Jennys

We have just have an enquiry from someone wanting to possibly rent our gite next year for the first 3 weeks of July. They asked some detailed questions about the accommodation, to which we replied and they said they were interested so we sent our reservation form and our booking conditions. Our conditions are, we think, fairly standard. We require a 30% deposit to secure the reservation and the balance 8 weeks before (plus a damage deposit of 150 euros). All of our previous bookings have been much closer to the high season (say from Easter onwards). We got a reply very quickly to say that they were no longer interested as they didn't agree with our booking conditions but they didn't give any details. My question is, do any of you gite owners have different conditions for such early bookings, say take less of a deposit now and ask for the balance of the deposit later ? Regards Jenny

Dear CJB I would like to add my bits of advice re baby sleeping through the night, having been through it with my 2 children. I agree with trying to keep the room dark, not making too much noise etc etc but one thing I would advise is NOT to change the baby's nappy during the night unless absolutely necessary.  With our first baby, we were told to change the nappy before feeding, then you didn't wake them him again after feeding him.  We did so and often found that the nappy was hardly wet and after getting out of bed to change the nappy we were thoroughly awake. With the second baby, we only changed her if the nappy was fat and sodden or smelt!!  (By the way she is called Amy as well!)  If she needed feeding in the night, I just took her out of the Moses basket, fed her quietly and put her back without getting out of bed myself.  I have to admit that at times when I was exhausted, even if the nappy ought to have been changed, I couldn't be bothered and she suffered no repercussions! Good luck and hope things improve.  Once things get better, you will soon forget - that's why people have more than one!! Regards Jenny      

I have to admit that as my children haven't started their orthodontist's treatment, I don't know how much we are covered.  All I know is that I specifically asked the Mutuelle when I changed the level of cover, that I wanted it to cover orthodontics for children. As all our other medical costs (including a hospital stay, home visits by nurses, home visits by physiotherapists etc when my husband broke his leg) have been covered 100%, I assumed that 100% was 100%. We shall see for the orthodontist, but it won't be at least until September 2005, as the dentist said it was too early, not enough teeth have come through yet! I must add also that I do get a discounted rate with the Mutuelle via my employer, but I'm not sure how much. Jenny        

Dear Miki If you read my previous reply, I said that CPAM reimburse 60-70% of our healthcare costs (I am employed full time, therefore I pay charges on my salary and are in the French health system).  The Mutuelle covers the rest and the figures I quoted are correct.  For full cover, i.e. if you are not employed in France or if you are self-employed, I have no experience of, so I don't know how much this costs. Hope this is clearer. Jenny    

My children were both referred to an orthodontist by their dentist.  I asked my French friends whether the treatment was covered and was told that the Secu reimburse the normal 60/65%.  They said it can get expensive so it was best to have a Mutuelle to cover it.  We only had basic cover for hospitalisation so I upped the cover and for the children, we were covered after 1 month (for adults it was 3 months).  We were also going through the post accident stage after my husband fell off his bike and broke the neck of his femur.  I was amazed, but the Mutuelle immediately started covering all his outpatients bills, physio etc, even though he had already had the accident. As it turned out, the orthodontist said that it was too early for treatment for the children, so we didn't need the extra cover, but it has been worth it for the other treatment.  We used to pay about 15 Euros a month for basic cover for 2 adults and 2 children.  Now we pay about 50 Euros a month but we have full cover for all doctors visits, pharmacy, dental, optical, private room in hospitals etc. Hope this helps Jenny      

I can't comment about the vegetarian angle, but as far as children staying to eat at the cantine, in my childrens' school, almost every child stays for lunch.  Initally I was worried about my daughter settling at the Cantine when she started school here at aged 4 as she was a fussy eater.  The cantine lady was very patient with her and didn't force her to eat, only to try everything and didn't give her large portions.  She even nicknamed my daughter "Miss un petit peu"! After the first year at school, we noticed a big difference in their eating habits at home, both much less fussy and willing to try different things and we have never looked back.  We are more willing to take them to restaurants now and I think eating at the cantine has done them a world of good. Jenny  

I agree with Scorpio.  We also had vacuums sucking out the air behind the liner for over 2 days whilst our pool was being filled. If there is a gap between the wall and the liner then all the weight of the water will be pushing against the liner and it doesn't sound good IMHO. Jenny    

Dear Isabelle I learnt to type on a qwerty keyboard but once I was working here in France, I adapted very quickly to azerty.  The worst keys are the A and the Q because you use the A a lot but once you get used to it, you will have problems going back to a qwerty! I wouldn't worry too much about it, you will soon get up to speed. Jenny

I can't find Control Panel either.  If I go along the line as suggested, I have Active Topics and Popular Topics, but NO Control Panel. Also when I look at the Forum from my computer at home, the user name of the posters is not there, it just says Forum Moderator etc, whereas if I use my computer at work, I see everyones' user names.  Can anyone explain this ? Jenny

To Dublin Annie I have sent you an e-mail in answer to your question, didn't want to hi-jack the thread! Jenny

You say your husband could look for a job as an Accountant.  Well, I am a UK Chartered Accountant working in France and although it is possible to get a job here working as an accountant, I would advise you that you must be able to speak good French.  The accounting side is not much different - a debit is a débit, but you will need to talk to suppliers, clients, staff etc and it is more difficult over the phone.  My written French wasn't as good but I have created standard letters (to the bank, suppliers etc) with help from the other staff who corrected my mistakes in the beginning. One thing you can do is take a "Bilan de Compétence" in accounting which, if you pass, gives you a certificate of competency which you can show to prospective employers.  You can get details of where you can take the test from your local ANPE (French equivalent of the job centre).  You can also register with the ANPE and receive e-mails of prospective job offers as soon as the employer registers the offer.  You need to define certain criteria, e.g. geographical area and job type being the most important. You must also expect to earn a lot less here, I am in the south west and I earn half the wage I earned in Surrey, but the advantages are a 5 minute journey to work, I come home for lunch, less stress and I also work part time, with Wednesdays off (no school for the kids) so it is worth it!! Good luck in whatever you decide. Jenny    

I know an English couple who were advised by their maire, several years ago, not to bother getting into the system. Despite us and other English people advising them to this day that they are wrong not to do so (they are both retired, therefore they would be covered upto the 70%), they are still living here and rushing back to the UK for treatment. They are both nearly 80 and their health is failing. Last year the husband had a stroke and was hospitalised for some time. He tried using the E111 and his family had to involve the British Embassy in order to get his costs covered. One of their reasons for not declaring themselves resident here is that they are worried about the French taxman taking money from them! Accidents can happen at any time. We are going through it after my husband broke his leg and has been on crutches for 3 months. Luckily I work so we are covered and we have a mutuelle. We didn't have a mutuelle for the first year because we didn't know we needed one. In my opinion people who believe they don't need to be in the French health system are playing with fire as this post illustrates. Sorry to go on , but this is something I feel very strongly about. Bon Courage to your friends, Chris. Jenny

Another question regarding pool alarms - we have installed one and I have explained how it works to the visitors, i.e. they deactivate it before swimming and it resets itself 1 and a half minutes after the water has settled down. However, they have chosen to turn it off after one afternoon when they set it off a couple of times, I think after it had reset itself and they were sitting on the pool steps paddling with their feet. So my question is, if they choose to turn it off and there is an accident, are we still liable? We have conformed to the law by providing the alarm. Any comments would be gratefully received. Jenny

I am working as an accountant for a French company in France and on average, our net pay is approx 76-80% of gross pay. You do not pay substantially more charges, the more you earn, but there are some small increases when you earn over what is known as the plafond - which this year is 29712 Euros - gross. Be aware also that salaries are not taxed at source (ie deducted off your monthly wage). You fill in a tax return each year. I don't know the details of how much you pay, because I have only been working full time for 2 years and the first year - 2002 (working for 6 months) I got a refund. I am the single earner in our family with 2 children, earning more than you have said for your husband. This year's tax returns haven't been processed yet so I don't know how much, if any I have to pay - having dependant children actually reduces your tax bill here! I have to say also that you cannot expect to earn anything like you did in England. I am a fully qualified chartered accountant and I am earning half what I did in England, but then I have less than half the stress I did in England and I work so close to home, I go home for lunch. I wouldn't swop back if you paid me 3 times more!! I think you would qualify for child benefit, it is approx 112 Euros a month for 2 children and it is not based on earnings. There is an amount given for buying school supplies, which is based on earnings and we didn't qualify for in the first 2 years even though we weren't earning much here, but because it was based on our earnings in the UK which were much higher. I don't know about other allocations. Good luck! Jenny

We brought over our puppy 4 years ago and asked at our vet in England what we should do to export the dog. He gave us the appropriate forms from the English Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAAF - I don't know if it is still called this). We filled them in and sent them off and they came back stamped with the authority to export the dog. As far as I remember the vet had to complete something the day before we left to say that the dog was in a fit state to travel. We arrived at Dover and as we handed over our passports, we said we were taking a dog to France and were ready to hand over all the paperwork. The officer was not interested in the dog or the papers at all and at the French end, there was no control, so we just drove straight through. It was much easier than we had expected, but it was only a dog. I suggest you contact MAAF in England and ask them what to do. Jenny

We had a problem with removing grout from a mosaic band and we bought a "dcapant" which was basically an acid to dissolve the excess grout. It is not very strong as although it says use with gloves, I used it with bare hands and a toothbrush for scrubbing. It took a long time but it worked. We bought it in a local builders' merchants who recommended it as my husband had left the grout on too long! Hope this helps Jenny

My husband used to have sneezing fits every day (when we lived in England and here in France) until our doctor in France suggested he went to see an allergy specialist. He had allergy tests to determine what he was actually allergic to (turned out to be dust mites) and now he is following a programme of "desensibilisation". This involves injections at regular intervals over 2 years starting with once a week for a couple of months, then more spread out. It is wonderful to see him without streaming eyes and a runny nose and no sneezing fits! Might be worth a try? Bon courage Jenny

Dear Deby We are in exactly the same position as you! The pool is finished but as the person building it took so long, the surroundings are not as finished as we had hoped. Our first guests arrive on Saturday and we were really worried what they might think, even though the gite and the pool are finished, so we took a decision and rang them all up to explain. They were all understanding except for one lady who said her husband was very demanding. In the end they decided not to cancel and we are very glad that they are all forewarned. I suggest you do the same thing to all your guests this summer so they don't expect too much. Bon courage Jenny

Can anyone give me an idea of how much to charge per week for a 3 bedroomed gite (sleeps 6 + baby) with a large swimming pool. I have done a search of the archives and not really found a clear idea. I know that the rates change according to high/low season, so how do you calculate the rate in lower seasons compared to the high season ? Also does anyone think that the charge for a gite converted from a wooden tobacco barn (replacing the walls with new wood and retaining the character of the barn) would be less than a traditional stone barn ? Thanks in advance Jenny

If you willing to pick grapes or any other sort of fruit picking, whilst the pay is at minimum wage level (about 5 an hour), some jobs do include somewhere to stay on the farm. You can look on the ANPE website (www.anpe.fr) which lists all current job offers. You need to click on "consulter les offres d'emploi ANPE".Then you choose the type of job (e.g. Agriculture), then the region you want to look at. There are other criteria: level of qualification, experience, type of contract (ie permanent - CDI or temporary - CDD), type of offers and salary expections, but you can leave these open to pick up all the offers. I looked at the Lot et Garonne area which has a lot of agriculture and came up with: CUEILLEURS RAMASSEURS H/F (pickers) 47 - SAUVAGNAS - FRANCE 743361V OUVRIER AGRICOLE SAISONNIER H/F (seasonal agricultural worker) 47 - LAUGNAC - FRANCE Click on the job offer for more details. If it says "Pas d'hebergement", there is no accommodation provided. The two listed above are for August and July 2004. I hope this is of some help to you. Regards Jenny

I just felt I had to reply with our experience of getting the Carte Vitale. It took over 1 year!! In October 2002 I sent all copies of birth certificates etc to our local CPAM. After several months I rang up to be told that they had never received the letter, so I re-sent everything. Then we got a letter saying we would receive our Cartes Vitales but in the meantime we could use the letter as proof of our entitlement. More months passed and every time I visited the doctor he asked if we had received our Cartes Vitales. Eventually the doctor actually rang up CPAM whilst I was with him and spoke to someone who said they would sort out our dossier. Several months later - still nothing. Then I started work and received a letter from CRAM (Caisse Regionale) and I explained that we had received the letter with our entitlement but not the Cartes Vitales. The girl from CRAM looked into the problem and it turned out to be something very simple but no one had told us - that the copy of our English birth certificates were not good enough(the certificate being too long to be copied onto an A4 sheet). We sent a new copy and bingo - the cards arrived after one year! Jenny

Message in your inbox Jenny

Rob I am not sure about the legalities of whether you are entitled or not to take holiday in the first year of a CDI, but where I work (in the Lot et Garonne area), I had to work a year before being able to take holiday. It means that if or when I leave, I get an extra months pay as I have accrued my holiday entitlement in advance. In practice, if I had really needed a day off, I could have had one but as I only work 4 days a week, I can make up time taken off by working my day off. Hope this helps. Jenny

>My Husband and I wish to >spent the winters in the >charente area, but are worried >about our 5 year old >daughters education. >We intend to stay for 3 >months then return for 2 >weeks at christmas and return >to France untill easter.We do >not need to work and >we will not be applying >for residency. Will that mean >that our daughter will or >will not be able to >go to a local state >school? >I have read a lot about >other peoples experiences but none >that quite match our siuation. > >Can children attend state schools if >their parents are not residents >or employed in France? >Has anyone any experience or advice? > >Also what paperwork would we need >to take with us? > >Pipin I would just like to add that in my childrens' school, there are several children whose parents come to France from Spain and Portugal to work from Spring to sometime in Autumn and return to their native countries for the winter. The schoool is quite happy to accept the chidren for 2 terms and as far as I know, the children don't have any major problems settling in or going to two school in two different countries. Whether I would do the same with my child, I don't know but in the case of the Spanish and Portugeuse parents, they obviously have no choice with their work being seasonal. As far as paperwork, we were just asked for proof of the vaccinations. Be aware that schools like children to have had the BCG here before starting school, whereas in England it is done much later. Best of luck with whatever you decide. Jenny

Dear DAB We are not far from you and have two similar aged children. I have sent a message to your private inbox if you want to get in touch. Jenny