 |
Everything you always wanted to know about France |
|
|
Issue 47, January 7 2001
1. France this Summer
All the indications are that this is going to be a very busy year.
The number of inquiries we are getting is much higher than last year
and many rental properties are nearly booked up for the summer months
already.
January is usually the busiest month for vacation bookings, perhaps
dreams of summer sunshine and golden beaches help to counteract grey
sky and bad weather.
We will be adding more than 200 new properties to our lists by Easter
so we hope to be able to find something for everyone. It takes time
as we try to either inspect these properties ourselves, or to get them
approved by people we know and whose judgement we can trust. We are
also adding lodgings in Italy and other popular European destinations.
This is our fourth year of Internet travel business. We started by
just renting two apartments in our own home here in Nizas. Our policy
has always been to try to give the best service to the visitor to
France. We are constantly looking for ways to give a better service
and to help make your visit a happy experience.
Unfortunately there is an increasing number of new Internet sites
which are cheating and tricking travelers. We are getting mail
about money being paid and families turning up to with no one to meet
them, no keys for the accommodation and sometimes not even an real
address. Insurance helps, but may not solve the problem if you have
nowhere to stay. We have many friends and contacts all over France
and are thinking of setting up a help line for anyone who is stranded
without accommodation, please write and let me know if you think this
would be useful.
===
2. Travel Insurance
I write regularly about making sure you have good travel insurance
every time you travel. This should cover all aspects of your trip,
not just medical and lost luggage, but also for accommodation if you
miss a flight or a connection and the airline does not accept
responsibility. It should also cover you for lost booking deposits
and hotel or accommodation which you have paid for and you have to
cancel for any reason.
Full cover for a family vacation costs about 4% of the trip and can
save a lot of money and heartbreak.
I recently received this letter..
(((Hi Tony, What happened to me this year is proof that Insurance
should be almost the first thing that is arranged when thinking of
going on holiday.
I had cause to make use of mine when my back became so sore I had to
be taken home to Ireland by air ambulance. My wife who would not feel
confident enough to drive back from where we were (Vendee Region )
through France and then through England was also flown home along with
our three young children. My brother was then flown from Ireland to
France and driven to where our car was so he could bring it home.
If I was to have paid for this out of my own pocket I would hate to
speculate the cost, and the cost of the insurance only just over
100. Worth it wouldn't you say. regards - Dave)))
We have a page at..
Where you can get a direct link to Universal Travel Protection.
===
3. Short Term Car Leases
I have had a lot of letters about problems with car rentals in Europe.
However many people have written to me about short term leasing as
opposed to renting. This only applies to non European visitors and is
usually for a period over 14 days. It can take a little while to
arrange, but the savings are substantial and the service given seems
excellent from the accounts I have heard.
There is some information on our site at...
I plan to add details about the leasing early next week, so if you
have any questions about leasing please write to me at...
===
4. Airline Mileage Cards Penalise Expats
This is an article by Adrian Leeds, she found recently that the "free"
air miles you earned from using your special airline credit card may
not be free at all.
For the full story and lots of useful links look at..
===
5. French Property Digest
This is our new venture. In the last three years I have had thousands
of letters asking about all aspects of living in France, I have done
my best to reply to all of these and I have discovered a lot, mainly
how much I don't know. Some of you suggested that we made a
commercial newsletter which could commission professional writers to
give information about Buying and renting property, taxation, finance,
insurance, building regulations plus lifestyle features, food and
drink etc.
This month we plan to launch the first issue, in December we made a
"pilot" issue to see what you thought and to get your advice. You can
see this at...
We have listened to all the advice and hope the new publication will
prove really useful. Issue #1 will be free and I will give you the
secret password for this in the next newsletter.
One of the features is a wine club and to start you off we are giving
every subscriber a bottle of wine for each month they subscribe. This
way you can build a great wine collection. Full details will be in
issue #1 so make sure you read it.
===
6. Book and Map Recommendations
We have at long last started to select and organise recommended books
and maps for visitors to France. You can buy them all from Amazon.com
and we give you links on the pages, if you click on our links we earn
a commission so please buy lots.
You can see our first list at..
===
7. Recipe from Nizas #12
This week "Lapin en Civet" (Rabbit Stew)
First catch your Rabbit, then goto...
===
8. The Nizas Project - Barrels and Calendars
The Christmas holiday brought the usual visitors coming down to the
Mediterranean to their holiday homes.
Our neighbour arrived and managed to find his garage without his
navigation accessory of a 250 liter wine barrel. For new readers,
this barrel has amused and maddened many of us in Nizas for the past 6
months. It appeared when our neighbour from the city of civil
servants in the country of beer and TinTin, stuck it (literally glued
it) in the middle of the road to stop anyone parking there.
After many perambulations it has come to rest behind Mme J.... house.
This trip the barrel has been left in peace, so have we, a stoney
silence has developed and no Christmas greetings were heard from
across the street.
One traditional Christmas event is the arrival of the Sapeurs Pompiers
presenting their Christmas Calendars. This is the, mainly volunteer,
group of people who are the Fire Brigade, Para-Medics and general
trouble shooters in the community. They are very well equipped and
trained. One of their responsibilities is to get to any traffic
accidents as quickly as possible to save life and to use their
equipment to rescue people. Sadly the accidents on the French roads
are increasing, the speeds certainly are (the legal limit is over 80
mph and everyone seems to think that you are entitled to average 90
mph and often much more).
The calendars which are brought round reflect their activities and
everyone buys, for a minimum of 50FF, a set of the most gruesome
pictures of death and destruction you could ever wish not to see.
Every household is visited by two uniformed officers of the Sapeurs
Pompiers, and you thank them, buy a calender and possibly give them
something to warm them on their way. I find it a little disconcerting
that when you give them the money for their collection, they politely
ask your name and then shout it loudly to one of their companions who
is just around the corner. He then appears and you can see that your
name and the amount you have paid is entered in a book.
I am sure this is just a way for them to avoid calling on the same
house twice. Perhaps next year I will pay a little more, just in
case.
===
9. Angel on the Med
This is a new service to help anyone who needs a guardian angel to
look after their property or help find answers or just to feed the
cat.
|