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[quote user="Swissie"]What do these limitations mean for people with swimming pools?[/quote] There should be a notice up in your local mairie So if I have read that correctly it is OK to top up your pool in order to ensure the filtration system is working correctly. remplissage des piscines à usage familial, sauf contraintes de maintenance (maintien du niveau d'eau pour filtration), sauf chantiers réalisés par des professionnels (test d'étanchéité des piscines...), Abridged notice sent to all mairies and should be displayed,  this is dated the 14th August. The site has not issued anything since then. link here The full prefectural notice is on the this link However, I think that now the end of the holiday season is nearly upon us they may well stop that too, especially if we don't get a reasonable amount of rain very soon. Sort of rained here today but it was only a dribble! Tim

[quote user="piplusone"] The other man knocked me to the floor while my neighbor kicked me. I didn’t help as I lost my temper under his immediate verbal abuse and pushed him.[/quote] but that is assault, you should have called the Gendarmes immediately or should have been knocking on their door first thing the following morning to make a complaint and press for charges. Do you have a local french friend who could help you? I think you have passed writing letters if it has come to this Good luck Tim

A friend of mine is returning to england at the end of the month, she is getting worried as she has not found them a home and she might have to have them put to sleep. they are good mousers and ratters 3 years old friendly and are used to people and children. If anyone can help please PM me Sorry I don't have a picture Tim

You would have thought there would have been a blanket ban on them this time of year, everything is tinder dry surely when expended rocket or what ever comes back to earth there is a chance of it still burning?? Just heard a display going on this evening for a half hour or so obviously not too far away, my dogs are fine with them Elli isn't phased by them at all, black and white spotty dog isn't either but then he is stone deaf  I guess you have hunting season to look forward to next woolly Tim why can't I see smilies ok on the input page but not there when posted ??

Your link was the one I was thinking of, however just rechecked my area and it is out of date there has been a further Arrêté since then, Poitou-Charente may well be upto date but the Vendee isn't unfortunatly so will have to stick with trawling the naff Vendee website trawling being the issue! but now I know what I am looking for it is a bit easier to navigate, when it works! T

You need to go to a page on the internet (try your local department website and search about a bit) and read the decrit from you local prefecture to see exactly what you can and cannot do, in my area of the Vendee it is still permissible to water your veg plot and flower in pots between the hours of 20h00 and 08h00, it is also permissible to keep your pool topped up to ensure that your filtration is working correctly, you are not allowed to wash your car at home but can still use one of the professional car washes or pressure washers to do so. arrêté préfectoral N° 10-DDTM-368 limitant les usages de l'eau du 3 août 2010 (Vendee) I read a post on here or Total France with a link to a site where you input your post code and commune and this produced a detailed table of what you could or could not do. I forgot to bookùark it and can't remeber where I saw the post The map above is not telling the whole story, you do however need to check regularly as the situation is changing weekly T

[quote user="Nick"]Hi, Our oil burning boiler pressure keeps rising. from cold we charge the system with about 2 bar pressure and after about 2 or 3 hours of working, the pressure on the manometer guage has risen to 3 bar before the valve releases the pressure. (manually or automatically) can anyone identify why this is happening? One suggestion was that the copper coil exchanger has a hole in it which takes water from the hot tank increasing the pressure in the central heating sealed system. nick.[/quote] if you charge the system to 2bar (cold) and then switch the heating on the water in the system will try to expand thus creating an increase in pressure, it should drop back when it cools down. I presume that when your system is up to temperature the pressure rises above the pressure release valve limit and so releases some of that pressure to protect the system, so when your system cools down after that the pressure will drop below the original 2 bar as it has exhausted some of the water in the system.logically if you leave the pressure alone it should settle into a working norm, my pressure gauge has a red area that if the pressure drops back too far the heating will not restart, is that happening in your case? I had a similar problem and the result was to change the pressure ballon but it still does pretty much the same just that when it cools down the gauge reading doesn't fall below the low level limit does that help make sense?? Tim

A musical event in aid of the southern Vendee appeal has been organised and will take place on Friday 9th April at the salle des Fêtes DOIX (85) Nr Fontenay le Comte. The evening starts at 20h30. Various Artists both national and local have offered to donate their time and perform in aid of the cause as well as some national TV presenters. As there may be many that will be visiting during this period hopefully you will come along and show your support, for those that cannot attend but would still like to donate something I hope to have more details soon  [img]http://www.vendee-gites.co.uk/images/fiche-doix.jpg[/img]

Hi, The answer to this question is still probably no! as far as I can see the Drivers card cannot be issued by DVLA to a driver until he has completed the 35hr refresher course, so without that card a potential employer would probably just refuse to employ you!! they don't appear to know anything about the new regulations in the UK (and why would they?) so I think it will take a bit of time before they feel confident that they could employ a UK driver without falling foul of the authorities. will be interested to see what will happen when someone with a UK license and a drivers card applies for a job here. I am currently driving for a company at the moment covering for a sick driver but because the sector I am working in is for a factory maufacturing tiles and bricks and that I only transport the raw product I do not require a FIMO or FCOS and carry an "attestation" spelling out the law should I be stopped by the police. It still wasn't without its problems though, the factory had offered me the job but didn't want to give me a direct contract with them, preferring the agency route for temporary work, however, after going in to the agency and filling out all the paperwork and doing a couple of little exam/questionnaires then turned round and refused me the work because of the lack of the FIMO!! the outcome was that if the factory wanted me I would have to work for them on a direct contract so they put me on a CDD (temporary contract). so there are a few exemptions, but not many, and jobs like that will be few and far between. if you are still in the UK or can go back for a short period you could try doing the refresher course early and apply for your card but there is still a risk that a French employer might be too nervous to take you on. On another note, I was made redundant last year and the company employed to follow our progress and and help us find work also suggested that as well as having to do the FIMO I would also have to do the "code de la route" as well so for the amount of driving I would want to do and the expense and aggravation I couldn't be bothered to follow it up. Hope you find a solution Good luck Tim

Sunday September 13th sees the annual fete/Vide Grenier. at St Martin des Fontaines (nr L'hermenault 85) Plenty for all to do, Street band (afternoon), clown, Free face painting for the kids, bouncy castle etc etc. Food and of course, bars (for the Adullts!) Grand raffle with prizes including VTT (mountain bike) Solid wooden garden swing set, tickets for Puy du Fou and loads more. 150 + stalls expected Table space is FREE (bring your own table!) PM me for more details or to book table space Virginie  (French but speaks a little bit of English if needed)

The bridge will still have a toll, the bridge further south is now free.

I can confirm that, I have used them in the past, as do many of the locals in this area. It is often difficult to get a place there especially in peak seasons because he is so popular The owner is a real animal lover and our friend took her rather stroppy German Shepard there and she came back with her claws trimmed and cut, something she has never managed to do!! Tim

Not sure if  I followed this correctly so could be barking up the wrong tree! When we bought our house here in France in 2001 my wife and daughter lived here whilst I continued to work and live in the UK I was given an E109 that covered the girls over here and still gave me medical cover in England.When I visited I still had to use the then E111 to cover me in France. Your situation is probably different as you have not said you have dependants permenantly in France. And would probably depend on the amount of time you stay in England, if any. Never actually heard of a "workers" E106 will follow the thread with interest. Tim

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:01 am    Post subject: Any gite vacancy western france Vendee Hi, Vendee/Charante-Martime Has anyone got availability in a gite close to the coast? 4th August for 2 weeks 2 Adults and 3 children I have just organised these guys a property, they changed all their holiday dates with work etc and then when they sent the booking form the owner replied that they had decided to let the house to friends and forgotten to tell us !!!!! I'm not hoing to hold my breath! drop me a line if you have and I will pass on your details to them Here's hoping!! Tim

Thanks everybody for the information, very useful and confirmed my thoughts.

Does anybody know what the current regulations are for Driving a Coach in France,  Do you need the FIMO/FCOS or equivelent.  I have had a licence in the UK since 1988 if that makes a difference  

There is an outing planned for Sunday 28th May for a day at the Races in Niort, entry to the couse is free and a Coach will take you there and bring you back.  All the betting instuctions have been translated into English to help you have an enjoyable day, there is a Bar and Restaurant on the Course. This is the 2nd year for this event and last year was a great success and a sunny day out to boot, there are a number of grassy area's that you can have a pinic on.  The Coach leaves from the local Bar, La Coussotte, in St Martin des Fountaines at 12.30, (About 13km from Fontenay le Comte) it is organised by a local French couple, Pierre Alain and Noelle ( Tel: 0251 00 12 18) There is a small charge of 5 - 8 euros, to cover the Coach hire, the more people going the cheaper the Coach per head,  for thoses who do not feel confident enough to speak to Pierre Alain or Noelle then there is another number that you can call to reserve you place.  Tim (0251 876 899)

There is a very goof Cattery & Dog Kennels near Fontenay. I have had very good reports from the Cattery side of things but I have only used it for the dogs so I have no first hand experience for Cats.  But as I don't know eactly where you are located it might not be of any use.

Can anybody tell me, what is an avatar image !![*-)]

There is a Health Food shop in Fontenay.  Just up from Monoprix, I have not been in for a while but on my last visit I found them very helpful

You could try Hetherington management, I think there are near you. website address is www.vendee-gites.co.uk

[quote]I have replied to this before but will do so again. To send from any ISP to any other ISP bypassing your ISP which may be banned or on the SORBS list, try www.smtp.com . It costs $50 a year and fo...[/quote] Thanks for the tip, I now have contact with my inlaws and friends, but more importantly my customers now I can send them invoices !!!! Now lets send wanadoo the invoice for the subscription Thanks again Tim ________________________________ www.vendee-gites.co.uk

[quote]Strewth folks, don't you think you should try and get out more? If someone nicked a photo of mine, I'd be well pleased.[/quote] Normally this would not really bother me, but when you have spent your time taking the trouble to go and take picture and gather information and then someone lifts it from your website, puts it on websites like French holiday homes and owners direct and makes money out of it, it begins to niggle. But more to the point they didn't ask! Tim ___________________________________ www.vendee-gites.co.uk

I looked into the wimax system and I don't think installing the antenna youself is an option, as for the price it's not that prohibative but still more than the wanadoo option that is available to us. But essentially it was the 2 year contract that put me off, I think it is a bit excessive depending on the distance you are away from the transmitter it ought to be very stable, as long as they have the bandwidth to cope I may look into it later when it is a bit more established especially given the propblems there are sending email using wanadoo! Tim _______________________________ www.vendee-gites.co.uk

[quote]Nick Wanadoo has never been 100% reliable, few ISP's connected rom remote locations are, and as has been posted Wanadoo have had recent problems. The NTL problem, well again this topic has been cov...[/quote] quote: The NTL problem, well again this topic has been covered and recently  NTL rejecting wanadoo.fr generated E mails after a week is a well known and documented problem, basically you cannot send E mails to NTL from Wanadoo.fr, if you do, they get sent back after 5 to 7 days.  You or your Dad will have to go onto hotmail. After a lot of frustration trying to send email to some of my customers, friends and family with NTL email addresses (and Tesco.net Ntl provide the routing for them) It appears that Wanadoo.fr have got themselves listed on some blacklists for spamming problems particularly SORBS. I assume that NTL use this blacklist and therefore reject the email on these grounds. usually the email comes back 5 days or so later with "Error 452 rejected due to end of data command" After delving around on various forums and websites it appears that Wanadoo.fr are refusing to acknowledge they have a problem usually blaming your computer for the problem. If anyone has a workround for this problem I would love to hear it, as said in one of the other posts it has caused a lot of problems for gite owners and advertisers not being able to responed to enquiries Cheers Tim ________________________________ www.vendee-gites.co.uk