Swissbarry

Thanks to all.  Ebay's last twenty sales averaged £98.  The other figures mentioned weren't far from this, so a fair price would seem to be £95.  I appreciate the help.

In March 2004 I bought a Fuji Finepix S 7000 camera and paid 750 euros, together with a carte memoire compact flash for 40 euros, and a carrying case: say 800 euros in all.  The camera has been used very little, and as far a I am aware it is in pristine condition. I have a friend who is interested in buying it, but neither of us has a clue as to what would be a fair price.  Can anyone advise us please?

Sorry - careless of me not to have said where I live.  It's St. Mathieu, near the border of Dordogne and Haute Vienne.  So winters can be very cold, and summers very hot.  Thanks so far for the suggestions; I'm rather spoiled for choice.  Aren't people nice!!  

Between my house wall and the lane is a narrow border about 60 cm. wide by 7 m. long.  It's South-facing, and I want it to look good all year.  I had thought to plant lines of daffodil bulbs at the front and dahlias at the back, so as to give interest in Spring and Autumn.  Can anyone please suggest what, if anything, I could squeeze in between these for colour in the Summer - preferably something not too demanding of water. Or, if my idea isn't sound, how else could I set about planting this long, narrow area?

Thank you for the advice; I appreciate it and will follow it.

Is this a suitable time to trim a laurel hedge, and if not when should I do it?  I'm worried that if I leave it to grow even taller I'll have to prune it severely to remove up to a foot of height, and this would take all the foliage off the top.  Would it then grow back?

Thank you for the advice (and support).  Autoplus carried just the information I was looking for. 

...or fast forward?

I'm tempted to buy a BMW 3 series rather than a new C5 because the extra initial cost would be more than offset by the reduced depreciation over three years.  According to 'What Car' magazine a BMW should retain around 50% of its original value after that time, while the C5 would retain only 25%.  Trouble is, I don't know if these statistics apply in France.  Does anyone know of a source which lists relative depreciation of different cars in France over something like a three or five year period?  I've looked in the French 'Argus' magazine but it's not helpful. I should add that I need this information in order to persuade a sceptical wife that buying a BMW would actually be a sensible investment!

We applied on 15 November for a Permis de Construire, to extend our house.  Thus far, the DDE at St. Junien haven't even opened the letter because all mail received after 13 November has been put into storage boxes to await their move to new offices at Limoges.  Can anyone tell me, for sure, whether it is true that one can start the building anyway if a decision hasn't been given within 3 months of the application?

No; I is come from, and was breed in, the North East, and is trying to understand yourse all.

Thanks a lot for those suggestions (and for the kind welcome back).  I'll try to work through them in ascending order of difficulty and expense, and let you know if I have any success.  Incidentally, if anyone misses the swissbarry articles I now have a regular column in French News. Thanks again.  Seven rapid responses on such a particular subject shows that the forum is still a goldmine of information.

I have a four year old Citroen C5 which has developed the following problem.  On a lengthy drive - an hour or more - I get a message saying 'ASB Not Functioning', followed immediately by a message saying 'ESP Not Functioning', followed immediately by a message saying 'Antipollution Fault', followed by a significant loss of engine power which lasts usually for the rest of the day.  Then the car recovers and behaves perfectly until the next lengthy drive. I've had the car in to four different Citroen garages, all of whom are puzzled, and all of whom have had a go at repairing the fault (costing me quite a lot of money) but to no avail.  Now my local garage say they think the car needs a new turbo, at a cost of 1200€.  Trouble is, I might be throwing good money after bad, if the fault turns out to be something else.  Anyone got any ideas, please?

Hi Debra, We're a bit further along the new-build route than you, so perhaps can offer some advice.  We looked at lots of construction firms, most of whom could show us a range of plans and who would be prepared to modify them to an extent to meet our needs.  But even those who could modify them enough, still weren't prepared to modify their building techniques to fit in with our requirements for, for example, internal walls of a decent thickness.  At the same time we trawled the internet for house designs, and had a couple of architects draw up designs (free of charge: some do this as an avant-projet without obligation), and we bought some magazines full  of house plans.  The outcome, for us, is that we found a plan we liked on the website www.coolhouseplans.com and then modified it to better suit our needs.  We found a couple of construction companies who were prepared to build exactly that house for us, exactly to our requirements.  These were JB Constructions at Limoges and Maisons Sic at Perigueux.  They're both busy at the moment drawing up costings, and we'll presumably choose the one that seems best value for money.  Maisons Sic, incidentally, have an Englishman working for them - useful if you haven't much French. E-mail me if you want further information.  Where in North Yorks are you?  We lived at Hurworth, just over the North Yorks / Durham border. Good luck, swissbarry

That's all right, Liz.

Can anyone please recommend an architect, preferably - but not necessarily - English speaking, in the Nontron area?  We have a good notion of the house we want to build, but need someone to cast a professional eye over our ideas, modify them if necessary, and then convert them into a plan and submit them for building permission. 

Quillan, I think you were rude to say that Bobc was talking "utter tosh".  Rudeness does not become a moderator.  Nor does attempting to justify why you are prepared to act illegally while living in France.  Nor does your spelling. It seems to me that your argument is that it's OK for you to break the law if there's only a low risk of serious consequences.  I find this quite illogical and utterly reprehensible, and for what it's worth my sympathies are entirely with Bobc. Reminds me of the story of the lady who was appalled when a gentleman offered her £5 for sex, but who said she would certainly consider it for £10,000.  "What sort of person do you think I am", she said, "to sell my body for £5?"  To which the gentleman replied "Madam, we've established what sort of person you are; all we are arguing over is the fee". I'm afraid criminality isn't divisible: breaking the law is breaking the law, however high or low the risk of a "fatal accident".   To suggest otherwise on this forum is an abuse of your position. Incidentally, I'd sell my body for a bacon sandwich...  

Yes, Tresco, I think we're as one one this.  Educational psychologists used to call the awarding of stars a "behaviour modification programme".  That's because educational psychologists are pricks.  What they meant was that children (and adults for that matter) would alter their behaviour in return for what they saw as rewards.  Now, the choice of rewards is always interesting.  For instance, there isn't much of my behaviour that I wouldn't modify for a bacon sandwich, but other people need to be persuaded by the promise of cash, or a trophy, or heavy sex, or whatever.   The point I was trying to make was that as rewards go, gold stars are pretty rudimentary.  Your average chimpanzee wouldn't be fooled into modifying his behaviour in return for anything less than a banana, yet some human beings will completely change their ways in order to gain a gold star.  Now, dear readers - what would you have me do for a bacon sandwich?

I was a teacher for thirty odd years, and taught a variety of children of all ages, some with learning difficulties, some with emotional and behavioural disorders, some with a history of crime and delinquency. The vast majority of them could be conned into trying harder or changing their behaviour by the award of "stars".  Gold stars were especially effective. But there were a few - usually those with IQs above 80 - who saw through it.  These individuals would respond to material rewards, or even verbal encouragement and praise, but the idea of being a "star" held no great attraction for them.

While awaiting the construction of a house, my wife and I need to find a place to rent for perhaps a year or more.  Criteria:  A really nice house/gite/ within 20 km of Marval (border of Haute Vienne and Dordogne)  Furnished.  Centrally heated.  Well equipped kitchenSome garden.  Tasteful.  Not isolated (i.e. in or near village or town).  Storage facilities for our furniture would be helpful, but not an essential criterionIn return we'd promise to look after the place really well, and pay a fair price. Any suggestions please?

While awaiting the construction of a house, my wife and I need to find a place to rent for perhaps a year or more.  Criteria:  A really nice house/gite/ within 20 km of Marval, in southern Haute Vienne.  Furnished.  Centrally heated.  Well equipped kitchenSome garden.  Tasteful.  Not isolated (i.e. in or near village or town).  Storage facilities for our furniture would be helpful, but not an essential criterionIn return we'd promise to look after the place really well, and pay a fair price. Any suggestions please?

Thank you all for that helpful advice.  I know the nursery at Montbron, and will try them, although I'm looking for something significantly bigger than the pot-grown trees usually found in such centres.  And yes, I will wait until the Autumn.  And I will try some pepinieres and Yellow Pages. Thanks again.

[quote]Could anyone please provide me some advice on the best mutuelle for optical and dental cover in France?[/quote] I can't be sure that it's the best, but the one we use - from Groupama - is certainly very, very good.  Before we decided on it, we looked at perhaps seven or eight alternatives, and a French friend (who works for Securite Sociale and is knowledgeable about such matters) looked at another half dozen.  At the end, we compared notes and both agreed that Groupama offered the best value for money for our needs.  Like many mutuelles, they offer different degrees of cover, and because my wife has hearing aids, contact lenses and some dental problems, we opted for the highest level of cover.  We've had our money back several times over (e.g. £1400 refunded when she needed new hearing aids); the premiums have hardly risen at all, and we find them lovely people to deal with.  We also have two cars, a caravan and our house insured with them, and this year our total monthly premium for all of these, including the health top-up insurance, went up by only 10 euros! I now realise that this sounds as though I'm on commission, or employed by Groupama!  I can only assure you that I have no connection with them apart from being a satisfied customer. So do your homework by all means, but at least make sure you get a quote from Groupama before making your decision.  Good luck.

We're aiming to build a house on a piece of land which has lovely views but which is flat and lacking in features.  I'd like to put in some large trees (at my age, waiting 5 or 10 years for saplings to mature is not an attractive option).  Can anyone advise me on where and how I might find someone who specialises in supplying / planting / transplanting large trees?  Failing that, I'd appreciate advice on how to tackle the job myself if I have to: which trees to go for, where to find them, how to set about it, and possible costs.   We live near Nontron, in the northern Dordogne.

And don't, whatever you do, invite them to search for "French military victories" using Google's 'I'm feeling lucky' facility.  The result might crease you up, but I doubt they'd appreciate it at all!