sikhim

Thank you very much for replying to me; it's now working; the only thing I changed was,  I put a scart lead with a much bigger diameter and I pressed the button no 1 on the Sky remote control. Don't know which worked, can't remember what I did on the remote control yesterday either ! Thanks again Dominique

Me again ! The reason I cannot find the AV1, AV2, etc, is because the TV does not get a signal from the Skybox. I have found the menu set-up for external devices, but the option is greyed-out, so obviously the TV does not recognise the decoder. (I have also found the button on the remote control ) I have rang the company where I bought the TV but am not too  hopeful of any help since I have "foreign" equipment ! Anyway they have not rang me back. I am usually quite good as setting these things up and just wonder if it is possible that the TV is faulty. I have looked at the link given by Clair to connect various equipments,  and it does look as if I should have a cable from the decoder to the TV as well as a scart lead, but this does not mean anything to me. The old TV was just connected via a scart lead from the decoder to the TV and it worked perfectly. Thanks again for any help. Dominique

Hello, just wondering how you connected your skybox to your Samsung TV ? Just bought one and I have linked the Skybox (Pace) to the TV via a scart lead but the TV does not recognise it. We have a satellite dish and a Freesat card from Sky. On the remote control, I have pressed the key to get the external sources (EXT.1 and EXT.2), but I think I need something that says AV1, AV2, etc, but can't seem to find it in the instructions. I am sure it's a connection problem ? what else have I forgotten to connect ? If I connect the scart lead back to the old TV, it works fine With the JO approaching, I would be (or rather my husband) so grateful for a bit of help Best regards Dominique

    Thanks that's an idea; I'll start asking around. I had not thought about it. Concerning the offshore account, although I have nothing to hide, I don't particularly want the Fisc on my back ! and I think having an offshore account is not a good idea. Like the gendarmes, the Fisc has always provoked fear in the most innocent people in France. I am now sorry that I closed my UK account but as it happened about 30 years' ago, it's a bit late to have regrets. Do you know why it is impossible to open a bank account in the UK if you are not resident ? I cannot think of a logical reason. Dominique

Hi Sue, thanks for your input, and I would ask them if I could get through to them ! The phone number is always engaged or there is no reply. Best regards Dominique

    I think I am the only one on this forum who does not have an account in the UK ! Dominique

    When I was a kid living in France, I thought it meant there was literally no doors ! Dominique

    Hi to everybody The lady who normally looks after Amber, our Cavalier King Charles, seems to have disappeared ! Could be due to all these "ponts" but I am starting to get worried as our daughter is getting married at the end of August and Amber is a little bit too "fofolle" to take with us Is there anybody living in the area who would be interested in looking after her ? I pay 12 Euros a day and I provide the food thanks Dominique

    Good morning Has anybody else come across this problem ? I need a cheque for a UK government department, I don't have a bank account in the UK. My banque does not have any Sterling drafts, only in Euros,  Barclays Bank in Lyon does not have any, and they say they have never been asked for one ! Apparently people pay by credit card or bank transfer but you can't do this for a government department. Which brings me to my next problem: I have read of this forum that it is now very difficult to open a bank account in the UK if you live abroad.  Is it actually impossible or just very difficult ? As Napoleon said, "impossible n'est pas français". Thanks for your advice Dominique

Here is additional info on the Lyon/Rhone Alpes branch Craig Alciati à : [email protected] tel:  04 76 56 77 09 Dominique

This is on the website of the American Club in Lyon and could be of help to some members or of interest to those who wish to help regards Dominique http://www.cancersupportfrance.info/index.html

    Hello, you could try le Carrefour du Benevolat: http://www.benevolat-grandlyon.com/esp_ben_pnr.html also have a look at Campus Initiatives:  http://www.lyoncampus.org/initiatives/  also a google search " benevoles Lyon " returned lots of links for specific associations looking for volunteers this link is the site of the Mairie in the 6th arrondissement and has a list of associations: http://www.lyon6.org/article-Entraide-35-973.html I presume each Mairie will have a website and a list; if not, a visit to your local Mairie should produce a listing. Hope you find something.  When I arrived in Lyon, I found the best thing was to buy  Le Progrès newspaper to find out what was happening around my area (I live in the 3rd) and I now do "soutien scolaire" for a local association as a volunteer. Enjoy your time in Lyon. Dominique

    Hello, this post does not exist and I wonder what happened to it ?  as I live in Lyon, I was obviously interested in it ! when I click on it in the last post column, message says that "this forum does not exist" just curious Dominique

    Unfortunately I cannot at the moment find a link that explains it in English but this looks to me like the equivalent of an English EPA (starting in January 2009) see link in French:  http://www.service-public.fr/actualites/00688.html?xtor=EPR-140 This has to be a major improvement on the present French system of "tutelles" Dominique

Hi Cherie I live in Lyon but as my baby days are over, have no idea if this is available, but I suggest that you contact the American Club in Lyon. http://www.americanclublyon.org/American_Club_of_Lyon_Web_2.0/Home.html if you get nowhere, ask again or send me a PM and I'll see if I can dig out an American friend/acquaintance who might help I hope you like Lyon when you get here. if you need any help, just ask Dominique

It does say  Toute personne qui travaille et réside en France, not "Toute personne qui travaille et/ou réside en France". I understand it to mean people who work AND  are resident in France, hence it does not appear to apply to people living in, but not working in France. With regard to the semantics of using the verb "come" as opposed to "living", I would think this is significant as the text would surely have been carefully checked prior to publication. If so, it follows the recent trends and posts on various websites and forums indicating that people who have been here for five years may not be excluded. Dominique

Hi, re: this person's carte vitale should have ceased to be valid as soon as the reason for issuing it - i.e. employment - ceased. I don't think this is quite correct as entitlement to healthcare (remboursements en nature - reimbursements of medical expenses) used to last for a period for four years after employment ceased (for somebody in salaried employment) this has now been reduced to one year, since February 2007.  CPAM will now review files to verify entitlement to reimbursements on a yearly basis, as opposed to every four years, so his file has probably not come up for review yet. I had a good look on the Internet to see if there is anything on any of the government websites to indicate the new CMU regulations could apply to French citizens: In Communiqués et dossiers de Presse on the ameli.fr website, there is a document headed  La CMU : l'assurance maladie pour tous en 2007 On page 4 of this document is a note which states:  A noter : les ressortissants communautaires inactifs qui viennent s’installer en France ne peuvent le faire que s’ils disposent de ressources suffisantes et d’une couverture maladie préalable. Ils ne peuvent donc pas prétendre au bénéfice de la CMU de base et de la CMU complémentaire  4. and note 4 says: 4 En application de la directive 2004/38/CE du Parlement Européen et du Conseil du 29 avril 2004 transposée en droit français par la loi n°2006-911 du 24 juillet 2006 relative à l’immigration et à l’intégration et le décret n°2007-371 du 21 mars 2007 To me, this strongly indicates that French citizens can still join the CMU as they obviously are not "ressortissants communautaires inactifs". Well, they can be "inactifs" but they are not "ressortissants communautaires", they are French citizens. Does anybody agree with my interpretation ? best regards Dominique  

    Hello, when the employer either send the Volet Social in the post, or completes the declaration online on the CESU/URSSAF website, the employee is sent an Attestation d'Emploi. This is in lieu of a pay slip (Le CNCESU effectue le calcul et le prélèvement des cotisations et adresse une attestation d'emploi au salarié qui dispense l'employeur d'établir une fiche de paie.) The employee's social contributions (difference between gross and net pay) are deducted from the employer's bank account,  (remember that the employer pays the net amount to the employee) together with their own contributions,  in the month following the period of employment. The employer can check the amounts which will be debited to their bank account online at the CESU website. The declaration to CESU must be made at the end each  month in the case of regular employment , or within fifteen days of payment if it's a once-off job.  (Le volet social doit être établi à la fin du mois lorsque vous rémunérez votre salarié pour un travail régulier ou bien dans les 15 jours qui suivent le paiement du salaire pour un emploi occasionnel.) With regard to the timing of pament of social contributions: Un avis détaillé (détail et montant des cotisations) vous est adressé au début du mois pour les volets sociaux reçus avant le 15 du mois précédent. Le prélèvement automatique est effectué à la fin du mois de réception de l'avis de prélèvement. Ainsi si vous établissez une déclaration entre le 16 mai et le 15 juin, le prélèvement des cotisations interviendra vers le 30 juillet. At the beginning of the month, you will receive a detailed advice showing the amount of contributions to be paid, for any declaration or Volet Social received by CESU  before the 15th of the preceding month.  Your bank account will be debited at the end of the month in which you receive the advice from CESU. The example given states that if you declare an employee's salary between May 16th and June 15th, your bank account will be debited around July 30th. (Declaration sent after 15th of the month, adviced sent to you early July) I don't know where you obtained the figures of 8.44 and 7.16 as when I tried to do a simulation on 8.44, the CESU websited advises that the minimum you can pay is 9.28 (SMIC plus ten per cent for paid holidays) but at 9.28 these are the deductions from the employee's pay: CGS and DRS    2.90% CSG deductibe   5.10 % Maladie               0.75% Vieillesse              6.75 % all these calculations can be done at http://www.cesu.urssaf.fr/cesweb/simubrut1.jsp    under simulations Hope this explains it all.  There is no income tax deducted as there is no system in France to deduct it at source, it's all to do with Health Insurance, Retirement Pension, the special levy to shore up the deficit in Assurance Maladie, Children's allowances, etc, etc Dominique

    Hello re: CESU must use CESU cheques (it is different for the commercial -CESU-TPE - system). I can confirm that this is incorrect. You can use any payment method (your own cheque book, cash, instead of the CESU   cheque book provided by your bank) If you do not use the CESU chequebook, you need to register on the CESU website (as an employer) and complete the declaration online.  This will enable the employee to obtain the "attestation d'emploi" much more quickly than if the CESU cheque book is used (as the Volet Social has to be sent in the post) The employee can also register on the CESU website to see what contributions have been made, and by whom. The minimum payment is the SMIC plus ten per cent for paid holidays (congés payés) it's all explained on the CESU website at http://www.cesu.urssaf.fr/cesweb/home.jsp On this site, the employer can also calculate the amount of the net  payment to the employee, which will be after deducting the employee's share of social contributions. If salaire réel is chosen, the social contributions are calculated on the actual amount paid.  If base forfaitiare, the deductions are calculated on the numbers of hours worked, multiplied by the SMIC hourly rate. Hope the above helps. The reason people still think you have to use the CESU cheque book and complete and return the Volet Social, is because I think being able to declare online is a relatively recent addition to the system. Dominique

Thank you very much for your replies.  I had a bit of a nightmare day as the modem in one of the laptops is faulty but I have now put in a spare one I had. However the other laptop has a bad trojan horse which my anti-virus cannot delete. I cannot even find the file to manually delete it, it appears to have hidden itself somewhere. the modem was bought in France and appears to be used by Wanadoo for my LineTV. I have now found a driver but that's as far as I got. cannot get anything to work. only just back on line having spent more money with Cegetel to be told that their "serveurs sont surcharges" and to be patient. I have windows 2000 on the laptop with ethernet connection and it's also the one with the virus.I am not sure how to find the IP address, will do a search on Wanadoo website to see if they have any such thing.  I don't even know what a Upnp is! anyway now I understand a bit more about WEP keys. if you could tell me a bit more how I could get the IP address,  and what do I do with it once and if I find it, I would really appreciate it. thanks and regards Dominique  

Good morning my ADSL connection with Cegetel is not working and they are doing a line test which will take two weeks they suggested I try a different modem to make sure it is not the modem! an American friend who went home left a Efficient Networks (Siemens?) Speedstream 6200) with me but no software. These modems are provided by Wanadoo, I think. does anybody have the drivers for this as they cannot be found on the internet. I read somewhere that if I used an ethernet cable for this modem, I do not need the drivers but no  joy. If I get can the software, will I need a WEP key? Obviously I would be most grateful for any help and suggestions. Dominique  

Hi, I live in Lyon too, although I am probably not in your daughter's age group! There are plenty of English/Irish pubs in Lyon where your daughter can meet compatriots. Like Tourangelle, she can email me (I am French so not quite expatriate but back in France, having being away for the last thirty-five years in London and Dublin) Dominique    

Hi Seamus, just to let you know that the situation is very different for Irish citizens/residents. You cannot get an E106 as entitlement to health care in Ireland is not related to your PRSI contributions but to your income (unlike the UK). When I left Ireland, I was told by the dept in St James Hospital which looks after E forms, to use my E111/European Health Card until I was covered by the French system.  The new European Health Card (the E111 does not really exist any more) covers you for emergency and necessary treatment on a temporary stay abroad (eg, EU countries and a few others). My understanding of your situation is that you are in France temporarily so I cannot see why you cannot use the European Health Card. If you were with  VHI in Ireland, have a look at their Global policy which caters for your situation. You will not get a Carte Vitale unless you have an E106 or get cover under CMU - this is free if your income is below a certain amount (have a look at other posts or do a google search, the info is readily available) or you have to contribute 8 per cent of your income. The French portal/website for info on health www.amelie.fr has info in English. Dominique    

Well done but just wondered, are you in the UK or in France? if in France, how did you manage the seminars, orals, etc. Sikhim  (I am in Lyon and could do with a bit of brain-challenging activities)

Hello Anastasia, are you talking about the international section (eg, anglophone) in a French school? our son is in such a school in Lyon. He was educated in Ireland but had very, very little French when we arrived. He was taught French as FLE (French as a Foreign Language) and integrated into the "normal" French system as his French improved. Additonally he has six hours a week taught in English (English language, English literature, history and geography).   He has just sat and passed his Brevet with International Options and will hopefully sit and pass his Baccalaureat with International Option (BOI). In this Bac, the four subjects taught in English have a heavy weighting towards their Bac results, enabling students to pass the exam and sometimes get a "mention". The BAC is well recognised internationally and the International Options make it even better. This option basically means that they can study either in a French-speaking country or an English-speaking country, hence it is an advantage. The school international section must have a parents association and I suggest you contact them and ask them to explain everything in detail to enable you to make a choice. There will be other students in the international section whose main language is not English. Personally I am very happy with the international section: we obviously had no choice as our son had very little French (he was 14) when we arrived but French parents whose children speak English well are also very keen to have their children attend this section (in our school in Lyon, we also have Spanish, Japanese, Polish, German, Italian and Portuguese sections) Best of luck in  your decision; I am sure the parents' association will be able to guide you. Don't worry about  not be able to help your child with French, get a student to come and tutor them at home at the beginning. Best regards Dominique