billy10
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Posts posted by billy10
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Thanks Val Douest, I will look into that , although we are of the generation that will " do the right thing" its just as well to know and leave specific instructions for the children for the situation when one of us pass's on.
Regards
Billy10
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Hi Jane and Danny,
Thanks for the info you gave from my recent mail, let me know please how you get on with Alice as I think I will probably go for it myself, did you set it up online or do you have to ring Alice as I am not sure how to go about actually getting the service up and running, in the UK it is very easy but that is because I speak english , not to clever at the French yet so will need my hand held in the initial stages.
regards
Billy10
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Hi Linda and Richard,
I also will be living in dept 36 in about 4 weeks time (10 kms from La Chatre), one of the first things I have to do is set up a broadband connection so I can communicate with family etc, I was interested in your comment that you get unlimited calss within France , does this also apply to calls thro your modem to the UK or do you have to pay, as I am looking for a provider who can give me Broadband ( which is available in my area) and unlimited free calls to the UK , I also intend to keep my FT line active for incoming calls as most of my family subscribe to Planet talk which gives worldwide calls from the UK for 3 pence per minute.
Billy10
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My wife and I had a similar situation second marriage children from both joint kids 6all over 18 , when we bought the house we bought it en Tontine , which if I read it right means that while we are still alive we both own the house , whichever one of us departs this earth first , the remaining one inherits everything totally . Only on the death of the second partner can the children make their claim which according to French law will be split equally 6 ways no matter how they feel about each other ( fortunately they all get on together )
If one person is left under tontine they can still sell the house and buy a different one should they wish, the only problems as I see it are the tax liabilities etc etc that will come into force after we are both Brown Bread , but I am not really concerned about that we both will be planted in a nice corner of France enjoying our "maison secondaire " in the next world. and the kids can pay the tax bill.
This is my interpretation if I have got it wrong please let me know.
Billy10
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Thanks for the interaction boys and girls , I think it will be wise to keep the FT line active for a while, since posting earlier today I have had a chance to look around the net and FREE seems a good deal with the FREEBOX setup for just under 30 euros a month so all in it looks like a phone bill of only 45 euros a month which still seems very low considering my other half ( some say other three quarters ) will use the VOIP phone to ring our six children in the UK probably more than she does now, I think it will take a while for me to get my head around the principle of free internet calls, It was interesting to note that some UK nos are not free so I think one has to be careful.
But thanks again for the very useful information , I now have a much better idea of how it works.
Regards
Billy10
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Hi everyone,
I have been watching with interest all of the mails regarding setting up broadband and telephone etc , and being a relative bonehead on these matters I still think it seems relatively easy like just going to say FREE and subscribing to a package for around thirty euros a month, this as I understand it gives you a broadband connection and a facility to use a VOIP phone via the modem. Is it truly a free phone call , say that you use your VOIP phone to ring a UK landline is there no charge what so ever ??, also what if you ring a UK mobile No , or is that not possible, I also understand that it is normally required to keep the FT line so rental per month still happens as far as FT are concerned and providing the FT phone is only used for incoming calls I presume there is no other charge. Have I got it right because I will need to get on line fairly quickly after arriving in France permanantly on 26th August.
Thanks all
Billy10
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Hi Sunday Driver ,
Dont know my left from my right, definately to the right , it all sounds relatively simple , so I will follow your advice , Thanks all.
Regards billy10 ( or is it 11, hmmmm not sure now )
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Hi Onion Van
They dip to the left as I gave specific instructions that I wanted French spec.
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Because I will be moving to France permanantly in August in dept 36, when I changed my car I went for a new ( registered Jan 07) Picasso diesel, left hand drive and built to French spec with a cert of conformance also, the speedometer is digital and easily changes to km per hour etc etc.
My question is , what will I be required to do to get a set of French plates as at present it is on UK plates.
Regards
Billy10
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Hi ,
no I dont get internet with my deal , but I will be looking to do this when I gat to France permanently in September, a friend told me that there is a service to provide broadband, and telephone with free calls to the UK and other countries whereby you dont have to pay France telecom line rentals , dont know how this works or how valid it is unless someone out there knows more ???
Billy 10
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Hi Judith, Hi F1,
Concerning the telephone from what I remember when we set it up at the France telecom office it was pretty much a standard deal for people who were back and forth, We find it good because we are only over 4 times a year for a maximum of 2 weeks at a time, what you have to watch is that say you go to France on 1 st of the month and stay to the 16th or so you only pay for the month you are there , but if you go over on 28th of Jan say , and returm 8th Feb then you will pay two months rent, we are a bit careful and try to limit it to one months rental per visit by only opening and suspending the line within one month.
It is a good system for anyone with a holiday home or who go over a few times in the year, I will have a look and see if there is a particular Tarriff description that we are on although I only see the bill when I go to my house as France Telecom take it by direct debit which is alo very convenient.
Regards
Billy10
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Hi Mel,
We have a second residence in dept 36 and we have a deal with France telecom whereby before we go over to France we ring a number and ask them to open our line and when we return home we ask them to suspend it , we are only charged line rental for the time we are there which is useful , and calls to the UK are a little more expensive but not too bad . If you use this deal you have to make sure you ask for your line to be Opened and suspended otherwise any other choice of words ends up in your phone being dis connected, but by and large it is a very convenient and easy way to do it when you are back and forth.
We set it up by going to France telecom office in Chateauroux which was relatively easy.
Regards
Billy10
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Hello Forum,
When I am over in France full time in about 3 months time one of my first jobs is to make a vegetable garden, I have an area of about 40 feet by 100 feet behind my garage , the drain field of the fosse is also in this area, but there is also a very old oak tree standing about 70 feet high on this particular piece of my garden , I have heard all sorts as to the suitability such as the tree will take all the moisture so veg wont grow or drain field is not good as veg patch etc etc, What is the real story , do any of you experienced gardeners know the answer to the question " can I build my veg garden in this location "
Regards
Billy10
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Thanks Bob , I think you are probably right
Billy10
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Hi everyone,
My wife and I will be declaring residency in France in January 2008 and will have taken early retirement, we actually retire Sept 1st 2007 but will be taking some well deserved holidays before declaring residency, my question is this , I know that to get into the health system for best part of two years I will have to prove UK National insurance payments for the previous two years , but does this mean immediate past two years i.ebackwards from January 2008 or for the last two complete years which in UK terms as the tax year is April to April would be 2005 and 2006 ??? if it is the former I might be in trouble as from Sept 2007 to Jan 2008 I will have made no contributions.as I will be early retired but a UK resident.
Thanks
Billy10
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Thanks fellow forum members,
I am looking at a few offshore accounts such asB&B, HSBC International etc, with HSBC the system is you apply for an international current account with them and as soon as it is live you apply for the offshore account of your choice, by doing it this way all of the interest is paid directly into the international account free of charge so long as you dont touch the capital you will not lose anything , but if you do withdraw any capital then you lose all of the interest for that month of withdrawal which could turn out a very expensive withdrawal. All in not a bad deal as all the interest is paid gross which makes it easier to sort out the French tax liability.
However after reading what you guys have said I will also look at some other offshore institutions , the Band B sounds good .
Billy 10
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Can someone please tell me how to attach pool pipes (flexible and solid) to the fittings and what compounds to use , is it just ordinary PVC Glue and silicone ????
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OK Ernie, but I will need to verify that you are not the famous premium bond man !!!! anyway what good is 50 quid to you.
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I will be a resident of
I have looked around and found one or two banks that will allow you to be a French resident and maintain a high interest account paid monthly gross provided you set up the account before you go ,have been resident in the uk for at least one year and have a UK current account to link to their high interest account.
Probably the best I have looked at is ICICI bank which is a major Indian financial institution who will allow all I said previously, everything I have read about the bank is good and they seem to be very well respected, I have asked Indian friends and it is indeed one of the biggest banks in India, What surprises me is that I cannot find a thread on the forum that covers this subject because after all as ex pats in France we all want to get the best out of our money.
My question to the forum is have I missed something closer to home in order to get a good rate of interest or does anyone out there use ICICI or similar.
Thanks
Billy10
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I will be living soon in the very southern most tip of department 36 close to La Chatre, as I am a very keen fisherman does anyone know the rules , for instance can I get a permit to cover me to fish anywhere in France or is it localised , do I need a permit to fish on rivers , how do you go about finding the best fishing spots etc etc . Any help would be welcome.
Regards
Billy10
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I am about to fit a heat pump to my pool over Easter, I am going to need a couple of tee pieces and a few on / off valves in order to tap into the pool return properly and to also isolate the pump should I need to, has anyone any idea where I can buy them , I think the pipes on my system are 50 mm , I live not far from La Chatre in department 36, is it something you can pick up in Brico or the like ???[:D]
Regards to the forum
Billy10
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Has anyone had any experience of having solar heating their swimming pool, I am almost at the point of buying a fairly large heat pump to do the job , but my friend (pun) is now making me think about doing it by solar panels, my concern is do we get enough good weather early and late in the season i.e may to November.in the southern tip of the Berry (dept 36 close to la chatre ) Any thoughts please.
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Thanks bjsliv, I will have a look at the site , cant have the missus getting done on her way to the boulangerie
Billy10
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I wonder if anyone on the forum can answer this " I have got hold of a brand new electric scooter which looks almost exacly like a Lambretta, it does not have any pedal assist goes maximum 40 km on a charge , top speed about 25 mph. Now here are the questions what is the legal requirement in France i.e what licence do you need if any , does it need to be insured, do you have to wear a helmet, In the UK the requirement is that it needs to be registered and taxed but it does not cost anything to do this. Anyone know the answers , Regards to all Billy10
changing Internet Service Provider
in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone
Posted
Thanks for the response Danny, I do already have an FT line at the house which for the last two years or so we have oipened and suspended everytime we visit , we have found this to be a good arrangement , I will just miss the 21st August as I dont actually get to France ( as an early retiree) until Sunday 26th, so looks like I will miss the deadline , I wonder if I can do it from the UK online say 7 days before departure or thinking about it I will probably have to be there because does'nt it involve fitting a box of some sort in tyhe house ??.
Regards
Billy10