This beautiful village house will shortly be added to our portfolio of houses to rent. I'll "retweet" as soon as it's on our site but just had to add this post while I'm still smiling.
The owner of the house maintains a comment book and I just had to repost this.
"Well, we are finally in your lovely home. We have had quite the adventure today. When we arrived in Avignon and picked up our leased vehicle, we were served by a very young woman who spoke no English. Fortunately, our daughter speaks French -however we were not given any details of the vehicle...only a set of keys and a curt look. As we attempted to familiarize ourselves with it we discovered that the fuel tank was on empty. Sadly, because we rarely use diesel fuel in Canada, my husband filled the tank with regular fuel. We made it about 200 meters when the engine quit. We pushed the vehicle back to the petrol station and spent 4 hours trying to get some help from Renault. Finally we were told that the vehicle would need to be towed and the tank to be drained etc.. and that that could not happen until Monday.
We were obviously distressed as Georgette was expecting us and also we were delivering our daughter to Montpellier tomorrow. Following numerous failed attempts at an interim rental...we ended up with a Mercedes....the only rental in Avignon and 1500 euros later.
But oh, it gets better!
After we made our way to Roussillon - we knocked on Georgette's door, only to be informed by her and her daughter that the house had already been rented and that the occupants arrived earlier today. I told her that couldn't be possible, as I had confirmation from you only last night. Together, we knocked on the door and found the "occupants" out by the pool. A young British/New Zealander couple with a toddler were enjoying a swim and a beer. As Georgette (and her daughter) spoke no English, I asked the couple about their reservation and the husband told me that they were to meet his sister in law here - that she had booked it and they were arriving shortly. When I explained that I had booked this home for the month he replied that he had "know idea what I was talking about." All the while, my husband was illegally parked...waiting for info to the car park.
The most bizarre moment of the day happened when the man's wife, emerged from the pool - naked! She had quite a girth and was trying to balance a naked child who was slipping and sliding and the towel she had fetched...while the husband scowled and finally shouted at my daughter and I that he would just go back to England. He then stormed down the garden steps sopping wet.
Fortunately, our sense of humour was tested today and won!
Eventually we discovered that of course they were in the wrong house. Apparently, as they were wandering down the street earlier trying to find their address, Georgette appeared and asked them if they were the renters. They replied that they were and the rest - is history! Certainly one for the books to be sure. The wife was very apologetic (but of course all I could still see was her dripping nakedness) and the husband, clearly embarrassed, said nothing as he banged and threw things into bags and boxes.
We waited while they packed their bags and food (they had filled the fridge already) and after the woman had retrieved the paper with the correct details, Georgette assisted them in finding their rental.
I hope that my rendering of our adventure does not upset you. I am hoping that you will have a chuckle...as we all just did over pizza and a bottle of wine next door. Tomorrow we head to Montpellier. And then back to Avignon on Monday to collect our Renault. With diesel fuel. Mon Dieu!
We are thrilled with the home and love our new neighbours already. Poor Georgette - all she could say was "je suis desolee". She and her family were wonderful. We are certain we will love Roussillon."
We were obviously distressed as Georgette was expecting us and also we were delivering our daughter to Montpellier tomorrow. Following numerous failed attempts at an interim rental...we ended up with a Mercedes....the only rental in Avignon and 1500 euros later.
But oh, it gets better!
After we made our way to Roussillon - we knocked on Georgette's door, only to be informed by her and her daughter that the house had already been rented and that the occupants arrived earlier today. I told her that couldn't be possible, as I had confirmation from you only last night. Together, we knocked on the door and found the "occupants" out by the pool. A young British/New Zealander couple with a toddler were enjoying a swim and a beer. As Georgette (and her daughter) spoke no English, I asked the couple about their reservation and the husband told me that they were to meet his sister in law here - that she had booked it and they were arriving shortly. When I explained that I had booked this home for the month he replied that he had "know idea what I was talking about." All the while, my husband was illegally parked...waiting for info to the car park.
The most bizarre moment of the day happened when the man's wife, emerged from the pool - naked! She had quite a girth and was trying to balance a naked child who was slipping and sliding and the towel she had fetched...while the husband scowled and finally shouted at my daughter and I that he would just go back to England. He then stormed down the garden steps sopping wet.
Fortunately, our sense of humour was tested today and won!
Eventually we discovered that of course they were in the wrong house. Apparently, as they were wandering down the street earlier trying to find their address, Georgette appeared and asked them if they were the renters. They replied that they were and the rest - is history! Certainly one for the books to be sure. The wife was very apologetic (but of course all I could still see was her dripping nakedness) and the husband, clearly embarrassed, said nothing as he banged and threw things into bags and boxes.
We waited while they packed their bags and food (they had filled the fridge already) and after the woman had retrieved the paper with the correct details, Georgette assisted them in finding their rental.
I hope that my rendering of our adventure does not upset you. I am hoping that you will have a chuckle...as we all just did over pizza and a bottle of wine next door. Tomorrow we head to Montpellier. And then back to Avignon on Monday to collect our Renault. With diesel fuel. Mon Dieu!
We are thrilled with the home and love our new neighbours already. Poor Georgette - all she could say was "je suis desolee". She and her family were wonderful. We are certain we will love Roussillon."
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P.S. Dear Real-Provence and Provenceholidayhouses clients, swimming naked in our pools is not obligatory but it might be better to make sure you have the right house before "plonger"!
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Should have said before, here's the link
ReplyDeletehttp://www.provenceholidayhouses.com/Maison_Vignes.htm
Late availability 29th August