Paul Bradford

Hi, The route that we normally take from Calais on a Sunday is A1 towards Paris then come off at jucntion £ I believe, the one signposted bordeaux. Follow signs for Bordeaux until you get to the A10 then follow signs for Orleans. That has been good for us on Sundays but delays any other day of the week. Good luck! We have now taken to traveloling via Rouen down the new A154. Might be a bit further, but you keep moving. Paul.

Hi, Interesting, as we already have freeview in France and want to update at some stage to the basic sky package. However, I thought that the UK & French tv's work on different systems. If this is the case would you be able to buy a French tv to watch UK Sky? Hope that hasn't put the cat amongst the pigeons! Paul

Hi, Try HIFX. There is generally an advert in the magazine with their 'phone number. We used them to purchase a property and from next year want to move a regular amount each month into a French bank account. The advantage of using a broker is that some make no charge for the transaction as they make their money when they purchase the currency. We only have to commit ourselves to a six month contract (direct debit) but can go for up to two years if the rates are good. You also get a rate approximately 4-6 euros better. I have no affiliation to HIFX. Regards Paul

Hi, I believe the capital gains tax loophole is still open until sometime next year. Death duties are payable on estates valued over £267,000 (I believe that is the correct figure) in the UK. I would check with a UK accountant or perhaps one of the tax lawyers advertising in the magazine. As I understand it, if you are resident in France but sell a property in the UK you will not be liable to capital gains tax as the Inland Revenue will not pursue you in France. (Just read that in the latest Living France mag).  However, I'm not sure what the French Revenue would require. It would obviously depend upon the value of the property. Hope that helps a bit. Regards Paul

Hi, It would be wise to check what is being left behind. If you are considering having Freeview or Satellite TV then you will require a new aerial anyway. We had a Freeview system fitted fairly inexpensively to the existing satellite aeriel by an English guy working in the Lot et Garonne area. You could save more money by bring over a Freeview box from the UK. I would play it cool and tell them they can leave it if they wish. Regards Paul

Hi me again, I saw an ad in Friday's London Evening Standard for a company selling new left hand drive MG & Rover cars. Example; Rover 75 2.0 Connoisseur (131 ps) X Power, full leather, conn pack (don't know what that is!) dip (?) climate control. £11755 inc vat.  Rover 45 2.0 turbo diesel club (auto's available) £7995 inc vat. They advertise they can be sold vat free for export. I understand that Rover is highly regarded in France. I do not have any affiliation to this company. Regards Paul

Hi, There are bargains to be had on new vehicles in France. Earlier this year I saw a new VW Golf TDi advertised in euro's at what we would pay for in pounds in the UK. Used cars can be very expensive, but there are dealers that sell cheaper cars. Looking at one site advertised in this magazine I found a Hyundai Tuscon (4x4) advertised for under 18,000 euros. My father in law paid £18,000 for one just before Christmas. You have to check the wording of the advert to see if it includes tax, but even so they can still be cheaper than the UK. One last example. A friend has just returned from France having to extend his stay as his people carrier engine failed with a blown gasket. Everyone was on holiday and the repair could not be done. He is moving over in the next couple of years so he decided to buy another vehicle in France. He purchased a ten month old Fiat Ulysses TDi. Top spec including satnav for £12,000  (around 17,000 euro's). He was offered a Renault Espace for a similar price but this only had five seats and he couldn't wait for the additional seats to arrive. My advice would be to consider the costs of changing the headlights and paperwork required to import the vehicle, plus your time to accomplish these things, against the price of purchasing the vehicle that you require in France. Regards Paul  

Hi, As I understand it from an article that I saw, that by allowing the farmer to cultivate your field he is in fact doing you a service as it saves you from clearing or keeping weeds under control. If this is so, then he has the right to cultivate the land for a period of nine years. This period is transferable to sons if he dies. I suggest that you take advice from your Notaire. Last year we purchased about four acres that was being farmed in a similar way. I raised my concerns with the Estate Agent who told me that the farmer was 'extremely trustworthy and would not take advantage of the situation'. We were not entirely convinced and he has not touched the land since the sale.  Regards Paul

Hi, Try using one of the Currency Transfer companies that advertise in the magazine. We have used one to move money out to France. This included a free transfer to an account of our choice and a rate of 5-6 cents per euro better that quoted in the banks. This should also work moving money the other way. I realise that some companies state the amount should be for more than £5000, but they are prepared to quote on regular smaller amounts. Hope this helps. 

I used to work in a supermarket after school (many years ago!). It's inhumane, but the best thing we used was a piece of cardboard, a spread of glue and chocolate in the middle> Worked without fail. Regards Paul Bradford

It was a 146 with Flybe. I'm 6' and nearly 17 stone. There were six seats across but I still had more room than the Ryanair flights that I have taken. Regards Paul Bradford

We recently used Seafrance (over the Easter break) for a car plus four passengers. Cost £25.00 each way! We are stockholders with P & O but no one came near. Seafrance are still running this offer. Regards Paul Bradford

Regarding the texting between uk mobiles abroad, you will pay an additional fee of around 30p per text for use of the foreign service. I'm with vodaphone and that's what they charge. Regards Paul Bradford

Hi, If you buy a bed in France, it is sometimes necessary to purchase the feet separately for some reason. We only found out when we got the beds home! Gifi is a very inexpensive shop if there is one near you. We used Conforama for some furniture and took the opportunity of using their van hire service, paying by the hour. The cost for a transit sized van was about 20 euros for the hour! Excellent value. Regards Paul Bradford

Might not be too much help, but Alastair Sawday's French Bed & Breakfast is an excellent place to start. We have used it many times. Regards Paul Bradford

I seem to recall from my time as a Police Officer that 4 x 4 type vehicles had the chassis number stamped on the chassis. It was visible when you looked under the front offside wheel arch. I hope this helps, failing that try telephoning the Land rover Dealer Service Dept. Regards Paul Bradford

Hi,   Try Abbey National at www.abbey-national.fr. You will find very helpful English speaking staff. I have no link with them, we just tried them ourselves. They tried very hard for us, but due to our financial situation at the time were unable to help. Hope this helps regards Paul Bradford

Does anyone know if there is a problem in taking gerbils to France? I have looked at the defra site but it isn't very clear. Has anyone any experience of this? Thanks Paul

Thank you to everyone that replied. I didn't expect to get so much detail! This does give us an idea of how far our money will go. We are fortunate that the French property is my father in law's. The plan is, that if everything works out and the children are happy, (ages 4 & 6 so shouldn't be too much of a problem we hope!) we believe that within two years we will know if it is the right move. If so, we'll sell up at home (the house will be rented out until then) and use our equity to buy another house outright. Here's hoping and thanks again! Paul 

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help with my question. I would like to know what the average net wage is in France. I am in a position where I receive a medical pension and would like to have an idea of how far this might go. We have a holiday home in the Lot et Garonne and plan to move there next year. It would be useful to have this information in order that we can arrange our finances suitably. Thank you Paul Bradford

Hi, I have bought some items in Ikea at Thurrock which were also priced in euros. The prices seemed similar. However, you don't seem to see very low sale prices they have in England repeated in France. Paul

I have just used Flybe for the first time over the past weekend. A far superior service to Ryanair. More legroom and comfortable seats. Also seat allocation. Stanstead is an hour closer to me, but Flybe were £100 cheaper for the Saturday to Monday return and due to their flight times gave me an additional 9 hours or so with my family. No brainer really! Hope this helps someone. Paul

Hope this is useful for travellers. We have just used Seafrance for the first time in a few years. £25.00p each way for a period return of car and four passengers over the school holiday! We are a stockholder with P & O but they come nowhere near that price. Also Seafrance boats seem to be much cleaner with superior childrens play areas and on board facilities. Paul

Hi,   Watch out for the high prices for used cars in France. The owners seem to have an inflated idea of their value especially when you consider that there are some extremely good deals on new cars in France. Prices advertised in euros are what we pay in pounds! It might be worth you sourcing a left hand drive car in this country (very cheap as obviously few people want them) and exporting it. I have noticed in the local used car sales in Monflanquin (where we have a holiday home) that most of their cars originate from Belgium. I understand that they are quite cheap there.   Hope this helps   Paul

Hi, You do have to be very careful when letting land. The minimum let as I understand it is nine years. (This was covered in an article in the past year in Living France). This is transferable to a family member i.e. if the farmer dies it can pass on to the family. Apparently, even if you charge nothing for the land there is a possibly it can be construed that you are receiving benefit form the letting as you would not have to cut the grass etc, and as such you could lose the land for nine years! We have bought some land off a local farmer and our intention was to continue to let him farm it. Following our concerns regarding this we spoke with the estate agent. They did tell us that this was normally the case. However they did say that the farmer was one of the most trustworthy people that they knew and it shouldn't be a problem. We will probably take advise from the Notaire and see if some sort of contract can be written to safeguard us. I think you should be careful if you plan to let the land.   Regards Paul Bradford