Lizfjr

Well the best of all for me has to be the man with the notepad who said he was delighted to say I had passed my test. 26 years ago this month. Oh and first sight of the Millau last year heading South. It literally made me gasp in me lid as it soared through the clouds. Fantastic moment.

I've just had a garage on my property integrated to make it into living acommodation. It is a large room, 54 sq m and has no central light fitting, but 4 points lumineuse dispersed across the ceiling. It was done by a large well established French company with ful guarantees.

Hi, Shan, Thanks for responding. No central heating I'm afraid. That will come later. I think I have an explanation as to why not and will be seeing the builder tomorrow, so should be able to sort. Seems wierd to me that they didn't connect up, but the devis could be read 1 of 2 ways. Thing is, they even put tiling as requested on the floor to take the stove and they have  moved the stove (which weighs a ton) so it is correctly positioned!! Anyway. Got to get ourselves down the M6 and round the good ole M25 in a bit and I hear the M20 is closed today, so fingers crossed. Oh. And no filtering. We've got a carload. See you and hope all is well with you both.

I have had a chimney installed by my builder and the flue now extends to 5cm below the ceiling. The stove is beneath this, but the installation has not been completed, ie, we have stove at one end, chimney at the other but no flue between. I need therefore to put in about 1.5 metre of flue pipe to connect the two together. Also, can you buy adapters that will enable a connection between a 200 mm at one end and 190 at the other?    

I was automatically sent a copy of the insurance document at the devis stage. It has clearly set out in it the terms of the insurance and is stamped and signed by Axa.

If you care to have a look back to about May 2006, and a thread all about SIRET numbers, you will find information on the action I took to recover a deposit I had paid to a company which were supposed to project manage my job, and then did a big fat nothing, but expected to be able to keep my deposit (40%). An English speaking company which is very active in my region (I live in 89). Waited 8 months for them to do something and basically took them to court. They paid up just before the hearing (which still went ahead) and I got not only my deposit back, but damages and all my fees. They have, of course, changed their name and continue to do business. Nothing dodgy there then. The happy ending for me is that I learnt a valuable lesson, lost no money, and now a house that has been completed by  french company to a lovely standard and with guarantees. Happy to take PMs if anyone wants further detail. [:)]

Helene, Auxerre and Avallon are both lovely towns, but can't promise much of an ex pat community in Northern Burgundy. It's a bit of a well kept secret! shhh.

Thanks, very helpful to know.

Can anyone advise me what the usual custom and practice is for shop opening between Christmas day and new year? Do places open as normal? Restricted service?  

Really helpful, thanks.

I am going to buy a gas cooker. Are adapters widely available for most gaz cookers to enable them to use butane or do I need a cooker specifically for Butane?

I an in the NW of England. Can recommend the OU Level 1 courses if you want to refresh your French. I have just completed L120. www.open.ac.uk

Tia, I'm sorry, I haven't received a pm from you. If you want to email me, then happy to discuss off line. I am having some work done at the moment by a French company after getting off to a false start with a company which operates for the English market in Burgundy and advertises pretty widely but didn't have the capacity or skills to do what they promised. I took them to court in the end to get my money back. There's more detail in this month's Living France: I'm one of the case studies. Don't let the language thing be a barrier to using local labour. Anyway, happy to receive an email from you.      

You need to be very careful. There are some around this region that I would advise you to steer well clear of.  I have PMd you.

Ah. Knew it would be there somewhere. Try here. http://www.fjrowners.ws/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=558&highlight=french and here http://www.fjrowners.ws/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=181&highlight=. There's also a French owners form which is http://www.etlamarmotte.net/index.php You might also be interested in www.biker-babe.org which is a forum for women bikers.

Gail, I own an FJR1300. If you go to www.fjrowners.com., you will find the info you are looking for. I'll go and have a look in the meantime for you. My bike is full UK spec BHP, but I did briefly own a restricted one a few years ago. The main difference comes at 7000 RPM + where the power just fades. I am now on my third FJR and thinking of upgrading to the new 2006 model. Unfortunately this means selling my current bike privately in the UK and then, I think, buying in France and de restricting. We are hoping to move over just as soon as our house here is sold. My husband owns one too. It's a great bike. You won't regret your purchase. Liz

Thanks.

Please can anyone confirm for me what the above term means?   Thanks.

I have a pavillon which was built in 1978. When we bought it two years ago, we were handed the full dossier and original building spec, which has proved invaluable in the works we are having done at the moment. It is very thorough. I have to say that the house is amazing in terms of insulation. Easy to keep warm and stays cool in the summer. May not be to everyone's taste, but for us it has been a brilliant buy.

Mine had been on the market for a year. Needed work doing but basically sound and liveable. 1 acre of land in Burgundy too. On for 105 000, I offered 80 000 and paid 85 000 in the end. (Two years ago)

Yes, if you have it in writing it has to be done. There are lots of things you can do if he's not complying with what you agreed. I've got recent experience of dealing with this type of thing, so happy to take a PM if you like.

[quote user="Quillan"] I didn't think you had to be able to speak French for this trade as it seems aimed at just the Brit market as they seem to be the only ones stupid enough to pay without checking if a person is legal or not. [;-)] [/quote] And then there are those who think they can do the bare minimum do register and appear legal. They can pop up on forums and 'harvest' customers and think that they can flannel their way out of anything. I have found the court system to be most effective in dealing with one lot.

My lawyer took it to the Tribunal D'instance. PM me if you want any info on what it was like in the court, how it operated and so on.

Pity it's someone in UK. I have recently successfully used the French legal route to pursue money owed to me by a company punching above its weight. This sounds like someone who's looking to get out quick because they can't handle the work, a bit like my case. If you choose to use someone in France at a later date, be very careful. As Hegs says, any number of people around here, including me, have been led a merry dance by dodgy individuals (often ex pats) who try to play on the fact that you are operating from the UK. Watch out for companies which claim to be jack of all trades. They are usually master of none! Good luck anyway.

Well the case was initially heard on 20th April and referred back to the tribunal for 18th May because the company concerned had sent a cheque to my avocat for the amount I was owed, plus fees, plus damages, but my lawyer was suspicious and wanted to be sure that it cleared so he kept it on the court schedule. I went to the first hearing, but not the hearing last Thursday so I am waiting to hear from my avocat how it went and, hopefully get a cheque from him. I am expecting that to happen in the next day or two. Just as soon as I hear that the courts are finished with the whole thing and I have my money, I will be a bit more helpful with another thread. Not sure if the proceedings at the tribunaux are published anywhere, but if they are, Avallon was the place and, as I said, the case was heard on 18th April and 20th May.