Ash

Bonne Idée I have sent off my details to you this morning Carol www.neuilly-chambresdhote.com  

I was pleased, if you can say pleased, to read that others are having the same problem as I am having with my ISP - having connected , after a short while, sometimes a few minutes, at other times longer, it is obvious I am not connected, although the modem icon at the bottom right hand corner, indicates I am ? it is only when I try to use my e-mail or log onto the Mailwasher, that it tells me I am no longer connected. So I have to disconnect and then reconnect. It is difficult when I am in the middle of doing some searching, as then the loading seems to take ages, which means I am disconnected. Some days are worse than others and again the time of day can have a bearing in this happening. I had thought perhaps it may have something to do with me having dial-up, as I cannot, as yet access ASDL. My line from France Telecom is almost new, having been replaced two years as the loading speed was only about 7 bits?? As some people have mentioned Tiscali, I also wondered if it was happening to this particular server, as I have been with them both here and in the UK (Then it was Worldonline) If anyone has any ideas, it would be greatly appreciated.

It was a positive thing to see you have researched, read and 'done your homework', before deciding to make the move over here. There is a booklet from Newcastle, which is very helpful and in 'user-friendly' language, to help you look at your options regarding your benefits in the Uk and how they can apply here in France. No doubt Newcastle will be sending you one of these. You are wise to consider not living in an isolated position, as this was by far, the best piece of advice we received when we looked at moving here, well over two years. This was given to us by a Frenchman, as well. Living in an isolated place can be wonderful, but after the 'honeymoon' period is over, it leaves you in a vulnerable position, by having no-one to converse with, especially meeting French people and you certainly will need to develop your language skills (if you are not already fluent in French) which are vital if you are to seek work and fully become part of the community. Still it would seem by your letters and responses, that you appear to have the right attitude about making the move. Looking for the snags and other anomalies, not always apparent when reading books or by general researching. Bonne courage

I have also ran kennels in the UK for a number of years, so when we arrived here, it seemed a good idea to include this service as well as our Chambre d'Hote. We advertised this very well and living in an area which has many English who, either own houses for holidays or live here permanently, thinking we should get a good response. After at least one and half years, although we have had many enquiries for our Chambre d'Hote  we have not had one enquiry for the Kennels or Cattery. So, you must ask yourself, are you going to offer this purely for British residents, as from our experience very few French will use a kennels. Also many British can usually find others, either ex-pats or friends, who will care for their dogs if they go away. This will leave you with fewer clients than you would expect back in the UK. BTW we have recently seen and heard of three families in our area, who have recently moved to live here permanently in France, and they all are  going to run kennels/catteries. No other visible source of income, so they will need to register themselves as businesses plus all the cotisations relating to this move and this will make quite a dent in the profits, if any. It seems that now people coming here to live, are either going to set up at B&B or kennels. Gites now being very passé.      

I, too, have been reading this thread with great interest, now going into our second season. I must say, that I agree with Miki, Quillan and Coco, that it is very hard work, especially the mention of providing a friendly and good service to all of our guests. Some, of whom, it is easier to give this to than others.   Many things have certainly changed since we moved here and started this business, one being the need to be registered as  chambres d’hote, if your earnings are more than 50% of your total income. There are a lot of people, who appear to think that you just open up your house and wait until the money rolls in. Not so..The cost of registering alone is high, as the cotisations have to be paid, regardless of the income. Something quite different to living back in the UK. We have registered our CdH, as well as my husband being registered as an artisan. There is no way that you can expect to live on the CdH earnings, unless you have another course of income, even if you have no mortgage. Let alone if you have children or other dependants.   The cost of setting up is quite staggering, particularly if you want to provide a quality service and when I look at some of the charges that other people are expecting to charge, there is no way you can expect to get these, if you are not prepared to offer an extremely high standard of accommodation. When you consider the charges set by Gites of France, which do seem much lower, in spite of the epis rating.   We have had a good variety of guests this last year, including many French, so our language skills have really taken a ‘testing’ and we are both still on an upward learning curve towards being more fluent. However, we have also had many ‘house-hunters’ some who think that because they have come here to look for houses, that they, too can set up a B&B, to do much the same as we are doing. Really having not much idea that sooner or later, these people will not be around, but living here as well…end of that story!   All in all, we are enjoying our life here, although we do work very hard and the lack of privacy is something that it a big issue to take into account when you open your house to guests. The 24/7 is also an important part of the life here and we have heard of a few couples, whose life has been changed dramatically when they have been together on this basis. So hardly the greatest thing to consider when you have guests around, trying to work out your personal problems.   My final words to anyone considering doing this, is to look at the situation as if you would ever consider doing this back in England, because even if you had the financial ability to do so…….would you? You can live the dream, but you can also live the nightmare.   Perhaps this may sound depressing, but if you consider doing this, warts and all, it is better to do it right, aware of all the potential pitfalls from the word GO   Ash  

I am not sure why you thought that I was advocating smacking.... Far from it!

Coco I have sent a message in your in box Carol

Whilst I agree with you, in that there are many people who are looking at their life style and looking to make a break, albeit, moving to France to run a BB/Gite complex, just ask yourself, how many will actually DO IT? For starters, many people get fed up with living the UK and just the same as some, who do the lottery, they look at how they can change their life. The rising house prices in the UK have given lots of people the opportunity to look at the options available to them. Having the resources from your own property, either by selling it or re-mortgaging it, has now offered lots, the chance to look beyond their life at present. This, in my humble opinion, is why so many are looking for starting the good life here in France, but just the same as when the original Good Life was broadcast the 70s, there arent many, who faced with selling up, or taking on further huge financial commitments and leaving behind the familiar life in the UK even though it is pretty awful at times, for many reasons, not many will get past 1st base How many people will leave a perfectly nice suburban life (however boring)and life style, holidays, takeaways, people who speak your language and swap it to move to a country which it is non English speaking, more beauractical and a completely different culture, to make a living or hope to make a living in these circumstances, knowing that they will have to pay much more tax, have people living in their houses, using their facilities, accommodating all sorts of people, good and bad and not being able to complain, as these very same people are their livelihoodthe answer NOT MANY! How many have any idea how hard it is to work in a service industry...NOT MANY I cant blame people for looking to make changes regarding their life, we did the same, but truly, there were just as many who dreamt of running a smallholding in the 1970s, thanks to one TV programme, but none who ever actually did it. Lots of people dream and usually, most realise eventually it is a pipe dream. The reality of actual putting it into being can usually make most people wake up. I remember people saying to us arent you brave, well brave we maybe, but blinkered we are not. It is nice to dream and it is nice to talk to people about their dreams, but I, personally, think you should temper the dream with reality. How many people would ever consider running a self catering complex or B&B in the UK.a very few. Finally, just how many sell up, after a very short time and return, after the money runs out or they find that life here is not what they thought it would be. Carol

Click onto the start menu The from the 'all programmes' list select 'accessories' and she will find it on the drop down list