[Locking up holiday home for the winter - Hints, Tips, What precautions should I take?]

As well as draining as much as we can and having anti-freeze for up to minus 20 degrees in the radiators, we put a moisture trap in each of the rooms which seems to prevent any mould. The cheapest ones we have found are in Aldi with M. bricolage own make coming second.

Knitwear and clothes go in tin trunks and breathable bags respectively and we use old bedding as dust sheets .

[Worth a detour]

If you are in the Chalon sur Saone area then can recommend a visit to the Chateau de Germolles. Privately owned, it was built in the 14th century for Philip the Bold and Margaret of Flanders. The guided visit is really interesting as they have archives dating back to when the chateau was built and know the names of people from the caretaker to the artist who hand painted the walls.

We were lucky enough to be shown around by the owner and his enthusiasm was infectious.

Well worth a visit in our opinion

[Bells to ring 1Aug, WWI commemoration]

Bells even rang in our tiny hamlet. Glad I knew what they sounded for. thank you

[Washing machine]

Thanks everyone - I did a search on the Indesit site but it did not recognise the serial number of our model - probably too old.

We think that it has died because we are not even getting the power light to come on. Have plugged something else in so it isn't the socket.

Ah well, c''est la vie!

[Washing machine]

I seem to have done nothing but ask questions in the past few days - apologies.

Our washing machine has this very minute stopped working!

At least it was on the spin cycle so not much water left in it!

Can anyone say how much roughly it costs to ask someone to come out and fix it.

In UK it is almost as expensive to do that as it is to buy a new one but white goods seem to be dearer in France.

As usual, any help always gratefully received.

Thanks

[Effective weed killers]

Hi

Can anyone recommend an effective weed killer for clover - the one with the yellow flower - and bindweed. Both are driving me mad and nothing seems to have much effect on them. I don't like using weed killers but these seem to be resistant to everything I have tried.

Has anyone used one of those gas canister wand things to burn off the weeds?

Thanks

[Help with translation of paragraph in contract please]

Thank you so much Loiseau and Norman H. I got myself in such a twist with it - one minute I thought that the buyer had dispensed with the need for a diagnostic and the next minute I had convinced myself that he was insisting on one.

Thanks again for your prompt replies

[Help with translation of paragraph in contract please]

I am having trouble with one paragraph in a contract and would be grateful for any help. I can translate the individual words but not the actual meaning (if that makes sense).

Le vendeur déclare ne pas avoir constaté jusqu'a ce jour l'existence de ties indices et l'Acquereur déclare avoir dispensé tant le Vendeur que le Notaire de faire effectuer une recherché de la présence éventuelle de mérules par un diagnostiqueur spécialisé.

I have read it many times now and each time I decide it means something different.

Any help would be gratefully received and thanks in advance

[Holiday apartment with no WiFi]

We bought a wifi hub from Bouyges Telecom which we activate each time we go to France. Not the cheapest option but works for us.

[Recommendations please]

Have you looked at airbnb.com?

We recently had visitors from Australia and they toured Britain and had a studio apartment in London for a week with them. They were very happy with every place they stayed. There was an article about the site in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago - it was set up by a student who started offering his spare room and now it is worldwide. We have found an apartment in Brittany for September this year so will keep fingers crossed.

[Le Tour 2014]

Thanks Clair

ITV do the daily programme which we watch when in UK. Unfortunately can't get UK TV on iPad when in France.

Will try F2 and 3 . May be able to watch on YouTube too.

Have to have our daily fix - maybe not the best expression to use in relation to The Tour!

Thanks again

[Le Tour 2014]

This year we will be in France during the Tour. Does anyone know which TV channels (if any) show a highlights programme. We know that Eurosport has live coverage but we would like to be able to see the highlights of each stage as we have limited access via our iPad .

Thanks for any info.

[Linguistics]

When we first started visiting France many years ago we could go on guided tours in Northern France and understand most of what was said but didn't have a clue when we went further south.

Originally from mid-Wales but working in London I met someone who was able to place my home within 6 miles!

No offence to our Scottish neighbours but I used to have to activate the subtitles to watch Programmes like Taggart and Kenny Dalgleish was a total mystery.

It is a fascinating subject and like other people on the forum, one which I would have liked to study.

[MiFi : Connection via data sim and WiFi Box]

They are 4G but will receive whatever is available. We had mainly 3G reception

[MiFi : Connection via data sim and WiFi Box]

We bought a bouyges telecom box nomad with which you can connect up to ten devices. It is quite an expensive way to get connected but as we don't live in France, it has proved to be the least expensive way for us to be connected.

We do not have a land line but need to be able to keep in touch so the nomad was our best option -you can just buy the sim.

[Listing the "stuff" your leave in the house when you sell]

Thanks for quick and comprehensive reply

[Listing the "stuff" your leave in the house when you sell]

Hi

Have been following your thread with interest as we intend to leave things.

Who did you have to contact to arrange fosse inspection please?

Fingers crossed for you that all goes well with sale

[large size shoes]

Thanks for info about Sarenza. I have every sympathy with your son's girlfriend. I had given up looking for shoes in France as I take a 42/43 - the last time I went into a shoe shop and asked if they had a particular shoe in a 42 the assistant laughed openly in my face!! The time before that, the assistant said ,"42" in such an exaggerated manner all over the shop my husband grabbed my arm and manoeuvred me out of the door before I could respond.

[Selling our apartment]

Pickles

Thank you so much for your quick and helpful reply.

G.

[Selling our apartment]

Have researched a bit more and next week we will be off to start the ball rolling. A bit aprehensive but fingers crossed will be able to deal with it - following links on here have found an english speaking notaire - this will help a lot as although I speak passable french I do not have a lot of confidence and always feel more confident if I have as much info in my brain as possible. Thanks to everyone who replied.

Just one more question that I can't seem to find an answer to (sure it is on here somewhere but obviously not putting search info in correctly.

We have decided on an immobilier and are going to go for a mandat exclusif for a specified period. My question is what happens after that specified period? Do we have to renew the mandat or does it automatically become a mandat simple?

Thanks for any help.

G.

 

[Anyone used these for transfer?]

Thanks for this thread. I wanted to transfer a £1000 to my bank account and using my regular company would have had 1160 euros and would have been charged £9 for doing so. I used Currencyfair and had 1209 euros and was only charged 3 euros transfer fee.

I haven't had a look at Transferwise yet but am happy to have saved 49 euros today - every little helps.

Thanks again

[Re: Chicken or egg?]

Norman

That has been my chuckle for today

Thank you

[Re: ARE WE ALL GETTING TOO OLD OR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS?]

When I was working a new computer system was introduced to the office and we were told during our training that we would now become a 'paperless office' as everything would be done on the system doing away with the need for clerical records. No-one mentioned the reams of paper that came off the printer daily to 'back up' the system records and provide a list for checks that needed to be carried out on work done. These prints had to be kept for a minimum of eighteen months causing a need for storage facilities and extra staff to file them.

Progress?

[Internet for Second Homes]

Hi

We too have a Bouyges Telecom 3G dongle which works well. Sometimes we can only get Edge but mostly have 3G. It was easy to set up but you do have to have a French bank account (unless that has changed), and it is easy to top up. Skype can be a bit hit and miss but again, sometimes is ok. You do have to have a bit of patience especially if you are used to super fast broadband but it is good to be able to keep in touch, book tickets and pay bills etc.

[Selling our apartment]

Pickles, Thank you for the advice - will get the diagnostics done ourselves.

Norman, Thank you for the links