misplacedperson

They already do - Google Canvas Holidays. The site at Chateau des Marais in the Loire valley does treehouses.

If Georgie is dead the only people who appear to know about it are you and France Inter. [:D]

There are plenty of families on the waiting list for council housing, many of them currently in inadequate B&B accommodation. The fact that this situation exists alongside that of single people living in three-bedroomed council properties is not reasonable. And before you start ranting on Daily Mail-stylee about 'immigrants taking our houses' you should familiarise yourself with the rules as to who qualifies for social housing and where the priorities are.

Cooperlola: you can open an offshore Guernsey-based current account in sterling with the Coop Bank using a non-UK address. http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1193206371807,CFSweb/Page/Bank-CurrentAccounts?WT.svl=copy

Greyman: my Co-op suggestion was in response to whoever it was who preferred building societies on the grounds that they weren't profit-making. I have made the point several times that you don't need to use your bank or its cards to spend money abroad or transfer it to foreign accounts.

"The only English girl I know here, told me I would basically have to pack my bags and return to the UK." B0llox will you. You will probably have to accept that you're likely to end up in work which is rather below what your skills and education merit though - take whatever you're offered. Working supermarket checkouts, while not exactly a first choice, isn't actually as soul-destroying as you'd think. It also brings in cash and improves your French no end.

Co-op? http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1204529928525,CFSweb/Page/Bank?WT.svl=footer http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1193206370390,CFSweb/Page/Bank-Offshore

http://www.fairfx.com/ http://www.caxtonfx.com/ http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/ http://www.moneycorp.com/ .............. etc.

You have to imagine that the high heidjins at Nationwide have done those rather basic sums already. They are expecting an initial avalanche of complaints, most of which will be instant victims of the delete button (in fact their IT is probably set up to send them all straight to the spam folder - do not pass go, do not get looked at by even the lowliest work experience monkey). Remember that they're actively trying to ditch a bunch of people who are bacisally freeloaders as far as they're concerned. Irritating for expats using the service as a main account, but you can't really expect that there are enough of those to alter Nationwide's view of the greater picture, especially since lots of them no longer have a base in the UK and are therefore stuck with the account they already have. At the end of the day this really doesn't matter - there are enough cheap alternatives for people who want to transfer dosh to foreign accounts/use cards in European ATMs, so unless you insist on using bank transfers for some reason it's not about to cost you anything.

Please do. What suits me could well be to bean you one with a baseball bat and make off with your savings. [:D] Seriously, I didn't think anyone was Alzheimerish enough to walk about with wads of cash these days. I'm surprised you favour a bank account over stuffing it all in the mattress.

Good grief, are you absolutely barking? Honestly, get a grip and use a currency transfer service.

British tour ops do this kind of thing. The main company is a UK one and they run a French company as well, through which they pay bills etc and employ (very few) staff on French contracts.

I've always found them quite helpful, though I don't know what they'll be able to do for you.

Places are usually cheap because there isn't a whole lot of work available. Two years isn't very long and you're ultimately going to need a pretty well-paid job to support four people - I'd research employment opportunities before you do anything else, and go where the work is.

You could of course all close your accounts in a snit and go off somewhere else, but I'm afraid Nationwide won't give a rat's bottom. Most of the accounts they lose will be those whose owners only use them for holiday cash, and about which they care not one jot as they aren't profitable. People for whom it's a main account might grumble a bit but the huge majority of them will stay where they are because it's much the same as any other current account and the process of moving to another bank is a pain in the bum. There aren't enough of you expat types to make a difference to them, and those of you domiciled in France without a UK address (complete with utility bills in your name) will find it impossible to open a new account anyway, unless it's an offshore one with the Co-op Bank. You're going to be better off looking at people like Caxton FX, Fair FX, Moneycorp etc than grumbling to Nationwide.

Ski resort punters do that all the time, bastard irritating. [:@]

You may find that half of those sock 'n' sandal wearers are Dutch, if you look closely. I find it easy to spot the Brits here because they tend to be slightly overweight - this being a ski area we don't generally see many fatties. It may interest you to know that bars/restaurants are obliged to let random members of the public use the toilets regardless of whether or not a purchase is made. Obviously they're not mad keen to do so, and it's polite to buy something.

Now then ..... there seem to be millions of you out there. Surely someone can pitch in and help this lady with her changeovers? Maria - I'd come and help you myself, but I'm in the Alps, which is a bit of a distance. Best of luck though, and really sorry to hear about your husband, must be terrible.

HAGGLING!! [:@] Unles you swapped a couple of goats for your car insurance policy, in which case you did indeed barter for it.

Tecnhically, you might have to register it in France. On a practical level, the only people likely to give you grief are your UK insurance company, should you have an accident.

Call centres. FFS, which idiot marketing tosswit thought of that one? [:@]

Nematodes?

I know about hash cookies, but that's ridiculous.

All UK ops provide that stuff - it's how they justify paying £180 a month.

I know all about that. [:)] However, such jobs are a handy way of going and looking at an area, since they provide accommodation and your recce triptherefore comes cheap. It's also the case that TOs will pay half decent wages to skilled tradesmen because otherwise they just don't get any. Weren't you stirring it on Natives regarding tour op people-trafficking activities at one point? Always good for a wind-up, that one.