Summer Silly Season

Although we are not in the midst of a heatwave/canicule, it seems nevertheless that we are in the midst of the Summer Silly Season. This week brought a spate of enquiries from people who seem to think that an exchange can be arranged at very short notice: for example, an enquiry from a young Italian lady who was interested in a hospitality exchange for a month to any city in the UK, but wishing to travel within the first few days of August; another from a young French person who very specifically wanted to visit Sitges for the month of August. With home exchange it is very necessary to think and plan ahead, and there is almost no chance of making arrangements for either home exchange or hospitality exchange at such short notice. Whilst this may appear to be discouraging, we nevertheless prefer to be honest and not mislead anyone on their chances of arranging a successful exchange unless they are prepared to give it adequate advance thought and preparation.

We also received an enquiry from a journalist at Le Parisien asking if we could put her in touch with someone who was currently on an exchange in Paris. Whilst I could put her in touch with numerous French GTI Home Exchange members who live in or around Paris and are offering exchanges to Paris, it is very difficult for us to know at any given point in time who is actually on an exchange in a specific location unless they have sent us a copy of their home exchange agreement. We do invite members to complete a brief home exchange agreement and to send us a copy in the event that they might wish to refer to it if they should ever need confirmation of their home exchange arrangement for travel insurance purposes for example, but very few members do take this precaution, and consequently we do not know who is where and when. A great pity as it would have been lovely to have been able to fulfill the journalist's request and have received the resulting publicity.

So, if there are any GTI Home Exchange members who are currently enjoying an exchange in Paris (and thankfully not during a canicule, as it can be very hot in Paris in August), or any Parisien members who are about to welcome home exchange guests to their home, please contact Violette Lazard at Le Parisien infos_actu@leparisien.com, or contact me, so that I may pass this information on.