Parisians out

[Sparkle]

In all of this dislike for tourists and second home owners, it is worth remembering that most of not all of us, were those folk once. That is how we found the area to suit our needs, found our house, and for some at least, spent our time most summers.

I don't think it's a dislike for tourists/SHOs it's just at the moment we all have a water crisis which isn't helped with visitors whether from France or elsewhere who are using our water instead of their own - I stress that I'm saying at the moment while we have this water crisis. We've been buying the large cheap bottled water for hand washing clothes and trying not to wear too many !

[L Austin France]

We've been buying the large cheap bottled water for hand washing clothes and trying not to wear too many !

So your fellow's Nicholas.

[Blaze]

In all of this dislike for tourists and second home owners, it is worth remembering that most of not all of us, were those folk once

Tourism has changed hugely in the last 30 years in many areas, due in part to travel programmes and, unfortunately, social media. Whilst tourism brings money into the area, it can also price locals out of the area - the vast construction programmes in Saint-Malo do not include "affordable housing" or accommodation for long term lets. The massive demolition of small individual houses and terraces has made way for apartment blocks which get sold as secondaires or holiday lets.
Encouraging businesses and tourists into the area, the creation of jobs and a growth in the local population is all very well, but the infrastructure is barely keeping pace. This is particularly noticeable in the medical/health services.

Climate change will add an extra strain on many services with more and more tourists every summer. As I've already said, we are in a state of "Crise" regarding drinking water which could have serious consequences if we don't get sufficient rainfall to fill the reservoirs by the end of the year.

No-one is saying tourists aren't welcome. But the problem is, how do you get the message across that when there is a water shortage, more care has to be taken over wastage ? It's not just the tourists themselves, but the facilities they use, such as hotels, that need to think about economising.

[exile]

Well that sounds pretty dire, @Blaze and I am glad to say it does not reflect things here.

Sure the village has expanded in the 20+ years we have been here:
Young couple bought the land on the opposite side of our side valley and built a log cabin. Completely spoiled our view. They set up as sheep farmers, built a hanger (spoiled the view even more), had children who have helped with the upkeep of the creche and the school, have extended the cabin and seem to be bringing some prosperity to the village. In the mean time the trees have grown and now make their home and business less obvious and they are all fully integrated into the village life.
The village gave out 4 parcels of land for new builds. 3 were taken by people in the HLM and so these were released for other residents. One was taken by a Belgian family who set up in business.
The commune also gave out parcels for business use. The biscotterie unfortunately failed, but the joinery was taken over by a local resident and the saw mill seems to be going strong. I could complain about its placement on the brow of the hill - again spoiling the view; but I won't. It brings money into the village and while money is not everything, it does help in a commune where incomes are limited.

15 or so years ago I found by accident the average income for the commune. It was then only about €8500 and when I posted this in another forum I was accused of being a champagne socialist - until I pointed out that INSEE only publish annual incomes, not monthly.
I have not been able to find the page in the INSEE reports again but I would guess incomes remain low.

So for us, tourists who rent gites, spend money in the local shop, eat in the restaurant, drink in the bar, use the table d'hote are important - even if they do take more than their fair share of precious water

[Blaze]

@exile I know what you mean about losing views. We had a lovely view of Mont Saint Michel until someone planted an Albezia which has now grown up ... can't be helped.

Certainly smaller out of the way places need and welcome tourists. In our case it's not the tourists themselves, it's the number. The last 3 or 4 years has seen the arrival of cruise ships which disgorge anything up to 2000 passengers which make walking in the old walled city Intra Muros a nightmare.

But things will quieten down after the rentrée !

[L Austin France]

I avoided the problem when I built the plumbing by having a hot water closed loop passing all the HW taps and back to the HW tank. A flow sensor is activated when a tap is opened which starts the closed loop circulation pump. I usually crack open a tap for one second and wait till the HW has circulated the loop (about 100m, it’s a big house) a few minutes later HW is directly available with no wasted water. It is a bit like the systems in hotels although they circulate HW continually which is a bit of a waste of energy overnight.

Gets you HW a bit quicker but doesn't the 100m closed loop, now possibly more than two pipes instead of one with 'legs' unless 'dead', cool down without use & need reheating when your pump re-starts & cooler/cold water re-enters the ballon, sort of defeating the idea unless your energy is cheaper than water.
I've designed numerous HEVAC systems for large Hotels which always require a HWS circulation due to the otherwise large draw off of cooled/cold water before hot water eventually arrives, especially on the index circuits due to the much larger pipe sizes required to service the number of bathrooms.
The extra cost of well insulated circulating systems is small beer to hotels overheads.
Large hotels are 24/7 operations with all services required to be available at all times & clients pay for these costs.

[Sparkle]

We've been buying the large cheap bottled water for hand washing clothes and trying not to wear too many !

So your fellow's Nicholas.

cheeky

[Sparkle]

Here we locals (and that's many of us) support our larger village with donations ie to the football club, petanque, The Chateaux, Les Entrelaces plus we have an compte parte sociale account with one of the banks (don't know if the other bank has the same type of account) that supports lots of local projects. The locals (including us) support the 3 different type of bars and 2 small restaurants. The restaurants are limited to I believe 50 seats (not that they could accomdate any more than 50) something to do with the 'big red book' and every day of the week the Auberge has at least 20 work people for their lunch from nearby enterprises. During July & August we and some of our French friends have a weekly booking at the Auberge for at least one day of the week to ensure we have a table and we've done so since the end of covid. So I think I can say the locals from the communes around our main village are very very supportive as we don't want to lose any of it. Yes, I know the bars are crammed during these months with tourists to the point where they have to employ extra staff to help out but that's an extra cost to the bar owners........and when the tourists/SHOs have left the support for the village is down to the locals which is why our commercents look after the locals first.

[ajm]

@Lori I quite agree. I hate them too but they keep our communes alive.
@Sparkle we too collect water from the shower. We have been en crise for a couple of months now. A disadvantage when you live atop a mountain and the only natural reservoir is the sky.
I think your option for hand washing instead of using the dish washer might be misplaced. A modern dishwasher uses 17l water or less. So, provided it is filled before being run, I think you are sure to use a lot less water than hand washing - even if you do then use the soapy/greasy water for other uses.

I've not measured it but I'll bet the water we use for hand washing dishes is less than 17 l. The rinse water goes on the garden.

[exile]

Our washing up bowl takes 10l to the brim, so 7 - 8l for a hand wash. The sink takes 12l but we generally just use a bowl. The dishwasher takes 4 bowls worth of hand washing. The key is to ensure the dishwasher is full when you put it on and not just a couple of plates and several glasses and mugs.


EDIT: Oh and if you rinse the hand wash, that is more water used.