I am in the midst of contract negotiation for a gite for April 2008. I have received the contract (in French only), can read most of it. I am having trouble with this:

si vous le desirez nous pouvons effectuer le menage a votre place pour la somme of 40E.

(several accent marks but I can't get those to type in here)

Is this basically a 40 Euro charge for cleaning, if I want them to do the cleaning?

Thanks!

Hi Kopp,

You can write out the exact words, with diacritcal marks, at http://www.freetranslation.com/

If you don't get a good translation, you can copy and paste the French here.

Those accent marks make a difference.

>>Is this basically a 40 Euro charge for cleaning, if I want them to do the cleaning?<<

yes.

If you wish, we can do housekeeping for the sum of 40 euros.

It sounds like an optional thing (maybe for longer stays?).

Maybe they're offering a cleaning after your stay or once a week for longer stays. Anything more frequent will cost extra.

kopp, you got it right: "If you wish, we can do the cleaning/housekeeping instead of you for the sum of €40."

But I wonder if they really wrote "la somme of 40E".

With my extremely limited knowledge of French, my guess was that this means they will "stock" your household for you -- like supply basic groceries. I'll be curious to see if that's it or not.

Meanwhile I hope it isn't that "choose if you want us to clean the place" as that says to me "if the people before you didn't want to pay to have it cleaned, don't expect a very clean apartment."

See, I told you my knowledge was extremely limited. LOL I was thinking I had a contract similar and was told it was for stocking the kitchen.

Ira, wonderful link! Thanks. Here it is with the accent marks (it was in the proprietor's handwriting so it isn't entirely legible):

si vous le désirez nous pouvons effectuer le ménage à votre place pour la somme de 40 Euro

translation from the same link:

if you desire it we can carry out the household to your place for the sum of 40 Euros

Padraig - guess I was translating as I was typing, lol!

Patrick, I sure hope it's clean when we arrive! Yikes, I hadn't thought of that. But then I've never had a problem with that before, so I'm hoping that isn't the case here. But your thought about stocking might be of interest.

P.S. to Patrick: We've just put our deposit down for the Rue Saint-Severin apt. in Paris that you've stayed in. The owner there sure is a dream to deal with.

Thanks everyone for your help!

> I was thinking I had a contract similar and was told it was for stocking the kitchen.<
Patrick it would be "nous pouvons faire les courses (or quelques achats alimentaires)pour vous si vous le souhaitez."

kopp, yes, she is.
I hope you like the apartment as much as we do. Mainly for the character.

The owner called and we talked at length our last day in the apartment. She knew we are from Naples, Florida and mentioned they visited here last winter with friends who live here. She'd love to buy a place here, but her husband who speaks NO English won't do it. Meanwhile it got me thinking. Gee, wouldn't an apartment exchange for a month work out for both of us? I must email her and plant the seed.

hi, kopp,

have you rented in France before? unlike most places, they usually charge extra, about 40E, for cleaning the gite at the end of your stay, rather than you doing it yourself. basically, when you leave and they inspect it, if it isn't clean enough, they requrie you to pay the 40E.

I think that this is because most french people prefer to do the cleaning themselves and save money, rather than pay for someone else to do it. the same applies to linen costs, because they prefer to bring their own. Hence linens are an optional extra.

in the UK, we prefer someone else to do the cleaning and provide linens, so it is generally all included in the price.

the gite should therefore be clean when you arrive, because presumably madame will have either have checked what the previous occupants did, and found it OK, or done it.

regards, ann

Patrick - a home exchange sounds marvelous! Someone here started a thread recently about doing just that. Especially if you know what you're getting, and you're willing to open your home, that might just work for you and Lee.

annhig - thanks for the information. We have rented in France before but there was more English in the contract than this one. I can't see anything on there about linens and towels, so perhaps another email is required. I'm probably driving these folks crazy with all my questions. This particular one is in the Loire Valley, where we've only stayed in hotels previously.

Well, I'm not big on the idea of strangers in my home, and I'd have to make a lot of preparations for someone staying here, but since I've already stayed in this couple's place (complete with some of their clothes they keep in this apartment) I think all my worries go out the window. I feel like I already know them and certainly totally trust them.