I seem to remember that there was a choice of strengths and we ended up with 200mg which was slightly stronger than colofac (cost last year for 30 was 6,77 euros but would be refundable if it was prescribed) and was freely available. su www.inchocks.co.uk  

I've tried a number of different ways and was hoping to be able to avoid TU's method which is a bit of a pain if you just want to add vinaigrette rather than do the whole vegetable/meat meal - although I'm sure it would be the best way for that.  I usually do it Val 2's way - but it only seems to come out right one time in two or three - how much water do you add Val?  I usually just cover it and add a lump of butter or a glug of oil. Su www.inchocks.co.uk

Does anyone have a foolproof method of cooking couscous so that it's nice and fluffy with separate grains EVERY time? Su www.inchocks.co.uk

We have the big gas cylinders for our cooker - they stand almost 5 ft high and contain 35kg of gas (in our case butane) - the last refill we got was in December and cost us 70 euros 50.  Ithink the price is more or less standard and I'm afriad I don't know what the hire charge for a cylinder is - the smaller ones seem to be 25 euros no matter what size they are.  The valves are available in all the supermarkets and bricos but I'm afriad I can't help with a price.   Su www.inchocks.co.uk

Hi We moved to Deux-Sèvres in April 2002 (admittedly not Paris!) and have done all the ususal bureaucratic things - Cartes de Sejour (no longer necessary), re-registered car, entered health system, changed driving licences, gone on to electoral register etc - and we have never been asked for transalations of any of our documents!  I understand different areas have different requirements so it may be worth asking locally to ensure that you do actually need them. regards Su www.inchocks.co.uk

Hi   I don't want to throw cold water on what could potentially be a very nice booking - but are you sure it's genuine?  We have a gite and have received a couple of extremely dodgy enquiries (by e-mail) both for 5 months!  As soon as I tried to ask for my details we heard no more.  Just a thought - there are a number of scams around...   Su

Merci beaucoup!   Su