Eslier

John, see here: http://materiel.net/details_DG834GT-WG511T.html for details and prices of what you need. I've used this company for a few things and their service is very good.

A "Livebox" is, essentially, an ADSL modem/router supplied by Wanadoo. If you have more than one computer then you can use this box to enable them all to connect to the Internet using the same ADSL connection. If you signup for Wanadoo ADSL you don't have to have a Livebox, you can opt for the simle ADSL modem through which one computer will connect to the ADSL internet connection. For the simple modem you are only charged a one off fee (usually 1€) with no extra monthly charges above the normal ADSL connection tarif. If you go for the simple modem option you can still add a wireless router/modem of your own which will effectively achieve the same as with a Livebox. This is what I do and use a Netgear DG834GT as a number of others on this foprum appear to do also which works very well. This may be a better option as many people seem to have problems with the Livebox. A 512k connection will still give you speeds of at least ten times faster than what you currently get with a dial up connection.

All this talk of "control panel" and "private messaging" !!!!!! I've never been able to see any link to access either and I still can't. I can only assume that the whole software thing isn't Firefox friendly. In this age of life beyond IE isn't it about time this problem was addressed ?

If ADSL is newly available, or soon to be available in your area then you are most likely to find that only the Wanadoo service will be available to you for at least the first six months. The reason for this is that France Telecom own Wanadoo as well as owning the telephone exchanges that have to be upgraded and also the line to your house irrespective of who you are signed up with for telephone calls. Understandably, they keep the exclusivity of being the only company able to offer you ADSL for as long as they can get away with. If you sign up with Wanadoo, I would recommend you don't go for the "Livebox" option. Select the simple ADSL modem option for which the usually only make a one off charge of 1€. Then you can either use this or, if you prefer, your own modem / router. There is no problem with using your own equipment as Wanadoo will provide you with all the connection information you need to set it up. Unless you want to download video from the internet, then a 1Mb connection wil be more than adequate for all normal use. Remember that this is still at least 20x faster than dial-up !

The most likely cause is that there is a problem with the external FT line. If this is the case then you would most likely get intermitent crackling whilst on the phone too. It would be worth calling FT out to come and check the line. Other possible problems could include a faulty phone somewhere in the house (I am assuming that they are all connected via ADSL filters) Try unplugging all the phones etc. and see if that helps. The DG834GT is a great bit of kit. It won't solve the problem if the fault is with the line but it will automatically reconnect quite quickly if the signal temporarily drops out for any reason. If you get one then make sure you download the latest firmware upgrade from the Netgear US website as the reconnect function has been improved with later versions. If you buy the DG834GT in France, you can still load the PC software in English from the CD provided. If your French isn't that good you can also download a pdf copy of the installation instructions from the Netgear US website. Even if you get really stuck at any time you can phone the UK telephone helpline and they will be happy to register your warranty and help you with any problems even though you purchased the unit in France.

Whilst you are having the quad LNB (which has four outputs of which you need two for your Sky+ box) and extra cable installed, ask for an additional cable to be installed to your bedroom or other room in the house. This will enable you to use your old digibox in another room at the same time.

Very soon your postman will arrive on your doorstep with a 2006 calendar for you. This is your cue to "pay" him for your calendar which in effect is his Christmas tip. Anything between 10€ and 20€ will be appropriate. Maybe he's already brought your calendar (ours arrived last week) and you didn't realise this was your cue to pay up. That could explain why he is looking miserable! Save some money for the pompiers too. They'll be around with a calendar aswell!

Yes, no problem. Just remember that you will need a dish fitted with a quad lnb and two feeds from the dish to your digibox.

Thank you Ron for our concern (if that's what it was). You will, I am certain, be delighted to be reassured that my laptop is not a Tokiwa or other nondescript make, it is in fact a Fujitsu Siemens and is a model that is widely available both here and in the UK. What is more, it comes wih an on site warranty (not provided by Super-U). These days there is little to choose between computer suppliers and providing you know what you are doing with computers, you might as well buy from wherever offers the best deal. For those people who are not confident with setting up and maintaining their computer then it is better to go to a local smaller shop and pay a little more to benefit from the personal service that is offered. Buying a PC from the UK if you live in France could cause huge problems if a warranty fault should occur. French mail order companie s are fine but remember that if you need to phone them with a problem, you will need to be able to speak good French.

You could always buy a French PC and (shock horror !!!!) you might even find that having Windows in French isn't that bad after all. You can load all your existing software in English, download English versions of web bowser (Firefox etc.) and English drivers for your printer. You can even set your French version of Windows to know that your main language usage is English so that English dictionaries etc. are used. An AZERTY keyboard in't too different from what you are used to and has the big advantage that it has all the French accented characters on it éèçà etc. If the keyboard worries you that much then just plug in your old QWERTY keyboard and it will work fine. I've recently bought a new laptop from Super-U at a much cheaper price than I cold have bought anything similar searching the main UK computer suppliers websites. It comes with a one year on site warranty. It has only taken me a few days to adjust to the different keyboard and, although having to use "shift" to access a full stop (now I know why they use commas instead of decimal points) is a bit of a pain, I love it for typing in French and don't have any problems. After all, when in France . . . .

I agree that it is more likely that they objected to something else such as a no smoking clause. Genuine holdiaymakers, if they are Brits, certainly expect to pay a deposit and although 30% is probably at the top end of the norm it shouldn't be an issue. Maybe they weren't too serious in the first place and thought this was a good excuse for wasting your time ? I am surprised you consider July to be early ! We would always expect our gites to be full throughout July and probably June too. You certainly shoudn't need to consider having a different policy for this period. If you are concerned about our T&Cs then why not either post them on here or provide a web link to them and I am sure you will get some constructive comments back.

"Miss 2" is the best photo and less likely to be condidered "girlie" as Miss 1 ! Miss 2 is a great photo that makes it plain what is being promoted, but more than that, it's not just the wine it is promoting but a whole lifestyle. As an advertisement shot it might sell the product as not just a wine, but a means of snatching you off to a perfect location in another world. I quite liked "Sheryl" initially as the writing on the t-shirt is clear but it looks like it has been "photoshopped" and I would say the head doesn't belong to the body! For the fun factor, the dog made me laugh. Sorry - hope I'm not taking this too seriously !

Beaujolais is a fairly light wine and the "nouveau" doesn't have a particularly good reputation. It's a good bit of fun though. If you've not bought the wine yet then it might be worth getting the Beaujolais Villages Nouveau intead. It has a little more fruit flavour (raspberries etc.) and is often slightly better in my opinion. I would suggest something fairly plain and simple for food that doesn't overpower the wine - lamb would be good. Nothing too fancy, avoid sauces if possible, just plain lamb cutlets, maybe with some tarragon, and fresh vegetables.

If you have a UK monthly subscription with Sky then your card will access the same channels wherever you use it with your dish pointing at Astra 2D. You will, however, be in contravention of Sky's terms and conditions if you use the card at an address other than the one to which the card is registered but, as long as you don't tell Sky, no one is likely to be very interested in that. For subscription channels you may also find that the card will only work properly with the digibox to which it was initialy registered. Sky will charge you and additional monthly sum, albeit a slightly reduced subscription, for additional cards. If you are talking about the "freesatfromsky" cards for which you pay a one off fee then save yourself the money. ITV has now joined the BBC and is broadcasting free to air which means you now don't need a card at all to receive these channels.

Clair, I am sorry to say that Windows ME is notorious for causing problems and you are not the first to have suffered this kind of problem and much worse. Windows 98 Second Edition, which preceded it was much better. Even worse is a system that has been upgraded to ME from a previous version. Don't even think about trying a further upgrade from ME or you may well end up in an even bigger mess. Assuming you have all your original operating system, driver and software disks, the best thing you can do is back-up all your files you want to keep and then get help to make a dos boot disk, reformat your hard drive and start all over again. When it comes to reloading Windows try and use any version other than ME. Sorry that this isn't good news but it is likely to be your best option to get things running smoothly again other than just buying a new computer. Regarding the comments made by others about Norton, McAfee etc. I am sorry to say that there will always be some people who are convinced they can get something for nothing so why should they pay for it. Sadly in the real world this isn't the case. The likes of Norton and McAfee security software offers excellent protection to computer users when properly installed, used correctly and, most importantly, providing the annual subscriptions are up to date. The resources these companies have are huge and can be perpetuated through the income from software licenses. Choose not to believe me if you wish but don't blame anyone else if one day you find you have been caught out. There's no such thing as a free lunch ! On the subject of removing software, this is not something to do lightly. Some software can be extremely well bedded into your operating system. Small programs are generally not too much of a problem if you use the ad/remove programs facility in your Control Panel. For larger programs look for an uninstall option in the program folder or even on the original cd. If in doubt, don't attempt removal without taking expert advice. As someone has already mentioned, removing AOL software can be a disaster as you are likely to find that Internet Explorer has also been removed, possibly leaving you without a web browser at all !

There is some substance to the "snob value" theory. Ferry fares have increases out of necessity and low cost airlines have opened up new exciting destinations to the low cost traveller. Consequently, places such as Normandy and Brittany are no longer seen by the budget UK holidaymaker as being a cheap option. Sadly, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about that. So, if these places aren't a cheap option then the people who do visit the region are the ones that choose to. To maintain local prosperity it is important that these fewer visitors spend more whilst they are here, which means attracting those with more money to spend. If we want to attract more affluent visitors there is a need for more higher quality accommodation to meet the higher standards expected. Perhaps the choice of words "a better type of visitor" was unfortunate but the essence of it was spot on.

Last time I was there, Cherbourg most certainly was on the "mainland". Has there been some sort of freak occurence that has caused the cotentin peninsular to break away and float off into the Manche ? With Dinard and Rennes airports both within two and a half hours drive of Cherbourg, and both these airports offering good services, you are still much better off than many.

The new booking engine is most certainly a big improvement on the old one. It would be helpful however if, when the dates and crossings list appears to make a selection, the original date entered could be highlited to make sure people don't book the wrong day by mistake. Prices are fair and comparable to Britany Ferries, but nothing to get excited about. For people with homes in France it is still much cheaper, in most instances, to travel with BF using the Property Owners Club discount. The Condor Frequent Traveller Club only offers discounts of up to 10% which is way off the 33.3% offered by BF. If Condor wants to improve the quality of service to passengers taking the longer crossings to France then they MUST do something about the awful microwaved food on board. Even the free danish pastries in the Club Lounge have usualy only just been thawed from frozen and are still cold in the middle. I think I had the worst cooked breakfast I've ever had on Condor Vittesse. What about some freshly baked baguettes with tasty fillings, some freshly cooked food and decent freshly brewed coffee ?

Take a look at the Bocuse range from Rosières at: http://www.rosieres.fr/produits/bocuse/gamme.htm We've got one of these in our largest gite and it is fabulous - especially when we are in there for Christmas with our family ! Not too cheap however - probably around €3,000 but available from all decent electromenager shops. Don't worry too much about power consumption of ovens - they tend to not be s bad as many people think. Electric hobs on the other hand gobble up the kilowatts so stick with gas on the top if you can (a standard bottle lasts months). If Belling will sell you the LPG jets for your oven then it is a fairly simple matter to replace them and that should be all you need to do. It would however be a big heavy item to bring with you so you should take into account the removal costs. Good luck.

It is no big surprise that Flybe have pulled the plug on their Brest routes as many have reported flights only being half full or less. The official answer is that they will consider reintroducing it again next summer but that isn't really all that likely. Don't forget that Ryanair also tried using Brest and pulled out. The Rennes to Southampton flights that Flybe operate are, on the other hand, much more successful. Many flights are full or almost full and it seems they don't have too much trouble reaching that magic 80% of capacity figure. Not surprising really as Rennes is an important place and a large number of French people also use the flight for business trips etc. I guess with no flights from Brest, only one ferry crossing per week from Roscoff this winter, and a reduced number of TGV services from Morlaix / Brest, the British residents of this corner of Brittany are starting to feel a little isolated !

Forget about "free" !!!!!!! If you want to be properly protected you must go out and spend a modest sum on a good firewall. Something like Norton or McAfee will do a good job.

If you are into text messaging and are likely to send many texts (SMS) to the UK then go for Orange France as their text rate is only 0,15€ compared to at least double that for most other networks.

[quote]Possibly so, but experience dictates that if you ask the question and the agent appreciates that the sale may depend on whether he answers it to your satisfaction, then you are likely to get the infor...[/quote] Exactly my point. The agent is very likely to tell you the information you want to hear if the sale may depend on it. The problem is, the information given to you may not be the correct information !

Your "winter let" still needs to be a holiday letting contract and must be for a defined period of less than six months. Anything else and you could be giving your tenants legal rights, that may make it difficult for you to evict them if they decide they want to stay for a longer period. My advice would be to use you usual holiday letting contract but type out a seperate sheet of adendums and variations. Make sure that your tenants sign both sheets of paper.

[quote]I have no personal experience of this but I would suggest you ask the agent you are buying through or the notaire you are using. You are, after all, paying them to act on your behalf and if you want i...[/quote] Not strictly true - The agents' sole interest is in selling you the property so the they can get their not insubstantial commission. In many cases (but to be fair not all) you will find that agents will be economical with the facts and tell you want they think you want to hear. If they give you bad news then you might decide not to go ahead with the purchase and they don't make their money - which is after all what they are in business to do. If only one Notaire has been appointed then he/she is working on behalf of the french government, not you or the vendor. He or she will usually answer direct questions but his or her main task is to ensure that all the legal formalities are conducted correctly. You, as the purchaser, can if you wish, appoint a second Notaire who will share the formal duties with the other Notaire but act solely in your interest. This might be a good option and doesn't cost you any more. Find a Notaire and sit down with him and explain your concerns BEFORE you sign a Compromis de Vente.