Opalienne

Say that you are paying cash and ask them to make you an offer.   It usually works

We don't normally get ours until a couple of months after the Fonciere, so there's probably nothing to worry about

BHL?  Tu rigoles!   What a creep.... And PPDA wears a wig.

Thanks very much.   I'll ask the DDE, since the maire doesn't seem to want to think about this problem!   But I suspect that since`we have fewer than 2000 inhabitants it will 'tomber dans les calendes grecques!'

Thanks, but can you point me in the direction of the law?   As I said, I have already asked at the Mairie and been told that our village will not have it.  We don't have anything like 2000 inhabitants, BTW, but neither does the neighbouring village, and it's not particularly spread out here so wouldn't be too difficult to install for everyone.

Does anyone know the situation regarding the arrival of mains drainage?   According to the wife of the mayor of the next village (where they have it) it will be obligatory all over France from 2006.   According to our mayor, no such thing!   We would really like to know what the situation is.   I have looked on the French government website, but couldn't find anything except something on how much individuals are required to pay towards being linked up.   Thanks in advance for any information

An alternative would be to allow them to graze their horses for six months of the year only.  This is what the farmer we rent a field from does.  It allows the pasture to recover during the winter and avoids any long-term problems with rights.

Are you sure there's nothing in the freesheets?   Where we live, near Calais, they have loads of ads from people selling wood.  

Where we live it is the garde champetre who makes sure the hunters obey the rules and also looks after the animals.   He is a hunter but is keen on making sure that everything is done correctly.   For example, when our cat was lost and found caught in a trap, be brought her straight back to us with many apologies.

You probably need to go to a specialist fire shop.   Look for one in your yellow pages

Jacks,   We have used Ada Location in Calais, but I am sure there are branches all over France.   Try googling?

The coffee on the boat coming back was totally undrinkable - I threw it away! 

Yes, we have done both England and back and Belgium and back without problems.   We use Ada Location - they use nearly new vans and are much cheaper than the larger companies.  

Well, I was, and so was everyone else on the two crossings!   It's to compensate for recent fuel increases.

They are indeed very good, but not quite as cheap as they make out.   They are currently asking for a 'fuel surcharge' to be paid in cash at check in on each leg of the crossing.   I paid €6 each way last week.

We live in the Pas de Calais, so our sitter wouldn't be of any use to you, but we found her by advertising in a local supermarket.   Why don't you try the same thing?  We had 6 replies to choose from.   The dog is very happy staying there and it only costs €7 per day.

I have the same problem, but not relating to a repair - it just happened.   Have checked in control panel and everything looks fine, but still no sound.   Does anyone have any other ideas?   Many thanks

Our local butcher has them but you sometimes have to order in advance.  I don't think it is seasonl since I had one in a restaurant only last week.

We had a mortgage of approx €30k through UCB - but it was 11 years ago, so things may have changed.   But I would try them just in case.   Otherwise I'm fairly sure that you could get a loan through a French bank without a problem.

The previous question prompted me to ask - has anyone had any kind of subvention for replacing their roof?   The 'community of commumes' where we live used to give one for various kinds of renovations to old houses, but the scheme has now stopped.   Thanks in advance for any help

Take a look at http://www.pap.fr/immobilier/offres/offre-vente.asp and enter dept 62.  There are two fermettes, one at Menneville and one at Buire le Sec that both look pretty good and are within your price range

I will keep an eye out for you in the free property magazines and pass on anything I think looks suitable.

You should have no trouble finding something suitable in the PdC with that kind of money.  Nord is a bit more expensive (and not as pretty).    Have you tried the notaires websites:  http://www.immonot.com and http://www.immobilier.notaires.fr  ?

Yes, it is at Les Attaques, on the left going towards Calais.   There's a very good restaurant there too - Restaurant de la Gare.  Turn left at the traffic lights and it's on your right just after the station.   But it's closed for holiday at the moment.

I bought a Unic Line (Trois Suisses own brand) washing machine 15 years ago for just over 1000FF (about €150) .   It gets used four or five times a week and it is still going........