Lachouette
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Posts posted by Lachouette
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If it's any help at all...............four of our five letting rooms are in a stand alone building, facing directly south. We have three solar panels on the roof feeding a 500 litre ballon and we rarely have to plug in the immersion heater that's incorporated in the ballon. We've two couples booked in for tomorrow night and I've just checked the tank temperature to see if it needs topping up overnight (we always use heures creuses) and despite several overcast days, the tank temperature is just over 60 degrees C. The sun's shining this afternoon, the roof temp's in the seventies and I can hear the heat being pumped down to the tank below! We only have showers in the four bathrooms, but we find the system works well and even if we have to pay to heat water, we're never doing it from cold.Jan
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Thanks Clair!Don't get to read the forum that often and hadn't realised that you'd already posted - my quick search didn't throw up your post.Jan
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The French governemnt has announced 'exceptional' help for households of limited means, using fioul as a means of heating.To qualify you must:
- Be non imposables i.e. on your avis d'impôt sur le revenu de 2006 have the words Vous n'êtes pas imposable à l'impôt sur le revenu
- Have bought a minimum of 150 euros worth of fioul between 10 November 2007 and 31 January 2008.
- Have bought this heating oil for your main residence.
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We run a chambre d'hote and are registered at the chambre de commerce. This immediately takes us into the health system as we pay cotisations and get our carte vitale on the basis of those cotisations.Jan
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I find http://maps.google.com/ is very good too - it's the only mapping system I've tried that will find our out of the way hamlet. If you want you can even have the directions in French - useful if you post a link on a website for French visitors to find you.Jan
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We've had two different lots of postcards from Vistaprint - one that just shows a watercolour of our place - visitors take them away FOC, I use them to acknowledge deposits and our website address is on the back, and another for our local tourist office that has a smaller version of the same pic plus write-up in French and English and a map. First lot were postage only for 100 and the second lot the same, plus about £4 to upload a pdf file. Vistaprint always have an offer so you rarely have to pay for more than the postage for a modest quantity, and it's easy to use the UK site but have your goods delivered to a French address.Will forward our pdf for you to look at if you're interested and send me a pm.Jan
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We still have a barn owl in the barn above our guest rooms, so 'La Chouette' seemed a good idea.Jan
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Have sent you an email.Regards,Jan
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Thanks very much - looks like others have been there before. Got another this morning, strangley enough with the same phone number so will be ignoring both!Jan
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Wise, learned and experienced colleagues,I can usually spot the usual scam of African origin, involving travel agencies and Western Union but this one has made me feel uneasy, so I'd like another opinion please. A couple of days ago I received the following message:"Hello,I am Dr. Franklin Altman Stokes from Franklin Yoga Consultancy,and I wish to make a reservation with your for a group of 4 guests coming for a family Vacation.We will like to know if you have vacancy for the period of 18th September to 28th September 2007.Please Calculate the total cost involved for the services which includes and taxes for 10 days, and get back to me if the dates mentioned above are free.We appreciate your prompt response.Yours Sincerely,Franklin Altman Stokes+447024062538+447024091908Fax#: +442125042704http://franklinyogaconsultancy.tripod.com/[email protected]+447024062538, +44702409190852 TOKYINGTON AVENUEWEMBLEY.HA 96HL"It made me smell a rat, and I checked out his website, which shows his yoga courses priced in $s in London, supposedly.I've replied asking exactly what he's looking for in the way of rooms, and today received this:"Hello I got your email.They shall be staying for 10 DAYSthat will commence on the 18th to 28th of SEPTMBER 2007. Number of Guests=4 AdultsNumber of rooms needed= 2 Superior Double RoomsCheck in date:18th SEPTEMBER. 2007Check out date:28th SEPTEMBER. 2007Payment Mode:100% deposit via Credit card Please give us your rates,for the entire period, andget back to me with the grand total for the period oftime i requested. Your prompt response will be appreciated. Thanks for your co-operation.Regards"No signture this time, just the message. We don't take credit cards and as we're GdF 3 épis, don't rate as 'superior', so my next email may well knock the whole thing on te head, but what do others think.Thanks,JanSorry about the formatting - it's past my bedtime on night off!
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Before we upgraded to ADSL we had a deal with Alice (formerly tiscali) for unlimited dial-up access between 5am and 5pm, 6 days a week, plus 15 hours outside those times, for 10 euros a month. We had no problems at all with them, and now use them for our ADSL package.Jan
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Not sure whether they do or not, even though we're with them, but on a practical level, your walls will be running with water if you don't vent them. People on holiday love to take long showers it seems!Jan
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For fluent English speakers try www.anglofrenchbedandbreakfast.com.
Jan
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Someone has to be first to reply.........................and I know there'll be many more 'techie' and learned replies than mine.
I've found it's been really useful to have a French based URL name, as it's easy to tell the French what your website/email address is if it's in French, and have to spell it out for non-French speakers than it might be the other way around. The last people to own our place named it after an English race track, with website to match, and I would hate to have to tell French callers that!
For what it's worth, we're with tiscali (now Alice) and have a 10 euro a month abonnement,which gives us unlimited time for 6 days a week from 5am - 5pm on dial-up and an additional 15 hours at other times on top. I'm currently re-doing our website so have yet to test the connection for uploading the new site but guess it might be terribley slow!
Jan
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The last owners of our place installed one, and in the two and a bit years we've been here, it's hardly been used at all for cooking a meal, much to my relief. We get French and UK guests, and the French ones appreciate having a fridge to park their picnic stuff in and wash up their plates, and the UK guests like to be able to make a morning or late afternoon cuppa and keep beer cold!
We offer table d'hôte and most guests eat with us. If I had to redo the place, I'd keep the fridge, sink and microwave (useful, as others have said if small people stay) but would do away with the mini-hob. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to make space for it, if there hadn't already been an obvious place to put one. I'm pleased to say, most people clear up after themselves.
Jan
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"One thing I couldn't get to the bottom of was where the statistics come from - but I think they are based on visitors to Tourist Offices who are asked whehter they are in gite/hotel/camping/friend & relatives."
Here in the Limousin we're (well CdH, but I guess gites too) are sent a return to complete every month, with, wonder of wonders, a reply paid envelope! I've no idea what percentage bother to return them, but we do and at the end of the year get a break from them of our guests and regional totals too.
The Qs asked are simply how many guests we have in each room, their nationality, whether they ate dinner and, new for this year, we have to indicate whether people stay several nights by whizzing a circle around the entry. It really takes no time at all to complete.
Jan
PS Can't get my head round this quote thing and have no time as we have diners this evening!
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Sorry Maggi - now I come to look at it, it does say it's only an extract. It's the heat and having a mother-in-law as a guest!
I'd be interested in hearing how the full version looks, as the small taste I have in my hand looks useful.
Jan
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We've just been sent a free copy to encourage us to subscribe and we're only with GdF, so that's presumabley where they got our details.
The mai/juin copy has an interesting article on the legal position if you've been sent a deposit, but I need to get my dictionary out to check out its finer points! Given that it's only 8 sides of print, including the front and back cover, it seems mighty pricey.
Jan
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Thought I'd add my two cents worth too!
I have a dodgy back, and we have a Berlingo. I love its upright and firm seating position, and when we drive from the Limousin to Calais, have no back problems at all from it. I've never driven a van, so don't know how it compares, but as a 5'6" and a little bit woman, find the driving position good and it's very easy to drive. We have the HDI 2 litre version, and even with a lot of weight on board, it flies up hills.
Try one out![:)]
Jan
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I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable than me, but I think I read somewhere that your business has to be officially registered in France before you can use a .fr URL. We are registered with the Chambre de Commerce and happily use a .com URL.
If you think you might have to give your website address to French customers over the phone, you might like to think about what you decide to use as a website address. It's a lot easier, in my experience, to use a French name than an English one (you'd be surprised how many I've seen) if you have to give it out to French customers. It's easy spelling a French name for English customers!
Bon Courage
Jan
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Hi JT
My husband was referred by our medecin traitant to a cardiologist at the clinique Chenieux in Limoges as part of his diabetes management. The guy we saw was very thorough, and I think it cost around the 100 euros mark for the consultation and report.
A good friend arrived at the same medecin traitant last Monday morning with chest pains and was admitted to the CHU (Dupuytren) in Limoges within the hour, where one of his arteries was unblocked. He's now recovering on the Cardiology ward and about to come home, and has nothing but praise for the cardiology team.
As everyone else has said, go to your doctor and get yourself referred.
Jan
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I discovered that the link to follow consumption had reappeared yesterday on our account, so keep looking and the rest might follow.
Jan
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Metro is the French equivalent of Makro - try www.metro.fr to locate your nearest store. Can't say I've ever noticed any mini shampoos when I've been in the Limoges branch, as it's mainly food orientated.
We found that to get our metro card we not only had to produce our documentation from the CCI but also an attestation from Gites de France.
Bon courage
Jan
hot water
in B&B/Chambres d'Hôtes Owners
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