Hi all, I will arrive in France 4th Sep to stake my claim to the house I have purchased in Civray and looking forward to it. I need transport for a few weeks and checking various options came across some unfavourable experiences with car hire, in particular Europcar. Any advice on who to look at for car hire out of Toulouse. All advice garatefully recieved as always. Bill
Good info again Steve, thanks. I will head to Carrefor and the Tabac. Don't think I could negotiate a refund of anything at this stage and I am relying on my Granddaughter for some language assistance. I have been looking at Ikea for the flat pack option and the prices from one of the French stores look OK. I will give them a visit when I arrive.
Looking forward to a warmer climate for a short while, cold as here in Canberra at the moment.
Dont rush it on the furniture as there is a lot of very good "antique" stuff out there. What I am doing is buying some temporary stuff (like flat pack bedroom cupboards) so the place is livable and will get proper stuff later after I finally move in permanently (a few years yet). Emmaus is a great source if you have time - I got two great Eames like chairs at the one in Carcassonne last year.
I have had two dongles so far - first one worked OK if I sat outside on the road and stood on one leg but my son accidentally took it back to OZ so havent seen it since. One earlier this year cost me 50 including some credit and whilst it worked in the shop , never worked at all at the house (very thick walls and very thick operator) even if I hung it outside. See if your French is good enough so you can get your money back if it doesn't work - mine wasn't good enough. You should be able to get dongles at Orange Shops or a Carrefor if there is one near you - but it seems to be a 2 step process- buy the dongle from the shop and the sim credit from the tabac (or I just screwed up :-)
Thanks Steve,
I found SFN quite early in my quest and thanks to the members have had many questions answered and advice provided, some which saved me some cash, so I agree. Funny you mentioned GPS, just downloaded the Europe map for my Tom Tom and it looks pretty comprehensive and even has Russia and similar off the track places.
I have plenty to do of course as my Son and family are spending Christmas in the house. Bit of pressure to get it furnished but SFN members pointed me to Emmaus stores for good quality second hand furniture etc. One question I don't seem to be able to resolve is the capability to get a (French) dongle so that I can enjoy mobile computing until I get my comms sorted.
Thanks again.
Regards
Bill
No problem - as an infrequent visitor to my place in Trebes but invariably via Toulouse and a car hire, it was nice to be able to help as so many people on the site have helped me.
Think seriously about the GPS (but not hiring it). Over the years, I have been lost in most major cities in the world (at one point driving down some steps near the Acropolis in a 35 ft campervan) but with the GPS I relax a lot as I know it will get me home even if I wander down an interesting lane or get diverted by road works
Good luck with the adventure
Steve
Steve, went with Autoeurope for a France and UK Booking. Great site and the best price I could get. defaulted to Europcar Hire.
Thanks again.
Bill
Thanks Steve, some good info and appreciated. I have had no trouble with Europcar I must say but having a dickens of a time getting onto the French website. I will have a go at Argus and Autoeurope.
Regards
Bill
Having said all that, I just did a cross check using http://www.autoeurope.com.au/car.cfm and they were 10% cheaper for same car, same dates at Toulouse
I use agus car hire UK web site when I book a car from Toulouse (I work in Angola and am Australian so it needs to be very simple :-) They are "sort" of a wholesaler for the various agencies and you get a list of prices and do the booking through them, often significantly cheaper than if you book direct with the car provider (AVIS, HErtz etc.)
To be honest, the actual provider frequently ends up being Europcar (though last time it was Alamo but through the Europcar desk) and I havent had any significant problems either in Toulouse or in Australia. Closest to an issue was a late charge from Eurocar last year which I queried on their web site and never got any response to . However when I picked up another car earlier this year the Eurocar lady was able to explain the charge satisfactorily.
All the rental car desks are located close togther at the airport and they have been surprisingly helpful. The actual pick up of the car is usually in P2 (parking area 2 - out the exit at the front of the airport just to the left of the booking desks and turn left - not too far a walk and you will see signs on your right to P2). The boom gate opens automatically on your way out and on the way back in when you return - its actually surprisingly well sign posted on the way back in. In the case of Europcar at least, on your return, you drop the keys into their little office on the ground floor of the parking station - again easy to find. If you are at the lifts , turn around and you will see it
If you are going to be here awhile, use Google Maps/Google Earth to print out directions to Carrefor (there's one not too far from the airport) and buy a GPS - mine has been a godsend but if you rent them with the car they are ridiculously expensive
Good luck
Steve