Monika

I am quite cross with one of my relatives in Switzerland who managed to frighten me into several sleepless nights. Before I angrily tell him off I want to put it to the forum for advice. On telling him that we are having a house renovated and extended in France and having it supervised by a Project Manager he got quite upset and told me that employing a Firm, an Architect or a Project Manager who subcontracts the work is very dangerous because if they don't pay the employed Artisans, the Artisans can claim part of the house. He told me to urgently employ a notaire to make sure all the bills are paid or call an urgent site meeting with all artisans and the project manager to find out if they have been paid. Is he right? Can this really happen?

Can anyone tell me what the pieces of music are which are being played on the Barfleur (Poole-Cherbourg) to wake you up in the morning?

Hi Cheminot, thanks very much for your explanation. I think it is the float type pump and good to know we don't have to do it manually! Is your Avatar Swanage Railway?

Val put it quite rightly, she wonders sometimes why people bother, and the thought has crossed my mind several times renovating our barn. But then again, once it is finished we have a virtually brand new home with old walls but insulated to the latest specs and we have conserved a little bit of history for us and eventually other people to live in for many years to come.

The answers were of great interest to me as we have just had a fosse installed. In our case, a pump pumps the water up quite a steep slope to the filter bed. What if this pump fails? Does the pump need to be on all the time, even if we are away.How do we know the pump is working?  The fosse has not been used yet but there is already water in the chambers at the filter bed?

Our Compromis took five weeks to arrive in England and we had exactly the same thoughts especially as the property was still advertised. But as it is a Buyers Market now you don't  have to worry not like in 2003 when prospective purchasers seem to queue up

Just thought an update might be of interest and one or two more questions? The Fosse is in and the invoice has arrived. It is 4600 Euros. 1600 Euros more than the devis. Well we did not query it as they obviously had to do more work than anticipated. The Filter bed which should have been next to the Fosse is now in the garden at the top of the house, so the pump is pumping the water up the slope. Are these pumps reliable and what happens if the pump fails? I also wondered with the Filter bed being above us,  what is the likelyhood of  "infiltration" of water into the house if the Filterbed gets saturated?

Oh sorry: It is "Living France"

There was a very interesting extensive cover story of the Ward family in the November issue titled: New Build, 3 years, 2 disputes.... In the December issue was a further cover story "Dealing with Builders" You might be able to order back copies.

Or the "Grumpy Society", perhaps we should have a New Forum Category, especially for "grumps". Ideas for titles welcome.....!

I can't believe that 800'000 Euros would not buy a house in the South West of France (after all the Southwest is fairly large) and it must be possible to make a living with all that Tourist Industry or selling expensive houses!

We want a further installment of the Harley Blog. How are you doing?

How has the "Olive Farm" crept into this highly intellectual discussion? Nobody denies it, it is very light reading, self indulgent, like all autobiographies and yes about France! I reckon my Labrador would have loved to eat it!  

People who intend buying in France now are truly lucky, they will be able to put in an offer and will have a great choice. When we bought in 2003 not much was on the market, everything which we had seen on the Internet or on Vive la France had been snapped up. Estate Agents did not even turn up for appointments and in Brittany we were told by the Estate Agent to sign straight away otherwise it would go to the other people who where looking over the house after us (she was in constant contact on the Mobile phone with her collegue). Our neighbour (French) who bought his house in 2004 feels he has been conned by the vendor who was charging him way over its realistic value just because English people were also interested (whoops it was us and some other English) and now he finds a lot of things wrong with the house, he might even take the vendor to court.   

Ali, I agree with your hubby that you should read Carol Drinkwater's "The Olive Farm" and her two other books, which are "The Olive Season" and the "The Olive Harvest". I am reading it the second time  (I very rarely read a book twice) but I am trying to keep myself in the mood after a tediously long renovation. I think the books are pretty good and I admire her for her honesty and courage in letting the reader look into quite intimate aspects of her life (1st book being in love, 2nd book miscarrying her baby, 3rd book her partner leaving her and having to fend for herself).  I have read the Da Vinci Code, and found it quite boring but I will try Angels and Demon (as it's been recommended as "gripping").

Would there be a similar tax on renovation and extension?

I hate the expression "a tad", but I don't really know why. MOH hates the word "bespoke", especially when used by Julian Glegg to describe the "Shipping Forecast" on Radio Solent in the Morning at 6.45. 

Thank you for all your good advice. I think dependent on weather we will go to Arromanche and make a big detour round the tourist office and take sandwiches. St Mere Eglise  is a good idea because there are some nice cafes. I think we might not go to any cemeteries because my husband and mother in law have just been to the war cemeteries in Egypt (El Alamein) with "Heroes Return" and it was quite emotional. We will go via Villedieu (I wonder if that small, simple restaurant complete with formica tables down a steep road with a very "original" grumpy old owner/chef is still there?) and St. Sever. And thank you so much  Scarlett for inviting us for a cup of tea, may we take it up another time when we have more time. (I am sending you a PM).  

James, I tried to send it but I think it is huge! It said it would take 9 Minutes to download so I cancelled the transfer. Can I make it smaller before I send it?

Which of the Landing Beaches is most interesting, we are taking my mother and sister in law on a whirlwind tour of Normandy (Mont St. Michel), Villedieu or Domfront (not decided yet which way to go), Clecy, St. Vaast, Barfleur and then back to Cherbourg. We have only time for one of the Beaches and my mother in law is not a very good walker. Thanks for your advice in advance.  

James, could I send you my "new" avatar as well, I seem to have a similar problem. But I think somehow my picture is too big??

Sorry I edited the title, because the original title did not sound like good English!!

Its great to hear from you all and certainly puts my mind at rest, that we are not that bad! Thank you also to Val to hear the other side of the story. I must admit I pay our installments very religiously on time or even before, for fear that a delay in paying could lead to further delay.

I often wonder what client constitutes "the worst nightmare for a builder" and wonder if ours crinches each time he receives an e-mail or telephone call. Is it common for a client to get even more impatient the closer to the finish a project is? During the starting stage of our renovation/build when nothing happened for 3 month we sent about 5 e-mails and called twice. Now we are on the interior work and have not heard anything for 4 weeks, we have sent 3 e-mails and called once. Do you think we are a "nightmare"?  

Thank you Bassman for the photo of your very own Burial Mount. What about an Alpine Garden/Rockery? You have a big garden, so it could make quite a feature.