Mr Piglet and I found THE perfect offices / storefront for Mr Piglet’s estate agency today. I pass frequently in front of the building in question and remarked recently that the florist that used to have the shop was gone and that the shop was now sitting empty.
It is in the local village, on a main road, so has excellent visibility and free parking nearby (yes, free parking still exists in many parts of France).
It was just all too perfect and I was already imagining myself working from there and walking across to the school to pick up my daughter (once she starts!) and then taking her home for lunch. I was already imagining being part of the village centre, the community and which artists paintings we could expose on the walls (aside from properties of course!).
It would have been perfect
The plans were drawn up and I had costed the fit and display as well as the construction of my office.
I had already planned the grand opening with the catering and which guests we would invite and had drafted the press release in my mind.
But I was obviously getting far too ahead of myself as when Mr Piglet went back today to measure up and agree a price, he discovered that there was no mobile phone signal! Can you imagine, no mobile phone signal?
Both of our businesses mean that our mobile phones are crucial to our work, we have to be available to customers all the time and can’t afford to not be available because of a lack of network.
What a shame! I feel like crying and feel like dragging all the patrons of the local bar to see what network they have and to see if it works. We only have the choice of two networks as only two get a signal at home. Never would I have imagined when I was a little girl and didn’t even know what mobile phones were, that a mobile phone signal would play so much of an important part in my life…
How about you? Does modern technology ever get in the way of your life and dreams? How do you feel about this?
Piglet in France 
I am so addicted to my phone. I constantly check twitter, emails, the web. I often think how ridiculous it all seems when just a few years ago none of that ever matter. I do sometimes think of chucking my fancy phone and just going native 🙂
Completely agree! There are lots of people feeling like this at the moment, I think people are realising that real life is just as important…
I am a total phone addict but I think the first step to returning to normality is recognising the fact that you are always on the phone! Twitter is fun, it had a part in my life and I was totally addicted but I rarely go on it these days. I also limit my time to facebook to 10 minutes a day (I have something on my PC that blocks it). When with family or friends, I keep my phone in the car/bag and only check occasionally for calls/emails. It’s hard but I am re-adjusting.
Is there any kind of signal receiver booster you can get? (probably not but worth a try!)
Yes! I think there is 🙂 Apparently Bouygues (my new contract) has a booster which you can use if you don’t get a signal. I’m going to be calling them today 🙂
What a pain, surprising in a village, guess there is no way of setting up an aerial! We have a bad connection here in the house but out the front door is great. Also I have discovered if I stand directly under the velux windows it works as well. Hope you can find something soon but is sounds like the whole village may be a problem. Have a good weekend, Diane
Sounds as if you have a very thick roof if you get a signal under the velux windows! The property is in pisé so has thick walls which doesn’t help but you are right the whole village has a problem at the moment. Apparently there were no issues until last year but since something has happened. I’m hoping it is an aerial down or something so hopefully the mobile phone company can tell me
oh no! That’s the worst! I’ve been taking classes at the Sorbonne here in Paris and the building they are in has absolutely NO signal. It’s annoying when you’re just planning little meetups after class. I can only imagine trying to run a business and not having a connection! eek! New to your blog! super cute! 🙂
Thank you for your kind words *blushes*. Ah I am sure it is to make sure that students concentrate and aren’t checking their mobiles all the time ;-)! Not very practical for those that wish to use their phones outside of class though as you say…
After living in Argentina and being fine without a phone at all .. of course we had one, carried one, but never really used them , I lost the need for a phone. I knew I can email people which helped a lot when there are people all over the world to be in touch with.
Now that we are back in the US .. I find emails still work just as fine for me.
Of course, I can call someone if I wish, we have a house phone and a cellular but I have vowed never to be addicted to a phone.
I think part of this is due to the fact that we have been in the company of too many people who cannot sit through a movie/dinner/visit without checking/using their cell phones.
I am avoiding that addiction 🙂
Good for you Candice and I say that with admiration as unfortunately I am guilty in the constantly checking my phone department.
I think smartphones are a large part of the problem as I rarely use mine to make calls so if I did only use it for calls then I wouldn’t be an addict.
I do however think it is incredibly rude when people check phones constantly throughout dinner etc and I once had a houseguest who spent their whole weekend checking their phone/emails etc and seemed more interested in what was happening in their online social world than in real life. Needless to say that person has never been invited back.
LOL, once we are all settled in with our new home etc, we will see if I change my habits. Right now it is a treat to let my husband do all the phone calling .. plumbers etc. My phone lies quietly in my purse, telling me the time and weather if I ask 🙂
We have become an ‘instant’ society. And unfortunately, that means if your client can’t find you right now, he can find someone else offering the same service or product. Hope you manage to get a good signal. Perhaps one of the cell service providers can help you figure it out.
OMG yes! I lose business if I can’t answer straightaway and clients can be SO demanding… ie. if I haven’t replied to an email within 5 minutes they call me to find out what the problem is… We have definitely lost focus and our understanding of what “us” humans are capable of in my opinion.
Having said that, one of the things I love (and sometimes hate) about France is that here it isn’t an instant society, things still take time and no one expects an instant answer.
We have almost no mobile phone connection at our house in Sablet because of thick walls and roof. I will be interested to see if you find a solution. Good luck.
ah yes we have the thick walls as well! We found this, might be of use to you: http://www.espaceclient2.bouyguestelecom.fr/assistance/femtocell