Digg up the architect - just for fun
Over a decade ago, we rented our French seaside home to families with kids during the summer. The rest of the year guests were people coming for business or for treatment in the nearby thermal bath.
The town of Sète was founded in 1671, to serve as a port at one end of the Canal du Midi, a channel to connect the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. Creating the channel between 1666 and 1681 was the biggest construction work of the 17 century. It leads over 241 km to Toulouse, so fret could go by the river Garonne from Bordeaux to Toulouse, then by channel to the Mediterranean coast or go North by the Rhone river to Lyon and further. Nowadays it’s riverboats full of tourists, who enjoy the quiet pace of the waterway shaded by plane trees.
As the town was built within a very short period, many buildings are constructed in the same way. They have only a small front to the street, but stretch very long. The ground floors were used as warehouses for the port activity, the higher floors for living. The walls are in stone, nearly four feet thick in our building, and windows are set deep, to protect from the heat. The construction in the 17 century attracted many Italian workers, who settled there, enriching the language, culinary arts and the lifestyle.
Once we got a booking from a Dutch couple for 5 days in January as the husband had to undergo surgery in a private clinic in our town. It sounded very bad, he would stay in hospital the whole time and the wife needed a place close by to be with him all the time. Poor lady, so worried over her husband! We offered a special deal for the 5 days, instead of the one week minimum. We exchanged contracts and they saw that there were more beds in the flat. The evening before arrival, they called late and asked if they could bring a couple of friends along, to keep the lady company. I accepted and did not even think about asking for a surcharge, as I imagined her very worried, staying close to her husband’s hospital bed waiting for the outcome of the surgery. Friends would be a huge support.
"Go ahead and good luck for the surgery!" After ending the call, we regretted a bit as normally we would not offer a special price and accept four adults. But Christmas was still close and it was for a good purpose…
The next day, we got an email: The second double bed was too small for the second couple.
I proposed that the friends take the main bedroom where we had a huge imported double bed and the lady takes the other bed. Anyway, would not the husband sleep in hospital?
Next email: No, the husband would not stay every night in hospital and the bed was too small, they wanted a reduction.
I answered that I could not give a reduction on a zero surcharge, that the living room couch could be transformed into a double bed too. As small, a bit shorter, being the French standard size, but they could use all three beds to sleep well.
Next day, next mail: the mattress in the second bedroom was too thin, under 5 cm / 2 inch and they wanted a reduction.
I answered that we had this mattress custom made to get the extra length for a tall son, it was an acceptable quality as having produced a mattress to mesure costs so much money, that nobody would do this with a cheap mattress. Please check the thickness with the ruler beside the computer as I’m sure that 5 cm is a wrong estimation. As the contract was made for two persons and describes all bed sizes in detail, there can be no reduction on a non existing surcharge.
Another day, another mail: the balcony is too small to eat outside in the evening. Therefore they wanted a reduction. (It was the time of 5 photos per ad and limited words).
We answered that we mentioned this for summer bookings to foreigners but that we did not expect someone to plan to dine on a balcony in January, even in the South of France. Did they wish to watch their water glasses freeze over? We could not grant a reduction on this argument.
By then, my husband checked the clinic’s specialities: birth and haemorrhoids. We had a good laugh about our foolishness and exchanged some obvious salacious barbs which I can’t write in English 😉
They left finally but sent us another mail after receipt of the torn up deposit check. They had found out that in our home all walls were irregular, the corners were not right angled and the ceiling was not straight. This was unusual as in their new Dutch pavilion this was not the case and merited a reduction.
We ended the discussion with a last answer: « We already realised that such is the case in all the buildings dating from the foundation of the town. We believe it contributes to the charm of old buildings, but if you have a problem with it, you should discuss it with Louis XIV's architect. He died in 1680 but his grave may still be found. »
(I mentioned the origin of the guests, as Dutch people are the tallest Europeans, whilst Mediterraneans - and their beds - are small.)
This couple came in 2004 or 2005, when travellers were expected to live like locals. That apartment was sold a few years ago and the new owner proceeded to transform it to match the short term rental norm of today. He tore down the separation walls, set straight walls before the irregular ones, lowered the ceiling to get it straight and lost the surface of a room, half a body length in height and all the charm and authenticity.
