Punch

My daughter has just started college in a Lycee way out of her catchment area. We looked at several colleges and have been accepted in the one of our choice which is a private college linked to a Lycée. They do "expect" children to attend the local colleges, public or otherwise, but I was told we have freedom of choice. Private and public are not the same as the definitions in the Uk of the same establishments. When we stated that she was going to a different college than her classmates from her école primaire it was given raised eyebrows all round. The Conseil General were involved regarding the prise en charge of the transport fees , which were refused by the way. I always thought that the schools made the decisons on who they accept and not the C.G. Paul  

[quote]You just ask for an E111 and should be given a european health card. You probably won't be asked for it if you need treatment in the UK, but you could be, so best to travel with it. And yes it lasts a...[/quote] Although the European health card is meant to be up and running, I have yet to see one. I asked for ours a couple of weeks ago and just got given a handwritten E111, saying they are not yet available. Remember that you will require one for each member of the family as they are not grouped, and are valid for all EEC countries. Paul  

A client of ours had this problem, and after several attempts to find the problem , he called me in to have a look. I changed the toilet bowl itself which cured the smell instantly. The probelm was the older type of toilet have quite shallow traps and the "waste" had built up over the years which was causing the smell. Paul

Yes this is Ok to do, remembering of course that moulures (or mini trunking as it is known in the Uk) is designed for surface mounting and should not be buried in the wall. Paul

There is a another simple deterrent which I am surprised no-one has mentioned here yet, and won't cost you a penny. Most Gendarmeries, if you let them know you are going away, or that your house will be empty for a long period will include you on their "rounds" of vacated properties during the summer holidays. Ok, so they may or may not call every day, but anyone seeing the "blue van" outside your house, will surely be deterred knowing that it could return anytime. They will then continie to watch out during the quieter months. I did this and mistakedly left a window open last year, and the whole neighbourhood were on the lookout for the "intruders", once the gendarmerie had checked our place over. Also let the facteur know you are away so that any letters are not left hanging or stuffed in your boite a lettres. Camera systems are an excellent way to see who has been snooping around whilst you are away. I set up a simple camera system last year and you would be surprised what you find! Even a dummy camera is a worthwhile investment. Put up one of those red " Proprieté Privé" signs too. Paul 

1. Is it correct that if an electrical did some work on the old system that he is liable if anything goes wrong (accident etc) anywhere else within the house. No, not at all; Although he should point out any obvious or dangerous faults, it would be impossible to hold someone liable for the rest of the installation. Being in the trade here, I recently attended a day's workshop at a local hotel which was run for us professionals by the main Electrical bodies in France (Promotelec and Consuel) and we would always recommend as an absolute minimum, the "mis en conformité" of an installation which covers five or six main points such as earthing and differentielle (rcd) protection (amonst other things).  2. You cannot provide a B & B service in a house that has not been upgraded to the new standard. Oh yes you can, and I've stayed in a few places with outrageously dangerous electrics. But first check that your insurance company has no clauses regarding the state of the electrics. It would of course be in your interests to get the electric checked out by a professional. I am not sure what the main professional bodies such as GDF have as requirements for their members. Regards, Paul

The fixed wiring finishes at the ceiling point where the light is suspended from and should terminate in a connection box. Then you just have a long flex running down the chain to the light fitting from the aforementioned box. Paul

Oh well, at least you've come down from 7 bar now which was the main point of my post. Me thinks a bit flippant to disregard the experience of plumbers with a whole lieftimes experience of French systems I agree many mistakes are made with restricting flow, usually in respect of incorrect pipe sizes, and bad installation practices , rather than pressure. Shall we agree to disagree and for the benefit of the original poster and others  put the subject to bed for now? Best regards, Paul

Thought some of you might like to see the fascinating live video from the NASA TV station, it's brilliant watching the moon, earth and the astronauts from 225 miles above the earth. Should get interesting as they prepare for re- entry !! You also get live voice transmissions between the space station and mission control at Houston After clicking on the link below, Just click on either the Real time player or Windows media player links to watch! They are currently filming the astronauts packing up shop and stowing stuff away ready for re - entry. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/index.html Paul

In the last 8 years spent in France working on plumbing installations, all the French plumbers I've worked along side, and both the plumbing "stages" I've been on disagree with having  pressure that high. I've never found a domestic pressure more than 6 bars anyway, except once which was very near the pumping station. The experts seem to disagree with you too;   From  "Comme Un Pro"  by Thierry Gallauziaux;   “ Les companies qui fixent la pression du réseau, soit environ 3 bars. Au –delà de 3.5 bars , afin d’eviter tout dommage, il est nécessaire de prévoir un reducteur de pression.'   From the «  Proffesional Guide Des Metiers de Batiment” by NATHAN;   ‘L’eau est distribuée sous une pression de l’ordre de 2.5 à 3.5 bars mais peut osciller entre 2 et 4 bars selon l’emeplacement de la station de pompage par apport de l’abonée.   Une pression trop forte accélère l’usure des joints et aggrave les effets de la cavitation dans les canilisations, ce qui aboutit généralement à l’éclatement d’un raccord. Au –dessus de 4 bars , il est recommandé d’installer un détendeur’   I could find plenty more references confirming that generally a pressure of no more than 3 bars is sufficient for any domestic installation, and anything rising to the levels you suggest can damage installations, and cause excessive and unnecessary noise.   best regards,   Paul    

Just a minor correction (but very important) from Opel Fruits post above; The Groupe de Securité is a safety valve that allows water to expand inside the tank and DOES NOT limit the pressure inside the tank . This should be done with a "reducteur de pression" pressure reducing valve  which can either be fitted at the tank or at the mains water intake position. They rarely come supplied with the kits these days, because not every house needs it's pressure reduced. 7 bar is far too high for any H & C water in a domestic situation. Just a couple of other suggestions for the original poster. If space is a premium you could consider horozontal tanks which can be useful. Also if using copper connections, use an isolating dielectric joint at the tank inlet and oulets. These are an insulation coupler that stops corrosion forming between two dissimilar metals. Most places sell them with the tank accessories. If you have a problem with the drain off from the GD securité, you can buy and fit a small expansion vessel which does not need a drain - usefull in some situations where there is no easy drain off point. Also buy stéatite units unless you have a water softener installed, as it will last a lot longer. Modern units of a good make also have anode protection by a system called ACI, so if you see this on the info , it is a good idea. best Regards, Paul    

 "If you pay smic the employer gets a rebate on social charges, which then work out at just less than 20%. If you pay a bit over the smic you don't get the rebate and the charge circa 41% how is that for an incentive to reward one's employees." That's right, I used to get the rebate but wanted to reward my employees and keep them on board. As an employer in France, I find this is one of the most unfair rules, that discourages the growth of small businesses. It is difficult to reward and keep good employees, or even take on new ones without the government taking more than their pound of flesh. I get penalised heavily by this extra 20% charges by paying the equivalent of 2 euros more an hour than the smic. I suppose someone has to pay for all the "jobs for life" boys (fonctionnaires, paper shufflers etc) Paul  

Thanks for all the replies. I found out from a friend who was at Dinard yesterday that the underground car park definetely exists. You have to go to the Pompiers building the other side of the control tower and ask. The minimum parking period is one month. Paul  

There was a thread (I think on here) a year or so ago, about an underground long term car park at Dinard. Does anyone have any info on this, as last time I was there I had a look but couldn't find it. So does it exist and wht isn't it signposted at the airport? Paul

Did you send your letter with "accuse de reception," if not it will be largely ignored, at least in the eyes of the law. All letters in France cancelling any form of contract need to be sent this way. Paul

I doubt if you will find stats for this, but I have to agree with school hygeine especially toilets. At my daughters school, the children are discouraged to flush the loo (uses expensive water), the teacher goes in and flushes it when he/she feels fit. En plus, there is only cold water to wash hands and a hand towel which probably puts more germs back on to the childs hands. It's the same at the ecole public in the same village. Our local swimming pool was so dirty it gave our daughter a rash and veruccas, which immediately cleared when we stopped going there. We recommenced at the pool this holiday and guess what, the same problem has re-occured. It is no wonder thet the "gastro" goes round on a regular basis in schools. I have been slated on here for saying this before but in my 16 years experience, hygeine facilities in France are often abysmal compared to the UK. As a good example, the large Hyper U supermarket near us in Mayenne rarely has soap, has no hot water, and the handrier hasn't worked in years. It is situated right next to the restaurant and "les gens" come out of the no2 cubicle, without even a glimpse at the sink and then delve around in the knife and fork:bread roll basket at the restaurant entrance. Don't get me going about asking at the same place for a sandwhich - everything is stuffed in the roll with bare hands that have been dealing with money, shaking hands etc. McDo's usually have great loos in the Uk, but dare you go into the one in Mayenne and you will find all the same problems, even when there are six staff sitting by the front counter smoking and reading the paper in the morning. You would be dismissed in a UK Mcdo's for doing this. So what are your experiences, do you often have to wipe you hands on a dirty towel that has been hanging up for months or am I paranoid? Paul

Thanks VJ, for that. Any qualified electrician in France should not put all those appliances together on a standard radial circuit anyway, which is bad practice and is also contrary to the French Normes NF C 15-100 ! As I said in my earlier post, all such appliances should be on separate circuits and are classed as "circuits spécialisées" on standard 16 amp sockets. Are you sure he is a qualified electrician? best regards, Paul  

VJ I don't quite understand where you are with this?? Even a domestic appliance with a 3KW load and a motor will still work fine on the circuits I describe above, rated 16 amp sockets with some to spare, so 20 amp (unless the appliance has a special rating or is a commercial machine) is unnecessary. Paul  

"Ok folks and thanks for the replies. It sounds as if the 20A dedicated plug and socket is a recent change to the recommendations about wiring washing machines and tumble dryers. I guess the manufacturers of these appliances will catch up in time. Meantime I have the two 20A sockets wired and ready to go with plugs so I will lop off the 16A plugs and replace them with 20A. Hope that does not affect the guarantee on the machine!.............................John"   NO NO NO wait a minute! There is absolutely no reason why you need to change to 20 amp sockets! The latest French regulations clearly state that any "circuit spécialisées" serving washing machines, dishwashers, tumble driers,and such like should be wired in 2.5mm cable, protected by either a 20 amp disjonteur or a 16 amp fuse, AND should be plugged into a standard French 16 amp socket. of course if you want to install 20 amp sockets you can , but why? The protection and fusing of circuits does depend on the appliance it is serving so any domestic appliance that does need a 20 amp (about 4KW) supply should have a 20 amp socket, but they are few and far between. Cookers are a different circuit and often need a 6mm 32amp supply and/or a 20 amp socket. VJ, The only reason I can see for doing what your local electrician did was to distinguish these sockets from standard sockets. I know the French regulations very well indeed after 16 years, eight of which I've been working here and don't like to see people misled. Paul              

I agree with Ron, NEVER use a signup CD for AOL or Wanadoo in France. They install all sorts of uneccesary files which just invade your PC. The best way is to get your identifiant and password either online or in a FT shop and configure the connection manually. I 've been with wanadoo in France for 7 years on dial up and now ADSL and had very few problems. Paul

If you don't kill yourself first, you will probably burn your house down judging by the experimental way you are playing with three phase electricity. The fuses blow due to the start current you get with three phase motors which is lower than the running current. You should never use fuse wire for motor protection. Do you know what terminals are what on the 20 amp socket, it sounds like you have overvoltage and I would get an expert in  before you do any damage, like melt any hidden wiring....................; Paul

If you don't kill yourself first, you will probably burn your house down judging by the experimental way you are playing with three phase electricity. Do you know what terminals are what on the 20 amp socket, it sounds like you have overvoltage and I would get an expert in  before you do any damage, like melt any hidden wiring....................; Paul

I remember paying what seemed like years for a pair of platform shoes from a Freemans catalogue when I was 14 or 15. These extra few inches in height (carefully concealed by my "six button" wasteband patch pocket trousers), enabled me to go to the local pub in school lunchtime and get served Then I remembered my first bike (well moped) a Yamaha FS1E or "fizzie", which was on hire purchase at £195 , can't remember how long it took me to pay it off, in fact Im probably still paying it off now   Then came the death inducing Yamaha RD250, how I'm still alive I don't know I did save a deposit for the fizzie, I was a milkboy for 4 years (used to get £1 for the weekend!!) , and then did evening paperound, and also worked on butchery counter after school before paperound, as well as all the usual stuff like washing cars and bob a job. Paul  

The EDF disjoncteur comes after the EDF meter and fuses, and the outgoing terminals usually should go straight to the consumer unit, but often divert off to a junction box beforehand, which is what i suspect you have. Difficult to diagnose without seeing but I would switch off and then have a good look around.    Paul

[quote]In my opinion the push in type connectors are not as good as the screw typethe reason being they are relying on the tensile of the piece of metal inside to make the connection by biting into the condu...[/quote] I disagree; Connector blocks are somewhat old hat these days, although they do of course still have their uses. The Wago type connectors have been around for years and are fully compliant with all European Normes. They not only hold the wires very well; they are totally de-mountable by twisting, and are difficult to get wrong - As well as being totally insulated and with test holes for a probe. Some are also transparent so you can see the connection inside. I can join up a French junction box in half the time using these than using connector blocks, so their is a time saving factor as well. In the wrong hands, connector blocks  can be over tightened too much, thus breaking the wire  and often need additional insulation, such as tape. It's just a good example where technology has evolved to make life easier.  Good point about circuit identification.   Paul