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A French Restoration: The Pleasures and Perils of Renovating a Property in France
 
 
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A French Restoration: The Pleasures and Perils of Renovating a Property in France (Paperback)

by Clive Kristen (Author), David Johnson (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 222 pages
  • Publisher: How To Books Ltd; illustrated edition edition (29 Sep 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1845280687
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845280680
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 28,037 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #13 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Speciality Travel > Living & Working Abroad
    #61 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > France

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Review

'A cautionary tale of a French renovation project with anecdotes and handy hints aplenty.' French Magazine, 1 January 2007


Product Description

This work is a charming and informative account of renovating a property in France. When you fall in love common sense flies out of the window. This is how it was for David and Doris Johnson when they found a down-at-heel mini chateau in the heartland of France. A three year restoration began - and with it a journey of discovery. French property expert Clive Kristen was drawn to the subject immediately. This is the amusing and instructional story of the Johnson's restoration, written to help others wanting to embark on their own French renovation.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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A French Restoration: The Pleasures and Perils of Renovating a Property in France
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read for anyone interested in rennovating a holiday home, 6 Sep 2007
By Mr. Geoffrey Coan "Gite owner, www.giteinbrit... (Bedfordshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
First off I should point out that the book is actually co-authored by David Johnson and Clive Kristen and tells the three year long tale of how David (and his wife Doris) decided to move to France, found their dream property in the Charente region, then lovingly renovated and turned it from an inhabitable shell into their family home.

The book has quite an easy style to read, each chapter (and there are lots) tells one aspect of their journey both with the house and with integrating into a rural French community - whether it's arriving to look at a property but the agent doesn't appear, knocking down walls in their house (and then needing to have an RSJ installed as the floor above started sagging), being given giant pumpkins by the neighbours or emptying their fosse for the first time, there's a good mixture of entertainment and facts mixed together.

There are many little anecdotes of David and Doris's adventures that I enjoyed throughout the book like trying to kill moles using a traditional french mole explosive device (to no effect of course).

About three-quarters of the book tells of the renovation journey itself, the remainder contains practical facts and advice about buying and living in France (water and electricity prices, how to insure a car, income tax rules, etc), with a final section being a useful vocabulary of English to French building terms (and vice versa).

I quite like the book and am happy to recommend it to others who are thinking about buying in France, or just would like a bit of bedtime entertainment about someone else's trials and tribulations abroad.

If I had one niggly little point it's that most of the chapters are (in my view) a teeny bit short. I'd have liked a bit more about in each section such as how David got the fosse emptied and tested, how much it cost, etc (sad person that I am). I guess though that putting too much details in would have risked loosing the story flow and the book may have suffered as a result.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and Informative., 30 Oct 2006
By D. Elson (Northern England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I am not planning to move to France but I've just finished reading "A French Restoration"! I picked it up out of curiosity and finished out of interest. If you are planning a restoration or a move you will find this even more interesting than I.
Not only a good and amusing read but very informative.
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1.0 out of 5 stars More waffle and padding than wattle and daub!, 12 Oct 2009
By Mr. Joseph Coten "joecoten" (london) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Although it only takes a few hours to go through this book, those hours would be better spent reading something more serious on the subject. The book is poorly written and uninformative, whilst the attempts at humour are dire. If you are considering a restoration project Joe Laredo's book is far more useful, even if a few pounds more expensive. The latter is well organised and there is plenty of hard information and useful reference material. The above positive reviews of "A French Restoration" are mystifying!
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