Monsieur Lélan

Well, we bit the bullet and informed the agent that the place had arrived 12 months too early for us. If they were able to find a trustworthy custodian for a year, maybe we could be persuaded, but I doubt it. If it is still available in 12 months, who knows??? Assuming we restart our searching in 12-15 months, can anyone recommend either:- 1) an inxpensive region with easy flight access to UK (generally south-ish, we were looking in Vendee, but any up and coming regions would be worthwhile). We discounted brittany and normandie as being too similar to the UK for weather. I know south east and dordogne areas are already full of ex-pats and expensive. and/or 2) A decent Immo commerciaux on a national level that can be trusted to have property available? I too have heard elswhere of problems with immos on normal housing that have property on their sites which have been sold for months (not always their fault I know due to vendors flgging their house via anyone who'll take them) - I didn't realise the probelm was just as fraught with businesses. I always finf it fascinating to hear of experiences of people who have done it.

Thanks to all. What do you think the risks would be to mothballing the place for a year? Catastrophic for the goodwill built up by existing clientele, or is loyalty so fickle that we could restart the year after and quickly regain trade?  It's a small village, so it probably would be noticed if it shut down. We are having to be raelly pragmatic here, as the place is a dream, which is always dangerous, as we need to remain objective. Maybe we should wait. Do a lot of plaves come on the market regularly?

Thanks Bizzer. I have already the book you mention. I have advertised elsewhere on the site for people who may be interested in running such an operation. The place we are considering is fairly small operation (the current owners are the chefs, as it's a creperie, and they employ 6 staff every summer, probably on CDD contracts). We really love the place, but probably wisdom dictates we should wait until "Nous sommes prêt à s'installer" in 2007.   Jon

Wanted - somebody interested in running a creperie for 6 months next year (April to October). Ability to speak french and waiting staff management a distinct advantage, but would suit couple who fancy trying their hand at running a French business.

We are thinking of buying a restaurant as a going concern in France, but would not be ready to settle there full-time until 2007. It would be nice to find a manager for 6 months between april to october next year, but are unsure whether this would be easy, whether we could trust somebody not to diddle us and how easy the tax system is there, while living in the UK. Anyone got any advice on this?