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Wendy

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Everything posted by Wendy

  1. Frenchie, these days it is never too late and you are never too old...  
  2. I am like you TW - when we are away travelling I often treat myself to a breakfast for 'one' by getting up and going down to the dining room early and eating in complete peace and quiet by myself. My OH is too lazy when away on holiday to get up before nine, and the kids sleep on too, and it sure is blisssss to enjoy a cup of coffee and a plate of goodies to myself without having to butter 'other people's' toast or croissants and pour their juices and hot chocolates for them... And no, I never take him back 'something' from the dining room...if he's too tired to get up then tough titties. We charge 7 euros for our breakfast spread which I think is very good value for what we offer; I note though that it is just the French, and sometimes the Spanish, who try the 'two for one' thing. What's 7 euros extra when you are on holiday? On occasion I have seen a wife come down and eat - having ordered for one - and then take a croissant and yoghurt back upstairs obviously for the hubby, and that's fine with me. But those who want to pay for one and sit and eat for two?...nope, not with this little black duck [;-)]
  3. Opas, Mr O has one hell of a compo claim to make - wrongful arrest and unlawful detainment for a start! it dosen't matter whether you live in France, or the UK, or anywhere in Europe, a valid European issued insurance policy is all he needs. So long as it has been issued in Europe it is valid throughout Europe including the UK. Just the same as his drivers license is valid throughout Europe. And why were they looking for a green card ? - he can work anywhere in Europe, the green card was declared a 'barrier to free movement' ages back! This has all been a major breach of European law and you should go for as much as you can get. Those police should know the law before they lock people up.  
  4. In reply to all the very helpful suggestions - it appears we were overheating the solder and had  also started out the job without using any flux. But all is fine now and thanks to you all for coming to the rescue[:)]
  5. Oh Thanks guys! the solder is dripping off right now... shall try the advice. Tar!!
  6. We are trying to fix the narrow copper pipe which feeds water into the toilet cistern - we need to solder/seal one narrow copper pipe to the other to stop water leakage and the melted solder keeps falling away from the piping. It wont stick...why!! We have cleaned and filed the piping...solder is 2.5mm thickness and bought it from Brico, the thickest one we could get - it is for sanitaire use. Thanks in advance[:'(]
  7. Don't you have a blanchisserie nearby? Quillan, how about Euroblanc at Toulouges...? I gave up washing and ironing the sheets when I got to the 36th week stage of my last pregnancy - I could not longer sit close enough to the table [:)]
  8. Val_2 I am not in your trade - the hospitality trade to be more precise - but I do certainly relate to what you are saying. It seems the wrong-doers have the upper hand here and one wonders how/why the laws here protect them so much? It is a shame the French motto does not include 'honnetete' along with 'liberte, egalite, fraternite'... Good luck with your case, I feel so angry for you.
  9. I meet people who have heads I could not, or would even want to, get inside so you tell ME for gods sake! We don't advertise mirrored ceilings so... We have stayed in a wide range of hotels and B&B's across the UK and Europe - towels are always on the bloody bed. Period. God knows what is on some people's minds. Like I said - YOU go figure! Still lost...? Seriously...!! Aren't you the one who sniffs the sheets when you enter a room...? I knew a bloke addicted to sniffing bicycle seats - unfortunately he tried it once before the rider dismounted - very bad scene...  
  10. They do not ask it here because we place the towels and toiletries on the bed - but having seen how many guests look first at the beds, the view out the window and then - for some strange reason - the ceiling (you go figure why!) I could guess what would be on their minds if they did not see towels displayed on first sight. We bought a place without towel racks in the bathrooms - a small one to hang the floor mat that's all. So we place the towels on the beds. We stopped supplying hand mitts after the majority 'went missing' - several ended up down the toliet...once again...you go figure why! I never knew this business required me being a psychologist as well. But boy, I sure am one now![:'(]
  11. Richard, I think that these days most establishments place them on the beds with the complimentary toiletries displayed upon them - this is what people usually expect to see when they first enter a room. It looks 'nice' and you would have people asking 'where are the towels?' if you place them elsewhere. Changing the towels - fresh towels on a daily basis requires the budget to have enough towels to do so and, as Quillan pointed out, profits are not huge in this business. We change towels every second day and tell our guests so. If they soil the towels too much we change them anyway...some people are very hard on the towels - especially ladies who wear layers of makeup ( yes, we provide the little remover pads but...) We don't place those little signs here, we tell our guests on checkin re the towel situation. I note that many people hang their towels up in the bathroom to dry in which case I take them and air them outside and put them back in the room when they are dry ( in between 'change days' )We top up the soaps and shampoo's on a daily basis though - if they are needed. Many guests bring their own though.  
  12. For one thing the accountant wants to see everything 'itemised' - another is that not all guests want to take breakfast - many of the Spanish/Catalans do not - and would take issue with it being included in the room tariff. That's why we price it seperately. That's okay Quillan you were correct on both counts, we're running with 8 rooms now - we took the other rooms out of circulation. I forgot you B&B'ers included brekkie in the price.
  13. You don't have to listen to the music then do you? who wants to sit in a dining room with no sound at all...? the two couples in question then sat and ate in stony silence - because of selfishness on the part of the others. Fair enough if you are the only one dining - but your wishes should not over-rule that of the others enjoying. We often have single travellers dining and they enjoy listening to the music without a partner to talk to. Anyone who cannot bear the sound of Faure's Pavane playing softly in the background...you have to consider the wishes of the majority I am afraid.
  14. How do you cope with this? we have had a spate of French guests wanting to order and pay for one breakfast but share it between two people. We don't allow it - because they have no intention of drinking from the one cup, glass or eat from one plate... One the one occasion we did allow this - three years ago - the couple did not 'share' so much as just about clear the decks of the breakfast items - and we provide quite a varied breakfast buffet. And yet they only expected to pay for one breakfast! Does anyone else get this request and what do you do?
  15. Spot on Quillan. We provide one room with a TV and  DVD player as some guests who are in for a week or more often like to chill out on a Sunday and watch a few films and this is nice for them of course to be able to do such - wish I had the time to do same! However the cost of putting TV's in 8 rooms is very expensive along with the extensive cable running - our walls are almost 2 foot thick - and the logistics are quite complicated. Another thing is most of our guests are not French and all we could provide is French TV at the most...we already get some folk asking is there any other choice besides the French channels.  Providing Satellite TV is out of the question for us. We provide a stereo in the dining room where I often put on some nice classical music whilst guests are eating - always played at an acceptably discreet level - however we have had some people walk in and turn it off despite the others already sitting there enjoying the music...caused quite an argument between two couples two years ago. Mobile phones also do not work in our place - I often see people wandering up and down out in the car park desperately trying to get a signal on their phone.
  16. I always thought Australia had the patent on flies but this country really takes the cake. From what I have learn't if you live in/near agricultural land you are done for; when the local grape growers start spraying their damn vines here out come all the f****** flies. And why do they all make for the house - why do they fly in but not OUT ?? I sit with a can of fly spray these days. And one other thing - it is impossible to buy a can of fly spray here locally before June, the supermarkets do not stock them. And the grapegrowers here start spraying their toxic chemicals around the vineyards in April - which is when we all get tummy upsets, eye infections and sore throats without fail. I've had a gutful of the countryside - give me back the city with it's smog, traffic and nightlife anyday. Fly papers make me gag[+o(]  
  17. Quillan, I would advise you to be very much on your guard with regards to guests bringing their own TV into your establishment. The 'TV license man from Perpignan' visits us regularly to count the TV's in our 12 rooms - right now we only have ONE television in ONE guest room right now which costs us 116 euros per year for the providing the privilege - we cannot afford to place TV's in all the other rooms even though our guests (British) request them. And these TV people are thorough believe me... He wanted to count a TV which sat in my son's room - despite it being totally non-functional and out of order. To cop a visit from one of these people at the same time you have an extra TV in a guest's room - despite it not being yours - could result in you being charged a fee for it... Personally I would not ignore it anymore. Tell them to leave their TV's in the car and do something else at night instead...
  18. I agree with Lisleoise; our friends were married here two years ago and the Maire made a wonderful event of the proceedings. I think it all comes down to attitude on the part of the Maire. Maybe this particular Maire considers wedding ceremonies as just another part of the job? which would be a shame. On the other hand some Priests, Vicars and Reverends can be incredibly boring conducting a wedding ceremony whereas others add a touch of humour and sentimentality to the occasion and make it memorable for all concerned.  A wedding ceremony should be just that...a 'memorable occasion'. Personally I think the only way to marry is through the church - a wedding should be a spiritual thing rather than a civil situation...but as a divorced Catholic [6] I think I am out of the race for a second chance at such...so it is 'living in sin' for me for quite a while yet [:D] So I'll enjoy it while it lasts[;-)]  
  19. Wendy

    Fleas!

    This thread should be mandatory reading for those who accept dogs in their B&B's/hotels...[Www]
  20. Camper vans/motor homes - don't you love the way they park horizontally across several parking spaces [:@] and then set up their silly little tables and chairs outside [:@][:@]
  21. Get them at Metro, though we find that at this time of year they run low on stock. We stock up in March.
  22. Late guests; I find that those bloody GPS things are to blame in most cases - as we have found in the past couple of years. We had guests call us from Montpellier the other night at 6pm - we are 90 minutes at the most from there - you know what time they got here...1.30AM! they followed the GPS directions rather than ours. We told them to turn off the GPS and just follow the A9 and turn off at Rivesaltes...no...they followed the Tom-Tom and ended up 160 km's in the wrong direction. Then ran out of fuel. Idiots!
  23. In answer to the OP - I would have deleted this enquiry at the off. Reading those questions, and relating, makes you wonder why people bother leaving their homes at all. By the way; Yorkies might be small but they are known 'snappers'.
  24. I would not worry about the 'three day' rule too much. We registered our sons birth ( three years ago ) FIVE days after he was born with no penalties at all; although the staff at the clinic were wetting themselves each time I refused to sign the papers. My partner and I are not married and we wanted his name on the cert; he could not get into the clinic to see me each of the 3 days I was in due to us having guests at a very busy time and you cannot put Dads name down unless he is there ( if you are not married ) and each time they came round with the paperwork he was not there to co-sign. So I waited. We registered bub when he was five days old at the Prefecture with no probs at all. But boy, were those nurses uptight about it!
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