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Eslier

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Everything posted by Eslier

  1. Something like the Canon Scanner which can be seen here: http://www.materiel.net/details_0307B002.html will do a great job for most day to day uses. At only 59,90€ it really doesn't seem worth worrying about searching for spares !
  2. I couldn't agree more with what David has just said. There is no need to be alarmist about internet security providing you are taking sensible precautions. What I don't understand is that there is plenty of advice available to people about using good firewall and virus protection and yet there are still many who choose to ignore this advice or seem to think that something you download for free is going to be as good as something tried and tested that you pay for. Purchasing your security software is the most important thing you should do once you have bought the computer. A few simple guidlines are: FIREWALL: don't rely on the Windows-XP firewall, it is far to easy for hackers to get past this. BROWSER: Internet Explorer is notorius for being insecure. Consider trying one of the, now readily available, alternatives. I use Mozilla Firefox and found it simple to use after IE and much faster. PASSWORDS: Never check the boxes that ask if you want your computer to remember passwords or log-in details for things like bank accounts etc. FIREWALL & ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE: Buy good commercial internet security protection for your computer such as Norton or McAffee (the two best known and both about the same price). This should include both Personal Firewall and Antivirus protection. Enable the automatic updates option, which will download new virus definitions etc. and make sure you regularly check for any software updates using the live update function. DON'T rely upon free download antivirus software as it won't give you the same level of protection. Also, read the instructions as David has pointed out so you know what to do when an alert is raised. SPYWARE / MALWARE ETC. This is something you can get for free. Download something like ADAWARE-SE which will scan your system for malware spyware and adware. Delete anything it finds. Scan your system on a regular basis. COOKIES Delete all your cookies on a regular basis and start again.
  3. Thank you Andrew, much of what you have said is as I expected. The retractable option is what I had in mind. We already have suitable fence security around the 11m x 5m pool so it wouldn't need to be pulled back on every time after swimming. The surface it would mount on is very good - those special non-porous block slabs that are used around pools. We have a chlorinated pool and a diatemous earth filter which does a really good job. It isn't automated - it relies upon me checking it on a daily basis. I use Everblue Everlong-600 chlorine blocks and add "Algitop" once per week. I try to keep the water at around 27-28 degrees so in very hot weather I would just leave the cover off to prevent it reaching the deadly 30 degrees too quickly. My aim would be to extend the swimming season to include April and October in the hope that we can attract more early and late guests to our gites. Winter swimming would be out of the question as we heat the pool using electricty on the TEMPO tarif - I couldn't afford to run the filter pump and heat pump on red days !! The reason for thinking about this now - just as I am putting the pool to bed for winter is that I will need to replace the summer cover next year if I don't go for an Abri. At €10k it would certainly be worth considering, at €12k it's starting to make me think more carefully but not out of the question. Thanks
  4. Maria, you need to try and seperate what you think is reasonable from what is required under French law. If you try and compare the two things you will certainly end up confused ! Much French beaurocracy makes little sense to many people but you just have to accept it and work with it - not against it. If renting your gite is your main sorce of income then it is most probable that the information you have been given about registration is correct. To be certain, you should consult a French Accountant who will be able to advise you correctly and make certain you do everything legally. The services of an accountant should not cost you more than around 800€ per year and, believe me, they should be able to save you that amount and more with good advice and management. Once you have registered your business you will then be required to pay social charges to the various bodies that deal with health, pensions and social security in your department. Because of your low income, you should only have to pay the minimum amounts which will probably come to around €4,000 as you have predicted. Your income would be able to increase greatly before you have to start paying more than the minimum. You will also need to elect a tax "régime" which could be the micro-bic but it is likely that your accountant may advise you to opt for the régime réal which may allow you to claim more allowances. Under the "réal" it is probable that you won't pay any tax whatsoever. You would also be eligible for "Prime pour Emploi" which is a sort of rebate. If there are two of you then make sure you only register the business in one of your names. This way there will only be one lot of social charges to pay but you will both be able to claim full cover if your partner is not working anywhere else. So you see it isn't all bad - just not straightforward. To get the very best out of the system you really should consult an accountant. There is just one other thing which may be of concern. As you have already been trading this year - this is technically illegal and could cause a problem. If, however, your intention is now to register the business and conduct matters on a legal basis then it is unlikely to cause you a problem. Explain the situation to your accountant who will probably be able to back-date your business registration application to whenever you started advertising your gite - probably last January 1st. The downside of this is that you will receive bills for social charges backdated to this date but at least it will ensure you are legal. Good luck.
  5. I am considering adding an abri to my swimming pool. My preference would be for a full height, or possibly medium one that will comfortably enable swimming with it in place without feeling claustrophbic. It would need to be approximately 12m x 6.5m Does anyone have any idea what I would expect to pay ? Are there likely to be any good offers on at this, or any other, time of year ? Is permission required for an abri ? Are they easy to keep clean ? Any recommendations of supplier / manufacturer ?
  6. Barry, you may already know this but just in case . . . In France, you can't just get in a minibus of more than 9 seats and drive it away. Anything of 16 seats is subject to tachograph regulations and you need to have a full category "D" NOT "D1" attributation on your driving license. This a bit like having the old PSV license and I believe you have to have regular medicals / retests etc. In the UK, you are allowed to drive a minubus on a D1 (not for reward) category for almost anything but you most certainly aren't in France. This has caused a big problem in recent years for schools in the UK which used to send children over in their school minibuses. Teachers now have to take special rigorous tests every two years if they wish to continue to drive the school minibus in France. This will explain why you see very few minibuses in France that seat more than 9 persons.
  7. Musicmatch will do everything you want, including convertion of file types, very efficiently and probably a lot more too. Find out about it here: http://www.musicmatch.com/home.htm and then download it for free here: http://www.download-it-free.com/musicmatch/
  8. I think you will find, in simplistic terms, and I am sure others will correct me if I'm wrong, that: If you go to someone's house to do some gardening and only use the owners equipment, then the owner of the house can pay you by cheque d'emploi. If you take any of your own equipment with you to use then you must be a registered business, have insurance and be paying all your social charges etc.
  9. I'm not an expert in French law but I think you will find that once a piece of land has been legally used, leased or otherwise, by a farmer for farming use, it is almost impossible to change the situation without the farmer's agreement. The law always favours the rights of the farmer. Speak to the notaire directly and ask him to explain the situation to you. Don't trust the agent. Once you know what the situation is, go and have a friendly chat with the farmer and see if you can negotiate something with him. Take a bottle of Pastis with you and introduce yourselves as his new neighbour which will get you off to a good start ! Sorry - that's probably not what you wanted to hear.
  10. Unually the best place to find such items at the best prices is a "Depot Vente". A quick look at "Pages Jaune" for your area revealed the following three entries: Carrefour de la Brocante 1 av Gén de Gaulle 17400 SAINT JEAN D'ANGELY | Plan | Itinéraire 05 46 32 57 02 Activité : • brocante Temporel A proximité 25 r Hôtel de Ville 17400 SAINT JEAN D'ANGELY | Plan | Itinéraire 05 46 32 67 47 Activité : • brocante dans le département ... Emmaüs 11 imp du Blanc 17600 St Romain de Benet | Plan | Itinéraire .05 46 02 02 03 fax : .05 46 02 05 10 Activité : • brocante
  11. The date given, 30th November, sounds reasonable as this is three months, given that nothing will have happened in August. Unless the Notaire uncovers anything untoward or SAFER raise any objection to the sale then it is likely that you should be able to agree on a date within a few days of that date. I would start by speaking to the vendors or asking the agent to speak to them and try to agree something between you first. It will help everything go much more smoothly if you can work in agreement with them. Once you have agreed on a date between you, inform the Notaire that this is your preferred date and ask him to make appointments for you to go into his office and sign the Acte de Vente. Don't forget that you will need to arrange the transfer of money a day or so before so that the notaire has it in his account.
  12. Unsurprisingly your local Mairie is the best, and most reliable, source of information regarding the arrival of ADSL if it isn't already available. If you are already a Wanadoo customer then you will almost certainly be contacted by them about a month before it is available by someone trying to sell you up to an "Extense" contract. Don't however be talked into accepting the 8Mo connection speed unless you download a lot of music or flms. 1Mo is more than adequate for all general use. On this forum you won't notice much difference from dial-up anyway as it goes so slow ! Remember that for the first six months or so after the installation of ADSL it is usual for it to be available only to Wanadoo customers. Other ISPs have to wait a while.
  13. If you send many texts to the UK (or other "zone 1" EU countries) then it is worth noting that Orange only charge 15cents per text which is half what SFR charge. (With our daughter over from the UK at the moment this is saving me a fortune - well not really, it's still costing me a fortune but only half the fortune it might have cost !)
  14. I am registered with the Chambre de Metiers to run gites and on the paperwork it describes my business as "gites restauration". This wouldn't make it legitimate for me to go off doing odd jobs for other people or cutting their grass. Having said that, this person you are talking about is paying social charges for his gites business so morally it probably isn't quite as bad as someone who isn't registered for anything and you might find it more difficult to get the authorities to show too much interest. As a gite owner, this person is attracting holidaymakers, and therefore prosperity, into his commune so even the maire may be happy to turn a blind eye to his other activities. I believe that people working in trades other than those that they are registered is a fairly widespread and overlooked problem so I can understand your frustration. What may be more to the point, is that this person almost certainly won't have insurance for carrying out such work. You might be able to point out to his clients that they could be heading for trouble if he were to have an accident whilst working in their gardens. With gardening being a fairly high risk affair this risk possibility isn't too remote and should not be ignored. Good luck with your business Ty.
  15. If probably depends upon who your target customers are. If you are offering basic cheap and cheerful accommodation then a midweek start date might appeal to some of the holidaymakers on a tight budget. Many holidaymakers who have everyday jobs in the UK will be tied to taking full weeks off work. Many employers aren't happy about people taking time off from midweek to midweek in the summer holidays as there can be a lot of staff wanting to fit in a holiday at that time. You could, however, try Sunday to Sunday which might be poplular for some. If your target customers are those who are prepared to pay top prices for the accommodation that you offer, then they probably won't care how much the ferry crossing costs anyway. I know that we have a number of visitors who, having paid £3.6k to rent one of our properties for a fortnight, think little of spending another £800 per car load (often twice over as there might be two cars) for the most convenient sailings and the best cabins.
  16. Had three chimneys swept last March and the cost was 145,56€ incl. tva @ 5.5% Don't forget to make sure you receive a CERTIFICAT de RAMONAGE
  17. Absolutely right. I've been using one now for about 6 months and it works really well. Even when purchased in France, the software from CD can be loaded in English language if you prefer. The manuals come in French but you can download copies in English from the Netgear website. If you have any problems then you can phone the UK Netgear support number and register your product with them. They are very helpful.
  18. I can give you the definitive answer on this one as I've just had to sort the very same problem out for my son. I e-mailed the DVLA for advice and this is what they told me to do: You will need a form D1 which you will probably have to get someone in the UK to pick up from a post office for you and post it. When you fill in the form, read the accompanying booklet as you don't have to complete all the sections - in particular you don't have to send another photograph or proof of ID. You will need to give a UK address but this could be that of a relative or friend in the UK. You then post the form, along with a UK cheque for £19 back to the DVLA in Swansea (using the correct postcode for a "replacement license". The DVLA will then issue you with a new license - posted to the UK address you have given. My advice would be to tell them you've lost both parts of the license and that way you can hang on to the paper part in case you get stopped by the gendarmes before your new license reaches you in France.
  19. Propane gas does need to be kept outside however Butane gas (which seems to be more widely used and available) can be used inside. In fact, if you were to locate your Butane bottle outside then it may not work properly as it can freeze. There's no reason why you can't store your spare bottle outside though. We have a range cooker with gas hob and only manage to get through about three standard size bottles of Butane per year so you will find that usage is minimal. You only, therefore, really need one bottle which would be fairly easy to locate in a cupboard adjacent to the cooker. Providing you use the correct fitting for connecting to the cooker (you can buy the gas pipes with these already fitted at most brico stores) and you replace the hose and washers every few years (the "relace by" year is usually printed on the hose)you shouldn't have any problems with leaks. As Alcazar said, buy everything in France and you can't go wrong.
  20. Whilst everyone knows that front headlamps need to be changed when importing a rhd car into France, many people overlook the rear fog lamp. Many cars now are only fitted with one rear fog lamp which, on a rhd car, is usually on the right hand (driver's side) of the car. For driving in France this is on the wrong side and it needs to be changed to the left hand side. In some cases it is a simple matter of moving the bulb across from one side to the other but on some cars the wiring loom does not accommodate this possibility. There will almost certainly be a socket for the bulb on the other side but you may find that new wiring has to be installed. So, for all of you driving French registered rhd cars, now would be a good time to go and check your rear fog light before we get any foggy autumn weather.
  21. Even if your car is less than four years old, and therefore not requiring a CT, once you have re-registered it as a French vehicle you are legally obliged to ensure that it is roadworthy in all respects that a French car should be. If you were to drive on French plates and without having the correct headlamps fitted then your car would not be legally roadworthy. This could result in you being pulled over by the police and in the worst case scenario having the car impounded. I would strongly recommend that you have replacement headlamps fitted as soon as you arrive in France. Just look up your nearest Nissan dealer who will be able to do this for you. They will probably need to order the headlamp units in so expect to make two visits.
  22. Liz, I send a reasonable amount of mail to the UK and, more often than not, usually hand it over the counter at one of our local "la poste" offices. Generally, they put all normal letters (with blue stamp) through without any additional stickers. Anything larger than a normal size DL envelope or anything heavier than 20g always has a dark blue "Prioritaire" sticker put on it.
  23. The problem could well be something to do with the Norton upgrade you have just activated. There are some known issues which can cause just this problem. Take a look at the Symantec support pages and I'm sure you will find the answer: http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/npf/npf_2005_info_solve.html
  24. You won't need an 8Mb connection unless you are intending to download movies or get involved with on-line games. From what you have said, your computer wouldn't even be up to coping with that kind of usage anyway ! I would recomend you ask for a 1Mb connection which will be more than adequate for everything you want to do, including up/downloading digital photos etc. Remember it is still 20x faster than a dial-up connection. The cost of this is 29,90€ per month (incl. TVA) and will probably be less for the first three months.
  25. [quote]If you don't use the new 56c stamps and an airmail sticker it will go surface mail and that takes a long time, From the UK, a 1st class stamp only works for a light letter. so same applies. If a le...[/quote] I totally agree with everything you have said Ron. There are too many people around who seem to have a moral objection to any company trying to be profitable. Where I think the jobsworth part of the equation comes into play is the fact that they deliberately hold the letter up for a couple of months. It would be much better if it was returned to the original sender (with an excess charge attached) so that it can be sent again with the correct postage. People can make mistakes but sometimes the contents of letters can be very important.
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