Matchless

Hi, Thank you so much for that information. I will get in touch with them Kind regards, Peter

Does anyone know where I can dispose of asbestos corrugated sheets in Haute-Vienne? They are all intact. They will only be dangerous if cut or broken. I don(t wish to pay a fortune for a team of people coming to collect in their protective gear as if they are removing asbestos from wall linings etc. Any idea of costs etc.? I am willing to to transport them, wrapped in polythene on my trailer. I am aware of potential hazards of the material and the not so that some people think that it is dangerous to go within a few feet of it.

In addition to my last post, if a check is made what does it entail?

I hope to sell my French house later this year.  Am I required by law now to provide a certificate of conformity for the electrical system.

Thank you everybody. Yes, I know about the notaires being slow but it was just the legality and whether it had changed. I think we can put this one 'en lit maintenant'.

Thank you for your reply. I don't think there are any outstanding debts.

My step-son sold his house in France last Tuesday 24 July 2007. We live in France and are fairly au fait with most things. However, the notaire told him that his money for the sale would be available at the end of last week (perhaps 27th) or  the beginning of this week (perhaps 31st, today). When I speak to the notaire I am told 'It will happen', possibly the end of this week (3rd August). When we bought our French house 6 years ago, the seller was paid minutes after the final signing. This also happened to a couple of friends of mine.  Has the system changed? Can anyone tell me if the notaire can legally hold on to the money for all this time? I am worried that this notaire may be taking advantage of him because he is English. Any answers please! Frustrated!!!

Thank you Leslauriers, Sorry for the delay in responding. I'll try to give it a go and hope for the best.  The laptop I have is a four year old Compaq M300 with a new Belkin card so I hope that end will work. I'll try it later. Thank you once again. Matchless.

Thanks for that. It's not the Belkin that's the problem it is the configuration of the Freebox. Just the same, thankyou for your reply. Matchless

I have had ADSL since November and I ordered a Wi-Fi card at the same time as the Freebox from free.fr.  I now wish to configure the box. Now although I speak reasonable French, for my age I have more trouble reading anything technical that has to be exact. The details are on the Free.fr web site but I'm sure I will get it wrong. I have load the software on my laptop for the Belkin Wireless G Notebook card. Can anyone give  me a breakdown 'idiot board' for configuring the box? Matchless

First of all, don't worry about using a French keyboard.Unless you touch type professionally it will take but a short time to get used to it. I use one and also a Qwerty one. It' like changing over from driving a R/H drive car to L/H drive and back again. If you are a competant driver it's no bother. As for Dell, I don't own one so I can't say from personal experience but I have spoken to many who have them and they seem satisfied. Although, a friend who is a computer engineer tells me that all off the shelf computers get away with using the most inexpensive hardware, and I don't mean rubbish, whereas if you have a machine built, each piece of hardware only costs a few shillings??? more but are much more reliable. Please don't shoot the messenger! The other thing is if you have one built you can usually get the engineer/technician to install English language Windows. It helps even if you speak/read good French. Hope this helps.

Is the problem of going without internet connection only related to trying to switch from Wanadoo/Orange or would I lose my current dial-up connection whilst I changed to an ADSL provider, whichever one that may be? We are due to have ADSL  in the next week or so, dont hold your breath, and it is imperative that I am able to stay online. Peter

Thanks to all who have replied. You comments have been helpful. Regarding dégroupage, I didn't think Free and Neuf were dégroupage. I think I would rather keep my FT line because we have quite a few power cuts in Haute-Vienne albeit not for long, normally. Going back to FT, do you think there service is OK if I buy a separate router or do they insist on renting their Livebox? Does anyone use AOL broadband? If there is more info I would be most grateful. Thankyou all once again. Peter.

OK! Let's cut to the chase. It's been a long time since I made a posting but here it is. I am about to get, I hope, ADSL here in the depths of Limousin. I need to keep my connection as long as possible without losing it for days or weeks on end when changing from dial-up to ADSL. Having read many of the threads in this forum it appears that there are problems with Orange/Wanadoo/France Telecom, especially with their Live Boxes. Can anyone give their opinion as to which is the best ISP to go with. I am with AOL France dial-up at present but do not necessarily want to go use  them  as my ADSL provider. My requirements are a good speed; I am 3.9 km. from the distribution point, a reasonable price, it appears that a lot of providers are charging 29.99euros/month, and hopefully one that includes free calls to France and U.K. Also, it is imperative that I have a reliable service/router because I don't use the internet for fun. (Sorry if that sounds bigoted, not meant to be). The final question is, can I still use my four cordless phones from around the house ( they work O.K. through 50cm. thick stone walls) or do I have to buy a special phone, and, do phone calls go through the computer, i.e. only when swiched on, or do they go straight through the router and/filter? I know that there may be many and varied opinions but if I can get a general concensus it will be good. Thanks to all in anticipation. Peter.  

Hopefully, I will have broadband connection here in Haute-Vienne by mid October (I won't hold my breath). I have spoken to some people who say they have had free.fr for over a year now and it is great paying just 30.00€/month with free phone calls worldwide included. Sounds good! Has anyone had any experience of free.fr and if that's not the best, any good alternative? The one bad point I have heard bandied around is that their connection speed is low. Can you advise, please?

Try downloading Picasa2 from Google. This is arguably the best general purposer photo storage system. You can not only upload your own digital pics directly to the program but it automatically captures any image on your hard disk and stores it in chronological order or by name. It also enables you to do minor alterations. It is easy peasy to send an email with attachment directly from the program without copying and file searching. Give it a try, it's worth it. It is a superb program and is free. I used to be a pro and so don't take these things lightly.

Has anyone tried to register with eBay U.K. using a French address? Norton.

Thanks Bob,   My existing flue liner is about 2 years old and is flexible stainless steel. I get so many different answers from reasonably 'knowledgeable?' people from 'It should be OK' to 'There may be some back pressure. As a couple of friends have said, 'Try it ans see!' I would rather not have the expense and work of having to replace the existing liner. Peter

Thanks for that Deimos. I still don't know if this reduction wil affect the flow of smoke or not, so if abyone has the definitive answer, I would love to know. As the heat circulation, this must be a fairly new regulatiuon as many French houses have the trunking fed from above the fire itself. I'll have to consult les Bricolages.

Thanks for that Deimos. I still don't know if this reduction wil affect the flow of smoke or not, so if abyone has the definitive answer, I would love to know. As the heat circulation, this must be a fairly new regulatiuon as many French houses have the trunking fed from above the fire itself. I'll have to consult les Bricolages.

Thanks for that Deimos. I still don't know if this reduction wil affect the flow of smoke or not, so if abyone has the definitive answer, I would love to know. As the heat circulation, this must be a fairly new regulatiuon as many French houses have the trunking fed from above the fire itself. I'll have to consult les Bricolages.

I have an older style woodburner with an outlet of approx. 130 mm diameter. This connects to a stainless steel flue liner fitted in the chimney and leading to the underside of the chimney pot. The liner is 2 years old. I have recently purchase a new glass fronted wood burner that has an outlet of approx. 180 mm diameter, as I believe all new burners have. I would rather not have the expense of  buying and fitting a larger liner and therefore my question is, has anyone had any experience of connecting a larger diameter outlet to a smaller pp flue. Is there a problem with back pressure and flow of gasses. I have been told by several fairly knowledgeable people that I shouldn't have a problem but no one is absolutely  100% sure. I do like definates! Also, I would like toconnect trunking to the burner to carry the heat upstairs. Any tips of methgods etc? Matchless