BJSLIV

ADSL isn't avaialble here just yet, scheduled for early 2006. The deproup test resultfor the anaolgue line isLongueur de ligne : 1050 mètresAffaiblissement : 10.82 dB  Does this bode will or ill for next year?  IE Which is good news  high or low Db ?

Does your fence have the dreaded AFNOR certifcate?

Yes its is owned by the Conseil Regionale who subcontract ther operation to Sardinian Ferries. Not sure what the latest news is , but since the change of poliotical control at the last elections some questions were being asked as to  long-term viability.

Not so, we have accounts with both ing.uk and ing.fr. I think the quirk is that to open a UK account you have to be resident in the UK, but to open a French account you have  a French bank account Qui peut ouvrir un compte ? Tout particulier capable majeur, résidant ou non en France et titulaire d'un compte chèques auprès d'une banque située en France.

Wood which is newly cut and/or wet does not give out maximum heat, so you will have to burn a greater volume of wet wood to gain a given amount of heat. Mind you if your cooker is burning everything perhaps you should stick with the damp stuff!

Is it just me, or is this programme the most boring example of the genre ever transmitted? We cannot decide whether this is because:   1 We have seen it all before, many many times. 2 One can't get involved with the personalities because if it all goes wrong, well back to The City. 3 There are too many implausibilities - Instant Workmen. Incredible Progress for a cack-handed DIYer (A complete bathroom in less than 2 weeks etc etc. 4 We know the ending , 'cause we have all seen the website. Even more than Nippy and Nigel it just don't ring true.     

I very much agree with Domp80's comments, apart froom one thing. The current offer, until 31 Dec 2004, allows you to upgrade to any ticket for £10 with no other price increase. This is a temporary change to their previous policy.

The good news is that M Sarkozy has persuaded the banks to stop charging for closing an account wef 2005. i suppose the bad news is that there will be new charges for wiping your feet on their doormats for instabce.

I agree that it doesn't say anything about two years in their terms and conditions, however most clubs charge a rejoining fee or a proportion of back-log membership fees if you don't pay up each year. You could take the view that they are being generous in allowing a two year lapse. They could have insisted on a rejoining fee after any lapse. Eirther way they are not really insisting on £35 everyu two years , just as long as you rejoin evry year.

But in other postings people (Eskenazi included?) have given the impression that they have been  living in France with the family covered by e106, and that this will continue  for as long as the partner continues to work in the UK... The plot thickens!

I thought for a moment that you were talking about Amour Gloire et Beaute which is certainly very cringe-making!

AFNOR he say :   HT 1,10 m par rapport à la traverse basse ou 1,22 m par rapport au sol fini

It will all depend on the nature of your work. if you can demonstrate that the work is being carried out in the UK, for example if your were repairing antiques, then it should be possible to stay outside the French system. On the other hand if you were repairing things that had to remain in France then it would prove more difficult.

She will need to prove that the house was not inhabited  ie empty with no furniture, cooker etc as at 1st January 2004.

If you think that you have been in credit all the time , the most likely explanation is that you have fallen foul of the "jour de valeur" system. This means that if you withdraw money from your account it can be treated as if you withdrew it either the day or two days before the actual date. Conversely a payment in may not be fully  credited to the account until  a week after the day the cheque is handed in. Hence you would technically be overdrawn and charge (in)appropriately. It is likely that if you didn't have an authorised overdraft that various penalties would be applied. Even so it must have been some withdrawal. unless you have had some big cash bills to pay.  

Some of us may remember the blue tricycles that were given to disabled people to improve their chances of finding work. When it was realised that the most likely outcome was that they would be killed in a serious road accident, the cars were withdrawn and the Motability scheme was introduced. Motability is a charity which negotiates with car suppliers to provide a leasing arrangement which allows disabled people to contract hire a vehicle at advantageous fully inclusive rates for a three year period. The trick is that the person taking on the car uses money from their Disability Living Allowance to pay the lease. I suppose the problem is that if you permanently leave the UK, unless the DLA was in payment before 1992, then payment will cease which could affect the ability to pay the leasing charge. Also as the scheme includes Road Tax, Maintenance etc, none of  which would be of  use abroad,the cost savings offered by the scheme would be much reduced.    

DDE= Direction Departementale De L'Equipement= County Planning & Works Department You apply to the Maire (& Council) who consider the application and give an opinion. They pass it do the DDE who check that it conforms with the planning laws and regulations. It then comes back to the Maire who give approval. So though the plans are approved at the Mairie they cannnot sign off anything that doesn't conform, and equally (in theory) they must approve anything that does conform. So its up to you to decide who really approves the plans Once the plans are agreed there are no internal building reg inspections and if the house already has an electricity  supply an internal extension of the system will not need to be inspected.

After the P&O announcement a few weeks ago we now have Eurotunnel launching their new Strategy Project Dare  DARE: A new commercial strategy for Passenger Shuttles   At a time when tourism between Great Britain and the continent are on the increase, over the past five years the traffic across the Short Straits has diminished (-15%). The decline has been particularly marked in the day trip segment, which is a significant one for Eurotunnel.   The manifest over-capacity of the passenger shuttles has led to excessive operating costs. In this context, competition with the ferries has forced Eurotunnel into a permanent cycle of promotional activity.   Given such market conditions, restoring margins requires:   - The adjustment of capacity to meet demand in target segments, resulting in flexible running costs; - Prices fixed according to the date of reservation and the load factor; - A communication strategy focused on the added value of the Eurotunnel shuttles, on the price and on the ability to provide a service suited to the needs of each customer.   Translating this into English I guess this means ever changing prices like on the Ferries and in particular as on Ryanair, which could make it more expensive for last minute trips.

You will need a full Permis De Construire on two counts, change of use and change of external apperance. I can't put it better than to quote a French definition of when a permis is required: Pour les travaux portant sur des constructions existantes qui ont pour effet d'en changer la destination, d'en modifier l'aspect extérieur ou leur volume ou de créer des niveaux supplémentaires Some people  recommend phasing of the applications to avoid the obligation to get the plans signed off by a French architect.   See also http://riviera.angloinfo.com/information/1/buildplan.asp

http://www.anpe.fr/actualites/affiche/aout_2004/portage_salarial_2655.html So in essence you get the Portage Company to bill your customer and then receive about 50% of the invoiced bill once the charges and fee has been paid. On the website the emphasis seems to be on the "office" type of work consultancy etc, that would normally be regulated by the Chamber of Commerce. I'm not clear as to whether it is applicable to the craft trades that fall into the orbit of the Chambre de Metiers.

The good news is that unlike all the other terrestrial channels Arte will be available from Hotbird in Digital without having to pay for either Canalsat or TPS. So once it is up and running you will just point your dish at Hotbird as at present and use a digital sat decoder rather than your analogue box. IE It will be exactly the same kit that people use to pick up BBC off Astra without bothering with Sky and cards. http://www.arte-tv.com/fr/services/tout-sur-ARTE/recevoir-ARTE/recevoir-ARTE/639256.html

As has been said on here many times before you must have a French bank account. Virtually any method of sending money from the UK to a French trader will cost you and more importantly them significant transaction charges. You may find someone who will accept a payment once , but any trader who has previously  suffered these charges will either refuse or expect you to pay. So assuming that you haven't got a French account yet,'cause then you could just write a cheque. You could: 1 Send them a payment enhanced by the bank charges. 2 Find someone who will accept payment by credit card. 3 Get the brokers bank (RIB) details and pay the transfer  direct to their account and accept that you will pay the incoming charges levied by the French bank. 4 Explore some of the more esoteric money transfer arrangments mentioned in earlier posts on this forum.

I'm sure that part of the problem in the great French ovens are rubbish debate is that people who have an expensive oven in the UK but a cheap and cheerful beast from Butorama and then are surprised at the dodgy results. On a more serious note, it is worth bearing in mind that the lad from an oven may be high enough to necessitate an increase in the "strength" of the power supply. When we were chugging along on 6Kw if the oven was on we were plunged into darkness from time to time. An alternative is add one of those load shedding boxes to the distribution board.    

These things are so well insulated that, if they are running on off-peak electricity, they use so little juice that it's probably not worthwhile messing around with hybrid two-tank arrangements. Now if its a question of piping hot water long distances to remote parts of the property where you would waste lots of energy waiting for the hot stuff to arrive, then it may be worthwhile having two discrete systems.  

To add to Miki's comments: unless the work and fittings are done to the highest standards IO would have thought that it it might prove difficult to get sufficient clients willing to pay £80- £100 plus £50 for dinner. Though perhaps I have been moving in the wrong circles. Perhaps there are plenty of people in the City who are used to handing over large sums to (ex) lawyers.