Primrose

As you require so many double sockets, have you tried asking for a discount in any of the brico stores or even the smaller local ones. In my experiences if you are buying materials in large quantities there are usually discounts to be had, but you have to ask for them. Hope this to be of assistance. Kind regards David and Sam Dept 37  

Try Saint Marc with a heavy scrubbing brush and lots of elbow grease, we cleaned our beams and other woodwork with it and they came up a treat. Hope this to be of assistance. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

Once ours fosse had been checked and passed, we received a certificate to comfirm that all was ok, this was sent via our marie who also signed it. We have been told that we need to keep all documents like this, as when we come to sell it is proof that work had been carried out with proper authorisation. Hope this to be of assistance Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

If you can send me your e-mail address, I will forward the details and photos of what we did to our courtyard, which sounds similar to your drive just on a much bigger scale. Look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

We have some friends here in France who have a Range Rover which has been converted to LPG, they say the the car is much more economical and actually runs better than on petrol. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

If you are going to live in France on a permanent basis, why not transfer the registration and have the benefit of not having to pay road tax, an MOT that costs less and lasts for two years and not one, and in my opinion having worked in the insurance industry for over 25 years, cheaper insurance cover. Most if not all insurance policies for motor insurance issued in France, give an annual green card, so if you did want to go back to the UK with your car, then you are covered. With regards to the private plate, just get a transfer/holding cert from the DVLA and pay the fees for as long as you like. Sorry to bring this up, but, could someone also please advise WHY it is necessary for other forum users to get into "Slanging matches" when the idea for this site is just to swap info and help each other out. It sounds just like kids being back at in the playground at school, saying my Dad's bigger than your Dad!!! Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

Sorry yo hear about your problem with the agent. When you signed the contract with him, what was the maximum rental period and the minimum monthly rent you agreed? I believe that if he has stayed within these lines then there is not a lot you can do, however, if he is outside then you may be able to enforce an eviction through the French courts, but feel that this could be costly. Suggest you take legal advise ASAP and get your contract looked at by a qualified solicitor who deals in rental properties. Hope everything works out for you. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

LAST EDITED ON 03-Jul-04 AT 04:58 PM (BST) If you want any work done by an artisan, be he French or English or in fact any nationality, is it not best to ask for references from people that he has previously work for, be they French or otherwise? I know that there are lots of cowboys out there, but as previously stated not all artisans have hats on their heads and carry guns, some have feathers and carry bows and arrows, if you get my drift. Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

Why not just put a direct link on your website to multimap.com, that way people can se either the local area in detail or zoom out to see a large picture. we have done this on ours, take a look at www.gites-de-loire.com Hope this to be of assistance, any feedback on our website would be appreciated. Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

To buy on e-bay, you surely must have paid by either Debit or Credit card, if so check with your bank to see if there is anything they can do as this sounds like fraud. Hope you get it sorted soon. Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

We are at present looking at pools and the cost of an 8x4x1.52m liner is Euros 841.80 excluding fitting from a company called Jika in Chatellerault. Hope this to be of assistance. Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

Your UK insurance company should give you 14 days green card coverage even without a permanent UK address. If the are refusing to give you coverage for France but giving only cxoverage for the UK, what they are they doing in effect is cancelling the policy as you will not be in the UK. Therefore you should get a refund without penalty. Having worked in the Insurance industry for over 25 years I am not sure if they can only give you coverage for the UK as the UK is part of the EEC. You might have to pay for a green but if you ask them for 14 days coverage it will at least give you time to get coverage here in France. Hope you get it sorted and good luck with your move. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

I had a conversation yesterday with a pool installer, he recommends a Polaris.

Try looking at this website, I have found it helpful in the past, if it cannot help itself, it does have links to other websites which might. http://www.caromal.co.uk/ Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

We received ours yesterday here in South Touraine, it was for Euros 205.14 for 4 persons in a main residence and Euros 17.96 for our gite. Hope this is of some assistance Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

>The other hotel in town has >just become apartments upstairs, but >still a busy restaurant downstairs. > We appreciate that this >is our main competition, so >therefore are thinking an English >style establishment may be a >good idea, with roast dinners, >perhaps fish & chips? > Firstly, have you looked into why the other hotel has changed into appartments, was this because there was not enough business to make the hotel side pay and that it was being subsidised by the restaurant? Secondly, are you sure that an English restaurant in France is a good idea, we have french friends who think that roast dinners with meat and three veg and yorkshire puds are not what the French would want, this could mean that the majority of your clients could be tourists, is there enough tourism in the area to get you through the year, or could you have a very empty resaurant in the winter? One idea may be to split the menu, say to have traditional French/English, this way you could cater for both markets. Also, it is always a good idea to invite your local mayor round for a drink and get his opinion on what he feels would be best, it pays to have him on your side. Sorry if this sounds a bit like, "Oh it will not work" but you have to way up all options before ploughing in shed loads of money and not getting much of a return. Hope all goes well and good luck, keep us updated as to progress. Kind regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

Why not just apply to the British Embassy in Paris for a renewal of your old passport, you can download the application forms from the net. We had ours renewed last week, total time from posting the application at our local post office to getting our new ones was 8 days, and one of those days was a bank holiday. Would reccommend this approach rather than taking someones word over the phone that all will be ok with a CDS, only to be left high and dry when you need to travel. Hope this is of assistance. Regards David and Sam (Dept 37)

We open an account with Credit Lyonaise in Euro-city several years ago prior to moving to France full time. All we needed was our Passports, two utility bills confirming our English address, and the last three months UK bank statements, just for good measure, we also got our bank to give us a letter confirming how long we had been with them. We had no problems in opening the account, they even opened a savings account as well as a cheque account for us, but asked us to pay approx 1000 Euros into each account before they would issue any cards or cheque books. We were able to do as we had been advised by someone beforehand and took cash with us, however this may now not be applicable, but as you need it in a rush it will save time and show good will. We received pin numbers/cards and a cheque book within 8 days but French banks do not like to send these items through the post and many ask that they are collected in person so that they can be signed for. You may also bare in mind that if you intend to use a bank that is not close to where you are buying a property you may well encounter difficulties when you ask for either large amounts of cash or bankers drafts as the French do not like you using another branch. Hope this to be of assistance Kinde regards and good luck with your purchase. David and Sam (37)

Can anyone help? We have some Australian people visiting in October, who would like to stay in Nantes for a week from 23rd to 30th Oct and in Rennes for a week from 30th Oct to 6th Nov. Does anyone have a gite or an apartment available for these weeks that can accomodate 2 Adults and 5 children. Many thanks for any assistance that can be given Kind regards David and Sam (37)

I can see that this thread has been going for sometime now but thought I would just give you a little bit of encouragement. We moved to France in July 2002 and our children age 9 and 5 started in our local village school in Sept, their French speaking skills were vertually non existent at that point but since then they have both become almost fluent, there is not much that they cannont translate, in fact their French is far better than ours and we quite often have to get either one of them to translate especially with phonecalls. Do not worry about children learning French, to them at that age it's like learning to ride a bike. Best of luck for the future. Kind regards David and Sam