http://www.francethisway.com/wp Living in France and daily life for a UK expat in the French blog! Tue, 22 May 2012 06:28:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/getting-ready-for-gite-guests-2012/2012/04/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/getting-ready-for-gite-guests-2012/2012/04/#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:46:56 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=3465 This year it was all supposed to be different. We planned ahead, I even wrote out a project plan, that would ensure we wouldn’t get to the point where we are only a couple of weeks from gite season and have too many jobs left to do. As every year the reality is different, and [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/getting-ready-for-gite-guests-2012/2012/04/feed/ 2 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/is-this-a-scam-enquiry/2011/10/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/is-this-a-scam-enquiry/2011/10/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:38:38 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=3157 We get plenty of scam enquiries for our gites, although I’m pleased to say we have never yet been caught out. But we have come close so I thought I’d post details of a recent scam in case it helps someone else avoid being tricked. The general idea of these scams is that the person [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/is-this-a-scam-enquiry/2011/10/feed/ 6 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/pets-welcome-in-gites/2011/02/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/pets-welcome-in-gites/2011/02/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:01:28 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=2671 Every year brings a new selection of legislation relating to gites and holiday rental properties, none of which has ever been officially communicated to us so usually we happily drift along in ignorance – an approach which never seems to do much harm and tends to save money. But one new regulation caught my eye [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/pets-welcome-in-gites/2011/02/feed/ 3 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/got-gites-get-bookings/2010/05/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/got-gites-get-bookings/2010/05/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 06:16:55 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1962 Getting bookings for holiday rental properties this year is harder than ever, especially if you are relying on visitors from the UK (the Dutch seem to still be travelling, where do they get their money from?!) However, by looking at all the enquiries that people listed with us receive it is clear that there are [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/got-gites-get-bookings/2010/05/feed/ 3 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/english-tv-in-the-gites/2010/05/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/english-tv-in-the-gites/2010/05/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 05:42:25 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1937 A while ago I made a post about the idea that people were sometimes put off coming to France for a holiday because it was ‘no longer French enough‘ – the suggestion being that France is becoming more ‘generic European’ and less like the traditional France that made it so interesting. True or not, the [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/english-tv-in-the-gites/2010/05/feed/ 18 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/register-gites-with-the-mairie/2010/03/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/register-gites-with-the-mairie/2010/03/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:52:20 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1806 I thought I’d best issue a note of warning to owners of gites and holiday rentals in France today, pointing out a little bureaucratic requirement that might have passed you by – and will perhaps end up costing you money if you do nothing. I have no idea how many people know about the rule, [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/register-gites-with-the-mairie/2010/03/feed/ 42 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/furnishing-your-gites/2010/03/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/furnishing-your-gites/2010/03/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:54:09 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1780 It’s usually my favourite day of the year – the first one where the sun is shining, the temperature is warm, and it at last seems like spring is on the way. Unfortunately this year I got so excited by the lovely weather that I rushed out and started moving around some oversized plant pots, [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/furnishing-your-gites/2010/03/feed/ 2 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/gite-maintenance/2009/09/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/gite-maintenance/2009/09/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:42:42 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1284 In our gites we have the usual challenge when things go wrong – our window of opportunity to put things right only lasts from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm on a Saturday, and only then if the problem is spotted quickly. Unfortunately people don’t always rush to tell us that the dishwasher is playing up [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/gite-maintenance/2009/09/feed/ 12 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-me-out-of-here/2009/08/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-me-out-of-here/2009/08/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:13:08 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1121 I received an email a couple of days ago, the second of its type I have received in the last week. : Hi, I wonder if you can help. Family friends are currently in France and are extremely disappointed in the gite they have currently booked and do not wish to stay until the end [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-me-out-of-here/2009/08/feed/ 8 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/does-your-villa-exist/2009/07/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/does-your-villa-exist/2009/07/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:10:24 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=1092 A lot of you will have heard of the recent scandal in Spain where someone had advertised villas for holiday rental which didn’t really exist. They took the bookings on the non-existent properties then disappeared with the money. This makes everyone nervous – people booking vacation rentals, for obvious reasons, but also owners because if [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/does-your-villa-exist/2009/07/feed/ 0