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suein56

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Everything posted by suein56

  1. Hi We are going back to the UK for Xmas leaving our rented house for about 12/13 days. We cannot decide whether to leave the 200 L chauffe-eau switched on, or switch it and the water-supply off. I am told the chauffe-eau is 10 years old, and it is in the garage. I think the groupe de securite (sp?) might be starting to wear as it drips occasionally outside of the heures creuses when  the CE comes on automatically. Not having had a CE before we are unsure what is the best action to take. I am not overly worried about frost as we live in a mild climate by the sea. Has anybody any thoughts on this? Sue
  2. **I have just received a christmas card posted in the UK on the 9 th Dec !** As today is the 16 Dec Mrs O, are you happy you have received your Xmas card so quickly or upset because it has taken so long? I only ask because I am so impressed about how quickly mail I have posted here in rural, southern 56 is arriving in the UK eg (before Xmas period) posted here in a small side-of-the-road yellow postbox on a Monday, arrives Cheshire on a Wednesday; (Xmas period) posted as before from here on Monday 12 Dec, arrives Cheshire or Lincolnshire or Sheffield, on Thursday 15 Dec. I am not quite sure who to congratulate though - Royal Mail or La Poste[*-)]  
  3. Hi I used to use the 'posts in last 12/24 hours' button in the old system but now I use the 'active' button option on the top LHS and it seems to produce all the latest posts - which suits me. Sue
  4. Mochas - I use www.wordreference.com That is such a superb site - just what I have been looking for - thanks. Sue
  5. Hi Roy We are renting long-term and found our house from a small ad in the local newspaper. This was after we had slogged around agents immobilier and rental companies with little success. There are plenty of houses for rent privately and also through agents but timing is a big consideration and detached properties in our area of southern Brittany were in short supply at the time we were looking. I would suggest you hire a comfortable, heated, furnished Gite at a reasonable Winter let rate and give yourselves plenty of time to find the rental property which suits you. Good Luck Sue  
  6. Hi Kate I am so sorry - you must be feeling quite desperate. 1. Do you know anyone with a battery charger? 2. We have a Citroen garage very close to us - would you like us to call in tomorrow and see if they can shed any light on the situation? Sue
  7. Hi Kate  I have no idea if it will help but my 1996 Citroen Saxo has a keypad and it says in my handbook re a red light situation: In case of error: Switch the ignition off and on again, then re-enter the code. After 3 successive false attempts the keypad will be blocked automatically. To free a blocked keypad: Switch on the ignition and wait one minute. Switch off, then wait for a further 30 minutes for the keypad to be released. After this time a new attempt at entering the security code can be made. Worth a try perhaps. Sue
  8. Hi Susan and Stephen We have just registered 2 'old bangers' here - a 1996 Citroen Saxo and a 1997 Vauxhall Astra estate - and, for us, it was not difficult just long-winded. First stop - local (Citroen) garage -as both our cars were old they needed new headlights, about 450 euros total for the 2 cars. They also gave both cars a quick once over and told us about the rules for French tyres*. *OH's car needed 2 new tyres (on the rear in his case) as you must have 2 matching tyres on each axle and his were not. We kept an odd, nearly new UK tyre as the spare. Then to Drire with our V5Cs - we showed them the originals and left them the copies. Utility bill and, I think, passports. 7 days later we received by post our 'attestation d'identification d'un vehicule importe conforme a un type communautaire' which meant that we did not need to get certs of conformity from Vauxhall and Citroen as our cars conformed already - hurrah. Cost 67 euros each car. Paid by cheque at time of visit - not cashed until ages later. Then to 'Conrole Technique' - needed 'Drire' certificate in addition to V5C as the CT bod needed to rationalise UK car details into French CT form. Then to 'Hotel des Impots' who, when we showed them the V5Cs (plus utility bill and passports) immediately issued us with a 'certificat' saying that no tax was due on either car due to their (advanced) age. Armed with all this and a utility bill, passports, originals of V5Cs ( make copies for yourselves!!) went to the Prefecture and filled in forms, talked to a very nice lady, paid an horrendous (total) amount to a dragon-lady at the 'caisse' and, voila, had our 2 shiny Carte Grises. Detach purple part of V5C at this point if you have not done so already so you can complete it and send it to Swansea, who promptly lose it. CGs in hand we then went to French Assurance - had a small problem explaining Vauxhall is the same (!!!) as Opel to a non-English speaking AGF guy, acquired green certicates  - no money changed hands at this point - and then went off to buy and have fixed some new numberplates. Simple really. Sue  
  9. Hi We had to install a kitchen in our rented house - as it only had a simple sink unit as the 'kitchen' when we arrived - and, after much research, we chose a kitchen (flat pack) from Castorama. It is solid and robust - plus the chap from the kitchen dept added some superb ideas of his own to our (sketched) design, and thereby stopped us making some stupid errors. Sue
  10. Georgina I emailed DVLA after not being able to get any info via the phone regarding our tax disc refunds and the reply came the next morning. Things are now progressing much quicker to a, hopefully, satisfactory conclusion - fingers crossed So, have a go - email them! Sue
  11. >>I have an ongoing problem with shutting down my PC. It freezes and I can only shut it down by pressing the on/off switch......This seems to have started after I uploaded the recent ZoneAlarm version 6.0.667.000<< Hi Clair I have exactly the same problem. I was blaming either MS for a security download or the latest upgrade of ZoneAlarm but I too used to have Norton (2003) before uninstalling it. Whilst rooting around in my hard-drive I found all kinds of Norton files still there and I wondered if they might be conflicting with something. How do you slow down your start-up procedure so that you can see what is asking to be loaded? I don't mind deleting some old Norton files - providing they are not shared - to see if it makes any difference. I have Win 98 and it was fine until this happened. Thanks Sue
  12. My 9 year old Citroen Saxo has to run on 98 as per the manufacturer's instructions, although it has only an 1100 engine. As Val2 said their Picasso needs to run on 98 I wonder whether needing 98 is a Citroen quirk? Sue
  13. Hi Suzi When we were looking for a rental property we were advised to try our local paper and look for the private ads. We did and there were lots; I rang about each property that sounded suitable and explained our situation re a short(ish) term let. Some owners weren't interested and said so, some were. It might just be worth a try; especially if the property is empty now and is available straight away as rentals not involving an agent can be arranged very quickly. Sue
  14. Hi I know it might seem hard on you to have had to refurbish the electrics and to have the wood-burner flue sorted as you have done, but I think you have been fortunate - considering the circumstances - not to have had a fire caused by either the previously poorly done electrics or the poorly installed wood-burner. As TU used to say - can you 'porte plainte' or whatever against the previous owner for 'vices caches' (sorry can't find accents on OH's laptop) do you think? I hope this does not put you off your recent purchase. Sue
  15. Hi This can be a real problem in France - it's not that the French are trying to be unhelpful they genuinely do not understand why anyone would not want to eat (their) meat. Initially, I suggest you get used to omelettes + whatever you can eat in them ie herbs, cheese, mushrooms, peppers etc. I managed for a while asking for a plain or herb omelette plus some vegs on the side. Most restos seemed happy to try their best for me like this. I have asked for just vegs and been successful ie main dish of the day is *** with choufleur au gratin, haricots etc. Asked if I can have the vegs by themselves to be met with a 'pas de probleme' and a huge plate of all kinds of vegs (if I am lucky) to just a couple of overcooked ones on occasion. There is one place near us that does a veg gratin dish that is to die for and they will gladly serve it to me on its own. Pizzas are a good fall-back. I now know where, if all else fails, I can have a super-duper veg pizza locally that is so good it defies reason. But all this takes time so that a genuine relationship can be built up between you and the resto owner; thereby avoiding the 'why should I bother with you time-wasting veggie English person who is here today and will be gone tomorrow' . Which I got from one resto owner who had had too many awkward veggie visitors that summer and I was the straw on his camel's back. Sue  Edit: I live in southern 56 - so nowhere near Bayeux - but when I was staying in Bayeux some years ago it was the same there at that time as I find here now!
  16. Gosh, here in south 56 all the supermarkets are open this morning and even Castorama is open - but don't know the hours though. If you are that desperate for a tumble-dryer I would try ringing your larger nearby electrical shop - they seem to be the ones that are open. Sue
  17. Hi Ian No it is not a 'problem', it is my fault; as I posted the original query re my cats in one forum - 'travel' I think - and then thought that, perhaps, I should have posted it in 'pets' instead so I re-posted in the second forum assuming different people read different forums. Sue
  18. Banque Populaire didn't take anything from us to open the account - in fact they gave us 30 euros (in effect 'giving' us the first 4 months account charges). But that is just it: BP charge us 7 euros 20 each month for the privilege of having the account and one carte bleue - I then paid another 17+ euros for the second, virtually indispensible card. But that is French Banking. No French bank should charge for inbound transfers from the UK providing: BIC and IBAN numbers are used, the amount transferred is for less than 12500 euros and it is for personal use. But, having said that, French Banks are famous for ignoring the rules. Caisse d'Epargne used to be just a Savings Bank but it became a Bank sometime ago and is gaining in the popularity, albeit slowly, perhaps because it pays interest on its current account but also as it has widened its remit. Sue
  19. ***Contrary to what some may say, do take all your pets paperwork.*** Thanks for that Ian Whilst talking to our French vet about our proposed trip back to the UK - our first since coming here - he, like you, has stressed that we should take with us all the bits and pieces of paperwork we have accumulated in the few months we have been here. This I intend to do. The thought of all this preparation being jeopardised for want of a small scrap of paper is too horrible to think about - I am nervous enough as it is. My thanks to all who have been so helpful in this matter. Sue
  20. ***The Pet's Passport was designed to simplify travel with domestic animals and this has been achieved.*** Thanks Robbie.
  21. ***Three months is  the cut off, after that the cat has to have French passport. I had this explained to me by the woman who vets in cats before catching the ferry to England! They will look at the passport and the stamps therein will tell them when you last crossed the Channel.*** Hi Athene Now you are really confusing me. The cats did not receive any stamps in their passports when we came over here - should they have? There is no inducation of travel date at all. I thought that a pet passport was just that - a passport to travel backwards and forwards with your pet. The passports say on the front - European Union - UK passport, but only because it originates from the UK. I did not think now that we all live in France it would invalidate the cats' UK passports. Sue
  22. ***You do not need any other documentation.  The new passport has simplified everything.   Thanks Robbie - that is what I am hoping! Sue
  23. Hi Athene Thanks for your reply - but I must admit that I am a little confused as to why the cats should need to have new French passports to travel back to the UK. I know that the cats are now French residents - they have been registered with SIEV (the papers came yesterday) - and they have had their rabies boosters with French vaccine - but they are still UK cats - just like I am British with a British passport, although now a French resident. No one has suggested in all this that the cats would need new passports - I have spoken to Defra re one or two queries I had and they did not say that the cats would need French passports. Also my vet did not think it a problem - we just talked about adding our French address to the cats' passports. Have I missed some vital info in all this? Sue        
  24. ***Are you saying that I can just sign the payment slip, enclose a copy of my RIB and send directly to EDF/GDF (or Saur for water) ?*** Well that was what I did before setting up the prelevement automatique to pay each bill. Although with the water bill (Saur) I had to make the first payment in cash at La Poste as the bill arrived on the very day payment was due. I now know that we would not have been 'fined' for making a late first payment but I did not know that then - way back in July. As you can see we are new to this too but it is question of a steep learning curve with these things. Sue
  25. Hi Mike Yes, don't worry, signing the slip and sending it with a rib is a chequeless way of paying bills in France. That way next time the bill will arrive with your bank details already on it. But I am at a loss to understand why you should be told by Britline to pay your gas/elec bills to the Tresor Public - surely you should be paying them to EDF/GDF?  The Tresor Public is for your local taxes ie taxe d'habitation and taxe fonciere. And yes, they are localised - our small town has its own tresor Public. Sue
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