James_B

I would tend to agree that notaires aren't always effective as selling agents. When we first saw our house, the sale was being handled not only by a local notaire but also by an estate agent in the next town. We went round to the notaire's office and asked if we could be shown the property which was empty and no more than 100 yards round the corner. That was a Thursday morning. The earliest appointment they could give us to view was the following Tuesday afternoon!They wouldn't even let us have the keys.  Needless to say we contacted the estate agent instead.The property was perfect and we signed the compromis on the Saturday. One year later our house was still up for sale in the noitaire's window..   

You can buy a range of basic sauce powders eg veau, volaille,viande. Ducros do a Fond de Sauce -Veau which I am currently using. Just add stock, wine, or even just water. Puts Bisto and the like well and truly in the shade. I think Maggi also do a range, and some supermarkets have their own label versions  

Annie, you're not going to like this but if you haven't sold your house after 18 months the price is probably too high. Take the average of all the offers below asking price that you've rejected and that'll give you a very rough idea of what the market values your house at. James

[quote]Are you sure it was water??[/quote] No, we're not sure it was water. How would we have checked? However, it certainly wasn't Eau de Vie as far as the bat was concerned .   

Thankfully nobody at present. However when we took possession everything had been stripped out including the light bulbs which we expected, of course. However in the grenier we found a purple skateboard and a bucket of water with a dead bat in it!

Tape and paint in my experience, which given how slow my builders are, is somewhat limited! However architect did confirm that this is how they normally do it.

Work started on our house in early Feb. this year. Our target completion date for the work was Easter. We have an English architect based in France and are using French artisans. The builder is frustratingly slow but his work is good and he is widely used in the area. Maybe he has too much work. We reckon he has about two weeks work to do if he organised his men to get on with it but based on his track record so far we'll be lucky if he'll be finished by Christmas. The other trades are queuing up behind him as they can't complete until he does. Despite this and the accute earache I have given our arcitect, nothing seems to get him to step up a gear. Any advice on how to get things moving would be greatly appreciated!

LAST EDITED ON 15-Aug-04 AT 06:46 PM (BST) I have just used my last Seafrance carnet ticket and found the flexibility and service offered extremely good. I am tempted by the Eurotunnel Owner's Abroad club deal because the tunnel is more comfortable during the winter months. However, in order to get a comparable price I should get 10 short stay tickets with Eurotunnel in one go. They ask for the dates of all trips up front ( unlike Seafrance). I am not impressed with Eurotunnel service and I am nervous that when I try to change the dates of "booked" journeys they will be inflexible and I will be buying myself a load of hassle. Is anybody a member of Eurotunnel Owner's Abroad club that can allay or confirm my fears?

We were advised against having them by the architect at the planning stage as unnecessary. He said modern French homes don't have them. The plumber who has sold us the bathroom fittings has made no comment at their absence.