We are debating on a move to France. Any advice appreciated!

[jon]

Well...in accordance with Russet Houses's own character sketch...my picture matches....and, incidently there was nothing rude in my interpritation.The pottery which she seems to like is very traditional.The decor of my property is a little more abstract.

However it seems, once again very fashionable to be rude to Jon!Is English my first language ......lots of implications!

Oh well looks like I will never be joining your club.....

Clients  take ppresidence.

[Russethouse]

As it happens jon the pottery I like has been being manufacured for 300 + years. Over that time there have been periods that have attract me and some that don't but one of my pleasures is suporting and being interested in contemporary artists. People such as Alexander Goudie,  Bel Delecourt, Patrice Cudennec, Marie Toulhoat, Olivier Lapique, Philip Lalys and Valerie LeRoux (who we hope will make a unique fresco for our kitchen when we renovate)

 Perhaps not so traditional as you may think[;-)]

 

[Quillan]

I will be off shortly to prepare tonight's dinner, home made duck and walnut pate and home made bread, salmon on a bed of leeks with a cream and  white wine sauce followed by a selection of local cheeses and home made Creme Brulee with bananas and strawberries washed down with a bottle of local white all for 19 Euros less than some might charge. I have had a few international writups about my cooking and quite a few recomendations (in Trip Advisor) didn't ask for them but there you go[;-)] .

Thought I would get that, not really advertising is it [:D] .

After that I am going to do some re-branding for my B&B. I mean if you can change a manoir bourgeoise to a chateau then I think I can do the same for my humble abode and its two acres of private park with river and fish rights. Don't have to worry about weddings as we do them already and have done for two years now.

Sorry ,couldnt resist [:D] .

[Sunday Driver]

Just checked out your website, Quillan - your humble abode looks very nice indeed.

And it gives lots of useful information but without all those irritating little dots...you see what I mean...much easier... to read that is....

And it has a version in French for all the French folk who might want to visit you....[;-)]

 

 

[Quillan]

Why thats very kind of you SD. We do special meals for the French to give them a taste of typical British cuisine, spotted dick, sticky toffee pudding, pie and mash with liquor, fish and chips, toad in the hole, steak and kidney pud, braised hearts and of course roast beef with Yorkshire pud not to mention fish and chips on Fridays. Just trying to do my bit for the wonderful diversity of British grub [;-)] . Of course Brits can have the same if they want or something typically foreign like spaghetti bolognese [:D].

[Tony F Dordogne]

Quillan, it also looks so much more professional if the advertising text is grammatical and without errors as yours is, sort of finishes things off nicely.

[jon]

Quillan my property is a Gironde style house.

I do not refer to it as a chateau.

The weddings are organised at a chateau 10 mins from me and it has a river frontage and 22 bedrooms.

I can not see any point in this childish nonsense.....we have already been through this episode about spelling ect.

Glad that everything is tickity boo with your chambre d hote.....your menue looks good and your prices are very reasonable.

 

.

[Sunday Driver]

Childish nonsense?

Being able to express oneself using correct grammar and spelling means nothing on a forum - you can write whatever you like, any way you like.  The only risk is that people will not bother to struggle through what you are trying to say.

Doing the same thing on a professional website which is designed to promote your sophisticated lifestyle business a wholly different matter.

 

 

[plod]

I have to say, jon, that the house and garden look nice and so do your menus, but why didn't you get somebody to proof read your site, that way you wouldn't have such words as "apperative" "fois gras" etc?

[Cat]

To be fair, Jon has already said in another thread that he is dyslexic.

On the same thread (last year) quite a few people pointed out the spelling and grammar problems on his website.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/5/1419804/ShowPost.aspx#1419804

 

[Russethouse]

 There is always spell check in Word, even if someone is dyslexic it's fairly easy to use..... hope Jon hasn't paid the web site creator yet. 

[NormanH]

Not only in Word...

my browser (Firefox as it happens) has a spell check which can be set to French or English..

I do make typing errors, but I have never understood why people post without checking the spelling, especially if they know they have a weakness.

It's not a question of intelligence just of taking a bit of trouble.

[jon]

And I never understand why people pay so much attention to spelling and grammar as if it is a life giving product.

Dyselxia is much more complex than failure to spell correctly.It can be realted to an ilabilty to coordinate and link.I am unable to learn to drive,follow road routes,learn choregraphy and anything technical connected with computors if  you fail to appreciate this.....it is your choice.It does seem that some of you have this great capacity to assume and condem.

I have looked at many web sites which appear on this forum and find them visually unattractive.However I have no desire to attack people rudely and mock them publicly.That is not a desplay of intelligence.Being told to "SHUT-UP" is a bad display or anger...usually afiliated [I have not got access to spell check...]with kiids who do not get their own way.

I have ...as I recall suggested that France is not perfect.I have  also said that before anyone leaves their country of birth they should survery the new destination totally.

Two clients[who were originally from UK and living in Perth] said that they are thinking of moving here to France.They announced that they will never live in Uk again..He is an airline pilot and is London and Heathrow frequently.Both of them have had parents or grand parents who have experienced MRIS in UK hospitals....one these MRIS cases was a fatality.

 

 

[Russethouse]

 Jon, You say you are a great cook and have a lovely B&B, marketing is a great part of attracting clientèle, especially at the level you seem to aspire to. A site with spelling errors won't help.

I beg to differ regarding spell check, as you are on line it is likely that you DO have access to it.: If the blue bar at the top of the page says Microsoft Internet Explorer at the end (on the right)  you can access iespell at http://www.iespell.com/download.php and click on any install bar and that it is it.

 Alternatively you could import the google tool bar. Click here :

http://toolbar.google.com/T6/intl/en-GB/index.html?tracking=1&utm_campaign=enGB&utm_source=enGB-ha-emea-uk-google&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=the%20google%20toolbar&tbbrand=GZAZ

and then click on the blue bar on the right hand side. It is a matter of seconds for either application.

In addition my guess is that your computer probably has Word or something similar which will also come with a spell check.

How do you write your menus ?

There are enough people on this forum with a far better knowledge of computers than I, that would assist you using simple terminology if you just ask for help. I use computers on a 'need to know' basis

As regards what I think you mean is MRSA, perhaps you should let your guests know that they have it France too, just like they actually had mad cow disease, they just don't talk about it so much.

[Quillan]

I think, if you read the posts properly, that what people are saying is OK fair enough we know that about you as you mentioned it before and we accept your disability. What they are saying is that your website is how people will see you and gain their first impression and its there that your disability shows. You could start by saying you have your disability and hope people will make allowances or alternatively you could ask somebody to read it through and correct any errors. Other than the grammar problems its a nice website although it does lack one thing, prices, or are you thinking that if they need to ask then they can't afford to stay with you.

[Quillan]

I stand corrected, I found the prices but they are not obvious, you have to look around a bit. You might consider another tab (bell) at the top and put all the prices in one place, just a suggestion.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

....... just like they actually had mad cow disease, they just don't talk about it so much.

[/quote]

No the farmers shot the cows, dug big holes and buried them without telling anyone

[jon]

The web designers was asked to correct all errors....if not once but a hundred times.He is an ex someliar from UK.We sent him hundreds of photos to choose from...and, of course repeted several.

I then found a woman living in area 24 who promised the earth!She was supposed to add pics and change pics....and above all sort out fonts and change the front and back page errors.She inisted that she had been blocked.....and was unable to access those pages.This "destination finder" rhing is far from my idea and I would like it taken off.

It obviously means that I need a new website but I am finding that web designers can be somewhat elusive and indulgent.

Yes I have got a nice B and B.I have clients who are returning and recomending the place to others.

We had three AA rosettes in England in THE Automobile Association guide for many years.That is very similar to one star michelin.

I did try.. to recruit the skills of one of your forum contributors and was met with all sorts or problems relating to what I wanted to achieve from a web site.I know what I want but the web designer has to listien.I want a design and layout which is clean an simple using ...probably one font.I want the web designer to take command and show me progression step by step....one page at a time....untill we have reached the last page and all is fine.

Yes I am sure Russet House that there is MRSA in France.

The level of incompidence that I have experienced in UK relating to medical attention has been horrific and I sincerely hope that my cases are isolated errors.However.....facts and figures do not make that suggestion.

As I have said before...whatever feelings you have about how bad life is in France or how great Uk is....there is no need to tell people to tell people to "shut-up"......or to make great expression of disbelieve.

Russet house we do not have menues.The clients who stay here are invited to have table d'hote.

The menues on the website are examples of what clients can expect to eat.

Our cookery holiday is detailed with an American company called Internationalkitchen.com ave a look at their description of the vacation.

 

[jon]

sorry       theinternationalkitchen.com     

Our hoiday is under the section SWFrance.

[bubbles]

I would be very happy to proofread and correct any spelling /grammar mistakes for nothing.

Please pm me with anything you are thinking of putting in the public domaine.

[YCCMB]

Please don't take this the wrong way, bubbles. I'm laughing with you, not at you. But if you're going to proof read anything, you might want to start with your own posts! The public DOMAIN doesn't have an "e".[:D]

[KathyF]

jon,

One very easy thing you can do to make your posts and website more legible without a spell-checker is to remember always to put a space after a comma or full-stop, before continuing with your next phrase or sentence. It will quickly become a habit and will make a real difference.

[mint]

Don't like nitpicking, KathyF, but the rule always used to be one space after a comma and two spaces after a fullstop.  Has anyone else heard this one?

[Scooby]

Yes Sweet - that was my understanding too.

[Catalpa]

That was true in the days of printers, typewriters, paper and typefaces / fonts with non-proportional spacing - with proportional spacing, in the space of an m, you can get the letter i four times. Or thereabouts. The need for a double space after a full stop has more or less disappeared.