Summer arrives in Villa Roquette
May 22, 2010 by tony · Leave a Comment
Unusually, today I have done nothing at home in Villa Roquette – I should be concreting,plumbing, tiling, painting as well as writing blog posts, advertising, marketing, in addition to researching properties and creating new websites – but, I have just sat down, put my feet up and done – nothing – diddly squit – until now as I am obviously writing about doing nothing which is something I suppose.
My excuse is that yesterday I set, mixed and laid a few tons of concrete for the new apartment terrace, I got carried away as it was such a great day and just kept on ’till I ran out of gravel, so today I have done nothing 
It has been a good day for doing nothing, hot, calm, dry and sunny – a perfect day in the South of France – our guests are charming and have also done nothing, jut relaxing by the pool, Miranda and Jack have done nothing as well, just getting a tan – Carole of course has been working hard bringing cups of tea and feeding us all.
So now for the summer – can I manage a few months of this, mix a little concrete, feed the fish, walk the dogs – yes, I think I can.
So now to get ready for the winter – I will be marketing long winter breaks in our apartments, or our B&B at super fantastic special rates. We had a smashing couple for three months last winter and it would be great to share out home again with long-stay guests from October through to April (or longer – whatever) – the (very important) central heating operates fine – and winter barbecues or Carole’s great Table d’Hôte meals are wondrous with the local good red wines.
Join us for baked oysters and Champagne on the terraces this Christmas
Eiffel Eyeful
January 4, 2010 by tony · Leave a Comment
- Image via Wikipedia
I thought I had written about this before. When you are in Paris you can book your ticket for the Eiffel Tower online and print it out. This official service is at Tour-Eiffel.fr
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Consumer Protection
December 29, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
I am writing about problems with apartment rentals in Paris on my blog at http://2337.com – the aim was originally to give information to owners about problems ahead from laws affecting vacation retals.
Interestingly this site has generated mail from renters telling me some horrific stories about owners. Clearly there is a lot to be cleared up and the Government of France and the City of Paris are taking steps to put things in order.
If you have had problems with any service, most countries have an official department you can complain to and report the supplier. A good website listing these offices is http://oecg.org/ – for France the official consumer protection bureau is The DGCCRF – it is an official French government authority for Consumer Protection, they have a website in English at http://www.dgccrf.bercy.gouv.fr/anglais.htm – they have produced a leaflet, in English, which gives some information and other contacts. You can download this at Welcome to France
As most apartments in Paris rented for vacations are rented illegally, you should ensure that the owner, or the owners agent, has correctly registered the apartment as a commercial property to rent, is correctly declared for taxation on the revenue in France and therefore they are able to show you valid and adequate insurance.
Interestingly from the websites above I found that most of the disclaimers for loss or damage on rented premises are not legally valid, this applies to hotels as well – you cannot “sign away” your rights on any rental contract.
Now I have Stopped Working – Not
October 17, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
Now that I have stopped working (well almost) on the house, I am back to marketing and getting guests for our apartments and BandB. We first started this in our old home in Nizas 12 years ago and did all our marketing through the Internet – hopefully I can get back into the same flow as before, there is a lot more actiity on the internet now and the days of getting to the top of Alta Vista in a couple of hours are long gone – the tricks I used then would get me banned from Google for life. I am looking at what is on offer for help in Internet marketing, the rules and ruses seem top be the same, just follow the Google motto of ‘Do No Evil’ – a good website I found is http://www.nikkipilkington.com/about-us/ – Nikki looks good too! (plus she’s a biker)
Hopefully my 20 years experience of Internet marketing will get me started, but I will always look for good skills and help. I don’t have the strong websites I used to own, which got to the top of all French accommodation listings, but I will – Start All Over Again –
If you are thinking of coming to France – stay with us – I will try to make you an offer you cannot refuse.
Villa Roquette