Clarkkent

As of 19th August this year the old E111 was replaced with a new version.  This is an interim measure until the new European Health cards are issued in the UK some time in 2005. The old E111 will only be valid until 31st December 2004, so if you are travelling from UK to France after that date, you need to get a new E11 as soon as possible.  The new versions are valid until 31st December 2005.   And on the reverse side of the new form is a tick box which, if used, will cause a new card to be supplied automatically when it becomes available in 2005.

We are buying a small house near Bergerac and most english friends have suggested we apply for Tontine. The best advice is to ask your notaire. The main consideration will be the value of the property. By the way, you don't apply for tontine, you simply include a brief statement - perhaps a single sentence - in the Acte de Vente. Its effect is to backdate the ownership of the house on the day you bought it into the hands of the survivor. The only complication is my husband has a child from a short relationship. Is Tontine right or indeed necessary for us? Obviously, each of us would like to continue using the house, in the event of the other's death. The situation is quite clear - on the death of the survivor ownership of the property will be divided among ALL the offspring of the original purchasers. In your case: 3 ways.  

[quote]I agree about the fete aspect of this, but why this one especially, after all there are lots of fetes in France throughout the year?[/quote] To the best of my knowledge, the previous fete is Assomption, in August. Could it not be - quite simply - that weather conditions are now different: fog, damp, darkness. Headlamps dazzle, IMHO, the reflective markings on French roads are useless when it is raining (where are the cat's eyes?) Add alcohol into the equation and you have a good chance of increased accidents.

I hasten to add, no pushing of cosmetic or placebo-ic(???) ops. Pardon my ignorance, Chrissie, but what is a placebo operation? Can you give me any details of one?

Lavender Lady I have long believed that if you are borrowing money to buy a house in France you should borrow the money in the country of your income. You can then be certain of the future impact of servicing the loan on your income. At least one uncontrollable variable is thus removed from your financial planning. The saving you make on a lower interest rate may be more than wiped out by interest rate fluctuations and by the costs associated with currency exchange.

I presume you have a French bank account. The tear out bit should be signed and dated and sent with a RIB (you can photocopy one from your chequebook) and send it to the address of the regional computer centre (on the tear out form). The money will be deducted from your account as though you had sent a cheque. You are not setting up a direct debit authority as you understand it in England. Next year, when you receive your tax demand you will see that your bank details will be printed on the tear out section. Until you have signed this and sent it back, no money will be taken from your account. Just treat the form as a preprinted cheque.

Nice to look at, but sanitised. The film lacks the tension and menace of the book. And where the book ends with Charlotte realising that her life is something which she will have to work at, the film ends with a Hollywood cop out.

[quote]The tipping thing is a vicious circle though, don't you think? If you're already paying 2.50 euros to have a small coffee thrown onto your table with a grunt, you don't really feel like paying any mo...[/quote] You are quite right. Tipping is a vicious circle. It has become a way in which we are blackmailed by people providing a service. A few years ago I went to the Gouffre de Padirac. There were large signs asking visitors not to tip the boatmen - who stood with their palms open at the end of the boat trip expecting and receiving money. We acquiesce with employers to pay rotten wages when we tip. In Japan giving a tip is considered to be a humiliating gesture. I would like to see it disappear.

As part of his duties as tax collector, your notaire will have informed the relevant tax authorities of the change in ownership.

[quote]Quite right, and as one of the guilty parties,I apologize. We should have carried on that discussion elsewhere.[/quote] It is considerate of you to apologise. At risk of sounding anti-progress, this is a problem generated by the new software. When it happened in the past, the thread indicated visually where deviations were occuring and you could zoom past them. At risk also of doing what Ceejay is complaining of, I do not think the layout of this new software is an improvement.    

So now we know. P&O are withdrawing from the Western Channel and leaving Brittany Ferries in a monopoly situation. BF will now be free to charge pretty much what they like. Not that we had a very good deal before, but we, the customers are the losers.

When I were a lad (round about dinosaur extinction time) all the sewage in my home town of Grantham was pumped onto fields a few miles outside the town - this was called the "sewage farm"- and the fields were used for agriculture. People followed the milk cart to collect the horse manure. And the quality of the rhubarb ... Can't have been all that bad, look at Margaret Thatcher - but then on the other hand ...

[quote]I think you are reflecting the UK climate of opinion which makes showing any affection at all to a child completely unacceptable. You may not subscribe to it, but in the end it gets you, through a com...[/quote] This, of course, comes from some of the most appalling journalism anywhere, and the cultural acceptance of anything American (remember the case of the 5 year old boy barred from going to school because he kissed a fellow girl pupil?) And, I speak from experience, there is a feeling abroad that any man - hence all men - are potential child molesters and must be reported to the police for being male. I don't think that situation prevails in France yet.

I once heard a statement that the nature of capitalist economics is that in any market with room for x companies, there will always be x + 1 and the companies will fight among themselves (usually with price) to remain in the market. Occasionally, one of the companies will call it a day and pull out. It seems that P&O ferries are about to make a statement about their continued presence on the Dover - Calais route. If they pull out, this will reduce competition and hence the need for other operators to charge low fares. Warning.

Yes, there has been discussion on this forum - I suspect the threads have been lost in the Great Archive Disappearance. I find it fascinating and constantly refer to it. Don't forget that it reflects a north American viewpoint in which some concepts differ from the European (eg reresentatve democracy). I find the sections on the Algerian war and higher education fascinating. The first because it is relatively unknown but has had great consequences for how France sees itself; the second because I worked in the UK HE sector - and for all the problems we were having, the French university system seems awful (and it's a second division sector in France, anyway). One interesting thing the authors say is that there is no such thing as local government in France - only local administration - and maires, perceived as powerful, can only do what the state allows them to.

[quote]HiI may be completely wrong, but I understood that there is no longer the possibility to acquire dual nationality within EU states ?In any event, the planned EU passport will presumably eliminate this...[/quote] I have just done a very rough and ready internet search. My judgement is that nationality is one of those areas which would come under the cover of sovereignty and is in the gift of the individual state. UK, US and France all allow multiple nationality - but several EU states do not.

[quote]Mars eille? Aha, at last I've found another town that the computer censors. I bet I live in the only one in England though? Sunny Scunny. Alcazar[/quote] I suppose that the IKEA at Brent would be reasonably convenient for someone living in******osters.

[quote]Can someone please tell me if it is possible to change nationality from British to French. Therefore requiring a carte d'identitie instead of a passport. Have searched the British Embassy website bu...[/quote] Some people have done this. You do not necessarily have to change nationality - you can aquire dual nationality.  From what I gather on this site, the easiest way of doing this is to obtain a French spouse - otherwise you have to live in France for 5 (?) years, have no criminal record and be fluent in French. If I've got this wrong someone will put me right. There seems to be the general feeling expressed on this site, however, that it is a rather drastic thing to do - if you don't want to carry a passport, why not apply for a carte de sejour?

[quote]Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. Am I correct then in deducing from the above comments that:- 1. We must be patient for the dehumidifier to work its magic and 2. We should gen...[/quote] If you plan to leave the heating on while you are not there then you should check that this will not invalidate your insurance. I used to find that the inside of north facing walls would get very wet during my winter absence. I eventually cured it by leaving windows secured open (about an inch) behind shutters and allowing air to circulate throughout the house.

Once again, a thread gets hijacked! And the new layout forces us to labour through these meanders .... I presume that the inability of this software to allow "****" to be shown as anything other than a row of asterisks is due to its American origin and the "power" of intolerant minorities to dominate social agendas. What is silly about this is that many of the usages of "****" come not from its slang meaning of "penis" but from the military use of rifles - half ****, full ****, **** up etc. But then perhaps words associated with killing SHOULD be censored, but among thinking adults words associated with sex should not! Power to your elbow in sorting out this silliness, Forum Admin.  

[quote]Does anyone know if it's possible to get a personal loan in France with only UK based documents to prove income? Based on past experiences, anything involving a country outside of France is going to b...[/quote] I have always believed it to be prudent to obtain your loan in the country where your income is earned (at least until the UK joins the euro). There is some volatility in the exchange rates which may make repayment in another currency difficult sometimes. In addition, the continuing need to pay the costs of currency conversion may well exceed any savings you may make with respect to interest rates.

[quote]Are there any HSBC Banks in France and if so, can one drw money from, say, machines with Cirrus logo or any other? Also, is it absolutely necessary to have a French bank account - if using cash an...[/quote] The general answer to your questions are "yes" and "yes". You can use any UK credit card or debit card in almost any "hole in the wall" you find. HSBC took over CCF a few years ago - but I believe that CCF is primarily for commercial customers not retail customers. If you have an HSBC Premier card (you do call yourself Wealthy) then you can use it in any HSBC machine anywhere in the world without incurring local costs.  

[quote]Wouldn't the doh etc vary according to what key it was in? Is doh equal to A or to middle C for example? But surely they must use ABC etc too, or musical works wouldn't be in the key of C they would...[/quote] You are absolutely right, Jill. Tonic sol-fa is about recognising the relative pitches of notes and doh is always the tonic of any particular scale. As far as singers are concerned it does not matter what key a piece is in, the relative distances between the notes are always the same (in a tempered scale). As far as the German lady is concerned, SB, beware - the Germans have H in their scale!!!

[quote]With that attitude I don't think it'll be that long. OK you will get more and more vocabulary over the years, but the tchat tchat will start long before, I'm sure.[/quote] I was with a group of ex-pat Brits the other day and one, who had been in France for 10 years turned to another and asked "How do you say 'some' as in I want some sugar?" The other said "Quelque." They didn't watch French tv (having only a dish not an aerial) nor did they know with any certainty who the French prime minister is. These people don't live in France - they live surrounded by France!

"Christmas comes but once a year...but now lasts for 4-5 months" “Christmas didn't happen at all in France, which of course, it doesn't, at least as we know it.  Dare I again say thank goodness? M” No, but they have imported Halloween from America – which is about as culturally relevant as Japanese knot weed.