NormanH Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I taught two of the Waugh brood (but not Daisy) and was entertained at Combe Florey.I didn't agree with his views but he was a good host. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausibattler Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Got your point RH -- 3 times in fact!!! Some thing you choked on no doubt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausibattler Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Should read : "the reality of the cost of living in France" holiday home or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 There is no 'reality' there.The sums she talks aout for grocery bills are more than a person on the RMI has in a month, and over half the net minimum wage for a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatHCA Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Yes and she was spending that a few years ago when the exchange rate was better!God knows how much she would spend today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausibattler Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Norman HWhy is it that other peoples life (style) has to be judged against the lowest common denominators one can dredge up? Incidentally was is an RMI?Surely a weekly rather than a daily ( British Style) shopping practice is more cost effective and surely no matter what the finacial cost is to feed a family of 5, it was to a standard they were use to. I would also suggest the example of a quoted particular shopping bill, as with anyone else, would vary significantly from week to week. I would also suggest that the cost of feeding a family in France with supermarket food is expensive by most (G8) country standards regardless of currency conversions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 A 500 pound/Euro/ $AUD weekly shopping bill is surely not unusual for a family of five. I have a family of 4 adults, it would be pretty unusual here !!! And that includes wine plus the odd paperback etc....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 [quote user="ausibattler"]Incidentally was is an RMI?[/quote]To clarify, see RMI here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenu_minimum_d%27insertion.At 1st Jan. 09, the RMI was set at just under €455 per adult per month.To put Norman's comment in context, it is worth noting that at 1st June 09, around 3 million individuals in France were RMI beneficiaries.This might also give you some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keni Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 How much did they get through in one sitting from the fridge again - wasn't it £400/400E? It would have to be an American style fridge cos even with nothing but caviar and fois gras and truffles, my fridghe wouldn't hold that amount!This woman is either really dense - as I am now inclined to believe - tell your visitors to wash up and cook their own food - or as you all feel, it was written for the exposure factor. I know which book/author is not on my list now. With people like that I want to walk up to them an just smack them around the back of the head - they really tar Brits with the same brush and if the neighbours see her they'd think we were all like that! Where's the village again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 [quote user="ausibattler"]Why is it that other peoples life (style) has to be judged against the lowest common denominators one can dredge up? [/quote]To clarify further, apart from RMI info given by Clair, it is also interesting to note that 8 million people in France(i.e. more than one in ten) live below the poverty threshold, according to a very recent article.http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/2009-05-06/precarite-8-millions-de-personnes-sous-le-seuil-de-pauvrete/920/0/340866 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Streason Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 What kind of swimming pool needs the water left on to function - mine doesn't. So if there is a choice of types then they had the wrong type installed for a holiday home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babcock Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 My SIL left this person's book behind when she came to stay. I tried to read it but couldn't get into it. Very lightweight, much like this article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baypond Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Forget the weekly food and the friends and the costs, she is a journalist who is trying to write a story everyone will want to read and comment on. She has done that successfully! I think on the surface it manages to touch on many of the emotions of owning a holiday home, however having read for years the drivel coming from londoners about how ghastly living in the country must be, I think she probably falls in to the category of someone who bought for the wrong reasons. The more amusing and honest read is on France Forum 'Im thinking of giving up gites' They should put that in print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I would have hoped that most people on the forum no longer believed what they read in UK news papers.If I have guests I take them with me to the shops and they pay a fair share.Got a guy and his family that used to work for me coming over this week with three kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 we always say to friends that they are welcome on a 1 in 3 basis - 1 night we cook, 2nd night they do, 3rd we go out!But of course we will adjust depending on situation - a friend who has lost his job came over last year and we did adjust the rules - although he and his wife cooked a fair bit. And we have financially challenged friends + kids coming in October- I know they will help with cooking, etc - but we will not let them pick tabs of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatHCA Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 If we are there guests contribute to cooking shoping ,meals out etc If we aren't then we expect the cost of fuel and water to be covered but we don't make a profit because we feel a house benefits from being used.We once let someone use the house without paying anything as they had financial problems but they left us a very nice present. I dont think true friends would expect to live for free. and I wonder what if said friends are reading the article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 [quote user="baypond"]Forget the weekly food and the friends and the costs, she is a journalist who is trying to write a story everyone will want to read and comment on. She has done that successfully! I think on the surface it manages to touch on many of the emotions of owning a holiday home, however having read for years the drivel coming from londoners about how ghastly living in the country must be, I think she probably falls in to the category of someone who bought for the wrong reasons. The more amusing and honest read is on France Forum 'Im thinking of giving up gites' They should put that in print.[/quote]Funny I was thinking the same thing ... he should contact the paper show them this thread ... and maybe he could make a living out of it like her ... it certainly would be more true to life and amusing ... she was just the type of woman I want to slap and tell to get a life ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 drinkypoos did make me cringe too - but slapping her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I agree, Odile, no slapping. Maybe throw the drinkipoos over her if you're really mad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lollie Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Thats a really good idea. But what about 5 extra showers per day etc? We arrived in 2003 and had visitors all summer, some good some not invited again! The contrasts were friends who would not stop cleaning, paid half for the shopping bills and brought goodies for the kids. Another arrived with her children, bought her own special drinks and cereals, and complained when ours ate theirs and then told me we were running out of loo paper!!! funny not seen her since then! I think they sometimes just do not think of the costs involved. We have wisened up since that first year, we no longer accept being paid for a meal out as the contribution as we still ending paying for all the food. But its still expensive having visitors, even if they do contribute, as we generally go out more often during the week than we usually would. Lollie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 [quote user="sweet 17"]I agree, Odile, no slapping. Maybe throw the drinkipoos over her if you're really mad?[/quote]Im not mad ... would only slap her in the hope of waking her up!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 [quote user="odile"]we always say to friends that they are welcome on a 1 in 3 basis - 1 night we cook, 2nd night they do, 3rd we go out! [/quote]What a good idea, Odile. I'm going to try that.My family used to live in a large house (29 rooms) and people would descend on us all the time. The physical size of the house was exhausting without having to cope with visitors. So I introduced a rule that everyone had to bring all their own bedding - pillow cases, duvets, towels - and it made it so much easier. I can't do that here because visitors don't have room in their luggage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprogster Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 One valid point that comes through in this article is the under estimation of the high running and maintenance costs of an older property in France. The Brits almost uniquely seem to be drawn to old character properties in France, unlike the French, Dutch or Scandinavians for example, whom seem to give a higher priority when chosing a property to minimising the ongoing running costs, thereby preferring newer properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Daisy Waugh suddenly found about 200.000 euros of change in her pocket and decided to go to the shop to buy a house.This is a story filled with fantasy but would, however outsell Harry Potter.Please! read it all......no very dumb blonde is that stupid.Does she keep her brains in a picnic basket.Aparently she lives in West London and her husband is a film director.....this, would be the only reason...surely that the sunday Times would print this tale.Daisies wilt in the climate of 17 charente maritime.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Sorry...would, however NOT OUTSELL HARRY POTTER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now