Lautrec

Since I have been in France, first I used Tiscali; then Wanadoo (Orange) and now I am with Teleconnect. There are many advantages over the other two. First no contract; you can leave at any time. The monthly fee is 29.95 plus 5 euros for unlimited call to UK, Canada, Australia etc and a further 5 euros for calls made to France. The great advantage is that there is a free helpline and all instructions; conversations and emails are in English. Speed varies according to the distance from the exchange. The service is first-rate. I cant fault it after using the previous servers!

If outline planning for a new building in the existing garden has been consented to and the house is sold, do the new owners automatically 'inherit' this consent?, or do they have to re-apply all over again? Would like to know!

Thank you all for your comments and info. We know of the doctor in Ruffec and my wife has has been to him, but she found him a little too tough for her! and the treatment was not covered by the CPAM. The Osteopath in Niort is first class; in fact he is English  born, but it is rather a long journey to get there and back!. We are now going to try a recommended French Physio, also in Ruffec, who who we understand is very good and will not cost a arm and a leg, as it will be covered by the CPAM and back-up Mutuelle. I am afraid that when we resided in the UK years ago, we took Osteopath and Chiropractors for granted, but now in France in our twilight years, our aches and pains do need expert treatment quite regularly! But thanks for your assistance, it is very appreciated1

Could anyone inform me if they know of an osteopath within striking distance of Ruffec? We have been to one at Niort, but it is a round journey 0f 200 kms from where we live and we are hoping that there might be one a little nearer. Any info would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Me too! I was very shocked when I read that he had died so young!. What perfect talent! No doubt he would have gone on to be recognised as one of the great international performers of his day, if he had been given a longer life! Very sad indeed!

Hi Margie, This happened to me and before I sorted it out, I took the memory card out of the camera and put it into the machine in Leclerc and transferred the pics to a CD Rom. You can then process them with your PC. It's not the solution to your problem, but at least you can see the results from your camera on your computer, without fear of losing your pictures!

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/Philiplouis/Flute.jpg[/IMG] Taken many, many,years ago, when I was the toast of the cabaret circuit! Now I am almost burnt out. Her upstairs has forbidden me to send an up-to-date photo. The last time I published my Pic, we got too many cold callers from Undertakers!

Dear Mr Forum Manager. Please delete the first of my duplicate postings. Thank you!

I have just switched from Wanadoo/Orange to the new Teleconnect server. After suffering for 14 months with Wan/Or, I cancelled, giving two months notice with a letter of resiliation which I downloaded from the Internet. You then send it to Wanadoo by registered post( Recomonder) . You must have served your sentence of 12 months hard labour, before you can cancel! Then I emailed Teleconnect to make sure they could give me the service. I was connected within two weeks of sending the application form, with modem etc. The connection actually took me only 5 minutes!  This is the plus point. ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE IN ENGLISH AND ANY PHONE CALLS TO THE HELP LINE ARE DITTO!  You are allowed to cancel at any time with them without giving notice! The service is faultless and Wan/Or, could only give me 512k I am now getting plus 2MB. (I am some distance from the exchange!) I cannot  give them enough plaudits! If you wish to  know the address of Wanadoo, it is;- Wanadoo service Client, Pole 27 33734, Bordeaux Cedex 9 You will not find it on any of their web sites, for obvious reasons. No doubt some other poster will mention the web site for the template of the resiliation letter. I  am not connected with Teleconnect in any way.(except through the Internet!) but if they feel like giving me a free month, I will not turn it down. (Some hopes!)

I have just switched from Wanadoo/Orange to the new Teleconnect server. After suffering for 14 months with Wan/Or, I cancelled, giving two months notice with a letter of resiliation which I downloaded from the Internet. You then send it to Wanadoo by registered post( Recomonder) . You must have served your sentence of 12 months hard labour, before you can cancel! Then I emailed Teleconnect to make sure they could give me the service. I was connected within two weeks of sending the application form, with modem etc. The connection actually took me only 5 minutes!  This is the plus point. ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE IN ENGLISH AND ANY PHONE CALLS TO THE HELP LINE ARE DITTO!  You are allowed to cancel at any time with them without giving notice! The service is faultless and Wan/Or, could only give me 512k I am now getting plus 2MB. (I am some distance from the exchange!) I cannot  give them enough plaudits! If you wish to  know the address of Wanadoo, which is in Marseilles I will look it up and let you have it. You will not find it on any of their web sites, for obvious reasons. No doubt some other poster will mention the web site for the template of the resiliation letter. I  am not connected with Teleconnect in any way.(except through the Internet!) but if they feel like giving me a free month, I will not turn it down. (Some hopes!)

I had frequent ringing in ears and on reflexion it always seemed worst after a visit to the hairdresser. Since then I have been careful to cover my ears when hair spray is being liberally squirted about my head. It seems to done the trick!. Maybe I really did not have genuine tinnitus after all! Mrs.L.

This reminds me os a similar situation. My wife asks the waiter for an omlette as she says that she does not eat meat. "Ah Madame, then I will bring you chicken"! "No!" she replies, "I do not eat anything with legs or fins!" The waiter ponders,  "Would Madame like a sausage roll!" You couldn't make it up!

Thank you for the info!

Can anyone confirm that if one of a married couple should be deceased, the duty that has to be paid is a percentage over 76K. Does thus apply to to all the value of the house or only on 50% ot it, if it was jointly owned.

If you were born before 1928, Paris Consulate will renew your passport free of charge. One of the advantages of growing old gracefully! Last year, when I changed my UK driving licence for a French 'meme chose' (pretentious, what moi!), they would not accept digital reproduced photos, so had to make a dash to the nearest Intermarche for 'proper ones'! I brought this subject up on the telephone when talking to a nice lady at the Consulate. She confirmed that they would not accept digital photos, even if they were on photographic paper! So in any event, it is best not to take the chance of having all your papers sent back and having to post it it all again!

When you approach  Immobllieres with a view to them selling your property, are you able to haggle over the amount of fees that they add on to your required selling price? I understand that they charge around plus or minus 5%, but it would seem an exorbitant fee if they charged  E10,000, to find you a buyer. When we purchased our present house, we paid a commission of E6,000; of  which half went to the girl who showed us around. Compared with commission of 2 or 3% charged in the UK, it does seem rather extreme. It is always said, that the buyer pays the commission, but if it it too high, it would be off-putting to any perspective purchaser! So, how much clout has one got when negotiating a sale? Would like to know!

Our daughter and her husband flew to visit us for my birthday and came to The Charente via the airport above. On the return journey, they had a meal before embarking on to their plane. Before I condemn the standard of the restaurant, were they the only ones to be teribly disapointed by the standard of the service food and cleanliness that they experienced. Could it be that their comment to the French News reporter, who was there, that it was the 'worst meal they had ever had in France' be the norm? If there is there anyone else that has had a similar experience? Please add your comments!

Now the weather is more Spring-like, is it time  to stop feeding our wild bird collection that we have aquired  through the Winter?  I understand that the seeds that  they collect to take away to their nests, could choke their chicks if they are too large for them! Would be pleased to get the facts!

Here is a tip that a friend passed on to me. When lighting the fire, always leave one door ajar, maybe just an inch. This seems to draw the smoke away from the door and the glass remains clean. and it also helps the wood to catch up faster. Always works for me.!

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/Philiplouis/buckfast4.jpg[/IMG] This picture I took of the South Devon Steam Railways train, standing at Buckfastliegh station brings back many memories of home! Anyone have any more steam pics?

We saw two separate fights of appox 2 or 300 passing over Nanteuil en Vallee this afternoon. Fantastic sight!. My wife, always the optimist said,"Here comes the bird flu!"

Thanks everybody for your info, with which I have been able to determine this insect. It is definitely not a Gendarme, as they never ask for my papers, but after checking with Google, I am now positive that they are Cardinals, who can fly!  They have entered into our house with the logs, which at this time of the year, we are using daily. Yesterday I easily caught eight of them in my hands and they were consigned back to the woodpile. So no doubt they will be brought back into the house when I refuel my log fire. Lets see who gets tired of it first!

 All of a sudden we seem to be seeing quite a few of these small flying beetles in the house. I have tried to get a photo without success. The body is about 1 cm long;dark red in colour with two long antennas. Six legs; and they fly. Are they harmful at all eg. eating the woodwwork etc? Would be pleased and relieved to know!

My brother who is planning to move from his house in the Vienne and move nearer to me in the Charente  The first thing he has to do, is to sell the house! Not wanting to give any Immobiliere the sole agency, he intends to use three local ones hoping to speed up the process. The question of agency fees springs to mind and I told him that after seeing one or two threads on this subject, it seems that he might be able to negotiate lower fees than might be proposed by the agents at the incept. Can anyone help with information. What would be the fee that one could expect to be offered by the agency and how much could one reduce it by? Any information on this subject will be more than welcome!

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/Philiplouis/heds.jpg[/IMG] Here is one I did which has a much more humourous slant. ! This is much easier to do than it looks.  Go  on! Have a go!