Some Cautionary tales

[Keni]

I am mindful that if the house was soo bad when they bought it and described it as so, what did they do to renovate? Would that not have been a better thing to have shown prospective purchasers? I understand it is poorly edited, but are there no good times, or is it the usual from the 'daily'? Mind you the Sunday one did a lovely piece a few weeks ago about my cousin Brian and his photos, that was a shock - opening it to see a pic and article of your cousin!!

[Sprogster]

I don't think there is anything in the article one can disagree with and I am sure it is representative as to what happens to a lot of Brits moving to rural France with children. Don't forget many members of this forum are retirees and did not move to France until long after their children had flown the nest., so one cannot draw a fair comparison with ones own situation.

[Pommier]

Irrespective of whether their problems were due to their lack of research, I feel sorry that  their dream went so wrong and they had to/wanted to get back to the UK wiser but poorer. I hope that in time they can see positives about their time in France, at least for their children, and that they can get over their bitterness towards France.

[gosub]

"You would have thought these people would know that international

removal firms can be engaged to take you back to the UK; they don't

just fall off the planet when they get to Deepest France."

The way I read it, they used a man & van because, they had very little to take back to the UK. I guess that all the furniture stayed in the house.

[Théière]

What actually happened with their removals, On another forum (Total Farce) [:D] there is a section where people advertise favours etc. There was a large (advertised as large) empty van making a return trip to the UK. Seemed like a good idea so they booked the chap.  He made no mention that he had several other bookings also, so half of their furniture is still in France.  Also the agreed price was increased several times by this chap (over a barrel I think the term is) when he realised weeks later they were too far south, west, north, east or indeed anything else he could find to justify a price hike. It appears this sort of service happends on a regular basis so beware of touts with empty vans [6]

There isn't much bitterness towards France, that is just how the piece was edited, designed to fire up the ex-pats. Her children should sale through their forthcomming French exams. 

 

[NormanH]

[quote user="Théière"]

On another forum (Total Farce) [:D]

 

[/quote]

The only problem is that it isn't funny!

[Théière]

And why is that a problem?

[NormanH]

I mean the Farce isn't funny...nothing to do with your comment [:)]

[Théière]

Crikey everyones at it!!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6247253/Petite-Anglaise-logs-off-for-the-last-time.html

where is my pen........oh hang on I am not funny and I don't live in France ah what the heck

[Quillan]

I've been working on it for days, I now have two sentences written down, the publisher can make up the rest, they normally do. [;-)]

[Bluebell]

Me too. I would air all the graphic details of my private life if I could think of any.

[Théière]

[quote user="Bluebell"]Me too. I would air all the graphic details of my private life if I could think of any.[/quote]

"They remind me of the time I was staying on a lighthouse on a remote island in the Hebrides. A fellow guest arrived off a boat in high heels and a skirt, unaware that there was a long  trek across a peat bog with suitcase to get there. Like with this woman in the account, no idea what life was like out of the city".

Bet you could get some mileage out of that, remote island, women in high heels and a couple of bottles the next thing we knew................ [:-))][;-)][:D]

[Bluebell]

Théière, with your imagination and my experience we might be good together. Writing a book I mean.

[Celine]

Théiere

Of course her children will sail through their forthcoming French exams. They only need to construct a few grammatically incorrect sentences to get an A*.

[letrangere]

What struck me though was why bring "abroad" in to the equation? Surely it's broken dreams when a new life anywhere turns in to a nightmare? The problems the couple in France and Italy encountered were due to the fact that they had moved in to a BUSINESS venture with insufficient preparation. They could just as well have experienced the precise same problems had the French couple bought a camp site in the West Country, the Italian couple a biking business in the Peak District.

Before starting up a business anywhere in the world business plans, a strategy, advertising/marketing, financials forecasts all have to be put together whether you are starting a car hire company, nuts and bolts factory, publishing house or, dare I say it, B&B or gites complex. It comes as no surprise to me to see that, more often than not, those that make a success of their start-up business in France/Italy wherever are those with business experience in their former lives. Sure, there are exceptions. But when I look around the gites complexes/B&Bs and other tourist related companies (ceramics, art holidays, etc) that have survived and, in some cases, thrived this summer near where we live, the common denominator is that their owners are all fairly astute business people who know their market, have refined their product to meet it and, importantly, researched how to bring in customers, which, yes, invariably does mean casting the net way beyond the British market. And will explain why one enterprising friend of mine is spending the long winter evenings in France learning German!