cabman

I've just returned from France to UK. While in France I collected and answered a dozen or so emails on my laptop. It would be more convenient to have these files on the desktop. Anyone know how to transfer these mails onto my home pc, using a USB memory key? (or any other method) The laptop is running Outlook 2000 and the home desktop Outlook Express.  

Better still, invest in a cordless impact driver - once tried you will never go back to a conventional drill/driver. With one, you can drive 100mm/6 screws into oak without a pilot hole - using a good quality bit

I do it with BT but think you need a UK business line for it to work. Then simply dial: *21* 0033etc.etc. finish with#. #21# to cancell.   You will be billed in UK as though the incoming call was dialled directly to France. 

Google optimisation used to be a little hobby of mine some time ago. Have things changed much in the last couple of years? I looked at your Languedoc site and typed the url into google minus the www and .com. Your site url should come up number one on the first page. It doesn't. It seems your site url is almost invisible, apart from lots and lots of lovely links.  Suggest you check your logs to see the last time the googlebot paid you a visit. I wonder if your site was down during the last crawl or maybe you are being penalised?

I too say good luck to them. The only potential problem is that when one marries one's Mistress, it creates a job vacancy! 

Limousin is a big area. For the real thing, you will probably need to find a stone quarry with a stone-cutting facility. Yellow pages "extraction en carrière"? Look out for similar buildings under construction and ask the builder on site? Artificial from the bricolage? Salvage? Around here (Creuse) most of the existing quoins seem to be brick or granite. If all else fails, you'll just have to get your little axe out and start chipping away!

It seems the insurance box reappears several times during the booking process. If I remember rightly, I had to tick the box to confirm insurance was NOT required. I forgot to include my country in my address, corrected, and the box reappeared, tick to say no insurance. Omitted to tick the box agreeing Ryanair's terms, insurance box reappeared, ticked to say no insurance. You really have to be careful. The dividing line between good business and sharp practice is often an ill-defined one. Not sure which side of the line Ryanair are on in this instance. 

We will be arriving in France on February 14th this year. Can anyone recommend a restaurant/auberge for dinner near Gueret? Do the French observe St Valentine's and do the restaurants get fully booked up on this day in France? 

There is indeed a number for France Telecom from UK: 0033 155 786 056.   Mon - Fri 08:30 to 20:00. It was apparently set up for their growing English speaking clientele. When I called, they seemed pleased that I could provide the telephone number of the previous owner. (I found mine on the Compromis de Vente). Not sure how necessary those details are though. Everything was done over the phone, including taking my Bank details for payment. It's 46euros to reconnect an existing line, plus 13euros a month for the rental. 

I'm currently in UK until next month and groping my way through pay as you go internet set-up from la poste.net. I've got as far as receiving my adresse electronic and password. The following doesn't seem to relate to Will's link or IE connection wizard. e.g no dial-up number for connection. Is the tarif added to phone bill as in UK or do they take it directly?    It will be too late when I'm back in France without a connection!  Any idiot-proof advice gratefully received! <script language=JavaScript1.1> </script>  <script language=JavaScript>document.write(messageDate);</script> Jeudi 27 janvier 2005 - 10h37Accéder à internet En bureau de Poste Découvrir Cyberposte La liste des bureaux S'abonner Choix de l'offre Identification Données personnelles Compte e-mail Journaux gratuits Paiement Confirmation AccueilEchangerRechercherAccéder à Internet Etape 6 / 6 - Finalisation de votre inscription Félicitations, votre inscription s'est déroulée avec succès ! Vous avez souscrit l'offre suivante : Suivez bien les instructions suivantes afin de finaliser l'installation de votre connexion La Poste sur votre ordinateur : 1. Imprimez ou notez vos informations personnelles 2. Téléchargez et installez votre assistant de connexion 1. Imprimez ou notez vos informations personnelles Ces informations personnelles vous serviront par la suite pour utiliser tous nos services : gestion de votre espace abonné, accéder à votre boîte aux lettres, appeler notre Service Client ... Un conseil : imprimez les ou notez les soigneusement ! Votre boîte aux lettres @laposte.net Ces paramètres sont nécessaires pour lire vos courriers électroniques sur le site http://www.laposte.net/. Ils sont également nécessaires pour aller dans l'espace qui vous est réservé pour gérer votre abonnement à la connexion Internet sur http://mon.accesinternet.laposte.net/ Consulter votre Espace Abonné Votre adresse électronique:***

One small point to remember. When you purchase your new TV in France, the retailer will inform the French TV licensing authority and you will receive a bill for a TV license. That is, if you don't already have one, or it hasn't been included in your local habitation tax this year. 

The glass inspection plate easily wipes clean from the inside with a piece of damp rag. Before I actually sussed the French boiler out, I had planned to contact a local independent oil supplier for advice. They often know who's who. We had a similar problem with an ancient and unfamiliar oil boiler in our house in the UK.The oil supplier came up with suggestions as to who could help locally and we found someone. As it turned out, I managed okay by myself in France, but it was just a thought that might help if you were really stuck.

We too have a Rosieres and I sought and found useful advice from this very forum - thank you Cacknanty! If you have the same, it's oil only, not wood and I'd certainly check it out before you consider dumping it. Ours has an oil pump but it's the same thing (rear tank is in situ, but not used) and although primitive sounding, it was installed by the previous owner, only about 3 years ago. We light it by removing the front top hotplate, opening the flue vent, turn on tap to 3rd mark, waiting until the base of the burner is wet with oil and simply toss a small piece of ignited screwed up paper into the oil! With ours, we also do need to shine a torch into the hotplate recess to spot if the oil is slowly flowing in. Close the flue vent after about 30 minutes or so. We have no water pipes connected. It heats the kichen and  the heat radiates throughout the house. As an aside, did you ever cook anything in the oven Cacknanty?

There are are some interesting postings here. It seems the main issue for some of us is access to email. Until I arrived at this thread I had been drawn to upgrading my mobile to a Blackberry. Now I'm totally confused! We have phone line and telephone but so far not connected to France Telecom since moving in. Anyone remember the current subscriber fee and monthly standing charges to reinstate my landline in France? Anyone got blackberry?  For me email is a must and internet might be a useful bonus if I use the laptop.

I bid for ours on ebay. I think the vendor was a guy that re-conditions them as he gave 12months guarantee and is often selling on ebay. 50quid plus carriage seems to be about the going rate. Mine's a Grundig 2000 and it works a treat in Creuse 23 with a 60cm sky dish, purchased for cash from the back of the van of an installer in UK. Easily set up in about a couple of hours, following advice from www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk. The longest part of the job was tacking the cable tidily around the door-frame and inside the salon. 

Trying to book a couple of trips Stansted to Limoges for April after Easter. Ryanair are still showing their winter timetable i.e no Saturday flights available. Anyone know when we would normally expect the spring/summer timetable? Web-site just sends me around in circles.

We opened a Credit Agricole account at our local branch earlier this year. We had to produce quite a list of  paperwork. If I remember it fully it was:  Passports, proof of ownership in France, Marriage certificate, utility bill from UK, income tax receipt/p60 for self and spouse, UK bank statements. Maybe more. Surprisingly no initial money deposit at that stage. They love to make sure! 

I used to undertake building work in a previous life, until I fell off of a scaffold, but that's another story. I missed your previous posting, but it seems you have asked for a breakdown of cost and that's what you got. A devis would have allowed for the fixed costs. Your bill shows them separately. 2 hours to load up? Quite possibly, especially if your tiles had to be dug out from the back of the yard and then sorted for type/quality.Then there is unloading at the end of the job. 250euros wouldn't buy or hire any kind of proper scaffolding. Depending on the height of your roof, hiring of long access ladders and cat-ladders would be normal. These would have to be collected and returned. When in the building business we always tried to avoid these kind of open-ended repair jobs as a lack of trust often creeps in. As with all of these things, whether it be roofers, car mechanics, TV repairs, even dentists, one often just has to pay up. Fairness at these times is always subjective. 

I'm sure this must have been aired previously, but I am unable to find it. Just received EDF electricity bill based on the previous owners usage. We are only in France part-time and  it's around 250 euros too much. I am currently in UK, returning to France next week. What's the usual way to deal with this? Pay up and wait for it to right itself next time,  or ask them to amend it? Will they accept my meter reading?    

Sadly this juvenile violence has been around for a long time. I remember in the 1960s, receiving a good kicking for my teenage passion for motorcycles. Mods & rockers was the popular term at the time. I too grew up in Cambridge and one of my close friends was Indian. Asian people were rare in the UK at that time and we certainly got into a few scrapes with the local yobs. In Oxford today, young students from the EF language school group are encouraged not to wear conspicuous EF logos on clothing or bags as they too have been attacked and sometimes robbed. Is it getting worse? Who knows? Seems the combination of a small brain and a lot of alcohol is the key.

It seems I have CA internet set up and didn't know it. Trawled through original paperwork from CA account and found the code. We are Credit Agricole Centre France, typed in code and comte, followed the links and Bingo! Thank you everybody!

I have just transferred some funds via MoneyBookers from UK to France for the first time. I can see the debit from my UK bank account via the web. Same for the processed funds out of my MoneyBookers account. Where do I verify the balance of my French CA account? Statements seem to turn up every three months or so. Do I telephone them or simply wait until I next visit the branch in France? What do you regulars do? 

Yep, I just called the number and was promised a card to my UK address within the week. 20pounds for 3 years, they said. I suddenly suffered a slight deafness when they read out the bit that it must only be used in UK etc. Apparently it should be self-activating, but a phone number is supplied just in case.

Following on from the Eurocard thread, I too need to keep my French CA account topped up from time to time. I have a merchant account in the UK for processing credit card transactions for my business. It occurred to me, supposing I use the refund facility on my merchant account to credit my CA mastercard? The exchange rates on card transactions are usually not bad, plus it would take only a few seconds. The logic is if funds can be instantly debited from the bank via the card so they could be credited too. The banks are certainly not shy about charging for their card services. Anyone been down this route?  

I am new to this cidre business. They were filling bottles at our local market last month. I asked the stallholder if it was jus de pommes? he replied it would be cidre in 2 or 3 days. I bought some which was sold in a 2lt. plastic Evien water bottle. We drank some after 3 days (sweet and tasty) and the rest exploded the following day! Is this stuff alcoholic? Any dangers from drinking unpasteurised fruit juice?  Any advice would be welcome.