round of introductions

[vrooje]

Paolo, It can be so much fun to see what information the speculation on "vrooje" provides as a mirror to the one speculating. It's also really fun to hear people try and pronounce it in person -- I hear it in my head with an "ooh" sound and a silent "e," but I've heard people say stuff like "vrawj" or "vroojay" or "vroojie," and I just love it! Teehee.

soodyer, I'm originally from San Diego, CA -- actually we used to go to Big Bear for skiing and I rented a cabin there in November 2002 with some friends. It's tons of fun! I haven't been to Yosemite since I was 13, though. I'd love to go back.

Right now, though, I'm in New Haven, Connecticut finishing my degree. I want to get back to sunny CA eventually but my husband is Canadian and loves Toronto and Ottawa (whoa -- the latter just gets way too cold for me), so we have no idea where we'll end up.

Plus, my parents are thinking of selling their house in San Diego and maybe buying a boat to live in while they're in CA, a condo in Arizona, plus of course the house in France, and my Mom has also recently started to show interest in Belize as a possible place to invest in property, so... everything is up in the air. Property values in southern CA are so ridiculously high that my parents could actually do all of these things if they sold their house and retired. Sort of crazy!

[MadDogWoman]

My name's Nicola, Nic, Oi you - I answer to most things but won't tell you what the old man calls me!

Why MadDogWoman? Because I am mad on dogs and I happen to be female!

No kids, previously a career Life Assurance "person" - latterly a training officer with a big multi-national life assurance company. "Australian Giant" springs to mind until they got cold feet and went back to where they belong leaving chaos behind! Am I bitter? Yes I blooming well am!

Moved to The Haute Garonne in SW France from sunny Tunbridge Wells in Kent last March (2004). Still not completely convinced I like it here but it's great for the dogs (we have a bit of land), there's a dog training club in the local town (good for mixing with the natives) and my neighbours are great.

Old man has a job out here so the house letting thing is really purely a hobby to pay for extras and our hosue renovation (the letting part is finished!)

Nice to meet you all and sharing ideas, advice etc

Nic

[mindadowling]

Ciao Tutti,

My husband and I bought a beautiful 15th century stone cottage in Tuscany two years ago and we have decided to start renting it out. I am a little (no totally) terrified at the prospect of some stranger sleeping in my beautiful bed, however, I am encouraged by the wonderful comments and advice you have shared on this forum.

Paolo, you are doing an amazing job! Thank you all for being so generous with your vast knowledge and years of experience. I learn something new every time I visit the forum. I am totally addicted to this site and will be joining a twelve step program very soon!

Mille grazie from the Tuscan Virgin!

[vrooje]

Minda,

Welcome! Your cottage is beautiful. Lovely photographs on your webpage!

We will be in Tuscany in September for my cousin's wedding and can't wait! Any insider's tips on the best things to see and do? The villa my cousin and her fiance have rented is in Rufina, which I believe is between Florence and Bologna. Everyone is staying at the villa for a week, and I know they plan to organize some activities, but haven't decided exactly what they will be yet.

Cheers!

[mindadowling]

Hi Vrooje,

Thank you for your kind comments! The website is brand new and we are still making corrections regarding the content. When I get the courage I will ask that it be reviewed on the forum. My husband and I were responsible for the photographs and the copy but we hired a web designer to do the layout and technical stuff as I am a complete techno dinosaur.

I don't know exactly where Rufina is but being close to Bologna and Florence is pretty fantastic. Bologna is an amazing city! Some of the best food can be found in and around Bologna. Bologna is a very elegant city that is small enough to wander around and see most of it's sights in a couple of days. It is a great university town hence it has a very exciting buzz, loads of concerts and lectures. I love visiting Bologna and luckily I have to visit this amazing town for business quite often. I will look up the name of some restaurants that I can highly recommend and pass that info to you. Regarding Florence, well where do I start! Tell me what your interested in seeing and maybe I can point you in the right direction.

Is this your first visit to Tuscany?

[vrooje]

Minda,

It's not only my first visit to Tuscany, it's my first visit to Italy. I'm so excited!

I just have no idea where to start looking for places to go and see. I enjoy museums, and my husband does too, but in smaller quantities. We both love good restaurants, naturally, and seeing the sites and taking silly pictures, etc.

My husband, shockingly, has never developed a taste for wine, but that will not stop me from trying as many vintages as I can while I am there! We might also want to do some wine tastings -- maybe I can start getting him used to the taste. I would love it if we could bring home some nice bottles and enjoy them together, but that's probably an impossible dream...

[mindadowling]

Hi Vrooje,

Never been to Italy! Well, were going to have to make this a fantastic holiday for you! I will do some research regarding the area around Rufina and give you some pointers. I'll also give you a list of my favourite places to go in Florence, their not the obvious places like the Uffizi they are more like little gems.

It will take me some time to get this information together, but as you are not going to Italy until September we have plenty of time to do the research.

a presto

[vrooje]

Minda,

You are so sweet to do this! It would be so wonderful to know where the best off-the-beaten-path type of places are.

I just did a similar thing in San Diego for my friends, when we all had a conference to go to down there. I took them to all my favorite spots, and they were considerably better (according to them) than the other places recommended by the concierges and guide books. Of course, to me, San Diego is not nearly as exotic as Tuscany!

Thanks!
-Brooke

[Gus]

We (Judy and myself) live in Barnes SW London and we bought a house plus barns and a field in the Charente Maritime last summer. The plan is to renovate it, use it as a holiday home and let it out during the peak months. Have you heard this plan before? I suspect so.

A sub-set of the plan is to develop one of the barns into an apartment so we have flexibility. We will see how the money holds out.

The house we bought is beautiful but untouched by any modernisation since electricty was put in. No kitchen / bathroom (one tap in the house). The roofers are due to start on the main house this month and hopefully then all the other trades will beaver away until we have a habitable house for this summer. Maybe we will have a swimming pool by then. Who knows all things are possible if increasingly less probable.

17 year old daughter is designing a skateboard park and 21 year old daughter is worried by the distinct lack of nightclubs in the area. 3 year old lurcher looks forward to meeting squirrels, boars and a better class of fox than is provided by Barnes Common.

I hope to have a modest website up once I can get my brain round Contribute 3. Decided not to do a blog as I think I would come over as far too Pooterish.

[paolo]

Welcome, Gus!

Here is a good blog by someone renovating his property in France:

http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/

I haven't studied it in depth but I bet you could avoid quite a few pitfalls by reading his experiences.

[Fraise]

/"The roofers are due to start on the main house this month and hopefully then all the other trades will beaver away until we have a habitable house for this summer. Maybe we will have a swimming pool by then. Who knows all things are possible if increasingly less probable. " Hi, we are close to where I think you must be ( if you see what I mean )- if you want me to just take a look at progress for you when I'm in the area it's no problem? Our place here took over 2 years to convert, and part was already habitable! The builders were great but because we were Uk based they kept moving onto other things and fitting ours in when they could!! The house on our website www.thepetitmanoir.com only took them 3 months but then it was a renovation, not rebuild!! We made sure this time that one of us was always around to "oversee" their progress-same builders-they did a brilliant job and almost on time!

"21 year old daughter is worried by the distinct lack of nightclubs in the area. " Humph,well,yes she's right!There are 2 but the drinks are at City prices-mind you, it is old-fashioned in that the guys buy the drinks anyway so all may be well for her

[Stu]

Hi all....as usual, we've done stuff the 'wrong way round'! As in posting messages on this excellent forum PRIOR to introducing ourselves! Apologies for being rude!
We're Stu, Syb, Liam, Hannah & Niall. Syb is a teacher's assistant in primary schools, and I'm a manager with a specialist contracting company. We're deep into the process of buying our place in France. We're buying an old farmhouse (I know, I know....who isn't?) close to Saumur in the Loire Valley. The place has been a small business for the past 6 years or so, we're just hoping to expand it's horizons a bit further! It's all going well so far, and we're all looking forward to it immensely!
Interests? Many & varied, from photography to surfing, to t'internet to cooking to reading!
I play guitar for fun, and was a pro musician (drums) for a few years too. Kids are all 'sporty' types, having represented both their county and the UK (Liam at the junior Olympics) at swimming. Syb is a qualified swimming coach, teacher & lifeguard. That'll come in handy when we get the pool installed!

Hope to post lots more in the future.
Cheers for now.

[Sue Dyer]

Welcome Stu & Syb, no formalities here so don't worry about not introducing yourselves earlier. It's just nice to put a bit of background to the posters and see what's going on in everyone's lives. I'm probably just nosy!

[vrooje]

Welcome, Stu & Syb!

The good news about your not being the first to buy an old farmhouse in France is that most people here can give you all the insider's tips, so you don't have to make the same mistakes they did! Instead you can make a whole set of your own.

Anyway, great to have you around!

[Hells Bells]

I also apologise for not introducing myself earlier . Hi, I'm Helen and along with hubby Jules we are eagerly waiting for the completion of our small but lovely ski apartment in Monetier-les-Bains (Serre Chevalier) . You've already been most kind about my website, and have given me lots of advice. We live in NE England, but hope to spend more time in the Alps.