Will
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Posts posted by Will
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I think one of the great things about birds of prey was seeing them being flown, and taking part as members of the audience so to speak, in England - then coming to France and seeing so many buzzards, owls etc living naturally.
I'm not saying anything against falconry, or keeping birds, as I know that without it many species would be in far greater danger than they are now. -
LAST EDITED ON 05-Nov-03 AT 11:23 AM (GMT)
Amelie
Thanks for starting an interesting discussion. I'm a magazine editor by profession (?) myself so have kept out of this up to now as it could look like 'dog eat dog'. I also knew LF's editor in her past life, so I can tell you that she's a highly competent professional who is doing a good job with the amount of resources that would amaze 99% of the readership but unfortunately are the norm in 21st century publishing.
Now I haven't subscribed to any France magazines for some time, so I wouldn't want anybody to take my words too seriously. I think the magazines come under two categories - they look lovely but can be a bit thin on content, or the content is useful (if repetitive) but presentation leaves something to be desired. There are a couple of others that are p*** poor on both grounds - bandwagon, jumping and unsuccessful are words that spring instantly to mind.
As far as the first category is concerned, I'd temper it by saying that an editor or publication team can only work with the material they have. It seems that the France magazines suffer in the same way as the magazines in my field. There just aren't enough good writers on the subject, so we get either the same names, and the same topics, occurring everywhere, or lightweight material has to be used to fill the gaps between the ads and pictures.
I get much more enjoyment from the forums than from the printed magazines. I can't really endorse the standard of English (or French) spelling and grammar in most of the postings, and I can't really criticise the magazines on grounds of repetitiveness seeing how often the same things come up here. But we do have some good writers here and as for the rest of the postings, I think what is lacking in writing skills is made up for in terms of general content.
The danger is that if too many people do as I do and just use the forums, the magazines' circulation will drop, which will make it more difficult for them to attract advertising, which in turn will kill off one or more of the titles (the risk of this happening is surely greater when three major titles are under the same ownership). Without the magazines, there won't be the forums.
So is there a solution? I don't know. Maybe more synergy between on-line and off-line magazines could generate not just interest in the printed versions but bring advertisers and sponsorship to the web site to keep the forum alive? Maybe there is an opportunity for the magazines to feed more off the forum than they do?
I see this forum as being like a 'readers letters' page in providing feedback for the magazine. The big difference is that readers' letters, as printed, are selective (and precious few letters are received anyway, believe me) whereas this forum is all-encompassing, presents a true and unedited cross section of the views of readers and potential readers, and is topical and live. -
I think this may be connected with the 'yellow labels' and 'weird goings on' topics, but has anybody else found that clicking on 'Mark All' doesn't - i.e. when you come back and select 'read new' you get all the old posts as well as new? I'd wondered if maybe I wasn't allowing it enough time to mark everything before leaving the forum, but it isn't that. It works perfectly sometimes, but can take two or three attempts.
And having tried to plough through the 'best contributor' thread to see what all the fuss was about - it was the first time I'd looked at that topic for several days - isn't it difficult to follow? I can see why people can so easily take offence because they think a reply was directed at them when it wasn't, and how somebody can reply to one point and immediately sever the chain of replies to other points in the same post. That thread looks like the best possible advertisement for posts appearing in a set order, as so many people, most recently Frank, have requested. -
Carrefour has the French version of Scrabble (and many other familiar board games like Trivial Pursuit and Millionaire) as part of its pre-Christmas toys and games promotion, starting later this week. Can't tell you how much though as we've already given away the catalogue that came yesterday.
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I've looked in the past at http://www.kelkoo.com (as recommended below) for France, GB and other places where I've had to go, in search of cheap prices and agree that there has been very little to choose, price-wise, between any of them.
I eventually bought manufacturers' reconditioned / ex-demo models at very good prices when I've been over to London and have been very happy with my purchases. -
Somebody suggested we add this to the useful links:
http://www.cofacerating.fr/portail/recherche_entreprise_inter/recherche_entreprise.asp?IP=ECHOS
It allows you to input a company or proprietor's name and find whether proper French registration is in place, or if you know the Siret/Siren number you can check what sort of business it is registered for.
Registration of course is not a guarantee of a competent or straight-dealing artisan - and that applies to French as much as British owned businesses. But if a business is not registered, you should be asking why.
The link takes you to the French language page - there is an English version but I do not recommend this as some of the translations are a bit odd, leading you to think, wrongly, that a company may not be registered for exactly the work it carries out. Far better to use the French site and a dictionary.
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Somebody suggested we add this to the useful links:
http://www.cofacerating.fr/portail/recherche_entreprise_inter/recherche_entreprise.asp?IP=ECHOS
It allows you to input a company or proprietor's name and find whether proper French registration is in place, or if you know the Siret/Siren number you can check what sort of business it is registered for.
Registration of course is not a guarantee of a competent or straight-dealing artisan - and that applies to French as much as British owned businesses. But if a business is not registered, you should be asking why.
The link takes you to the French language page - there is an English version but I do not recommend this as some of the translations are a bit odd, leading you to think, wrongly, that a company may not be registered for exactly the work it carries out. Far better to use the French site and a dictionary.
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This might help:
http://www.livingfrance.com/dcforum/DCForumID33/651.html
The problem seems intermittent - sometimes AOL messages go through, sometimes they are blocked from where we are. -
I'm sure many of the international schools are very good, but a friend of ours put her boys into a fee-paying international school which was a disaster - one of them, bright but difficult, got chucked out. They both went on to do very well indeed, and thoroughly enjoy, the state school. They returned to England - the elder one prefers the English schools but would go back to the French ones if necessary, while the younger boy, who had the difficulties, would really like to return to the French system. His French is good, but not wonderful - his accent is brilliant but he lacks vocabulary and grammar. I think he was just not stretched enough in the international and English schools.
It's probably an exceptional circumstance, but I mention it just to show that international schools are not necessarily the best option for all. But perhaps it was just an exceptionally good French state school in that town - from what I hear not all of them are anything to be proud of. -
I haven't noticed anything like you describe - if there was a problem I would have expected to experience it having to connect using the worst aspects of the French rural phone system.
I find with another site that shows similar symptoms, if I am very firm with the mouse button and hold it down for a few seconds rather than just clicking it seems to help, or perhaps it's just psychological. -
LAST EDITED ON 18-Sep-03 AT 08:25 AM (GMT)
>1. Insuring the property
This needs to be done on completion. Sometimes you can take over the existing policy, but normally you would need to get in touch with a French insurance agent near to your house, or arrange insurance via your French bank. Online insurance is common in GB but seems virtually non-existent in France, probably because of the very complicated form-filling needed for anything French.
>2. Change of ownership for
>electricity/water bills, phone bills, etc
>- who will ask for
>the meters to be read?
If you are buying through a decent immobilier, they will arrange this, or at least help you. Otherwise it's up to you to contact EdF, France Telecom, the local water company etc.
>3. Have completion dates
>been delayed by days or
>just hours? We are
>hopefully arranging to have the
>furniture delivered in the same
>week of the completion.
If you have a firm completion date then that should stand. However dates can be changed - one of the most common reasons is that the notaire just has not got the paperwork ready. If planning permissions, French mortgages etc are involved, or if you have suspensive clauses in your preliminary contract then these can all delay completion until all questions are resolved.
>4. Final payment will be
>made via a french bank
>account by cheque in advance
>of the completion date. So
>hopefully this should be relatively
>easy??
As easy as anything involving a French bank. That should not be a problem as long as there are funds in the account and time is allowed for clearance.
>Is there anything I have not
>thought of?
One thought strikes me - it is normally required that the buyer and seller both sign the Acte de Vente on completion. That means you need to be present in the notaire's offices on completion day. If this is not possible you can appoint somebody else as power of attorney to sign on your behalf, this can be a member of the notaire's staff or anybody, but needs to be arranged through the notaire in advance. If you are going to be there in person to sign then that will make it far easier to sort out insurance, utilities etc.
You also need to sort out, with the notaire or some other person qualified in French law, the best regime under which to buy the property in order to reduce inheritance tax liability and ensure that should anything happen to you the property passes to whom you wish. This is important if you are married, particularly if you have been married before and there are children from previous marriages, and even more important if you are in an unmarried partnership of any kind. You will come across phrases like 'en tontine', 'donation entre epouses', 'SCI', 'PACS' etc and it is important to get this right before the Acte de Vente as it can be very difficult to change afterwards.
I hope this helps. Others may disagree as their experiences will be different, but that's all part of French life. -
LAST EDITED ON 17-Sep-03 AT 07:42 AM (GMT)
Absolutely. And with so many small farms in France (at least where we are in 50/53/35) the small market where a farmer takes just one or two calves is far more common than in Britain.
The best source information about markets near you, including prices, is probably the local papers. I'm not sure if Ouest France covers your area - it certainly includes some of the Vende region - if not I am sure there are others. -
It's good to see that the forum has returned. I for one will be keen to see what improvements Eleanor has made.
The prophets of doom at another forum have been proved wrong, at least temporarily. -
A couple of questions - sorry if they have been covered below.
Does it cover Chambres d'htes as well as gites? And is the free ad an introductory offer, or will it continue indefinitely? -
The international cruising certificate, which can be obtained from the Royal Yachting Association or any of its approved training establishments always used to suffice for coastal cruising. If you have an appropriate RYA qualification, which is always a good idea for a prudent UK skipper, then issue of the ICC is a formality. I suggest you phone the RYA or one of the motor cruising magazines, e.g. Motor Boat and Yachting, to find out the current situation as they have this information readily to hand - at least they did when I worked for them.
French marinas always seem to have plenty of visitor moorings for foreign visitors, though I confess I don't know about longer term use of UK craft. I would imagine if you live in France and/or keep the boat permanently in France you could need French registration and insurance. Again, have a word with the RYA or the magazines. There are many English (and German/Dutch etc) people with holiday homes and boats on the Mediterranean coast and I don't see the requirements as being much different in other bits of France. -
I think you will need registration for the boat, if it is going to be kept permanently in France, and the skipper will need an International Cruising Certificate and possible a supplementary permit. VNF http://www.vnf.fr should tell you what you need to know; if you want information in English then the Royal Yachting Association http://www.rya.org.uk or the UK boating magazines shouold be able to help. Some years ago I used to work for Motor Boat & Yachting in England and we got many such enquiries.
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LAST EDITED ON 16-Apr-03 AT 09:17 AM (GMT)
Yes, Barry of Tradcookers is probably in France.
Aga does have a base in France if you want to buy new, or try http://www.paul-gee.com. They are in the Gers region so not too far from the Creuse.
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Rayburn have never, as far as I know, made a model for French heating oil which as you know is heavier than most others. Rayburn did at one stage make a diesel fired version, which might be what you are thinking of; if you can get one of these in France you could run it from agricultural diesel which would work out very economical.
The person to speak to about Rayburns in France is Barry Charman at http://www.tradcookers.com - he has supplied several reconditioned and used Rayburns to France and knows all about the potential problems. I think he told me that he can supply a burner which will work on French oil, though it may need cleaning more frequently. He was also looking into an additive for the oil which could improve matters. There are other companies offering new and used Agas and Rayburns but I have no experience of them. -
Once you've made your selection, perhaps you could pass details of the unsuccessful candidates to me?
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This has been asked before and unfortunately the answer seems to be 'no - it's the way the forum software works'. I tend to agree that it would be better if the posts were arranged in chronological order, as, for example at http://www.vienormande.com (a similar forum to this for the Norman and Mayenne francophiles), but we find with this it can be difficult to follow if there are several different related conversations going on together. So there are fors and againsts either way.
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The norm is that basically you pay the cost of the medication - incidentally often cheaper than the standard UK prescription charge - and a percentage is reimbursed by the state system (CPAM). The standard reimbursement is 70% but it can be 100% for some serious illnesses if you meet certain conditions. It's also less for some medicines.
Once fully integrated into the system you get a 'carte vitale' which means money doesn't change hands at doctors or pharmacies equipped to deal with the cards. Most people have a top-up insurance which covers the cost of treatment and medicine not reimbursed by CPAM - in my experience it doesn't seem to matter for acceptance into a scheme if you have a long-term condition requiring regular treatment.
I accept that this is a gross simplification of a very complicated (as in everything French and official) subject; if you want more detail Peter Owen's website http://www.expathealthdirect.co.uk - I have no connection with him or his enterprise - gives a good overview. -
As this subject seems to have created a lot of interest, people might be interested in this link: http://www.1stopsnoring.co.uk
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Hi TeamedUp
I don't live in the UK and we don't rent out our property, although we do live close to Isigny (le Buat, not sur Mer). I suspect the area of suspicion might be to do with tax evasion. However, the gendarmes in our area seem to have so little to do that they get interested in all sorts of speculative crimes. -
The impression often given on the French forums and in books is that E111 and E106, and possibly E121 for pensioners, are the only certificates you need. Although most people's needs are probably covered by these there are various other certificates and if you are to stand any chance of acceptance into the French state and top-up systems it is important that you have the correct documents - for example I am in France with E101/E128 certificates; try finding those in any of the so-called comprehensive guides to living and working here. You need to check with the Inland Revenue and/or the Department of Social Security in Britain to make sure you get the right paperwork.
E111 is for temporary visits and I would imagine that you would probably get away with having only that until you were really ill, or needed continuing treatment or medication, in which the fact that you were either living in France or on an unfeasibly long holiday would come to light and your cover would cease.
Guillaume Apollinaire
in French Culture
Posted
Is that 11,000 of what I think? Very French
Will (50)
All of my postings here are based on personal experience - other people will have found differently