Porth

thanks that has really been helpful.  The roof is in very good condition sound with no loose slates and that is both back and front. As you say it is best perhaps to leave it well alone until we have to do so.  However numerous artisans visit the house from time to time and I will ask their opinion too.   thanks again  

I wonder please if someone can help.  Whilst we bought the house in 2001 it was in essence our second home that is until May of this year and when we both retired.  Whilst the main part of the house is essentially an old farmhouse it had an extension which is of more recent times.  Basically the house did not need much doing but we have tiled the side of the house (if faces west and we are about 1000 feet up) with ardoise. This week the rear of the house was also retiled and this afternoon the roofer mentioned that the roof on the newer extension was dangerous in that it was basically fibrous roof tiles with asbestos but it would be ok until next year. Nothing was mentioned to us during the translation at the Notaires, I used to deal with medical negligence stuff back in the UK and just the usage of the word asbestos fills me with horror. Please can someone add something that will allay my fears? Kind regards  

Thanks to the various contributors. Having now read it on AOL it does seem that flexibility is written into the Government announcement and that where 'batiments' do not exist then precautionary measures as best one can should be adopted. Obviously problem is that as one contributor says you tend to 'fuss' over the chickens and thus are in very direct contact and equally then at risk. However again on reading there were 60 people who died last year in Asia from the flu.  Any death is unacceptable but it does sort of put it into some form of context.   thanks again    

We live in (50) and have done so for some time.  In June next year want to spend some time in the Lot and with a view to either making a further investment or indeed moving from Manche.   Does anyone please have a property for two people and where please is it advertised?   Am I allowed to ask and are you allowed to reply?

Thanks for that.  However have this afternoon checked with our neighbour and whilst she did not say tant pis she did say that it only applied to producers!  I will check with the guys down at the big house tomorrow. Indeed and on a drive this afternoon counted some 50 or so farms with chickens just roaming about outside. However this is something that we all have to take aboard and lessons learned. We all feel saddened by all of this but we as a society (that is in the UK) expect chicken at realistic prices hence Tesco and hence the Far East. Then of course chicken comes into the UK is processed there and ends up with a 'badge' indicating that it is of course a UK product? Indeed when Dudly Moore was advertising Tesco chickens from Le Landes it was a fact that the poor farmer cooperative down there received their money some eight weeks after it was consumed.  Thus a supermarket runs on other peoples money.........their suppliers. This would not apply in Bresse where you are expected to pay top euro for top product. Does anyone else please have a view on the restrictions?   thanks  

In line with hundreds of thousands of other people be they French or otherwise we have but six chickens in our garden and who roam freely save for when they are near the vegetable patch. However this morning the French Government announced that in either 20/21 departments including Manche (where we live) then flocks of chickens have to be kept inside and not allowed to roam. Our French is not that good so please can someone tell us whether this restriction solely applies to those who are actively engaged in commercial activities as well as those of us who just enjoy having six or so chickens? kind regards    

Nick thanks for that.  Highly amusing and very intelligent thinking. I am not even going to try to justify fees for Solicitors or to say that salaries have to be paid for buildings paid for NIC paid for taxes paid pensions paid or whatever or that you sometimes have to wait three years to get paid.  I know a lawyer who has still not been paid for a Court Appearance some five years ago.  Remember one Ken Dodd he who was charged with a Tax Offence.  What was the defence one put by a QC who charged £20000 a day before he got out of bed.  Members of the Jury my client has a fear of banks and has done ever since he was in school. The same QC and Jeremy Thorpe. Verdict not-guilty Ken Dodd thought the fee was cheap as against popping into Aintree jail.  Lester Piggott had no such luck. Here's a deal for you Nick I or my practice will do it for you and for no fee. However seeing your response I do not think its even worth it at that for we are sure to get problems if we are not successful. Forget what the Court Service say or your Solicitor you can still do it over the net and just for the sake of it you could even use any address or accommodation address.  Its a formality. hope this helps and if you need any more help just let me have a pm and I will respond and help. My point on FWW is well-made by Fritz so for pennies you can get the up to date situation on the worth of the company that you want to sue.  If you need help in that direction as well that is to understand accounts then please just shout that can be accommodated as well.   rdgs      

My suggestion (as a lawyer and semi-retired) is to get the forms downloaded from the Courts system and start proceedings  in the County Court nearest the organisation that owes you £. Like everything try to make sure that you are issuing proceedings against the right person/organisation. Thus if its Joe Bloggs trading as then thats what your action should be.  If its ABC Ltd t/a CBA or whatever then whats what the action should say. Again addresses are important. Sorry to be pedantic but there is not such thing as a small claims court its all (subject to value) through the County Court system with only the claim being small. Depends on outstanding amount as to what the fee is but this too is listed and their people are more than happy to help especially when you perhaps do not have the knowledge of the law. Again and to be precise you now need to write to the organisation and say within fourteen days the money if not then County Court.  Again never ever threaten to do something law wise that you do not intend to carry out! Final point the term FWW means for what worth.  What is the worth of the organisation are they up against it struggling or is it because you are in France and they are in the UK that they are not paying.  Where did the contract start The UK I presume? A little tip do you have anyone who lives near the organisation or who can send by recorded or registered mail your letter giving them 14 days notice.  Nothing helps more than an individual walking through your front door.!   For a very small fee the Companies House website (if its a company) will send you by email the latest balance sheets of this company and you can then make up your own mind.   Forget you are in France it does not matter.        rdgs  

Yes I know one cannot advertise but can anyone please point me in the direction of an agent or whatever that deals with property in or near Sete. We have lived happily in Normandie for five years but now time to move on and at the end of January or early February wish to spend some time in the Sete region and with a view to buying a property. Looking for a property to rent for a week will spend some time before that on the way down near Narbonne etc etc.   thanks    

[quote]Nick - vous disez la vérité - absolument, as one says around these parts. Of course, it's come on a bit since then, but that's pretty much exactly how it started. I know a guy who wrote a book about i...[/quote] Will when I was a young lad (and yes some 50 years ago) in the valleys of South Wales we witnessed the was it 'Shonny onion men' no doubt my Welsh colleagues will put me right selling their onions mainly at the gates of the pits on Fridays and when the colliers were paid. Now they are at the main entrances to the markets in South Wales and yes with their cycles.  However forget the myth these guys from Brittany are now very sharp. Yes the impression is rural and that it is simplistic itself.  However I know the owner of a large warehouse in Cardiff who makes a fortune every year.  What happens is that large camions come across and dump the onions.  Then smart white Citroen vans come across complete with cycles.  The vans parked quietly in the side streets and when they run out of onions they go to the vans and collect some more. Obviously cash payments and I just wonder in my innocence if any or all of this cash is declared? We have cooperatives for banking for the production of goods and materials why not a ferry? Look at the background to the cooperative movement.   kind regards  

I know this does not help but Eric Clapton also used to have one.   For our part we have a wonderful but now old Staffie together with a Bassett, a Heinz, Thomas the cat and some chickens for my wife.   I truly would love to help so would my wife but the Staffie is the love of our lives has been a wonderful pet and needs to spend the rest of her life just passing the time away very quietly in our garden.   As I said no help but I really wish I could help for whilst I have owned Bassets for over 40 years Staffies and English are really lovely and devoted animals.

[quote]Everybody has different priorities of course, but we use the Relay system from our Nat West accounts, a £10 charge, the current inter-bank commercial exchange rate (not tourist rate) and a prompt reli...[/quote] Will we too are Nat West account holders and indeed my professional account is with them and seemingly we have a corporate sort of guy who looks after us.  In saying that Nat West let us down last week and with really serious consequences.  However they apologised and it was the first mistake for some time! However we have populated our French Bank account with sufficient cash for the capital projects but like most other people find it difficult in sending nominal amounts for day to day utility bills etc.   Whilst obviously I will talk to the bank tomorrow could you please just put some meat on the bone as to how it happens and what is the procedure. kind regards

I am not going to respond to that sort of comment.  Brands Hatch is that still in existence? However you do bring up a very salient point and you have indeed compounded the felony.    Think that through and then find out what the mens rea on the part of the garage is.  Look through any dictionary and if in doubt please come back to me. I promise not to send you a fee note. Whatever we were hard done by and thats fact. What is also another fact is that we are resident in France and thus have to behave by its rules and customs but not at any price.  Look at the UK and see where we are beginning to become very accommodating. Make of that what you wish. Do you live here or in the UK.   regards and many thanks.  

[quote]I don't know what you think happened. I can't envisage anything that would weaken the exhaust in either a service (or changing tyres)or a CT. I hope that they did not change "a" disc pad, I hope it wa...[/quote] Thanks Nick and sorry for the delay but I have just returned from the UK and where I was involved in a medical negligence case..............I am in the law unfortunately not consumer and here I was appearing for the complainant. The UK case was about MRSA and please believe me its a nightmare for all concerned. However back to the KA its five years old and done just 5000 miles so perhaps that answers one of your questions. Now to the condition there were two areas of concern one on starting the engine and the other (what its the French word for a thing is it truc) was a cover for the exhaust and which is responsible for a cooling action or at least chaleur came into the conversation.. In both cases the Ford dealership were able to sort it and also pointed out that in their opinion that the garage owner would be better off dealing with cows!  Their words not mine.     However total costs for the work were less than 50 euros.  So no problem. Therefore the answer to all of this is that he gets no more work I will not even buy fuel from him and the car gets serviced in the Ford dealership. I agree that Consumer Law has no teeth but fortunately I am not in that area I have to deal with much more serious things.  However abdication is not my style and the garage owner will at least know my views. regards and thanks. Last thing just employed a painter decorator to do some work ahead of our family arriving next week for a 60th birthday.  He ordered six rolls of paper did not check the colour codes on the last one it was different we now have a blank wall and with guests coming.  They will understand but.................... What I think happened was that the garage owner did not attend to detail.  Detail is all important.  I have never turned up in the wrong Court I could not afford to.   He should have checked the car before it came back.      

This is a little in line with the posting on cows and apples. Briefly my wife's car was put into the local garage (its a Ford KA) for an annual service despite the fact that she does limited mileage.  Garage always looks busy and he does work for the Gendarmarie. Again the car was put in to pass the control technique so headlights etc had to be changed plus two new tyres and a disc pad. Total bill over 850 euros and deep breath but it had to be done and we budgetted for it. However in essence the car is now as noisy as a tank and the exhaust is moving above and near to falling off.  The owner shrugs his shoulders and passes the blame on to the controle technique guys in Villedieu les Poeles.  The car goes into the Ford dealership at Granville this afternoon and we will seek both an inspection and written report. Now I understand living in a small village where everyone knows everyone and this forum at times suggests it is better to shrug one's shoulders and get on with it for otherwise life can become difficult........ However whilst I will and have let lots pass me by I am not inclined to on this occasion.  Sometimes you have to stand up and be counted for otherwise it is akin to be run out of town by the Marshall! Has anyone any ideas and guidance please.   thanks