In a comment on this blog yesterday somebody mentioned that they didn’t book gites where the owner lived on site, because of a bad experience where the owner had been forever hanging around in their garden, snipping hedges and cutting grass, while they were trying to relax.

To say the least, I can see this can be a bit off-putting when you’re trying to do a bit of sunbathing and generally chill out. As a gite owner this problem is interesting to me – I think there are three types of people who stay here (we live on site, with our two gites).

Firstly are the type who always want to chat, ask us how we came to be here, what it is like living in France etc. Not infrequently we end up having evening drinks with this group of people. I’m always a bit vague when I’m asked what I do, and never mention by name this or any other websites that I have – I can’t have people thinking I’m going to blog about them as soon as they leave (I don’t!).

The second type are a bit more reserved, keep themselves to themselves, just stopping for a chat about the weather or which restaurants are open and so on.

The third group we don’t see from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. Either because they are out sightseeing all the time, or because they stay in their private gite / garden areas, where we don’t venture.

All three types are equally welcome, of course. I think we probably fall in the second category ourselves, when we are on holiday. But it is possible to be wrong about people.

Occasionally perhaps we think people want to spend hours chatting when really they are just being polite and want rid of us. Equally we might look as if we are ignoring people, who are actually wanting to ask us how quickly the children learned French and so on, but don’t like to impose.

So where does all this lead us. If you are in your French gite this summer and the owner is hassling you by their presence, you need to say something. It’s your holiday, and most owners (I hope) are just doing their best to make sure your stay is pleasant, and won’t be offended. It’s a British thing to not complain, but just to whisper ‘We won’t come here again!’ to each other.

On the other hand, don’t hesitate to go knocking on the owner’s door to ask for advice or ask them if they want to come for an aperitif. We’re never offended when someone asks us, and doubt if anyone else would be.

Just remember though, it’s your holiday, and almost always the owner’s primary concern is that you have a good time, you want to come back again, and will recommend the gite to all your friends and family. Have a good holiday!

(PS if you haven’t booked yet…you’re leaving it a bit late! get yourself over to last minute holidays in France and find something now!)