When a young lad my dad used to drive us all the way from the midlands to Hopton on Sea to a holiday park for our family summer holidays back in the late 50s early 60s.
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There are no tax deductions, but you automatically get an āabattementā (rebate) up to 71% if your gites are registered and rated.
Good marketing is an absolute must, and your own website is always a good idea. Define your preferred market and target that, not just british. Gites de France are expensive, but the French use them a lot and it (used to) gives you a feeling of being āmoreā legitimate . Dutch and Belgian clients are generally good too. Donāt forget, the more you charge, the more the client will expect, but donāt price yourself out of the market.
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Yikes - not quite right Mark. You donāt get a rebate with the particular tax regime you refer to - itās just that 71% of your income can be tax (and social charge) free. There are other tax regimes which do indeed allow you to offset some expenses against tax - it really does depend on which set-up you choose based on your circumstances. Great fun ! 
Hopton has changed a bit since those days mate !! Loads of houses though the camps are still going strong albeit with a much reduced length of season. The main camp used to be Potters which I believe was taken over by Pontins who now make use of it all-year round for various functions etc. We used to hae some good nights out in Hopton in the '70s in the summer months.
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Hi Mick, there are still three holiday parks there, Broadland Sands, Haven, and Potters. The beach was washed away a couple of years ago when they built an outer harbour in Great Yarmouth. Since then the holiday camps paid for granite to be brought in and sand has slowly returned.
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Potters is still there and very much expanded. It is classed as 5 star. The Pontins one is probably Haven now. The shops, and pubs have had a makeover and it all looks very nice now.
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Iām sure we shall be revisiting this question a lot! Lol.
Hello again Stella
I have lovely memories of Hopton. We used to have family holidays there over 40 years ago when the holiday camp was called Hollimarine (I think!). One year both us kids developed chicken pox and I have other memories of the beach, crazy golf, Dad teaching me to swim, donkey rides, evening entertainment in the ballroom etc. Even now I remember our regular caravan number, Q26 
Thanks for evoking lovely memories.
Sorry for taking the discussion off topic (not sorry really) 
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Have you seen this Stella for somewhere to stay maybe while looking.
No we havenāt yet started to look for temporary accommodation. It does look lovely and the sort of style we like. It is a bit to big for us to rent though. We only need a two bed place at most. But you can keep looking, lol!
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Not at all, Iām surprised how many of you are familiar with this area 
Wouldnāt it be amazing if there was still a caravan Q26!
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Iāve just returned from a drive out through parts of La Vienne, La Charente and La Haute Vienne. A lot of the countryside Iāve passed through in all three departments has been beautiful and the towns and villages charming. Other parts have been less pleasant. Itās impossible to judge a property by the department itās in, you really do need to look at each one that interests you.
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Thank you David, we will do, it was weather initially helping us choose the areas. I imagine they are very similar, unless thereās any individual characteristic to a place, more wind or rain, maybe.
Yes, sorry, thats pretty much what I meant, itās been a long week.
In general terms the Haute Vienne will have more rainfall than the Charente or the Vienne because it is higher but, once again, you have to check individual places. Another feature is that the coastal strip will normally be a few degrees cooler in the summer than as far inland as the N10 but a few degrees milder during the winter.
During last winter parts of Aquitaine were affected by air masses arriving from different areas. These caused some strange temperature variations. When the cold, dry north easterly air mass was replaced by the warm, wet air mass coming up from the south the temperature changed from -9 to 15 degrees in 24 hours. Not normal but strange.
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one place i want to visit in Brittany. ChĆ¢teau de Chambord
Sorry Harry but its not in Britanny ā¦its in my region Centre Val de Loire. Lots of other great places to visit here too, the list is long 
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Brittany? Chambord isnāt in Brittany, it is between Blois and OrlĆ©ans, pretty much.
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You two are too quick!
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ohh i was told it was near Brittany, some friends just went there last year. I will have to have words lol and they stopped in Brittany. then again 4 hours in france is near to some folks.