Wendy

Thats what we have/had but then you have to deal with the billing system here. It is too expensive. I love your puddy tat Pads, he could lay his paw here anytime[:D]

So we could do ok selling our RAV for spare parts here? She's fine in body and soul it is just that the local mechanic has completely ruined the radiator system. She needs new tyres and battery though. We love her but we cannot afford to legitimise her here...anyone interested?

After living here for four years I am convinced that the French simply do not know how to park properly. I have watched some corkers in the car parks here and several times have witnessed a driver reversing into the front of a car parked too closely behind until it was sufficiently moved backwards for that driver to drive out of the space. I've never seen such a thing until I moved here. And they just seem to love parking vertically across two spaces!  

The one reason we never use the in-room phones when we stay in hotels is because of the ridiculous charges associated with them...the mobile is much cheaper. If you have in-room phones and are paying the line rentals but the phones are rarely used then maybe you could take a look at what you are charging for your guests to make a call on their room phone  and reduce those costs. If you want your guests to use your facility then make it worthwhile them doing so. We have actually done away with our pay phone now as it was costing us 70 euros a month to France Telecom and no-one was using it. If guests wish to make a call now we just allow them use of the office phone and don't charge at all. Very few people use it, only one person used in 2007, but it is there if they need it. We also offer free unlimited internet access on a laptop in the office and this is very popular, especially with young travellers.

We have a '98 Toyota Rav sitting in our drive that we bought in Boucher Rd Belfast. It had been imported from Japan by the dealership manager of the time and eventually placed in the dealerships yard for re-sale in 2002...we bought it. We brought it here in 2004 and in 2005 the radiator packed in. We placed it in the hands of the local licensed and 'well recommended' mechanic, with all confidence, who then proceeded to render it totally unroadworthy whilst charging us well over 2000 euros for the effort. It hasn't worked since and is still sitting in the drive after it was towed back here...all in great condition but it won't bloody start! Can we sell it for parts? The Rav AND the local mechanic!!

I did...and?

We would not be prepared to outlay the expense of installing in-room phones just for guests to phone from one room to another. When we have groups stay they all just bang on each others doors if they wish to communicate. If guests wish an alarm call we ask that they notify us what time they wish to be woken up and we in turn bang on their door at that hour. We have only ever had this request on two occasions in four years. We provide clock radios with in-built alarms for this purpose. Never had any problems there either and we live right by an airport where our guests often need to be up early so they can eat and leave in order to checkin. It is a legal requirement that emergency information (re: fire, illness, damage, tariffs, etc) be posted on the back of the room door so we do this according to law. Not one person in our four years here has ever complained about not having a phone in their room. In a very large hotel i.e Mercure, an Ibis or such I would say in-room phones should be a feature, but in smaller establishments they tend to cost the owner more than they are worth. Thats why don't have 'em and don't intend to.

We always give them 20 euros for a xmas calendar each year. Well, after all, they almost had to deliver my last baby in our car three years ago...I wont go into the details[+o(] Anyway, a calendar featuring several hunky firemen is always worth it's weight in gold...eh girls?[:D]

Actually Quillan I was being 'glib'. Though we also do just 'B&B' on many occasions. I understand perfectly well the chambres d'hote industry here, thats why we bought a hotel and not the former[:)] We like to be our own boss.

My ex-mother-in-law (some years back) once went on a trip to the US just prior to Xmas. My Xmas pressie three weeks later was the standard issue toothbrush, toothpaste and eyeshades that QANTAS hand out to all flyers during the flight. They weren't wrapped and she had even used the eyeshades! Revenge took some time to achieve, but it was soooo sweet[:)]  

'Lovely warm place to stay'...[I] try the south of Spain for that time of year[:)].  

Osie, there is not an actual 'legal requirement' to provide phones in rooms at all but the 'rating system' itself dictates that in-room phones be a feature. In short, you wont be fined or closed down for not putting phones in your rooms but you most probably wont get your 3* rating. We do not have phones in the rooms but do provide a phone in the foyer. We were informed that guests must have access to a phone whether it be in-room or in the form of a pay phone. Only two people have used it in three years though, everyone has mobiles these days!.  

I would say not BB. Such a situation would be fraught with complications otherwise. 

Take along your passport, your kids passports, your letter from Newcastle (most important of all!), proof of income here(if any) and back there(if any) and basically anything else you can fit under your arm with regards to your moving here. You don't want to have to return so take as much paperwork as you possibly can. CAF close at 4pm so get there at least before 3pm. You don't need an appointment. When you get there you have to take a number and sit down. Once all is submitted approval and payment is relatively swift.

Fiona, you have made the biggest error that a property owner could make - you got too friendly with them, too easy. Consider the saying; 'familiarity breeds contempt'. France is not a country to do this kind of thing. Too many laws here favor the tenant and too many make life too difficult for the property owner. Personally, I would have my own ways of getting rid of such people that would yield the desired result,  �nnot post them here[6]. DiscP>Disconnect all utilities. Do not pay any electricity, gas, water or phone bills on your property.  Forget about any arrears and just cut your losses, just concentrate on getting rid of them. Keep any info on them that you have and keep it for when some other poor unsuspecting landlord asks for a reference about these freeloaders. Then let them have it. I pity you in some ways, and in others wonder why on earth you allowed this to happen in the first place!.[8-)]      

Well Panda, we women can knock a man over the head with a sign that say's in capitol letters 'TAKE ME!' whilst wearing nothing but a pair of woolly socks and a Manchester United scarf...and they will still just say 'you're blocking the screen!' I would say that the 'ground' that the Guinness  factory stands on is worth the great deal of money, not so much the factory itself. I sniff property developers hanging around Dublin. What a shame though, and how long has it been there?... I personally went from being an ultra-busy, city-dwelling,  professional orchestral violinist to living in an ultra-rural, culturally deceased, backwater of France in the space of 12 months. It's amazing what we girls do for our men and their dreams. However, even 'he' is bored with this place now... and he grew up in rural Northern Ireland!. You live and you learn. Then you correct the mistakes you made. Tourangelle, I think the bored elderly locals I write about are relevant. Unless the local youth aim higher in life they will finish up just like them.

Just remember Panda that 'your' France does not exist all over France. She is different all over and all differences in France should be acknowledged. Makes it easier for those thinking of moving here. Now...where exactly do you live so that the hordes can land there and never be bored along with you?. If I said that rural France offered everybody right across the board unending entertainment and total fun, 7 days a week, would you accuse me of making 'sweeping generalisations' ? Maybe so if that is 'your experience' and 'view' of rural France. But it ain't the same for all of us. Scoob's...I toured the Guinness factory in Dublin 4 years ago. Walked in easily...staggered out, with a guinness glass from the top floor bar as a souvenir[:D]. I'll bet you can't do that at 'Stella's.

I can only suggest a really good fence. Alarms only work after a child has fallen in and only when someone is attentive enough to hear it and act; no good if Mum is in the shower. It takes 3 short minutes to drown.  A fence at least five foot high with only verticle barring; nothing horizontal where a child can get a foot hold. No outdoor chairs/tables near the fence either as kids drag them over to the fence for a hitch over. The gate should have it's opening 'latch' at least at adult height. Forget about legislation, get a good fence around it. Eleven children have drowned in Australian backyard pools in the past 2 weeks, some in those baby paddling pools. There is no topic I am more fervent about. Fence the bloody thing and fence it properly.

Since November I have seen literally clouds of birds flying back and forth, it's all they do. We live close to the border with Spain. OH says they are working out where to go for the winter. I know birds migrate but why this behaviour?. They just fly in huge swarms backwards and forwards. There must be some explanation for this. Can any bird lovers (of the feathered variety) please clarify?.

Toodle's, if you have a Lidl within good reach then head there for your ready rolled pastry. It's half the price (0.59c for a roll of puff) and does the job brilliantly.

They stopped teaching Pitman in Australia when my Mum left school in the 50's. I learn't Greig much later on. I love to reply to other people's opinions...with my own[;-)].

Cannot remember, the past five years are a blank[Www].

Pitman, Grieg or Summerhayes shorthand mon ami?.

Ahhh, that's just a sip to me Pads[:$] Just decorate the Guiness factory in Dublin, plus a big straw, and leave the rest to me[:D]

I drank mine in November...dosen't everybody?[blink]