3141Castro

Just a quick one to say thankyou to all of you for your kind words. It makes it so much easier to know that people think you are doing the right thing - because naturally we doubt that we are. Its hard giving up on a dream. My father is still the same - and its becoming increasingly difficult being far away. Those bmibaby trolley-dollies must be sick of the sight of me! As for the property - Well its still for sale. We have done all the work we can do, and its looking great (making it even harder to think of selling!) We have had loads of interest - about 10 viewings so far - and more in the pipeline. Some of the immos have been fantastic! Others not so good. (we have the property with six agents!) When we sell, we will post our opinions on the different agents. May be of use for people who find themselves in the same position as us. Once again - thanks for your support. Phil and James http://www.leboisdelamotte.com

Hi all, Some of you may remember us, James and Phil - our website www.leboisdelamotte.com where we detailed our renovation exploits, had our****** named and showed our bottoms.... as you do.. Well - Our dream is over.... and we have never been so gutted. My father ( who hasn't had the best of health in recent years) became ill this summer - and I have been flying back and forth to see him and help out. It got to the point where I just felt that we were just too far away. The renovations were going swimmingly. Everything within budget and (roughly) on time. But all the time we knew that a decision was soon to be made. A Very difficult time indeed. And so, we sat down a couple of weeks ago and after much discussion (and a few tears) came to the horrible decision to sell. 15 minutes later (I kid you not!) Scary Mary from the Mairie arrived with our Permis de construire. At this point, even the dogs were crying ! I just thought I would post this on the forums to let people know - I know some of you were visitors to our website, and may be wondering why there hasn't been an update this month. I would explain our reason for selling on the website (mainly to avoid having to answer all the emails!) - But its a bit tricky, as my family look at the website, and i would hate for my father to think that he is the reason for our return. Thankyou all for your support. The help and encouragement has been wonderful. To anyone that is reading this and thinking of moving to France, don't be put off - We love it here, the French people are amazing, the countryside stunning, the cheese to die for (even if it does make the fridge smell like a worn-out jock strap) - and the wine.... oh, the wine.... ! But if you are thinking of moving to France - maybe think through every possible scenario concerning your family back in the UK. Thanks to you all... Phil and James

Thanks Dick! Tarzan was christened by the previous owner, actually, the previous, previous owner.. I really can't see why she would call him Tarzan, but we can't really go changing it now. The other cat we have... well, sort of, he is a true outdoor cat, and we only see him once in a while - HE is called MIMI.... !  What is that all about? He's a big ginger Tom with a girls name.... At least has understanding "gender-issue aware" owners now though... BTW Dick - did you change your ava-piccie thing? weren't you the Niven-esque character.. or is that on another forum? We prefer this one.... very 70's bear daddy... did you do some modelling in Kay's catalogue around 1975? I could have sworn I saw you standing on a stile in orange and purple paisley Y-fronts... scanning the horizon with your hand on your hip... Oh, got a bit carried away there !! Blimey Charlie....  

F24, Our website has always been those colours - since day one ! Its tricky - the templates i use are in a limited range of colours - and the other colour combo's mean that you cant read the text... Sorry it made you reach for the Panadol !! - at least you won't forget your visit to our site in a while.. what with the detached retinas... I will have a look at the other templates and see if it can be approved... we have limited time to work on the site, and we are no web-designers, so thats why we have to use a template system, rather than something like frontpage. Will see what we can do - thanks for input ! 3141castro    

Well, we have now living in France for just over six months. We have updated our website for September, detailing our renovation. Maybe of use to anyone thinking of doing the same thing ! http://www.leboisdelamotte.com  

The "beef" would be that the overall quote for elec/plumb was 51,000 euro !!! So to save the 1,000euro and get it down to a nice round 50,000euro would be great!! I just floated off then for a moment dreaming what it would be like for the whole thing to cost 1000euro............ aahhh..... that happy place.....

We are currently in the middle of our renovation project, converting our farm for gites... Our electrician has informed us that we must include TV and Telephone sockets within the electrical installation.. he said its a new reg since 2003... is this true? at over 1000euro for the 3 gites it wasnt something we were expecting to have to do... Anyone have any info on this? have searched EDf online and have contacted them, but no response as yet... Any help appreciated.      

We are currently renovating our scruffy little farm into gites... Our electrician informs us that it is obligatory to include Telephone and TV sockets within our electrical installation. We werent planning on including this items, and at over 1000euros for the 3 gites, it would be nice to be able to scrub them off the plan... Does anyone know if it is a must? he said that it is a new rule since 2003... Have done a search - but cant find any info - any help appreciated..!      

We are currently renovating our scruffy little farm into gites... Our electrician informs us that it is obligatory to include Telephone and TV sockets within our electrical installation. We werent planning on including this items, and at over 1000euros for the 3 gites, it would be nice to be able to scrub them off the plan... Does anyone know if it is a must? he said that it is a new rule since 2003... Have done a search - but cant find any info - any help appreciated..!      

Have a look at this beauty ! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5903556084 Don't go out-bidding me !!

Just been reading through the website of the British Embassy in France. I think it would be wise for everyone to bookmark the site, print it out, give details (phone numbers etc) to friends and family.... YOU JUST NEVER KNOW !!! http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1059132495834 (Blimey! - thats an ugly link!) Some very useful info - and reassuring contact details.

We have recently applyed for our permis de construire, for our renovation project. Do we have to place a notice on the buildings, detailing our application? We think we are going mad - We were sure we did have to, but know we cant seem to find out anywhere... Is it an old rule? Our architect won't return our calls at the moment, and the mairie is closed or we would ask them - Does anyone know the procedure? Thanks in advance!

We have recently applyed for our permis de construire, for our renovation project. Do we have to place a notice on the buildings, detailing our application? We think we are going mad - because now we cant seem to find out what we need to do... Is it an old rule? Our architect won't return our calls at the moment, and the mairie is closed - Does anyone know the procedure? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, Any established gite complex managers may get a laugh at our website. http://www.leboisdelamotte.com We update it every month with our progress (or not as the case may be!) If anyone has any feedback / ideas for the website or the gites for that matter, it would be appreciated! Regards, Phil and James

Hi all We have just updated our website, http://www.leboisdelamotte.com Detailing our renovation story online. Hope it is of use to you, regards, 3141castro