Jump to content

Jo Taylor

Members
  • Posts

    215
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Jo Taylor

  1. [quote user="Breton Networks"] We live in a small Breton hamlet called Rubertel & while not ready to accept guests for another month, are thinking of just calling our B & B (& Gite) Rubertel. Is this a good idea ? [/quote] We did this back when our hamlet had no road signs. A few years later the commune apparently had money to spare, erected signs, and despite very clear directions many of our guests go up the drive next to the hamlet name sign!
  2. ltf: Sorry, but eslier has given the correct information. If your letting income (gross) exceeds 23,000 euros OR is more than 50% of your income, you must register with the CdC. Some departments have not yet caught up with this requirement, which may be why you have been given incorrect advice. I reckon a pool is essential, thoughts please. Yes, definitely; if you're more than 20 mins from the coast, a pool is a must.
  3. If you want to erect signs on a main road, your property must generally be within 5km of it. If it’s a national road (route nationale, prefixed by N), you must contact the Ministère des Transports, de l’Equipement, du Tourisme et de la Mer (: www.equipement.gouv.fr). If it’s a departmental (D) road, contact your local Direction Départementale de l’Equipement (DDE), which controls not only the roads themselves, but the land 3m on each side (unless private property). If it’s a communal (C) road, ask at your local mairie.
  4. The GdF rating form shows the following under "Composition du petit déjeuner": Le petit-déjeuner doit être copieux et généraux quel que soit le classement. Œufs/charcuterie/laitages/céréales sur la table - 2 points Viennoiseries ou pâtisserie maison sur la table - 2 points (obligatory for 3 or 4 épis) Fruits frais ou jus de fruit de qualité sur la table - 1 point (obligatory for 3 or 4 épis) Café/thé/chocolat/pain/beurre/confitures, le tout à volonté - 1 point (obligatory for all ratings) Each section on the rating form must reach a minimum standard; the total points overall count towards the épi rating.
  5. [quote user="tenniswitch"] A small quibble: don't use "small" twice in the same sentence to describe your village. How about "Our warm and friendly B&B is in Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers, a small village near Puivert and Chalabre, where you can unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday modern life."[/quote] Eek, that's what I meant to put. (Guaranteed typos at that time of night..)
  6. [quote user="plod"]Blanquette de Limoux is a dish made with grapes and comes in liquid form![/quote] Ah, right, I didn't know what it was then! I was thinking of Blanquette de Veau - I'm in a cows and cider region, not a wine one [:D]
  7. First page: Holiday in the Pyrenees France, at our Bed and Breakfast.  Misplaced comma, and 'holiday' is not a verb - how about "Holidays in the French Pyrenees at our Bed & Breakfast". Situated in Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers, you can find our warm and friendly Bed and Breakfast waiting to help you unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday modern life. Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers is a small village near Puivert and Chalabre. Clumsy and with another misplaced comma - try "Our warm and friendly B&B is in the small village of Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers, a small village near Puivert and Chalabre, where you can unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday modern life" Whether you're looking for an active vacation or just somewhere to retreat to and take in the beautiful countryside, we will make sure you have a time to remember. We are ideally placed for both summer and winter vacations. The 600 hectare lake at Montbel is just a 4 minute drive away and the popular towns of Mirepoix and Limoux, famous for it's Blanquette, are within a 30 minute drive as is skiing at Mount d'Olmes. Of course there is always Andorra for your duty free shopping! Unless you're targeting Americans, use 'holiday', not 'vacation'. "600 hectare", "4 minute drive away", "30 minute drive" - 600-hectare, four-minute, 30-minute drive" (compound adjectives should have a hyphen; as a general rule if a number is lower than ten, spell it out.). "popular towns of Mirepoix and Limoux, famous for it's Blanquette" - "it's" should be its - it's a possessive pronoun, not an abbreviation of 'it is'. (It's its when it's it is and its when it belongs to it.) Is it Mirepoix or Limoux which is famous for it? I know what blanquette is, but your readers may not - maybe explain what it is (its local speciality dish, Blanquette). The first photo on the first page is very bland - it could be anyone's table and chairs, anywhere. Much better would be a lovely view. Its purpose is to grab the reader and entice them to look further. Accommodation page: The photos are all rather grey and bland - liven them up with some colour - cushions, flowers. Make them look more inviting and comfortable. "All of our rooms are furnished to a high standard are cleaned every day. An iron is available on request. Rooms and linen/towels changed every 3rd day." "All the rooms are furnished to a high standard and cleaned daily; linen and towels are changed every third day." Then, continue to describe other facilities - the iron can come later! "Settle yourself on the cosy couches and take advantage of our wide screen TV & DVD collection that is of course unless you're not outside enjoying the local restaurant and bar!" "Settle yourself on the cosy couches and take advantage of our wide screen TV & DVD collection - that is, of course, if you're not outside enjoying the local restaurant and bar!" ('unless you are' or 'if you're not'). The middle 'twin room' photo isn't showing. "A family room is available by use of interconnecting doors for holidaying families. Please ask for further information." "Rooms with interconnecting doors can be let as a family suite - please ask for details." --------------------------------- Further proofreading available on request [:)] (And I'm bound to have made a typo somewhere!) Jo  
  8. MicroBic is a tax regime, nothing to do with registering with the CdC. If your business generates 50% or more of your total income, or more than 23,000 euros, you must register with the CdC (or if your department insists - it varies, yours may or may not require all B&Bs to be registered). If it isn't your main income, or if it generates less than 23,000 euros, you just declare it on form 2042C as supplementary income from letting.
  9. Deposit by PayPal, balance on arrival minus the net amount received (less PP fees).
  10. Gîte Rural - a 'normal' gite - a cottage or house in a rural locacation let for a week or two (or shorter stays) to one party. Gîtes de Séjour and Gîtes d'Étape are more like hostels for larger groups. You'll find more info on the Gîtes de France site.
  11. Coming late to this one. A lot of good points have been made, but if I were looking for a painting holiday and paying a good price for it I would be more tempted if the site was a little better designed and more aesthetically pleasing (colours, fonts etc.), reflecting the professionalism of the product offered. This doesn't mean more bells and whistles, in fact simplifying it would work much better. The links to the tutor's work are too deeply buried - one of the first things I'd want to see would be examples of the standards- it would be good to see something indicative on the first page - a painting of your house maybe. If it were any other type of holiday it wouldn't be as crucial, but I'd expect to see a quality arts holiday advertised with a well-designed site. Perhaps it would be a good idea to invest in some professional help; your advertising budget is one of the most important aspects of your business. Others have recommended various programs, but a program is merely a tool - having a copy of Excel doesn't make one an accountant [:)] The website is your point-of-sale, whatever method the potential client has used to get there and it's where you'll win or lose the bookings.
  12. You can be registered as a Gite Rural (the 'normal' type) with GdF even if you live in another country but you must have a caretaker / representative nearby (but not if you want a grant). A Gite de Séjour is a totally different kettle of poissons, you would definitely need to be on hand to run one of those.
  13. A hornet sting is no more harmful than that of a bee or wasp, and they're not likely to sting unless provoked (unlike wasps) or dozy and drunk in late autumn from scoffing overripe fruit.. If they nest nearby, and you can put up with it, leave them - they'll disappear in the autumn and they don't come back to the same nest. We had a nest somewhere between the floorboards, a bit annoying having them buzzing around the room occasionally when they came out of the chimney opening, and OH got stung three times up his trouser leg by a dozy one in early autumn when he was kneeling down, said it was nowhere near as painful as a bee or wasp sting. Interesting reading: http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm  
  14. Now, if you had a gardener... I've already got an artist...
  15. I think "Liver Greasiness and his Small Salad" should be top of the bill. [+o(]
  16. Extract of menu from Bayeux a few years ago: I've deleted the French, more fun that way. Unfortunately they've updated it now. MENU A 198F FAT SHOT LIVER TO THE GREEN APPLE AND JAM OF RUSBERRY OU SCAMPIS TOASTED TO THE HERBS OU LIVER GREASINESS AND HIS SMALL SALAD ____________________ TURBOT ROASTED TO THE SKIN OF SPICES TO THE JUICE OF VEGETABLES OU PIGEON TO HER CRUNCHES OF TOFFÉE AND HIS FRAGRAND JUICE (SUPPLEMENT 25F) ____________________ THE THREE NORMAN CHEESES ____________________ PLATE OF CONFECTIONER OU CRUSTY OF APPLE TO THE CIDER  
  17. I got as far as the champignons, but told the pharmacist they were in my nettles, which I always confuse with my toes...
  18. [quote user="sunnyd47"]Maybe, just maybe, the accommodation is higher than the reported GDF ranking anyway. I have seen many accommodations that still have various stickers etc etc on their premises yet no longer are affiliated to them. It is NOT always the owner trying to hoodwink customers, more often than not it is likely a "senior moment" after seeing such stickers and wording for a number of years. [/quote] Yes, I had one of those. Occurred to me one day that I hadn't removed the GdF plaque from the gite some time after de-registering, went to do so and found the ivy had grown over it anyway! [quote user="sunnyd47"]As an addon and forgive my ignorance...........Isnt GDF simply a website organisation charging people to join for advertising and ratings? Is it actually a goverment body set up to officially oversee quality and standards of gites and Chambre d'Hotes throughout France?[/quote] GdF is governmental organisation, very official. It was set up in the 1950s to enable farmers to augment their measly incomes by letting out (usually pretty basic) accommodation. If you look on their website there is a history there (there's an English version). Also in most cases nowadays if any improvement grants for holiday accommodation are applied for, the application must go through GdF whatever the source of funding (CG etc.) And it is a serious offence to misrepresent the accommodation - Quillan quoted the fines further back.
  19. "'Where is the grass and all the flowers?'...said when arriving in mid-December." Wen, I wish you hadn't written that. Or rather that I hadn't read it just after sitting down with a glass of wine. Does anyone have handy hints for cleaning keyboards? As to the original query, why not ring GdF with an innocent enquiry - you've seen this wondeful-looking B&B advertised as GdF approved but to your puzzlement can't find it on their website? Could they verify whether or not it's approved and to what level? Jo
  20. No, it was over four years ago, thankfully we have very, very few like that and they remain indelibly marked upon my memory!  
  21. [quote user="Cassis"][quote user="Jo Taylor"] I had to edit our visitors' book. One lady wrote "Nice weather, depressing area.". Well, no, madam, it's not, unless you come on holiday with a husband and son who spend the whole time dragging you off to D-Day sites and cemeteries when you'd rather be on the beach! The note I added was, of course, a little more diplomatic.[/quote] So what did you do - cross out "area" and insert "company"?[:)] [/quote] Naughty sausage. No, I just added a little footnote to the effect that perhaps this lady hadn't appreciated her male relatives' enthusiasm for WW2 museums and cemeteries. They (or rather she, the chaps seemed quite nice!) were the guests from [6] anyway - she wrote a letter of complaint when they went home: "The cooker was broken" - nope, you broke it by forcing the door the wrong way and breaking it into little pieces, for which your husband apologised and we didn't charge (more's the pity). "The windows were too small" - nope, they're quite appropriate for a 300-year-old cottage, which is what you saw described, booked and paid for. "There was no shower curtain" - yep, you're quite correct, the reason for that could possibly be because there is no shower. (Have just realised this is the B&B section not gite!)
  22. When you do the test seaching, imagine you're the typical customer, rather than the typical person on this forum (who knows what they're looking for)... Free advertising sites are worth a go, if you have your ad and pics ready-prepared. Cheap ones are the ones to avoid. The more expensive ones (like Chez Nous) are more likely to have good web optimisation, press advertising, glossy brochure and brand awareness working for them.
  23. I had to edit our visitors' book. One lady wrote "Nice weather, depressing area.". Well, no, madam, it's not, unless you come on holiday with a husband and son who spend the whole time dragging you off to D-Day sites and cemeteries when you'd rather be on the beach! The note I added was, of course, a little more diplomatic. I think a few comments on a web site are OK, especially if they relate to attractions in the area; there's no point reproducing yards of "Nice weather lovely area nice gite" ones. Jo
  24. There's a discussion on a French forum here: http://fr.toprural.com/propietario/foro/index.cfm/accion/msg/idm/88043.htm I've only had a quick scan of it, they appear to be arguing that a CdH isn't a 'public space'. Have a trawl of: www.sacem.fr Jo  
  25. [quote user="Sunday Driver"]However, earnings are subject to a 10% deduction prior to the tax calculation.[/quote] IIRC that's for salaried people? If you're self-employed there is no 10% reduction. Your local tax office would be the appropriate place to enquire - peoples' circumstances (family composition, nature of employment, age - ad infinitum) vary so greatly it's impossible to give figures other than in the broadest sense, hence my proviso: (notwithstanding... etc. etc.)! HTH Jo
×
×
  • Create New...