Eslier

[quote user="andymacg"]No mention of the 4th route though!!! [/quote] Probably Bristol to Dinard which starts in November but has already been announced (and started taking bookings) some time ago.

At only 45€ for your best room, per night, you are quite cheap for your area. The going rate seems to be 50€ to 60€ in the summer.  Why not consider two rates and keep the off season prices the same as they are now but introduce a new high season price (July and August) of 50€ for your twin room and 60€ for your annex room which sounds really nice and worth every centime.  You may well find that charging more attracts more people as they will think they are going somewhere of a high standard. It will also make the people booking off season think they're getting a bargain !  Might I also suggest that you include the proce in Euros on your default English language page which will make it simpler for people (especially non-Uk English speakers) to make comparisons more easily.

[quote user="Ariege Auberge"]Eslier Can you provide another link to the regulations you've cited above as I couldn't get anywhere with that one? I'm interested in the comment about the hygiene regs. As a small hotel owner (6 rooms) it's fantastic news to hear that finally France is coming into line with the rest of Europe with regards to hygiene in B&Bs and I'd love to know how rigorous it's going to be. [/quote] The full text can be found at: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=ECER0759563D

You can offer more or less what you want but three courses seems to be the norm. Dinks must be part of the inclusive cost (although the drinks you offer don't have to be wine) as you are not allowed to charge extra for these. You will need to obtain a Class II License from your local dounes (customs office) but this is usually provided free of charge. You could probably get away with charging a little more for the adult meal. Somewhere from 12€ to 15€ would not be unreasonable for an evening meal including drinks and coffee. Don't forget that you will also need to conform to the new regulations, Décret n° 2007-1173 du 3 août 2007, which require you to register with your Mairie by 31st December, conform to a maximum of 5 bedrooms or 15 persons, comply with hygene regulations and, if it is your main activity / source of income, register with the Chambre de Commerce. Good luck.

Winter schedules are usually published around mid September.

Mr O'L was on BBC Breakfast yesterday morning explaining that as BAA are increasing landing charges at Stansted by almost 100%, it will be cheaper for RA to keep some of its planes on the ground.  He was also complaining about the security fiasco at Stansted and the delays caused to passengers and flights - having seen this for myself on several occassions this year I can sympathise with his point of view as one now has to allow at least an hour to get through security there.  Let's just hope he wins his battle with BAA (and the UK government start to show Ryanair some respect) and normal service can be resumed as soon as possible.

I took my Stihl strimmer to the local dealer last year for a service and also to replace the petrol feed pipe which was split.  I was delighted when he only charged me 22€ for the service and repair !

When TB left Downing Street after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, we went to RAF Northolt and took a private jet to Durham so he could make his big staged theatrical announcement in Sedgefield. After he had smiled for the cameras and delivered his dramatic piece he then got back on the private jet and flew back down to London. My questions are: Who payed for the not insubstantial cost of the private jet - the Labour Party, TB himself or the good old tax payer ?   How many trees has he planted to offset the carbon impact of these flights ? Why couldn't he have simply made the announcement (it was hardly news anyway as it had already been leaked days before) from Downing Street ?  A live video link to Sedgefield would have served the prupose of keeping his constituants happy and been much cheaper !

If you've already had a quote for £1200 the that sounds like quite a good deal to me.  By the time you hire a van, pay for the crossing/tunnel, pay for the diesel, pay the tolls and buy a few drinks and a meal for whoever you get to help you, then it will probably end up costing not far off this amount anyway. If you want to do it yourself then it may be more cost effective to take a cheap flight over to London, hire a van there and make the return trip. At least then there won't be any problems with returning it to the same depot and you should be able to get a cheap return on the ferry or tunnel.

Depending upon your circumstances, the Taxes d'H and Fonc. may be the least of your worries as far as outgoings are concerned. A lot will depend upon whether this is your only or main (more than 50%) source of earned income. If it is, then you will have to register your business (usually as an entreprise individuelle) at the local Chambre de Commerce.  Even if it isn't your main source of earned income, if the expected income will be more than 27000€ then you will still have to register.  Once you have registered, which you will have to do probably before you start trading - i.e. before you start advertising - you will start to receive regular demands for cotisations - health, social security and pension. Later on you will also receive demands for social charges and Taxe Proffesionelle. In your first year you can expect to be paying out at least 3500€ on these cotisations regardless of your level of income. Depending upon the tax régime that you choose and whether you make a profit or not (only if you are on the réal - on the micro you will pay tax on 32% of your income regardless of whether you have made a profit or not) you will also receive a tax bill sometime the following year. If you do well in your first year then you will be rewarded by your cotisations increasing significantly in your second year.  It is possible to defer cotisations for the first two years but then don't forget that these amounts will still have to be paid in years 3 and 4 on top of the cotisations for those years so maybe not too good an idea ! If you have another main sorce of income and the earnings from the b&b / apartments is less than 27k€ then it will all be much easier and you won't need to register. You'll only have to declare your earnings on your tax return each year. Registering a business is a fairly simple matter but it is well worth getting professional advice from a French accountant first to make sure you make the right choices, particularly with regard to choice of tax regime. Most accountants will save you more than their annual fee. You will also need to get a Class I or Class II license from your local douanes office to enable you to serve coffee (Class I) or table d'hote evening meals with wine included (Class II). The license is usually either issued free or just for a nominal charge, and is issued on the spot if you visit in person. My advice would be to draw up a business plan with cashflow projections, consult an accountant to check out your expected liabilities and see how it all works out. As Quillan has said, it is perfetly possible to earn a living from a good b&b business but you will find it hard work. Please let us all know what you decide to do. Good luck.

Carnac Plage is lovely and just around 2 hours from St.Malo.  Take a look at the Hotel Celtique: http://www.hotel-celtique.com/ It is right in the area where all the restaurants are and only about 100m from the beach.  The family rooms are spacious and are situated right next to the swimming pool (which is covered but has slide back panels to open onto the outside terrace if the weather is good).  The hotel restaurant is also very good so you might be able to get a good deal for demi pension.

If you are traveling without luggage the the RA booking engine automatically adds the online check in / priority boarding option to your booking. It isn't always obvious that they are making a charge for this. You actually have to go back and modify the detailsto delete the option to avoid paying extra. I'm sure a lot of people don't see this when booking and end up paying for it without realising.

In fact, gastines is correct to refer to them as catamarans.  The three Condor vessels are Incat Wave Piercing Catamarans, as is Brittany Ferries' Normandie Express.   The HD Ferries HD1 is not of the "wave piercing" variety it is a 80m type K50 Catamaran.  All these are constructed by the Australian company Incat.  More information, including details of their entire fleet,  for anyone who is interested can be found on their website at http://www.incat.com.au/index.html

[quote user="Dotty "]. . .but you have categorically told me nothing is going to be done. [/quote] Perhaps you should read my PM again - that's most certainly not what I said. Please don't make out in public that I have said something I haven't.  What I actually said was: "In view of your "report", perhaps we should consider this matter again . . ." and that was after I had thanked you for taking the trouble to contact us.

[quote user="Dotty "]Hello RH Well I'm really glad I pressed that report button.  It would seem no body gives a stuff what I think.  The button is there but press it and guess what?  Nothing. What's the point.  [/quote] Well that's very strange Dotty.  I replied to your "report" and I can see that the PM I sent has been viewed four times - that's once by me and three times by you or someone logged into the forum as you. Perhaps someone else in your household has been reading your PMs ? Please let me know if you would like me to send my PM again.