Nick Trollope

In Outlook Express, click on Tools->Options, click on the Security tab and check that the "do not allow attachments to be saved or opened....." radio button is UNCHECKED. If it is already, I've no idea..

[quote]>Tiscali are still doing the unlimited >ISDN access for 29.95 They certainly are not.The price for this went up to €75 more than a year ago.[/quote] They most certainly ****ing well do. I didn't claim it was for a new contract. And I pay 24.95/month. Every time they try to put it up I complain & it comes down again. BUT, as I said above - I don't know how long for. Welcome back.

I think what you;re saying is that it's hard to get a job on a CDI, and if you don;t it can be hard to get a French mortgage. Is that a fair summary? I wouldn't say so. As has been alluded to, a goodly proportion of the workforce are on "contract". We have a mortgage and have NO French income, I am self-employed (running a UK compamny), 'er indoors is salaried, with a UK company. We had no trouble getting a mortgage, but we did discuss it face-to-face with our bank. Every circumstance is different. Here, bank managers have alot more power to lend than their counterparts in the UK. Also, with rates as low as their are, lenders are forced to lend huge amounts of money to maintain their margins. You can only ask!

I wouldn't worry about it, there are months to go 'till Xmas.     Oh ******

The price has dropped, too - to 19.90E. I shall be sending my slip in, as Tiscali are still doing the unlimited ISDN access for 29.95 - for how long, nobody knows. We are running out of alternatives!

[quote]Hi there, I plan to move to France with my wife and children around June next year. We are currently selling our house in the UK and plan to buy one in France. Ideally I would like to take out a mort...[/quote] French lenders will lend an amount up to one third (in repayment terms) of your income. ie. if you earn 3000E/month then the repayments (for everything; mortgage, car loans, cc, etc) can come to no more than 1000E. Contrary to common belief, this figure is not defined in law and you MAY find a bank willing to bend the rules. Ergo, if you have no income when you apply for the loan, you won't get a mortgage (most certainly, there are no "no check" mortagages in France). If you earn money in the UK and borrow in France, you are at the mercy of exchange rates, which yo-yo by about 6-8%. If you have equity in your UK house, you could morgage that, but when you come to sell it, you may be a bit stuffed because remorgages (on the French house) are quite rare. There are UK lenders (Abbey & Barclays, for instance) who will give you a UK mortgage against a French property, but it ain't easy. CK's comment about rental is sensible, although I would avoid making judgements without more information.

Your sat receiver is outputting PAL into the SCART socket, rather than RGB. SCART is for RGB (individual colours, red green & blue), PAL is the same PAL as would come via your aerial (without the UHF bit), so it isn't going to work. Your sat receiver should/may have an RGB setting (like the "services" menu of a Sky Digibox), if you can set the output to RGB, then do so & it will work.

We have discovered that the quality varies proportionately with the price. This year we are paying 11,60E/Kg (if it is of interest to papermaker, from the excellent butcher opposite the Mairie in Broons). "Dinde Noir" - supposed to excellent...

Miki I have always used UK2 (www.uk2.net). In about 4 years I have never had an outage (except for maintenance & one gets plenty of notice). Not particularly expensive (£50) and they support CGI etc. Only problem is if you don't pay them, they tend to delete yr site (without a backup) within about 8mS - which is what happened to aplaceinfrance.com... BTW, you were kind enough to give me directions to BricoDepot in Rennes some time ago, but I & the forum have lost them. Do you still have them?  

 As an EU citizen you may be entitled to carry out your UK work overseas (i.e. in France) for up to two years, still paying UK tax and NI, provided you can get a suitable E-form to allow you access to medical cover etc in France. This will depend on things like the type of work you do, your NI contribution record etc. You will have to talk to DWP in Newcastle or an Inland Revenue office about this. This is an invaluable option if you aren't sure how things will work out in France and don't want to commit yourself to setting up there from the outset - but when the E form cover runs out you have to either go back to UK or register in France, as above. Bill I have spoken to the SS in Newcastle who INSIST that there are NO e-forms for anyone living/working in France unless 100% (or damn near close to it) of their work is carried out IN PERSON in the UK, ie. they commute. You UK NI contribution only have an influence on your future pension entitlement and there is no point in establishing these until you retire. They insist that it is necessary to join the French SS scheme to gain entitlement ot medical cover outside the UK. We (Tina & I) are in the difficult position that the USSARF will not/cannot bracket us to enable us to register with CPAM. CPAM have now said that we must now make an application to them based on our earnings (paid gross in Sterling) - proven by bank statements, as, because we cannot register as anything (until the USSARF pull their fingers out of their USSARS) we cannot keep "books". It is not at all easy eh? I wonder why people make the conscious descision to work on the black.  

Hello I would suggest that the Chambre de Commerce be your first port of call. They will advise you & it won't cost anything (yet). Be guided by them. As pangur suggestes an accountant would be the best route. You will probably be able to find one that is a) not too expensive & b) will consult initially for free, on the promise of lots of paid-for work when you are rolling in it. You could, of course, just open a UK bank account and start trading, worrying about the legalities when you are in a position to pay for them. (Lots will whinge about this suggestion, but the French Authorities will not be amongst them).

I still can't get the ¬ symbol - see? Only on this forum AltGr 4 works in every other application I have tried. Any ideas? (W2000 Pro)

Your wall lights will work in France, but take heed of Liz's warnings about earths. I doubt if they need 6A (about a 1500W bulb!), however. If you don't know what you are doing (or an English electrician does not, the rules are different here), get a French pro to help you.  

If you are using twin and earth PVC cable And whatever you do, don't use T&E. Cable behind plasterboard must be run in gaine and you can't use "flex" even if it is double insulated (ie not T&E) even if it is French. You could use "rigid" (as long as the colours conformed & and it was NF marked) but it would still need to be inside gaine, I suspect. Gaine is 16mm in diameter - have you enough space without trapping the insulation against the tiles?

[quote]Is that the same Rolf Harris that was voted Britain's greatest living artist? Most people love him, thanks to his presenting that sick animal programme on English TV, but I'm afraid I've always fou...[/quote] That makes as much sense as Arni for Guv'nor, Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft & Reneeeee Arswiggler as Bridget Jones. What is the world coming to? We should be told.

As Sue not Brian suggests, I doubt that the names on the Acte will have any bearing on a succession - French law is very clear (ish!) where death is concerned. You need to speak to your Notaire (not your Agent) as a matter of urgency (not least because the Vendors could claim your deposit if you fail to complete the purchase as laid down in the compromis). FWIW IME, if you are married, then the rules are quite straitforward - you can't disinherit your (or yours partners) children, where property is involved. There has been lots of discussion on this (and other) forums about this, but again, French law is VERY different from English law. Take advice (if you go to the Notaire handling the sale, it will probably be "free").

No it isn't, I'm afraid. UK cable is changing, but is still won't conform to French (NF) standards, not least becuase it is not NF marked (likewise French cable is not BS marked). Besides which, a UK Electrician is unlikely to be French "qualified" (quote markes because qualifications here are not just about C&G's) and, as the systems are completely different, he/she may not appreciate the differences. Use a French electrician, I'm afraid (there are plenty of good, ex-pats French electricians on this forum, myself excluded).  

I'm afraid it depends entirely upon the circumstances. If a C d'U has to go to Baitiment de France (e.g.) then they can take forever. In theory, a C d'U can be passed within a few days. The last one we did took 3 months ( B de F). Try chasing the Maire - it passes his/her desk first. I assume that the granting of the Certificat was a clause suspensive in your Compromis de Vente. If so, there is not much you can do, apart from chase & wait.

Our experience flies in the face of most of the other posters; Application was 4 sides of A4 (in English), medical questionaire 2 sides A4. Completing these and collection the info we needed (payslips etc.) took 1/2 day. We did write a proposal addressed to the bank (this was a development purchase). Offer was received within 10 days of us providing the final bit of info (a quotation for building work, which took an age to get), although our chap at the bank said that it was OK at the first meeting. No medical, and we were given a choice of cover (100%/100%, 50%/50%) we went for 100%/50% (me/her) as it represented best value. Mortgage amounted to 130% of purchase price (including a seperate loan for development). Excellent rate, too (3.5% capped to 5.5%). No penalties for early repayment (which we intend to do). Cred Ag Cotes d'Armor - the only thing that could work specifically in our favour is that it is not Britline, and that we banked with them for 2 years before we applied for the mortgage. I can put anyone who is interested in touch with our contact at the bank (he speaks no English, but is enthusiastic about lending to the English).

[quote]"But, would they be compatible with French valves and connectors?" I hope someone will correct me if wrong, but aren't the radiator tappings without valves screwed 1/2" or 3/4" and therefore compatib...[/quote] Quite so. All radiators (UK & Fr) are built with BSP (imperial) fittings, so just buy French valves to fit French pipe sizes. Don't try to plumb with UK sizes, as the pipe is also different wall thickness (and it is unnecessary).

If we are talking mains gas, then it is because a boiler supplied in the UK ain't approved for use in France, so they can (and do) charge what they want... You have answered your own question re spares & service! You only install a boiler once, so a serviced boiler that lasts 20 years (because it has been serviced) will cost you 50E/yr extra. Save 1000E on a boiler that lasts 5 years and the maths ain't so good... Or summat like that.

Re: D de T. Probably not, as you are only undertaking repairs. Unless your property comes under the historic monument rules (ie. are you within 500M of a church or other HM?). You could always ask at your Mairie. You will probably (should!) find them very helpful and should a declaration be required, will/should help you with the paperwork (D de T's are free). Re: SH, this should be recorded on your Acte Authentique or Attestation de... ... But, unless you give them cause, "they" will never find out/care about what you have done inside your property. Beware of the 170m2 limit, however. If, like us, you are proposing to make a lot of changes, then it really does pay to involve your Maire from the outset and to be honest with him/her. We live in a small village about 3 doors down from the Mairie and we literally pop-in when we have a query - they always have or find the answer and appreciate the fact that we ask... Of course, you might not be as lucky as us.

I now know that I am going mad.... I clicked on this topic because it said "hiring a cat" - why would anyone want to hire a cat? Actually, I did once - for a photo shoot. It was dead, stuffed and curled up like it was in front of a fire. Once the photographers assistant had combed it, it looked bostin'. Cost £140/day (inc carriage) mark you. Can't help you with a cot hire place. Although if you are completely stuffed, I can lend you one, if you are willing to drive to Dinan to collect & return it; no charge (for inspiring me to dig out that 'photo for a larf...)

[quote]Shops that sell out of date food. What next car dealers selling cars without breaks? My folks are also hoarders of food. Something my father got from is parents during the war. They planned to have en...[/quote] OK Richard, I give up. Just what is your avatar? I can make out BR symbol but (even with the benefit of Photoshop) nothing else? Please tell....

Imported SS switches for a friend from UK electrical wholesaler as they were marked CEE and installed them according to French regs..Cost £3,88 each.. Are these UK sockets? If so, despite being CE marked, they are not legal for use in France, regardless of how they are installed (CE marking is not about approvals, it is about conformity to appropraite standards). They must be NF marked for use in France, or BS marked for use in UK, etc.