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Nathalie

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Everything posted by Nathalie

  1. Hi I'm looking to set up a website helping ex pats to get over minor (or indeed major) hurdles such as filling in paperwork, translating, writing letters, making phone calls and finding out information for those who don't yet have the language skills (and it will come - once the hard part's done and dusted that is!) to deal with things that you wouldn't think twice about dealing with in the UK.  There will be other services as well, like sending over smoke alarms and domestic fire safety advice from a qualified Fire Safety Officer, and professional counselling services for those who need them (hopefully not too many).  I am a French national with English/French parents brought up in France and UK and therefore have the benefit of being fully fluent in both languages and cultures etc.  I've helped a couple of people sort out various bits and pieces that have taken me just a few minutes but has avoided a lot of hassle for them and they keep telling me that my help should become more widespread. My aim is to provide help and support however often it is needed for a small yearly fee rather than pay-by-service, as this would prove costly to the customer.  My other aim is to provide an excellent, value-for-money service (within 24 hr turnaround) via email or phone (I am UK based with a second home in France) without ripping anyone off.  It makes my blood boil that there are so many cowboys out there fleecing British residents/second home owners who have the courage to do so in a different country. So!  Any suggestions as to what else I could offer (and the inevitable "from offer to contract signing" service or "give me a property brief and I'll go and find it" service would come in WITHOUT the extortionate fees) as well as "SOS" building services for those wanting recommended workmen to do an urgent job quickly.  I'm open to comments = if you think the whole idea is a waste of time then do let me know, might as well be sunning myself behind my desk at work than trying to build up something no-one wants.... Thanks for listening! - and I hope I get some replies! Nathalie  
  2. France is not the back of beyond you know - they do sell turkeys at Christmas!!!  Why not try a French Christmas,  oysters, salmon, roe deer or venison, a sorbet, dessert, cheese and then coffee and liqueurs until about 5 in the morning .... great! Nathalie  
  3. Not sure whether to stick this here or in Legal, anyway here goes. Received a copy of the draft Acte de Vente, all seems OK, but was wondering whether anyone has added any other useful clauses in to their contracts?  There's a clause about no comeback on the vendor if, for instance, the roof suddenly falls in or something, but there doesn't appear to be a clause along the lines of "if something goes wrong that the vendor would have been aware of, ie. faulty boiler or something, then the vendor is liable for all costs etc etc". I saw something similar once on No Going Back, and didn't make a proper note, thinking we wouldn't find our home so quickly... Thanks. Nathalie        
  4. Hi again Further to my previous post.... Banks and Transfers: Went to the bank itself to make the transfer I needed, was told it would definitely be done the following day and I asked that I be telephoned to confirm as it was time critical.  I got a phone message at 5.40pm to say that ... it hadn't been done, would be done the following day, so sorry.  So deadline was missed. Following day I make an appointment to see the bank manager, and made my point quite firmly and politely what I thought of his organisation's service and we settled upon a free CHAPS service to get the money transferred there and then, particularly after I said that if the money couldn't be transferred by the deadline I'd like it in cash there and then please....  my money, after all.  However, the story dosn't end there, the bank manager left a message with my daughter a bit later on to say he would ring back Monday which to me doesn't bode well..... Banks and Exchange Rates: I rang the French bank nearest to our (soon to be) French home and asked about exchange rates.  I nearly fell off my chair when I was told a figure that was beneficial to us by £6,000!!!  I explained that we were very near to signing l'Acte Authentique and wanted to exchange the purchase price in France from sterling to euros and then immediately zap it to the Notaire.  No problem, she said, I'll open your account now, over the 'phone, and you can send me copies of the paperwork (passports, utlity bill).  She took all the details and called me back 5 minutes later with the RIB details and my account number.  We get internet access, debit card and chequier for the grand total of 4 euros 33 a month.  What about other fees, ie. for setting up a direct debit?  No fees. This lady was so helpful, and so willing to take the time to help, it was a complete contrast.  I am so glad I took heed of the posts regarding CA Britline (to join is a right rigmarole) and decided to try a different avenue. Of course, I'll probably just wake up and realise it was all a beautiful dream.... Nathalie              
  5. This has been a really interesting thread.  To Later, I would say that, and I don't mean this disrespectfully, that you are maybe too scared to make the move.  If you always look on the "down" side of things then you're not going to take the step, are you, and at the end of the day your website (I only had a quick look, so forgive me if I've missed something) has nothing positive, no "plus" side so to speak about living in France. As I've said before, I was born in France and raised in both France and the UK in equal measures, and the simplest thin is to just accept each country's faults and good points.  To move to France and carry on living as a Brit is probably a step on the road to a miserable life, the comment about Paris being grey and only being happy when the poster was with english people and in English pubs etc reinforces that. Everyone wants different things out of life as they get older, there's nothing wrong with yearning for bright lights or indeed the sleepiness of rural life.  I live in the Yorkshire Dales, am just about to sign for a house in Brittany, but when my kids leave home I'd probably like to swap that for a tiddly studio flat in Paris - but keep my rural idyll here.  (And believe me, Yorkshire Dales folk can be as unfriendly towards us incomers as any French person!).  It's what you make of your life that counts. A bientot. Nathalie    
  6. Hi again Thanks very much for all that useful advice.  Currencies4less have quoted us a better rate than the bank. Our agent cashed our UK cheque for the deposit last week and the rate worked out at 1.46 which is quite good compared to today's bank rate.   Can anyone tell us what today's rate happens to me in France?  We were wondering if the Notaire would accept a cheque and we could benefit from the better rate..... Trying to find the current rate of exchange is a nightmare via the web - probably not looking in the right place. Anyway, thanks again for the advice, the LF forum is worht its weight in gold!. Not quite so frustrated of Yorkshire    
  7. OK.  The smug look is wiped off my face, we're due to sign for our house next Friday and after everything has gone so flippin' smoothly so far the tide has now changed. We're buying with two other sets of friends and the plan was that each couple would transfer their share of the dosh into one account and then whizz the lot to the Notaire. My wonderful British, well known bank (I hate banks), charmingly says I can't transfer such a large amount of money!  Eh??? Don't they deal with humungous sums every day?!! And of course the interest rate has been dropping steadily since we signed the compromis... My question is, after all that ranting, has anyone transferred money via the currency companies and if so, any recommendations?? Frustrated of Yorkshire
  8. I would suggest attending jive classes.  What!  Some suggestion I hear you say, well, I always wanted to learn to jive, and one day someone at work said he went jiving (or Ceroc - from the French "C'est Rock") and he agreed to teach us on a lunchtime.  We got the bug, went to a jive night and saw hundreds of people looking really really cool and we decided to have proper lessons. It's the same system in France (we know, we went to one in Paris) - the guys stand in rows and the girls "move along" so you get to practice with lots of different people of different abilities.  It's a great way to meet friends (I found my husband that way, so I suppose I'm a bit biased!) and it is really feel good, releases the endorphins or whatever they're called and helps to banish the blues! It's quite popular in France so it should be fairly easy to find out if there are any classes in the area.  My friend who taught us originally now teaches professionally and he says it's brought lots of people out of their shell - so you never know. All the best to him anyway. Nathalie  
  9. Personally, just dropping in for cups of tea isn't something I've ever done, maybe because I work full time, time with friends is mostly arranged, or following a quick phone call, and most weekends are spent socialising so that suits us. When I lived in France with my parents, however, people would often stop in for an aperitif on an evening, and usually stay for dinner that would last to the wee small hours.  Always wondered how my mother managed to produce hors d'oeuvres and make the dinner for three feed eight... Why not "when in Rome do as the Romans do" and follow the way your French friends socialise (however that may be). Nathalie    
  10. Someone once said to me "regret what you haven't done - don't regret what you have done".  Look at the reasons to why you want to make the move, bu what I would say is - if you have the slightest doubt, don't do it - yet.  Moving abroad isn't the recipe for automatic success and happiness, I'm not saying that's what you're looking for but I imagine some people want to escape one way of life for another in the hope of finding, as******o says, utopia.  But it can help if you're looking for the things that matter to you and which you know will improve your quality of life. Good luck.  Nathalie 
  11. Yes, people shouldn’t want to lose their identity, by integration I meant getting to know your French neighbours, not just the British ones, becoming familiar with the culture and the language – AND NOT COMPLAINING OR PICKING HOLES INTO EVERYTHING THAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT FRANCE!! We’re talking about two different countries here, some people move here because they like those differences, some people, some would say naïve, move here because they misguidedly think there is no crime, that the government is perfect, the weather always good, and that you can buy a week’s shopping and still get change out of a 10 euro note!!! – getouttahere!!!! The grass isn’t always greener, it’s just a different shade. My mother, who is English, lived for 30 years in France married to my French father and she spent all that time being completely uninterested in learning the language, thereby having trouble at French dinner parties following the conversations with friends (it’s difficult enough in English once everyone gets going!) amongst other things. During her time here she complained constantly about missing England, fish and chips, baked beans, the health service, you name it, she missed it. When my father died and she came back to live in England, she’s done nothing but complain about our Health Service, the food, how she misses the French way of life, and she doesn’t touch baked beans or fish and chips! She now wants to move back, because in France she would actually have a better quality of life as a pensioner. So how ironic is that. I also think that if people have the attitude that the French will never accept them, then with that mindset it's bound to happen, giving out subconscious "you'll never want to get to know me" vibes.  The French always accepted my mother - despite her rotten French.  And I live in North Yorkshire - I can live here for 100 years and still be regarded as an "incomer"!!  Maybe it’s human nature, but whilst people spend their time picking holes in everything, they’re missing the point – enjoy life, you only get one shot at it. Right, I’m packing my soapbox away now. Tata.
  12. We've just bought a house in 22 with friends, so last Sunday 6 adults and 6 kids traipsed down to IKEA in Leeds to buy the essential stuff - crockery, cutlery and the like.  We want to buy as much French stuff as possible when we go out for a week in November, but it will get us started at least ...  We had loads of fun catching people on the ankles with our trollies, blocking the aisles, taking over the coffee shop.... Anyway, Ikea does have some good stuff, and a lot of tat, but don't you think it's a shame that France is starting to lose that "je ne sais quoi" when it comes to chic shops and its reputation for quality?  MacDonalds, fast food, Ikeas, cheap clothes shops in big shopping centres .... Nathalie  
  13. Cite Europe isn't open on Sundays.  Not much is apart from boulangeries (stuffing a croissant in your tank won't make it go, unfortunately!) Petrol stations such as Total should be open on Sundays, and those on motorways are.  Supermarkets ones aren't (apart from a handful that may be open in the mornings), but you can pay at the pump with a credit card, but you need a chip in it for that to work. Hope this helps. Nathalie  
  14. There are a proportion of people who seem want to live a British life abroad, and that includes changing the house to an English-style property and not wanting to learn the language or integrate into the French community .  That is their choice, and it's their loss entirely in my view. I'm surprised they didn't come out with "France would be great if it wasn't for the French"! A work colleague went house hunting in France, and didn't like any of the houses she saw, obviously comparing the difference between English properties and French ones.  So she's gone for new build and so far nothing has gone to plan.  We found the house of our dreams at house view no.3 - and it has shutters and fireplaces and we wouldn't change a thing.  But we're all different, but I'm with you on this one Deby. Nathalie      
  15. Lots of converts to proper French cooking, then, I see!!     
  16. Hi We're in the process of buying our house in 22, and before we found the one we wanted, we went to an agent's in Dinan - full of British buyers, so they certainly seemed to be doing a brisk trade.  We went to see two properties with them, and they were a lot of money for not much property.  We then happened to look in an agent's window in a small market town, and arranged to see three properties.  The following day, two had sold in between time which left one - the one we're buying.  It had double the house and 8 times the land for 50,000 euros less than the first two we'd seen with the other agent.  Prices have shot up in recent years, and bargains are harder to find, but actually I think it's just the mortgage rates going up that are putting people off buying second homes - and a work colleague, who is having a house built in France, can't sell her house here for love nor money, so it's slowing down here too which must have an impact along the line somewhere? Nathalie          
  17. What do you mean, there are no cakemakers in France!!!!!!!! No, they don't make cakes with three inch thick icing and marzipan, but you get lots of other wonderful french cakes, like the fraisier, made to any size you want and perfect for big occasions. And they'll write what you want on in beautiful writing. (I used to be engaged to a French `patissier' in my yoof!  Couldn't make a fruit cake though, a definite plus on the English side!) Nathalie
  18. Hi again Well, they were very interesting replies.  I did fail to mention, I'm not starry eyed, I was born in Boulogne and lived there until I was 18 and moved to England .... so I am aware of the good and bad sides of both countries. Another post within this Post Bag hits the nail on the head - it's not France's fault that people get disillusioned it's the high expectations that they have that fail them. France is not paradise - it's a country with as many faults and strong points as any other.  Although French born I don't honestly know whether I'd want to move back, as much as I love it, at the moment my rose tinted specs are firmly on and if I and most of you out there have the best of both worlds - then we have indeed found our paradise! Thanks for not being too harsh with me, anyway! Nathalie  
  19. Hi I grew up in Boulogne, just down the road from Calais, and I spent six months there on a course. I always knew when I’d arrived in the outskirts because of the pong! Maybe I’m just biased, but Calais is not as nice as Boulogne, and even if you’re just going shopping, it’s a much more pleasant town to drive through.  It would be much better to go there just for a shopping trip - Speedferries do £50 return trips, £25 for the day.  A nice B&B is L'Enclos de L'echeve in the old town (find them on the net) Personally I would recommend that you go to Auchan, a huge hypermarket which is off the A16 at St Martin, it’s on a commercial site so there are other shops there too, furniture, sports (our kids love the French sports shops) and DIY. Or alternatively, there is Leclerc at Outreau. You can get there either through the town or again it’s accessible off the A16. For the family, there is Nausicaa of course, the sealife centre, a crazy golf course next to that, or they can rollerblade on the promenade (depending on time of year and how busy it is). There’s also the old town and the ramparts to walk around and some clothes shops in Boulogne itself. I don’t know about prices, although in the local French paper this year they had done a survey of prices in restaurants, bars and so on at 10 different seaside resorts from Le Touquet down to Nice and for instance a glass of white wine could almost double in price depending on which part of France you were in. So I imagine it could be the same for supermarkets. We’ve just bought a house in Brittany but my brother lives in the P de C so it will be interesting to see if there’s a difference.    Nathalie
  20. Gosh you guys have got me worried now. I grew up in Boulogne sur Mer and my parents didn't have central heating so our house was cold - no, flipping freezing! - in the winter.  However, my brother's house is perfectly fine (he lives in the same area). We've just bought a house in Brittany and we're going in November and hopefully for New Year.  It's an old property and has central heating and two fireplaces - but will it be the freezing pile of bricks that some of you seem to suffer?!!  I suppose we'll find out when we get there.  The fact the owner offered to sell us quite a powerful heater is maybe another indication (although they too used it as a holiday home, and they were elderly) but I'm a cold mortal anyway (I'm sitting in an air conditioned office with my coat on!!!) so I'm starting to panic now!!! Just out of interest, did anyone look into winters and heating etc when they were looking to buy property?  It wasn't something that crossed our minds (especially as the house has central heating installed anyway). Best get the long johns out, just in case. Nathalie
  21. Hi Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot of moaners out there?  I've been reading this forum and (another one) quite avidly over the past couple of weeks and what is particularly striking is that people seem to complain a lot about just about everything.  The price of electricity, the cost/quality of food, the unavailability of cranberry juice, sultanas and christmas puddings (huh?), the buying process, the toughness of steak, amazingly the "high" cost of the taxe fonciere (swap it any day for our council tax!), the justice system, even the insects and so on that make home in peoples properties (surely not the fault of the French!!). It begs the question: if it's that bad, why stay?  Is the "dream" really an illusion?  Or do we just get blase about things?  Or are we just a nation of whingers??  (No-one's complained about the weather, mind!). We're buying a house in 22 and so far everything has gone really smoothly.  The owner has told us what she's leaving behind and the agent and notaire have been super-efficient. So the doom and gloomers aren't going to put me off!! Right got that off my chest.... Nathalie        
  22. Nothing wrong with bats - they eat up to 3500 midges a night which is a good thing in my book. Spiders - well, I don't like them but they eat flies, so they have a purpose. Wasps - they serve no useful purpose at all and they have been little so and so's this year I can tell you. Cats - well - on average a cat catches 30 mice a year - our big comfy fluffy lump of a moggy catches NIL - that's NIL - mice and couldn't catch a cold.  The bird murderer next door, however, has devoided our garden of birds and if it ever comes near me I'll wring it's flippin' neck. What we'll find in our house when we've completed in October is anyone's guess - living in rural Brittany there's bound to be something.  At the gite we stayed at on our recent hols we spotted a rat that we called Basil (or rather - Basiiiiiiiiiilllllllle Fawlty Towers stylee) and a vole/fieldmouse that we called Peppy.  Before we'd retire for the night we'd shout into the shed - Basiiiiiillllle!  pizza tonight!- before depositing the bin bag.  We didn't see him again towards the end of the stay - think the noise of four adults and six kids drove him away to the gite 1/2 mile away for some peace and quiet. Nathalie              
  23. Hi We are three sets of friends (or three families) in the process of buying our holiday home in Brittany.  I have seen very little about joint ownership in all the French mags and forums, and wondered if anyone else has done this and if so, what their experiences have been, and if they have any advice or tips?  We think we've covered everything from the ground rules, to how we're going to furnish and pay for stuff, but there might be something we've missed. So far though, we're having a whale of a time writing wish lists (miniature railway (!) in the grounds for the boys, pool for the girls etc etc), deciding what to buy and so on.  And of course it gives us the excuses to get together and discuss issues....and continue sampling the wine we brought back from our holiday! Nathalie        
  24. Hi Having lived in both France and the UK throughout my life, I've crossed the channel more times than I care to remember.  I've witnessed force 8 seas and been stuck in the channel for hours, an overboarder, a kitchen fire, and other numerous delays.  Some people will have good experiences, some bad.  Out of the 6 times I've used Eurostar, it has been delayed four, with little apology, certainly no free refreshments (you've got to be kidding!) and no compensation and let's not start on planes!! Speedferries do need the support, not least because they've had the guts to take on the "big boys".  Also, it's doing Boulogne and the surrounding area a lot of good too.   nathalie  
  25. Hi We're signing for our house in October but we can't make it either.  So we're now signing a power of attorney, which needs to be witnessed by a notary public.  The fee varies so shop around we're paying £50 and then they have to send it for legalisation which is another £12.  You have to provide passport and utility bill for identification.  It's not an ideal situation but at the end of the day at least it can be done that way.  I would have thought that the Notaire had little influence over the signing date once it's been agreed at the compromis stage - we asked him if we could put it back until November but the owner said she wanted to stick to the original date - unsurprising, really. Your best bet is to speak to the Notaire ASAP.  Ours was very helpful and we received the documents 2 days later. Hope all goes well with you. Nathalie  
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