Coco

Our plumber fitted a pretty expensive system when he did a bathroom for us but we bought a second one for 39 euros for another bathroom and personally I can't see a lot of difference in the efficacy of them.

[quote user="TWINKLE"] Does it still taste like bananas or raspberries when it's a bit older? I can drink anything but Beaujolais is where I draw the line. [/quote] Oh Twinks, please verify that statement with the "nouveau" and I will agree with you -s omething I just can't stomach.  However, other Beaujolais is simply wonderful, especially the Beaujolais Villages or better still Beaujolais Crus. St Amour being one of my favourite wines now that I canno longer afford the better quality Burgundies. [;-)]

Your place looks beautiful Wilko and of course being in Provence now explains why you can probably say min 4 nights and your explanation that you say that at this time of year but will fill the gaps later makes much more sense.  We now do much the same, after finding that due to inexperience in our first couple of years I thought that any booking was a good booking and then discovered that come May or June I lost out on lots of 4, 5 or even 7 night requests for August because I had taken too many one night bookings preventing the longer stays.

I hope they bring back the CDS here in France.  Mine expires next April and I really don't fancy having to use my passport for identification, the CDS is so much better - and you feel much less like a foreigner when you whip it out in a shop than if you have to use your passport!

You're quite right Lizzie, I have no problem at all with paying to advertise on France-Rental but I do want to have an idea as to whether it's going to be worth my while.  I don't have a huge advertising budget and £85 for an unproven site is too much for me to consider!  I'm getting several bookings a day at the moment so now would be a good time for them to prove what they can do.  I never have a problem with not getting bookings during a trial period (no provider can do any more than guide the business to your site, it's then up to the individual if they want to purchase your services)  just as long as I see that enquiries are coming through.  What I want to know is that people are finding and using the site before I'll pay to go on it. In fact, thinking about it, I don't think I know of any new paying site that hasn't offered a trial period! [;-)]

[quote user="Wilko"] Dave You might find that the problem is wanting 1 night in high season. In July we have a minimum booking of 4 nights. Rgds Wilko [/quote] Wow, you must be confident, or in an excellent location!!!  There's loads to do around here, being midway between Mont St Michel, Bayeux, the D-Day beaches and other just lovely sandy beaches, but I only ever dare say minimum 2 nights!  Good luck to you though [:D]

I'm the one that made the complaint in the first place - I'll be a guinea pig [:P] - sorry, couldn't reply earlier, had to make a flying visit to UK to visit sick MIL. I still don't wear it about free uploading - I don't think I've even come across a site that DOES charge and I'm on quite a few!! I also advertised with Living France some while ago but never got a single enquiry! 

EXACTLY - FOr £85 I could be advertising on one Dutch and two French sites that I am currently on, who both gave me a free 6 month period to start with, during which time the enquiries that I got proved to me that it was worth going with them!

[quote user="Will"]The type of ship used by Speedferries is not permitted under international safety rules to operate in waves more than about 3m high - which means, in effect, that if more than a Force 6, mean wind speed about 30mph, gusts to 35mph or so, is forecast, they won't take the ferry out of harbour.[/quote] Well that's funny cos last January we crossed with Speedferries in a force 8-9. They said so when we were on board, even befor we left the quayside and from my seafaring days I would most certainly say it was that strong.  I hae to admit, I was surprised that we sailed that day!

Advertise with us. Why we are different: ·  We will input your advert for FREE if you would prefer. ·  You can add a free link to your private website and you don't have to link back to us. ·  We're the exclusive holiday rentals website for France Magazine, Living France and French Property News and will be consistently marketed in these publications and websites, guaranteeing quality traffic and leads. ·  We don't charge commission on bookings - just a fee (£85+VAT per year) to advertise on the site. ·  You can upload your advert and up to 6 photos and change the details at any time. Derr, sorry but just exactly WHY are you different?  WHAT exactly are you offering for free?  As far as I can see, absolutely nothing.  You are one of the highest charging of all the online websites, with, as yet, no proven record.  I for one wouldmost certainly NOT be interested in advertising with you.  How do I know that I am going to get any kind of return?  Even the other hihg-charging websites usually offer a free introductory offer for a period of time. We will input your advert for FREE if you would prefer.  What does that mean?  You can add a free link to your private website.  For £85 +VAT I should B****y well hope so.  The only sites that say you must have a reciprocal link are those that do it completely for FREE and free meaning FREE, ie no charges! Sorry, can't see anything there to entice me to advertise with you yet.

I used to be so good about going to the dentist every 6 months, then our dentist in the UK stopped doing work on the NHS and my last visit to him (several years ago now) cost me an arm and a leg, all for two teeth.  He was extremely good and although I've always been terrified of going to the dentist he seemed to calm me.  It's so long since I've been now that I have got myself into quite a state about it. My husband had to go here in France, just after our E106 expired and we were rather lax in getting our new cartes vitales so he had to pay full price, which for 3 visits and quite a lot of work came to 350€.  The dentist was quite apologetic as she knew he wouldn't be able to claim any back but as it was less than half of what we would have expected to pay in the UK he wasn't too bothered - and the pain had gone!! As sod's law would have it, I've been here in France for 4 years now (and haven't yet been to a dentist - naughty I know) but with 2 days before our intended trip to the UK I have had two days of pretty awful toothache. I've tolerated much worse so am going to wait til I get back next week and just hope that it doesn't get unbearable over the next few days.  However, the one thing I haven't worried about is the cost, knowing that 60-70% would be reimbursed.  But I'm pretty certain that one of the two teeth that are giving me jip will need filing down and crowning and I'm now wondering, from what was said earlier, whether this is not reimbursable [:(]  I really don't need a bill of 300€+ just at this time of year.  Anyone know for certain if crowns aren't covered by carte vitale?  And why not if other dental work is and it's not for cosmetic purposes?

No, no, no, you're all wrong - I know Will personally - it's Mitsubishi! 

Hi Cerise I'm mostly with you on this.  However, I can see Invicta's point - as anyone who's been on here any length of time knows, I have a real bugbear with GDF about their pedantic ways and I too would be interested to know if you can be a 3* without all rooms being en-suite.  That seems unfair to me, when I can't get more than a 2* rating, just because my room is a couple of square metres too small!  When it comes down to a larger floor area that I'm not using cos I'm in bed, or a private loo to pee in in the middle of the night, I know what I'd rather have! [;-)]  Anyone know the answer to that one? Otherwise Invicta, annoying as it is, I don't think there's a lot you can do about it.  

No, sorry, like Pierre, we never fully got rid of ours.  We did get down to just one annoying little buggar that always turned up buzzing round my head.  At the moment we're up to about half a dozen that always appear at mealtimes! [:@]

SO where would you get this hgher concentration peroxide collywobble?

Interesting replies here because it has nearly always been asked within an hour or so of meeting just about everyone we know here in France.  Perhaps, as Tresco says, it's because we are deemed a bit too young to be retired and the curiosity gets the better of them because they know we're not farmers.  What is also interesting is that when we answer that we rn a chambres d'hotes they always come back with "yes, but what does Monsieur do?"  It's clearly just not a job for a man! We've also experienced it with our French B&B guests.  The Brits seem to accept that running a B&B is what we do but the French still ask what Monsieur does.

[quote user="Rodie"]hi how much was the property in total? some uk agent  have an after sales sevice that gets you water,electric ,and other sevices connected  and help you with other things up to 6 months after the sale ,but this is only about 2000euro[/quote] Any decent French agent will expect to do this as a matter of course (and we went back to ours a lot longer than 6 months later and still got help).  I know of an immobilier who has two different books for the French and English.  The difference being that the English version has the price TTC (all charges, notaire, tax, agent included) whereas the French version is only FAI (Agent's fees included).  This was explained to me in that the French often like to use their own notaire whereas the English like it all provided for them so consequently the French price doesn't include notaire's fees and taxes - a bit like the Ryanair 1p flights - a way of pulling in the punters before you slap on the unavoidable costs!! Incidentally, both books are displayed in clear view in the agency, so there is no attempt at deception or "ripping off the English".

[quote user="Hoddy"]I can testify as to the quality of Coco's rabbit dishes. Hoddy[/quote] Why thank you Hoddy, and I wasn't suggesting for one minute that you are over 60! [;-)]

I didn't want to start a new thread as my question is so similar.  However, we have an area of about 3sq metres that we have left exposed on one wall of our barn conversion.  It is ingrained with 200 years worth of dirt and although my husband has had 2 or 3 good goes at wire-brushing it I think it is going to need something more than his extremely vigorous elbow grease.  We're in a similar position to Ali in that sand-blasting is no longer an option - open plan down to the finished kitchen!  Ours is a mixture of stone (don't know what kind - Manche stone!) and granite.  Any ideas? Just how messy is this nettoyage pour pierres et bricques?  We don't mind localised mess as we haven't got any furniture up there yet and no flooring down - just can't face the invasive procedure of sand-blasting.

[quote user="Collywobble"] The potential unpaid element of being self employed is something that people don't take into consideration (along with most overheads) when they are handing the chq to the self employed person who they just got to do something that they wouldn't/couldn't do.[;-)] [/quote] Absolutely!  People always look at the hourly rate, multiply it by 8 then by 5, then by 52 and come out with the classic, "Huh, I wish I earned half that".  The fact is, these figures assume that the artisan is working 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, no holiday, no enforced bank holidays, no sick leave, no time travelling to customers to give them their free devis, no time spent doing paperwork....... I could go on.   An employee gets a guaranteed annual salary plus holiday and sick leave - nice work if you can get it! In my case I'm not an artisan but in running a B&B we often get requests, like last week, "my husband wants to stay for 3 nights but he'll probably be leaving too early to have breakfast each morning, what would your rate be for that?"  Well, my nightly rate is 50 euros, so it remains at 50 euros.  Breakfast probably only costs me about 3 euros per head but you start doing that and then everyone will be saying, "Oh I don't feel like breakfast this morning, can you knock it off the bill?"  They need to go to a hotel, where they charge extra for breakfast, if they want to avoid paying for it.  Again, people think we're raking it in;  50 euros per night, x 4 rooms, that's 200 euros per night, 1400 a week,  even if you only have the place filled for half the year that's 36000+ a year - in your dreams!!!  There's so much down-time (or non-earning time) involved in running your own business - I work MANY more hours now than I did when I was a PAYE employee. A plumber friend of ours closed down his own business last year, after being in business only one year - the cotisations and insurance were just too high for the amount of work he was getting as a start-up business.  On top of that, this November he got a hugely increased bill for taxe d'habitation because the impots said that a percentage of his house must have been given over to running his business in terms of storage etc.![:@]

I heard somewhere that they are thinking about moving back into Europe.

Reading this thread has reminded me why of a few similar situations: Being refused a glass of port following coffee in a restaurant (it should have been served with ice as an apero) Offering our French workmen tea or coffee mid morning and mid afternoon French friends asking to be taken to a typical English pub then, like TUs friends, not wanting a drink because they weren't thirsty Inviting neighbours round for aperos and then ushering them to the settees and armchairs instead of the dining table Watching their horrified faces when, having invited them round for a buffet supper we had filled our plates with meats, pasta salad, remoulade, green salad all at the same time, whilst they had all taken just a little salad, to go back later for the meat, and then again for cheese. Popping round for a coffee with a neighbour (Thursday morning I think) as I had been told to do..... any time.  When what she meant was, any time as long as it was on a Saturday afternoon, after I had phoned first! And the worst sin of all, when popping down to see how OH was getting on helping to set up the mechoui tents and walking past 20+ guys I had never seen before and 10+ that I knew vaguely, all seated round the lunch table, and just raising my hand and saying "Bonjour a tous" as I walked by.  OH suddenly turned French on the spot and whispered that I had better get up pretty sharpish and go back round the whole table and shake hands with the ones I didn't know and kiss the ones I did - as all the other wives who had "popped by" had done.  Oh how could I embarrass him so???   I'd only popped down there for a 2 minute chat.  The introductions took fifteen!!  I leave him to it now!

I was obviously spelling phonetically! [;-)]  Brandade and rabbit..... can I come!  I suppose rabbit is another thing, although we ate it a lot in the UK when we could get hold of it, it's almost a staple here.  Can I get my English guests to eat it though?  Well, only those over 60, who always say they love it and haven't had it for years.  Rabbit casseroled in dijon mustard, yummy.

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] Surely the total price you are being asked to pay for the flight is what matters - that way, you can make an straightforward comparison between carriers and choose the best value flight for you.  What's included in terms of surcharges and taxes is irrelevant.   [/quote] I can be holier than thou on the global warming vs flying issue, I haven't flown for 20 years this summer.[:P]  However, I have thought about it a few times and I have certainly used the cheap airline sites to find the cheapest way for relatives to get to us.  I totally agree with SD - it's the price you pay that matters and makes it much easier to do comparisons.  A couple of years ago my brother-in-law and sister-in-law were coming to visit and on the face of it Ryanair Luton-Dinard looked like the best option (1p flight) but in fact it ended up cheaper for them to do Luton-Paris with Easyjet and then get a train to Bayeux!!!!  Easyjet had cheaper "taxes" so how can they be standard government taxes? And less surcharges, making their £5 (I think it was) flight cheaper in the long-run than the 1p Ryanair flight, even though the Easyjet one involved a train from Paris to Bayeux as well!

Never tried Suze but from the description I don't think I'd like it - I have a bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to most drinks (except wine, which I like dry).  Oh and I actually like Absinthe, especially after trying it at Vive la France a few years ago.  Trouble is, it's such a pain having to faff about with that holey spoon, sugar and iced water.  I like something you can just knock straight back!  Can anyone tell me what Byrrh is like? I can't bear tripe or andouillette but andouille is actually quite nice, though very pricey.  I've even tried boudin blanc now and like it, as well as boudin noir (especially avec pommes)  and rillettes are most types are nice and that mashed cod stuff - what's it called?  Brondade?  Something like that.  Calvados is OK but a bit fiery for me, nice in coffee though, and pommeau as a sweet apero.  The other two things I have learnt to love since I lived here are chicken livers and gesiers.  Luv-lee.  I now eat my meat much rarer than I did in the UK and we are currently working up to trying steak tartare - it's the raw egg that puts me off more than the raw beef.  Foie gras has always been a favourite.  My mum tells me pigs trotters are lovely but can't quite bring myself to try those, although OH keeps asking me to get some, especially since he saw that they are only about 30 cents each!