Richard51

We don't eat Heinz baked beans, marmite, ketchup or any of the other typically English processed foods - and we certainly wouldn't dream of bringing them to France.  The only specifically English foods I would buy from the UK are bacon and cheddar cheese (and maybe our local staffordshire oatcakes).  (Not a fan of gruyere cheese - I find it a bit bland). I make all my own food and don't buy ready meals / convenience food - so yes I make ratatouille in the summer and freeze it.  When I am comparing prices they are for meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, cleaning products, shampoos, DIY products etc etc - basic commodities.  We do take confit and foie gras back to the UK though - so it isn't all one way [:D] Mrs R51 NB we aren't settled in France per se - we only spend part of our time there (only a few weeks a year) and don't envisage moving there permanently.  We actually like the UK [:D].  BTW did you know that the UK has more regional cheeses than France http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/31/in-praise-british-cheese

This was discussed on another thread.  With food prices in France as they are (courtesy of the cartel / price fixing behaviour of the major French supermarket chains) we can wipe 50% plus off our bill by buying in the UK - even allowing for delivery charges.  The crazy thing is not that such delivery services exist but the ridiculous French prices that encourage such businesses. The French haven't worked out yet that membership of the EU means a free market - people don't have to shop in France.  Hence those crossing the border to go car shopping in Germany, the current woes of Air France v Ryanair etc etc Mrs R51

It depends - when your PAYG rates are 75p per minute and you are on your fourth livebox in two years (with long arguments with Orange to get replacements) the equation is not so clear cut. Mrs R51

When you are only in the air for one and half hours it doesn't really matter too much what the cabin staff are like.  The luggage allowances are clear - just play by the rules.  The card fees can be avoided - though it is more of a hassle for the occasional traveller.  I'm with GG - Ryanair does what it says on the tin. Mrs R51

Wooly what have you been reading?!?!?  What with this thread and the other one (http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2144543/ShowPost.aspx)....I'm guessing life in the Vendée is a tad boring atm??? Mrs R51

[quote user="Quillan"]There are 2 ways round the problem of power cuts especially if you have a mobile phone. Do keep in mind that French Telecom and Orange are all one company and of course any sales person's game is to relieve you of as much money as they can. For instance how easy would it have been to automatically change people from the old tariff to the new one, the functionality is the same, you don't loose out on anything. Instead you have to 'be aware' and ask for it to be changed. I wonder how many people out there in 'Orange Land' are blissfully unaware of these changes and will continue to pay the old rate, I know I would have been if it were not for this thread. [/quote] Our mobile phone is a UK PAYG so very expensive for international calls - and we are an hour round trip from the nearest Orange / FT shop.  We wouldn't really want to be left relying on a mobile phone if the internet went down as it happens too often for comfort - plus we let our home so we wouldn't want renters to be left sans connection in an emergency.  As I said it was only €3 or €4 a month difference so hardly worth quibbling over. With regard to the lack of automatic changes in rate - that's par for the course in today's world.  Businesses rely on stratified pricing and customer lethargy to maximise profits.

Following this post I went into the Orange shop and asked about the changes.  We have the Orange TV / internet / international & mobile free call package (we took it out a couple of years ago).  The only changes since then are to the international  / 1hr mobile free calls and the line inclusive option. The 'free' calls (which used to be an extra €7 pm) are now included in the basic package (so they updated our account for that - many thanks Howie for highlighting this!).  With regard to the line rental, we could switch to the groupage (i.e. have the inclusive line rental) but she counselled strongly against this.  She advised that, if we were in a city conurbation, it might be worth considering but in a rural area there is no way we should give up our separate FT telephone line.  If the internet goes down you have no phone.  The difference in € was so small anyway we opted to keep out FT line.  (I have vague recollection that others on here had had problem losing their telephone lines because of a groupage arrangement a few years ago...) Mrs R51 PS: The phone (VOIP) works exactly as it did before: you plug your standard phone into a little connector from the livebox then dial as normal.  Remember to unplug when you are finished so that incoming calls (on your normal FT number) are connected (unless you have more than one phone so can pick up incoming calls on another phone).  NB to access the free calls you must (obviously) be connected to the internet.  Ditto re the TV channels - your livebox etc must be on and connected and your TV decoder must be in range of the livebox.  (For us it involved a little tweaking of the position of the TV relative to the PC!)

Never rely on an admission of liability at the scene.  Virtually the same thing happened to me a few weeks ago (but the other way around).  I was driving along a narrow street (two cars wide but with vehicles parked bumper to bumper so only space for one car to pass.)  One of the drivers opened her door without looking  and with no time / distance for me to stop and no space to swerve.  She admitted liability at the scene - said she opened the door without looking, apologised profusely etc.  When the details went to the insurance companies she changed her story completely - said her door had been open for a while and that I had driven into her. The insurance company went with her story. (Apparently they would only pay out for a driver in my situation (where liability is disputed), if the damage from the opening door is to the side panel(s) of the other vehicle - i.e. the door was opened as the vehicle was actually passing.  No allowance is made for opening a door onto an oncoming / approaching vehicle with insufficient distance to stop.  Hence, even though the accident was not my fault, I have had to take the hit and will lose my NCB.  To say I'm p***d off is an under statement. As an aside my insurance company said it is common practice for claimants to lie when describing the circumstances of the accident.  Their estimate was that at least 50% of descriptions are deliberately inaccurate and that, more and more, they are having to rely on scene of accident position and location of damage as a means of settling claims. Mrs R51

The beef in France is definitely inferior to British beef.  The French are quite happy to sell meat from cows that would be considered too old for beef slaughter in the UK, likewise beef is also sold from former dairy cows (so no doubt full the antibiotics, hormones and other stuff that French farmers inject their dairy cows with).  It is also hung for very short periods of time compared with beef slaughtered in the British Isles.  If we buy beef in France (which admittedly is not very often due to the price!) I would only ever cook it very slowly (in the crock pot or pot roast style)...other wise you'll still be chewing it at bed time! I also find the vegetable quality (in supermarkets) to be not that great - but then most French we know either grow their own veg or buy from the local market / trade with neighbours. Mrs R51

[quote user="NickP"]I get the feeling from your attitude that you have issues with your French experience, maybe things didn't work out as you hoped they would? If so thats a shame for you, but there are lots of British people who do spend a lot of time in France, who don't mind or are not worried about French prices and feel that the few extra quid spent on shopping is money well spent for the enjoyment they get from this country. [:)] [/quote] First of all it's Mrs R51.  Mr R51 would have no idea of the price of the grocery shopping basket [;-)]...but the cost of DIY products / spare parts / electrical goods etc has turned him a whiter shade of pale. I just think that France is not the nirvana that some paint it to be and, conversely, the UK isn't anywhere as bad as it is portrayed.  The price of the weekly grocery basket is one where the UK wins hands down.  I don't have 'issues with my French experience' - I just feel that there are too many other places to visit to want to spend all my holidays in France...particularly at the moment when everything is so, comparatively, expensive. 

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]I would :)[/quote] Me too - holidaying in the Caribbean this year...much cheaper! Mrs R51

Just come back from a week of persistent rain with more forecast.  In contrast it's lovely weather here in the UK. Mrs R51

[quote user="misplacedperson"]"the quality of most items - food or electrical or furniture - isn't as good as in the UK" Er, what? You're saying that IKEA and Whirlpool deliberately make sub-standard goods for the French market? You might wish to get some help with that sort of paranoia.[8-)] [/quote] They are the same product but have you compared prices?  I know a few people who have bought Ikea stuff in the UK and had it delivered because, even with the delivery costs, it works out cheaper then buying in France. Mrs R51

[quote user="NickP"]Richard, the discussion was about getting food delivered from the UK on a weekly basis. As Bubbles said where the heck do you pay 2.5 Euro for a baguette, if you do they must see you coming. As for your varnish storey, OK paint in France is expensive. So to play your selective charges game, in Surrey; Mercedes charge £120 an hour service charges. Garage Palant (Mercedes) in Vendome charge 55 Euro an hour, and they give me a free courtesy car. I don't spend a lot of my time in France because France is cheap, I spend it here because I like France and the rural life style we enjoy while here.  In fact if I felt like you and more so Chessie, ( France IS horribly expensive for most things - and the quality of most items - food or electrical or furniture - isn't as good as in the UK.) I wouldn't even bother to set foot in France.[/quote] Sorry NickP you can rant all you like - France is expensive - period.  As prices have increased we have elected to spend less and less time there.  (We will spend just 2 weeks there this year and those two weeks are to sort out practical stuff we can't do by 'phone / online.)  We prefer to rent our place out to the holiday makers who don't need to buy paint and turn a blind eye to grocery prices 'cus they are on holiday.  Mrs R51

[quote user="NickP"]Richard51 wrote:            I just paid €11 for some (very scraggy looking) veal pieces.  I could buy a whole leg of lamb plus trimmings in the UK.  Anyone who says France is cheap is kidding themselves...maybe they are one of those 'we told everyone how wonderfully inexpensive living in France was so we can't possibly admit things may not be so rosy...types.' Nobody held you down and made you buy a scraggy pieces of veal, that's your choice. Nobody on this thread is saying France is cheap, the discussion is the newspaper article inferring" it's cheaper to get your shopping delivered to France from England". The consensus seems to be it's worth importing certain products. My opinion is bring in what is worth bringing in, but weekly shopping, no way! [/quote] I was cooking dinner for our French neighbours and they asked me to make pot au feu de veau - so, yes, I did need to buy the veal...and that was the best I could find.  The delivery charges from the UK are ~20% of the value of the goods (or £1 a litre for paints and varnishes).  When you look at the price differentials the delivery charges are defintely worth it.  Not that I would have bread delivered but...a baguette is €2.50 in our local bakery, in comparison,  I just picked up a large, fresh baked loaf in Morrisons for 68p.  The varnish we ordered was £30+ per tin more expensive in France - the delivery charge was £2.50 per tin.  You can make similar comparisons across most products. IMHO, it's a no brainer. 

We use the delivery services regularly for paints etc.  This week we had a delivery of three tins of floor varnish and saved over £100.  I continue to be shocked at the prices in France compared with the UK (even at the current £1.00 : €1.20 rate).  I estimate that French prices are approximately double the UK price for equivalent goods (for some things: eco light bulbs, washing / dishwasher powders / tablets etc) more so.  Most meat, fruit and veg are nearly double - e.g  canteloupe melon £1.47 Asda €2.50 Carrefour etc.  I just paid €11 for some (very scraggy looking) veal pieces.  I could buy a whole leg of lamb plus trimmings in the UK.  Anyone who says France is cheap is kidding themselves...maybe they are one of those 'we told everyone how wonderfully inexpensive living in France was so we can't possibly admit things may not be so rosy...types.' If proof were needed our (french) neighbours are now shopping at Tesco and having it delivered. Mrs R51

Hmm - we tried to get a basic (small) garden gate from Point P and were quoted over €1000.  Same thing in the UK <£100.

Generally horizontally trained branches flower (and so fruit) much better than branches allowed to grow vertically. (Hence why espalier trained fruit trees do so well).  The same applies to roses as well as fruit.

Agree with RH - we use Paypal.  They can pay in any currency with debit or credit card and, so long as you refund within (I think) eight weeks or so there are no charges (for either taking or refunding).  In the event of damage, you can make a partial refund and charges only apply to the part retained. Our deposit is €300 - but the house has some rather expensive F&F (large flatscreen TV with home cinema, new pc etc, antique furniture..)

We went for the big house / lots of bedrooms route - though we did avoid the huge gardens!  The one thing we learned in the UK is that, while large gardens seem wonderful they require a lot of maintenance and become a massive burden as you get older.  While you can shut the door on an unused bedroom you can't really do that with garden space.  Where we are we have an adequately sized garden (0.25 acres) but we look over our neighbours lovely countryside (farm).  That way we can enjoy the view and the closest we get to extensive mowing is watching Jacques do his stuff while we enjoy a nice bottle of something.  The house size was dictated by the fact we currently have three teenagers+ living at home.  We also both come from large families (one of four and one of five siblings) so we often have extended family to stay.  So far, it has been a good choice in that we have had some great holidays (big Christmas get togethers as well as summer holidays).  We also find it is good for rentals as we get a lot of enquiries for family reunion type holidays (and a lot of shoulder season weekend booking for French family get togethers).  Whether we continue to need such a large house as the children move on I don't know - we'll wait and see.  Mrs R51's parents still live in their 7 bedroom house.  The place was wonderful when their children were still at home but is waay too big for them now - but, for them, it is home and they are adament they will leave only in their respective wooden boxes. Fortunately Mrs R51's father is still fit and active and enjoys the ongoing maintenance required in a house of that size.  Mrs R51's mum is not so mobile and needs a stair lift to get upstairs.   At their age I think (hope!) we would be looking to move to something smaller.  I imagine that our next move (if we stay in France long term) will be to somewhere with either two or three bedrooms (when we are too old to cater for large family get togethers!). However the number of bedrooms, I think, would be less of an issue than being in a village / town where we weren't heavily reliant on a car.  If it were a two bedroomed property then we would want sufficient living space to allow the use of a clic clac / sofa bed if needed (viz a large kitchen you could live in as well as a separate living room or two reception rooms plus small kitchen).  Failing that close proximity to a gite that family members can rent (to keep the sanity of all!)

Could have been worse - at least it was only in the shower and on towels.  Some of the kids our family fostered smeared it all over the walls and furniture....[blink] Mrs R51

It's an attitude of mind.  Some of the most wealthy people I know are also the most miserable ..and vice versa. Mrs R51

[quote user="velcorin"]Money just let's you be miserable in much nicer places. [/quote] Love it - and so true! Mrs R51

So I just need my professional membership card...and a bribable friend [:D] Mrs R51

Sorry Polly!  We have an electric mower and electric hedge trimmers (plus extension cables etc).  The area is ~1000m2 lawned enclosed garden. The house is let regularly over the July / August so it's a regular trim to keep it tidy.  The hedge is laurel (and only at the front of the house) so will only need trimming, maybe, twice a year.  I'm guessing the size of garden shouldn't affect the rate per hour though?  (We are registered to pay via CESU.)