Mpprh

Hi some time ago I promised to say a bit about the construction of houses in Sweden. I can't find the post, but here are a few notes : Swedish houses are designed to meet the needs of the climate. They need to be spacious, light and warm. And ecologically efficient. Construction : Wood on concrete foundation. That is wood exterior, interior, floors and frame. Interior has plasterboard finish. Often have a subterranean basement. Often have a south facing wall to absorb heat from the weak winter sun. Windows : Large (for light), mounted on the exterior of the wall. Normally triple, occasionally quadruple, glazed with 3cm airspaces between panes.. Insulation : Exterior walls and ceilings have insulation up to 50cm thick. Ours was polystyrene. Double doors in entrance porch prevent icy blasts penetrating the interior. Heating : Normally at least two sources of heating are available. In rural areas this is often wood & electricity. Geothermic heating is popular. Heat pumps are popular. Ours had one system of underfloor heating supplemented by radiators that cut in when the exterior temp was consistently below about –15C. Our electricity was hydro and the annual heating cost was a little less than that here in Languedoc. The temperature is thermostat controlled and ours was set at 22C year round. Many houses have a log fire (the chimney can be blocked off when not in use). Ventilation : As the houses are pretty well sealed a forced ventilation system is required. Ours collected warm air from the cooker extractor, fridges, bathrooms, laundry room, utility room, drying room and Sauna. This was recirculated with the addition of a little fresh air from the exterior. Design : Large living area because winters are primarily spent indoors. Many large window areas to provide winter light. Underground utility areas include Sauna (good for drying shirts), laundry, drying room, storage, and equipment room. Bedrooms tend to be rather small. Kitchens are often open plan. Peter

Hi They always ask me : "just one checked bag ?" so I guess it is OK to have several bags. I've also seen people checking in multiple bags and even bicycles. If you have a weight problem they don't normally weigh hand luggage (you can also hide it in front of the counter if it looks heavy !). In fact I've never been charged for excess weight even when I've been a few kilos over. Last week I had to bring back quite a few kg of files, laptop + mrs mpprh's Alpen Original. My suitcase was 18 kg and I didn't pay a surcharge. And I had hand luggage of 15kg and a further 5kg in my barbour jacket poachers pockets. Bonne chance Peter

Hi Diana "When I was in Burma rat curry was considered to be a tasty dish, just goes to show what social conditioning can do to you." No need to go that far. Water rat pate is available in much of France. Look for Pate de Rat Godan, or something like that ! Peter

Hi As Graham says, it will be at Odysseum. The shell of the building can be seen from the secure car parking area. And they are extending the tramway, but I'm not sure if it will reach IKEA. Peter

Hi regardless of the effectiveness of paid ads, there are lots of free ad sites. And it costs very little to create a simple web page, which you can point people to. Search Engine Optimisation takes time, but is worth the effort. See other recent posts about the effectiveness of this. Bonne chance Peter

Hi I've used Kargo for various things. They are cheap for the small plumbing things. I also bought a small kitchen from them. One word of warning : they buy end of lots for the tiles, so make sure you buy enough because you won't be able to match them later. Peter

Hi I use AOL as an ISP. But I don't use AOL mail or any other of their services except AIM. Despite all their claims, about 95% of the mails I receive in my AOL box are spam. At the bottom of the page I have the choice to click spam or delete. And this, I think, may be the problem. It is very easy to clear a page full of inbox mails by hovering over the spam button & clicking until the inbox is empty. Presumably that marks down senders as spam and they are rejected in the future ? I've found Yahoo mail to be pretty good at filtering out spam. Peter

Hi I will be happy to see the response to this. I've seen many similar requests on various local forums, but there hasn't been a response. I couldn't find one, and have a French speaking accountant who is expensive and, really, unsatisfactory. Bonne chance Peter

Hi Antonia This is an administrative error. I received a full exchange license and so did others I have spoken to. Changing from UK to France should be similar to a Frenchman changing the address on his permis becaus he has moved departments ? Peter

"In my experience, the French are the first to admit that as a nation the French aren't too hot on learning other languages. Yes, I know, you all thought it's only the Brits who don't bother, right?" Both believe they speak a world language and are waiting for others to learn it. And French is a world language : in France. Peter

hi you could start by placing a few ads : Try searching google.com for "+free +ads +languedoc" Check out this user group : http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&group=fr.petites-annonces.immobilier Bonne chance Peter

Hi sorry to be pedantic but I think this is losing. Loosing is what famous footballers do : allegedly. The brits have a very unstable economy. It has higher peaks and lower troughs than many of the Euro economies. You can see this in the exchange rate and interest rates, as well as property prices. During the last recession (GBP dropped 40%, interest rates at 16%, reposessions, etc ) the holiday home market was badly hit. There are several worrying influences : Many holiday homes are in remote areas where French buyers cannot find employment The most likely sale is to other expats as a second home Often other North European buyers also have recession So, few buyers = significant drop in prices for a quick sale There were many bargains in the early 1990's. Peter

Hi I had the same thoughts. Mrs mpprh now has some rather smart cupboards in the garage for all her gardening stuff. Peter

Hi I've learned sometimes you do the same things twice. Sometimes exactly the same things ! The second time is always a better job and much quicker ! Peter

Septimanie ? There is a proposal to change the name of Languedoc-Rousillon region to Septimanie, and it is already being incorporated into the regions communications : (http://www.cr-languedocroussillon.fr). The new regional president M Frêche wants to give it a new dynamic name as part of his planned redevelopment of the region. Septimanie appears on a very old map (about 700 AD) in roughly the area of todays Languedoc-Rousillon. It is a pity to lose the Langue d'Oc connection. And it does sound a bit like a serious mental disorder. And Vin de Septimanie ? The Septimanie Page doesn't have the same ring to it either. Peter

Janey What are you doing eating the dogs sick ? Peter

Hi Seems this rural village is going to get ADSL in March 2005. I have today received a pdf file from the Mairie. The letter is from FT saying that although we are small, we were very quick to pursue the matter. After due consideration, talking to Mr le Maire etc. FT have decided to install it in March 2005. I'm very pleased. There was pressure to rush into other expensive short term solutions that wouldn't have suited me. Peter

Hi I'm glad you posted this. I thought I'd lost them. I had them in favourites and as links on their old geocities site. Then they were gone ! Peter

Hi Just to say the geo thermic solution is worth investigating. I think it may be more expensive to install, but fuel savings make it a good long term option. Doesn't seem to be used much in France, but I always heard good reports from people who converted to it in Sweden. It also is compact ........ one family told me they had gained another room in the basement once they had removed the boiler and fuel tank. And if it works in a Swedish winter, it should cope with French weather. Peter

Hi I came across this complaint on the net : http://www.holidayadvertising.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52 No pleasing some people ? Peter

Hi Interesting to read about the importance of marketing. I agree 100% that it is complex, but crucial. Done properly, internet marketing is cheaper than pure advertising. And then I notice concern that reduced ferries will significantly reduce Gite visitors, and discussions about the impact of increased choice of flights. This suggests that many UK Gite owners rely solely on the "little islanders" as a source of guests. The majority of Gite guests do not use ferries or flights. They drive from their homes in North Europe. Some even drive from their homes in South Europe to avoid the worst of the summer heat. I think, overall, that UK Gite owners are not good at attracting European guests. This is a pity as they are probably ignoring up to 80% of letting potential. Try searching google.com (not google.co.uk) for "Location de vacances" "Feiertagmiete" "Gite" "Ferienhäusern" "Gästezimmern" "vakantiehuizen" etc and check the results. Peter

Hi not quite sure what the local 47 costs are. However you may be interested in our local land costs. We are in a village halfway (say 25km) Nimes - Montpellier. In each direction the costs are higher. The current price of building land is +/- Euro100 / m2. Frightening for this area ? Peter

Hi Ours often trips during storms. But if EDF are intending to cut power for maintenance we get a letter in advance. Last time, they quoted a date and said the cut may be between 09.00 and 18.00. In fact it was 2 minutes at 17.00. Peter

Hi Today I received a mail from "ViaMichelin Newsletter" It was timed at : Fri, 21 Feb 2003 00:24:20 UT Is this a record for slow transmission ? Peter

Merci !