A question of noise!

[Cat71]

The house we have purchased is one mile as the crow flies from an autoroute. We visited the property at least 4 times before we moved in and didn't hear any noise at all from the road. We deliberately set out to research it during our weeks stay in the area.

However, now we have been here for a few weeks we realise that the noise varies according to the climatic conditions which change considerably from day to day and hour to hour. Sometimes it is totally quiet and one doesn't notice the road noise for a couple of days. Then it can change and be totally unbearable if you are sitting in one side of the garden.(The other side is sheltered).

We have moved from a very quiet area in England where we could hear a pin drop at night. Being a fresh air freak we like to have the windows open at night and are used to total peace.
Here in the countryside of France we are experiencing what I would call 'noise pollution'. My sister, who lives on a fairly busy road in England exclaimed "what noise!" when I pointed it out.

The main problem is the noise kicks in at night when all is still and I'm wondering if this will put off prospective visitors as we plan to run chambre d'hote.
Can anyone reassure us that this will not be a potential problem?
Thanks.

[Coco]

Well if your sister said "what noise!" it's obviously pretty quiet and it's just that you're used to silence. Most of our guests oversleep here because it's so quiet. However, we have now got so used to the silence (used to live in a town centre) that it is no longer "quiet" to us, other places are just very noisy. My parents live just down the hill in the village and quite honestly I don't know how they can tolerate the noise levels there, but to them it is really quiet after coming from the UK. So you will probably find that most of your guests will be the same.

Coco

[Cerise]

What with the church bells, the neighbour's demented rooster, the bullfrogs, the cicadas, the weir on the river, the railway line and the cafe across the way where they play boules until 1.00 am sometimes, you can't hear yourself think round here. However, the majority of our guest rave about what a lovely peacful place we live in and the only complaint we have had about noise was from a guest who asked if she could take the battery out of the clock in her room as she didn't like the ticking (although she slept through a huge storm).

So, I guess you chouldn't worry too much if it doesn'tbother you personally.

Good luck with your venture.

Maggi