Jongleurs

Hello I'm pretty sure this is the lake at Puivert which is about 15 minutes away from both Chalabre and Quillan and the Chateau was the one at Puivert also.  It looks pretty familiar to me as it's a lake not too far away from us.  There is a play area for children, tennis courts and a little buvette (snackbar) there in the summer months.  There's also a gliding school close by and it's about a 35 minute drive from Limoux. Fiona    

Thank you Charlotte2.  Have now found some 3V product that will do the job just as well ...... luckily as our first guests arrive on Saturday !

anyone have any suggestions at all please [:)]

I have seriously underestimated the quantity of decking protector I bought last time I was back in the UK.  It is Ronseal Decking Protector (wax enriched formula) in natural oak.  I'm mid-way through the job and wondered if anyone knew if there was a french equivalent to this and if so what it's called and where I can get it.  All help gratefully received. post edited by a moderator to enlarge the text

Hello Many moons ago someone posted an online ordering site for white goods spare parts.  Can anyone remember the site address please ?.......... Fiona

Hi, I've recently had a load of dubious bookings come through...6 scientists need to stay in your area....types!  I understand the scam with transferring funds to your bank account ect, but how does the scam work when they want to use credit cards/US dollars?  I've had loads come through and as soon as I say we don't take credit cards, I hear nothing from them. Can anyone explain?

Hello We have just finished renovating a small barn in the Aude.  The electrical re-wiring was carried out by an English electrician to French standards.  EDF tell us that we need to contact the Consueil (?) for them to come along and inspect and hopefully approve before they can finally connect it up to mains electricity. Can anyone tell me who this authority is and how and where I can contact them please.  Be great to finally have power ......... Many thanks  Fiona  

Hello Christine Well she is English and by trade is a textile designer so will be selling her own work.  She also plans to offer shop space for other talented local artists to display their work.  There will also be other supplementary items such as candles, soaps, small gifts etc. We really like the idea of a name that is easily understood by both French and English ...... Thank you everyone for your ideas ........... keep them coming Fiona

Hello My daughter is getting ready to open a shop that will sell mainly art works to include textile goods, sculptures, pictures, handmade goods, candles, soaps and the like.  One of the problems at the moment is what she should call the shop.  All of our suggestions so far have met with a NO so wondered if anyone had any suggestions . . . . ? Thank you in anticipation . . .  hopefully this will be one problem that we will be able to tick off the list !   Fiona  

Hi We have a  large (10m) circular pool and would appreciate help and suggestions re the purchase of a heat retaining cover.  We have solar heating - which is great - but of course out of high season, when the nights are cooler, we loose heat.  We have puzzled over what sort of  cover to purchase - we assume bubble wrap type - but our main issue is the size of the pool and how this cover will be put on and taken off.  Obviously, we would prefer to be as economical with our purchase as possible ......... and do not wish to use the telescopic type abri. Thank you for any and all help Fiona

Hi You may have already bought your pool robot by now but just in case you haven't I can thoroughly recommend the Aquavac Tiger Shark.  We have a 10m round pool and goodness only knows how much time and effort it has saved us this past year.  We bought it from the USA and although we had to pay around 200 euros import duty it was still several hundred euros cheaper than buying it in France.  Hope this helps .... if you want any more information just pm me. Fiona www.lesjongleurs.com  

Having had accounts at the Banque Populaire, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas we are now searching for a user friendly bank here in the Aude (near Chalabre).  Has anyone any recommendations ?  We would want to use it for business, current, savings and mortgage accounts.  Any help and information gratefully received...............  

Not sure where you are located but there are lots of fabric shops around us - we are in the Ariege near Lavelanet.  You can also order carpets from Mr Bricolage - they stock some but have large carpet sample books from which you order and they usually take about 2/3 days to arrive. I understand Leroy Merlin also do the same thing.  We've just done this and the only problem we came up against was finding someone to fit them! Luckily the carpet person in Mr Bric fits them as well - on his day off - and at only 50 euros a room - bargain.  We have furnished several houses here using French suppliers and a mixture of modern and old pieces.  Cost very reasonable and my husband has spent hours and hours researching differences in prices between UK and here for electrical items and has come to the conclusion that here is best.  I do have to agree though that 'customer service' is not something a lot of the stores here are very hot on but as we have only ever had a problem once in the last 5 years I don't consider that to be too much of an issue.

Thanks Andrew.  Had already read the previous postings and have no intention of buying green pine.  What we are looking for is softwood decking or hardwood if it can be found at a reasonable price.  The only thing of course against hardwood decking is the price! Any idea where either of these can be found without us having to take out a mortgage?!   Fiona    

Our wonderful pool has just been fitted and filled  and we are just starting to build the frame to support rather a lot of decking - 180 sqm. We've checked out Brico Depot and they seem to be selling it at 15 euros per sqm. Does anybody know of anywhere that's selling at a better price than that?  We are in 11 between Carcassonne and Perpignan.

Well I'm amazed....... only read this thread the other day - and what accent did we hear mostly on our weekend at the coast near Perpignan.....  Irish.  Absolutely loads of Irish families on holiday.  We visit the coast quite often in the four years we have lived here and have never before noticed this.  Obviously we have Ryanair to thank for this.  The more the merrier I say.  Anyone got any idea of which sites the Irish use to find their holiday accommodation? 

Right .... well thanks all for the information. Our main and regular source of income is derived from a number of local rentals we bought through our SCI.  Our latest project is a property we are renovating for the holiday market but may also turn to b & b if the house rental is slow.  Just want to do everything 'by the book' hence the original question. So, what do you reckon? Do I register or not?  My feeling is 'not' based on the main source of income thing but if anyone has had a different experience then ?........................ Will go sort out the petit licence anyway - doesn't seem difficult and if we've got it then no worries. The bedrooms will all have chairs and some kind of table anyway although not sure whether we'll register with Gites de France.  Will give that more thought. Anyway, as said previously, thanks for your help. Fiona  

Hello all Just had a good read through the information Chris posted re setting up both chambre et table d'hotes and have a couple of questions? -   am I correct in my understanding that there is no need to register if this is not your main   source of income i.e. irregular business? -    if I am running an occasional chambre/table d'hotes do I still  need the petit restaurant licence if I wish to serve drinks of almost any kind and if so does everyone here have one, how are they policed and how difficult is it to get one? -    would I still need to display tariffs etc., outside, in our hallway/reception and in all rooms? -    how many of you have table and chair(s) in each bedroom and would a bedside table and chair comply? At the moment we are just considering our options.  We have a house that we intend to rent out in its entirety for the main season and are considering supplementing this with bed and breakfast/evening meal at other times.  This would not be our main income but we would be declaring any revenue as income. Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. Fiona www.lesjongleurs.com    

They contacted me too ......... think they found us from Holiday Rentals site as we have just listed with them.  He rang two or three times to try and persuade me to advertise with them and was not very happy when I told him no.  Not ever seen their publication in the UK but am going back soon and will have a look.  The advertising price deal does seem good but not so good if nothing comes out of it.

Oh excellent - thank you very much.  Think this more or less covers it

Could well be - but the numbers don't work.  Maybe as we're using an SCI for this purpose and the costs are higher?  Thanks for the help anyway......going to ask the Notaire about it when I see him next.

Thanks for that - had already checked it.  The fee table I'm looking for is one that sets out the mandatory charge for registering a mortgage against a property.  Apparently it is a government charge under the Mortgage Act and separate to that of Notaire Fees on property purchase.  It would be really useful if this was set out somewhere but I expect it's one of those charges that only the Notaire knows!

Does anyone know if there's a site that lists all of the standard government charges that one may incur when purchasing a property with a mortgage.  We are currently buying a couple of buildings and are being charged what we think is quite a lot of money under the Mortgage Act.  In one instance the notaire fees are 5779 Euros with an additional fee of 3500 Euros for the guarantee under the Mortgage Act.  With the other property the disparity doesn't seem to be as great and although we have queried these fees with the Notaire they insist they are correct.  Would like to be able to check myself and as these appear to be standard charges hoped there might be a site displaying them!? 

Yes I would agree.  We have bought several properties here and have made offers on all of them - usually bidding off by about 10%.  We may have been fortunate but we have never had to pay the full asking price and that's been over the past 5 years.  Good luck.

Sorry to be a pain we're just buying a place (don't know the tel.no) but have that of our neighbour and this is what the site tells me.  Is this good or bad?  Code Commutateur Local : CSH11 Nom Commutateur Local : N/DLongueur de ligne : 30 mètresAffaiblissement : 0.45 dB[Estimation] Débit descendant ADSL : 8192 kbps (1024 ko/s)[Estimation] Débit descendant ADSL 2+ : 25600 kbps (3200 ko/s)  Thank you.