Janeandalan

We have used ET Brokers twice to move stuff from Surrey to Languedoc. They find out how much you are taking and then match you to a Removals company for the best price. We had 2 different companies and they were both excellent.   Jane and Alan

Fed up with travelling the 2 hours to Stansted we have decided to go for the 2hours travelling once we get to France. We are thinking of going to Marseille and travelling to our house from there. Has anyone else done this? What is the best route? Any days/time to avoid?   Many thanks   Jane and Alan

Caroline, We used Villas Terre De Sud based in Frontignan. Our contact there was Daniel Santini who speaks English quite well. They have a web site. They are probably a little more expensive than other companies but were excellent. We didn't get a chance to oversee the building of the house and all went fine. There were a couple of very small things that needed sorting out once the house was finished but there after care was great. We have just come back from a week in the house after having it 2 years and are really pleased with it. That said you are limited to the designs that they have (we made a few alterations around one of their basic designs). We also realised once the house was built that we needed a terrace which we have now had built by a french registered builder - one of the drawbacks of not being there when it went up. Daniel worked to our budget (included everything such as notaire fees, connection to drainage etc). He also took us round many areas in the Herault so that we could choose our piece of land. Took 2 years to get it all done.   Jane and Alan    

I think it depends what you've got and what you want. We are furnishing a new build and the lovely heavy french furniture would not work there. We have therefore bought light oak tables, chairs, side tables, side unit and 2 lovely made to measure bed settees from Emporio (UK) for under 4k. We have also shopped around and got great clearance deals on beds from M&S and ex demonstater AEG hob and oven. Bearing in mind what has been said on this forum re cost of electrical appliances we have got dish washer, washing machine, fridge freezer and cooker hood on-line for about 1K. Kitchen (flat pack) £2,300. In France it is all a lot more expensive and as our funds are a bit limited at present I don't feel too guilty. We are having french registered people do any works we need and we will be paying in to the local economy over the coming years (I hope). We will also buy all our other bits and pieces such as light fittings, curtains over there. To transport all this down to the South for just over a thousand pounds with a remover found through ET Brokers (again recommended on this forum) I think is pretty good, particularly when you factor in the exchange rate. We are crossing our fingers all goes to plan.   Jane and Alan

We are arranging to move a part load of furniture down to the Herault Region in SE France. Prices have varied by about £600. Has any one any recommendations or more importantly ones to avoid? When I did a search for removals I noticed someone had recommended Burke Bros which has given us the most expensive quote so far - do you get what you pay for ?   Many thanks for any advice.   Jane and Alan    

Hi, WE have recently taken possession of a new build near Pezenas on a small lottisment. We won't be there all the time. What do others do? Is it a good idea to employ someone to come in occasionally to check everything OK and show there is someone around? If so has anyone used anybody they can recommend?   Jane and Alan 

Brilliant! Thank you all for your ideas - just got to choose one now. Incidentally booked a ferry with P&O tonight in France for three weeks but £60.00 return. Specific sailings I know but we had to keep going back to check the price. Presumably this is the speedferries influence?   Jane and Alan

We are travelling down to work on our new house nr Pezenas(34) in a couple of weeks (got the keys on Friday after a 2 and a half year wait - so exciting!:w00t. For the first time we are going by car. On Maporama it gives you 2 routes - one via Dijon and one via Paris and Clermont Ferrand. Mileage and time seems about the same. Has anybody done this trip - if so which would you recommend? Paris worries me a bit ::but presumably we go round it? Very grateful for any views.   Jane and Alan

Grateful for advice on the most economic way of keeping in touch with the UK as a second homer. When we take possession of our new build near Pezanas in a few months time our intention is to spend blocks of time there - say 2/3 weeks at a time interspersed with long weekends. Although my husband retires this year I've still a few years to go so won't be out there for as long as we might like initially. How do you keep in touch with the UK - is a landline the best answer? (wouldn't be thinking about long calls just some keeping in touch) or mobile - I see that O2 do a euro bolt on on pay as you go. Any views?   Many thanks   Jane and Alan

Thanks very much for your mails. Urgency is quite key for us as we will be taking a few weeks off from work to get the basics done. We are like John having to get things as we can afford them. Do you know if we can buy decent kitchens "off the shelf"? We would also like to get the work tops mitred - do the big DIY stores do that - there is a big Castorama in Beziers. Jane and Alan 

We are hoping that our new build will be ready in the next few months. Although getting our new home together is a long term project and we can't afford to do everything at once we do need to put in a kitchen. We don't want anything expensive but they do appear more expensive in France than here, especially as there appears to be some good dela st Homebase for example at the moment. Spoken to one of the removal companies from FPN today and they reackon between £1400 -1600 to take a kitchen and beds down for us (to Herault) they will even take the units fully assembled. So we are trying to work out what is the best thing to do - any views very welcome.   Jane and Alan

After nearly 2 and a half years our new build near Pezanas is almostfinished (we think so anyway as we are getting regular demands for the staged payments from the builders). Even though we have guarantees for just about everything the builder suggests we have an independent professional look at it before we hand over the final 5%.  I have e amiled a couple in French Property News but wondered if anyone had any they could recommend - be handy if the could speak English.   Many thanks   Jane and Alan

Our new build near Pezanas is becoming a reality after 2 years (we now understand a bit more about the timing of such things in France). However quite a lot will need to be done after it is "finished" including kitchen installation and ground work. Does anyone have any recommendations for anyone in the area who I may be able to contact to get some quotes? Somebody who speaks a little English would be helpful as my French is a little rusty, although I am intending to work on that. Many thanks

Just got back from looking at our patch in 34. Will be on a lotissment and we are happy with it. Start in September (apparently!) and finish next April. Chosen tiles etc but have elected to decorate ourselves internally rather than pay the builders to paint. Looking at a "finished" build it looks as though the walls are left as plasterboard. Do the french normally just paint on top or hang paper? Do the french not plaster first? Anyone had any experience of this? Thanks Jane and Alan