Stefan

We are about "to go" ADSL and wondered if anyone had experience of the Dartybox ( reliability, costumer support etc). As for wi-fi -with Darty it looks like you have to buy an add-on "kit".  We need wi-fi over a decent range ( perhaps 50m plus) - I'm guessing one of the netgear routers would be a better bet - any thoughts/comments anyone? 

united Yes I agree the relationship with the architect is crucial, I'm glad you got a "good un".   In our case we spent a lot of time working with our chap at the design stage and thought we got on OK - we probably had a meeting with him once a week for over a year.  Sadly once work began we got the definite impression he was more interested in keeping his local artisans satisfied than with looking after our ( his clients ) interests. We live in a fairly thinly populated area and I suspect there's a small number of artisans and the architect has to work with them throughout his working life, whilst we were a one off, hence the apparent "bias". On the other hand he did do a decent job of the plans and someone had to control the builders so we probably did as well as we could - but it was much harder work than we expected.      

Oh well, just for the sakes of those who "suffer" reception in the future I'll answer my own question - it may be of use to someone. To set the scene, the project  was an architect designed extension,. the architect also acted as project supervisor [:'(] There  were major items of work still to do  but reception seems to be the only way to force some of the artisans to actually finish their work ( by imposing a set time limit / penaty of not getting their reserve's if they fail). We did  do web searches/phone calls to find other architects to "hand hold" but had little luck, however we did stumble across the fact (websites) that a hussier can act as an independant witness and  is recommended if it is suspected reception may be difficult. On the day the whole process was tedious and there were constant arguments about who had/hadn't done what....of course every artisan was trying to get their work signed off with no comments and blame any mess on somebody else ( "not my sand/gravel/plastic pipes" etc) so they could run off with the money.  The architect, who was supposed to act as our representative, was just as bad, simply trying to get us to sign off on work as quickly as possible.  Frankly the whole process was quite confrontational, unpleasant, and in some cases bordered on bullying.  I hate to think how unpleasant it could have become if it hadn't been for the presence of the Hussier as a moderator, independant witness, and note taker.  In conclusion, expect reception to be unpleasant,  expect your architect to side with the artisans, and seriously consider the services of a Hussier as a moderator and independant witness.   Stefan       

We are just about at the end of a long building project and about to be confonted by the joys of the Reception des Travaux. Does anyone here have any pointers, hints and tips on what to look for or do on the day?  Also has anyone used any of the agencies that for a fee will "hold your hand" through reception? I'm not saying we don't trust our own architect to look after our interests on the day but.....actually, on second thoughts I am saying exactly that....[:@]      

What ..a 6 sector day based at Orly?  ( If you are a a "P2", P2 you'll know what I mean[:)])

Kevinmc At the risk of causing thread drift I reckon 22 Gallons per passenger might be a bit high unless you had a very lengthy flight. Back of the envelope/ for the sake of illustration figures: An Airbus A320 will "burn" around 2.4 tonnes of fuel on a 1 hour sector, which is roughly 720 gallons.  Assuming 100 pax (to keep the sums easy ) this gives just over 7 gallons per passenger per hour, .....obviously a longer flight uses more fuel but to an extent that is offset by the fact that a longer percentage of the flight is spent at high altitude.   

I've been asking around and the rumour on the (aviation) streets is that Jet2 is moving much of it's operation over to LBA with effect from next Summer so Manchester's loss may be Leed's gain. Sorry if that's bad news for those West of the Pennines, and I emphasise at the moment it's only a rumour.

AGD I told my friend...[;-)] He pulled the plug out of the wall, waited five minutes and then plugged the power back in .it works fine now, thanks - now he's complaining that having fixed it he can't find anything worth watching but I guess that's not as easy a problem to resolve...Thanks again

ChezT.. I believe one factor in the loss of UK-TLS Winter flights was that the ski tour operators had major problems getting folk from TLS to the Andorra slopes a couple of years back ( Road closures at Ax Les Thermes for example). In some cases they ended up coaching people from TLS to Narbonne and eventually into Andorra from the South...therefore last year many of the ski companies flew folks into airports on the Spanish side, perhaps similar is happening again...  Of course we know how much it snowed last year [:(]  

Has anybody heard of anybody having problems with Sky tonight ( 12th at around 1930 Local)....[geek] I gather the message is "No satellite signal is being received" - perhaps it is just my neighbours Sky box on the blink [;-)]

Ladies/Gents, A question which I hope is in keeping with this thread. We have heard a rumour that farmbuildings may be about to be constructed on a neighbouring field and are trying to get at the facts ( I know, I know). We asked the lady in the Mairie if any applications for a relevant PdC had gone through her office but got an evasive answer and a shrug. ... Is there any requirement for a notice ( e.g; application for the PdC) to be posted anywhere (Mairie, DDE Offices) or will we just be woken up by the bulldozers one morning? I've seen mention of an "affichage" in this thread and understand it is a notice that has to be posted on the land - is that correct, and if so must it be visible to any interested parties ( or can it be nailed to a tree one hundred metres away from the nearest point of public access[:)])   Thanks Stefan (09)

Fiona. The empty seats left late on in the booking process are bound to be expensive, the reason is if you knew that the seat price was going to  reduce the closer you got to the traveling date when would you, and 100 plus other people book their flight? As an aside I wish knew my work pattern well enough to book more than three weeks ahead...250 Euro booked "on the day" is my record for this year [:'(]  As for a £20 increase on a fare being robbery, I wonder what the "original" fare was? - with the price of aviation fuel these days most LoCo fares, even when into three figures are exceptionally good value when you consider how expensive it is to operate an airliner and run an airline.. and when you start hearing on this forum and elsewhere of fares where the three figures are pence it might be time to worry about the longevity of the route. (late edit to add) briwy: Routes and timings change on a seasonal basis due to slot allocations at the airports (unlikely in this case) or more likely it's because the airline thinks it can make more money over winter using the crew and aircraft on a more lucrative route.....    

CeeJay, It's always done this way . The outline route is published in October ( Town of Departure, Town of Arrival and significant points en-route such as the classic cols). The detailed route, as in road numbers, etc  is not made availalable to the general public until May.

There is a discounted annual pass available for P5 for airline workers so possibly something similar may be available to the general public but don't know about the price . Best place to ask is at the Car Park Info desk which is next to the bottom of escalators on the arrival level (between the two halves of the Terminal).  There's no windscreen sticker, it's a laser read card which you show to the reader on entry and exit of P5.          

In the unlikely event of someone reading this and thinking of bringing one over by air can I just add - don't, or at least check with the airline first.  Most airlines prohibit the carriage of any device containing an internal combustion engine (supposedly due to the risk of combustion due to residual fuel in the tank).   

Fair comment, yes the AF end is v. full of "suits" ( not meaning to be derogatory, by the way), which always made me wonder how the heck AF made such a mess of the LHR-TLS route.   I reckon the demographics of the BA/Easyjet/Lo-CO end of the Terminal at TLS is bit different.  BA/EZE seems to be mostly holiday makers in the Summer, and thins out to lighter loads of mainly business pax in the Winter...     

ChezTinns TLS is a funny place and I'm not sure if the airlines know if it's a holiday or business destination. At first glance you've got stacks of business traffic but the big employer, Airbus, tend to move their own people (Privatair) and any business traveller with any sense these days avoids the connecting via the UK because of all the Security hassle, especially the one bag rule. I gather KLM have picked up a lot of traffic going AMS- USA as a result of this. As for the holiday stuff, Summer is fine so the airline's would be mad to dump the place - I just scraped onto a LGW-TLS by the skin of my teeth this PM so I know how busy it is.  As to the other seasons I understand  the big sking operators weren't too impressed by the inability of the French to maintain access to Andorra a couple of years back and shifted their ski flights to the Spanish side of the mountains, e.g. Reus....which might explain the thining out of flights this winter.     Personally I've banged one of my airline manager's desk over our TLS flight ( more frequency, better timingsetc, etc)  and got nowhere...so I'm cross as well....

Hi shropshire lass, sorry for hijacking your thread... I don't think you should be loyal to a particular airline..heavens I work for an airline but when I'm travelling off duty if the competing Lo-Co on my commuting route has a better timed and/or cheaper flight than "my" outfit I take the Lo-Co. My point was I think there are starting to be lots of comments on the Forum  about why such and such an airline has stopped operating to/from a particular airport or a particular route and how unjust/unfair it was - I was trying to explain why the airlines behave the way they do (personally I think the days of low fairs are limited but that's just a guess). Looking at your post, being brutal 15 won't cover the cost of carrying you ( and how much of the 15 pound did the airline see and how much was tax?)....the airline wants the flight absolutely full of business passengers, not three quarters or even 95% full, and it wants them all paying top wack. So if the yield managent gurus can spot such a route, they redeploy the aircraft.  As an example Air France/Flybe couldn't make LHR-TLS work, now I know that Air France's economics are not the best but if they can't make a business case between two major city pairs is it any wonder that places like Rodez are vulnerable to losing their flights in Winter?   Ultimately people should not expect airlines to be loyal to a route and not be suprised if an airline stops serving their local airport - hence the need for plan B, C etc.   Rgds Stefan (BTW Shropshire lad, Ludlow..)          

Can I just comment, as one of the industry "insiders" here, on this whole topic of route closures, and I'm sorry if I seem to be trying to teach people to suck eggs but I know, from personal; experience, how annoying a route closure can be.  The airlines are not charities, they are no longer ordered by governments(well UK anyway) to maintain particular routes. They purely want to make as much money as possible.  If "your" route fails to produce a consistent profit it will be axed and the aircraft and crews will be redeployed onto a more profitable route. The Lo-Cos have been very innovative in opening up new routes but it's risky assuming they will stay - they will try a route for a while and see if they can generate enough demand on the route to make it pay (why do you think many of the Lo-Cos inflight magazines are full of adverts for foreign properties? ).If it doesn't produce a profit sharpish it will be cut.  A route that makes sense in the Summer may be completely unviable in Winter, in which case the airlines will try to shift their aircraft onto a better (e.g.skiiing or Winter Sun) route.   I see a lot of comments here about routes being well supported. Yep, the aircraft may well be full every weekend you fly but the problem is that whilst there may be lots of backsides on seats that is not an indicator that the route is making a profit - that depends on the ticket prices ( an aircraft carrying 150 passengers each paying the airline 5 pounds is unlikely to be making a profit) and route costs - e.g. refuelling, ground handling, airport charges. If an operator can entice more people, willing to pay more, onto a cheaper route, woosh, he's gone.  Complain if you like, but the operator would be happier if you sent him a blank cheque! In a nutshell, you can't assume a route will operate for ever, so have a plan B.                

Hi again JR, I didn't say that farmers do not make good neighbours. Indeed having been born and raised in the UK countryside (deepest Shropshire, surrounded by dairy farms, Dad sold agricutural machinery in his youth) I'm well aware of the pros and cons of the Countryside. I know farmers can be fine as neighbours but I also know that farms are a place of work, and dairy farms can be noisy smelly places - so given the choice I wouldn't live close to farm buildings.  The existing farm is 200-300 metres from us and has never been a problem. However the new farm is apparently going to contain have a "large structure" erected just over 100 metres from our house.  My guess is this structure is either going to be a milking parlour or perhaps somewhere for the cows to overwinter... I know a herd of 90 cattle as neighbours is not a good thing - but as you rightly say there's probably nothing we can do about it.   Regards   Stefan (09)  

We have been told its is very easy to reclassify a "non-habitable" building ( e.g. combined garage/conservatory) into a "habitable" habitable building - indeed we have been advised that we simply need to contact the Centre des Impots Foncier-Cadastre.   Can it really be this simple?   Stefan (09) 

Completely agree with that jc..but we were here first [:)] We've just met with our neighbour to discuss this issue and it's a lot more convoluted than even we could imagine...off to check up on some planning laws ( and start a new thread).

Our neighbouring farmer has just told us he is planning to sell part of a field immediately opposite the entrance to our drive and about 50 metres from our house. He is selling the plot to another farmer who wants to build his own house on the site, and in addition a second larger building, proposed use not yet specified.   We are obviously concerned about this idea, we know that farmyards do not make good immediate neighbours and are worried about issues such as smells and noise.  Does anyone know if we have any valid grounds for objecting to this development under French Law?   Stefan (09) 

Thanks again for all the repiles, the plumber has now put the sonde on for us and fitted TRVs so we've got our fingers crossed for Winter - at which point I'll probably be back on here asking for advice about "mapping" and all the other complexities of these systems[:)]. Regards Stefan (09) 

TreizeVents Thanks for the info, unfortunately I had to go off line for a few days and didn't have the chance to check the frequency out on the day but hopefully I'll get the chance to check it next year. As for the Plateau...due to work I was only able to head up there late on Friday evening only to find the road up to the Plateau itself was closed by the Gendarmes due to fog...unfortunately the rest of the family were already ensconched in our Camping Car by the Kite and no amount of pleading with the very nice lady Gendarme would get the barrier rasied.   I then spent an entertaining evening yomping all 16 kms from Les Cabbannes to near enough the top.... Things I learnt: 1. It's steep. 2. It's a long climb. 3. French and Spanish youngsters do drink to err, "excess". 4. The writing on the roads is often so dreadful because of point 3. Still had a great time on Saturday though, well worth the effort [:)]   Rgds   Stefan (09)