I've reserved a gite from Gite de France and I'm supposed to sign a contract and send it back. All of the e-mails and the contract are in French.. Anyone else used them...What did you do? Take it to a local French teacher at the public school? Christine
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
My suggestion would be to call or email Gites de France & request a contract in English. Gites de France rents to thousands of English-speaking people and my guess is they'll be able to oblige.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10217 posts
I agree with Tom that you should ask for an English contract. They do indeed rent to a lot of English speakers. The contracts originate in provincial district offices, where it's just possible no one capable of emailing in English is working during the holidays. However, there should be someone normally. We've rented with them numerous times (contracts always in French but we speak French) and have always enjoyed our cottages. Hope you have a good experience.
Posted by
White Stone, VA, United States
2 posts
I am renting a Gite in Feb. and asked for an English contract. No luck they said they don't have it in English. I have a translator on my Mac so I was able to understand it. If you go on the Getes de France website you can make your deposit in English. No need to sign the contract.
Posted by
S.F. Bay Area, CA, United States
1878 posts
If they cannot provide you with a translation, you might consider Google translator.
Posted by
Lake Forest Park, WA, USA
365 posts
"If you go on the Getes de France website you can make your deposit in English. No need to sign the contract." No. Regardless of the deposit arrangements, the contract WILL need to be signed and returned. As far as understanding the text of the contract, if you don't know anybody fluent in French I suggest using one of the many available free online text translating websites and typing in pertinent phrases. You'll be able to muddle through it just fine. It's a standard short term rental agreement and I haven't found anything unusual or onerous in any of the many I've been sent.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4407 posts
Neil, just another vote in favor of Wales...;-)
Posted by
OP
Kilgore, TX
107 posts
Well, I did e-mail but no one ever replied. I tried to call, but I must not be able to call overseas or I'm doing it incorrectly because it wouldn't go through on my cell. ( I guess I need to look into that!) So I just put it through the google translator and it looked ok. So I signed the original, e-mailed them a copy of it and am mailing the original today. Christine