Babnik

Why not just go over and ask him the question? Good practice for your french, and I'm sure the mayor would appreciate it more! Steve

good to know...I had resigned myself to run our car till it died...(the other option was to take it to Malta and sell it there! we drive on the left too, and 2nd hand cars go for much more than they do in the uk!) Steve

Mrs O, did you sell it to someone French or English?

Having broght my car over, I'd agree with the previous posters....but only do so if it's not too old and still in good condition. Driving a rhd car is no problem. We actually have bought a small van since we've been here, and i find no problem going from lhd to rhd and back again. Only problem is if you ever want to sell your rhd car, I doubt you'll do it here, at least not at a decent price! I'm planning to run mine till it falls apart!

website for roof panels is www.efisol.com Steve

Our architect didn't really get into 'how' we did the roof, as her brief was basically to get us planning permission. The panels were suggested by the artisan we chose for roofing. I can give you their details if you are interested. They are in Barbezieux. Steve

Previous owner of our house is Portuguese...so it's any nationality really! What I don't understand is how some people do things when they clearly have no idea what they are doing! When I want to do something, I read and read and ask and ask, and only if I'm 100% sure of what I'm doing do I start...if not, better to get someone in. It may be more expensive, but in the end, it will turn out cheaper!!

Has anyone else found out that in France, this usually means that it's a botch, and you'll have to rip out most of what is done, and things that can't be readily ripped out, WILL cause problems?

Under Advanced Volume Control (click on advanced button when viewing volume control!), there is a small check box (AGC). On my machine this is checked. But I have tried some software which unchecks this (can't remember what it was), and then no sound! Took me a while to find this checkbox, checked it agaian and all was fine. You could try that.

I know that rain refracts the signal coming in, and usually on a well set-up dish, heavy rain can result in lose of signal quality. What could be happening in your case, is that the refraction actually makes things better. Was the dish installed on a rainy day perhaps? Only guessing here!

I've heard that installing a pool for gites is very different than installing a pool for private use. The pool is considered to be semi-public, and thus comes under different rules. I'd check before going ahead!

i'd say pull out of the sale and look for your dream house elsewhere! You may think you have found the best, and nothing could beat it, but you'll find better, without problems!

Lynda, I think your Immobilier is correct. You can basically do anything inside the house with out a Permis or Declaration. If you wish to add any windows or veluxes, you'll need a Declaration de Travaux, but not a Permis! Steve

the problem of speaking French to English speakers, is that if you get stuck (and you WILL get stuck), you WILL revert to English! Wheras if you are speaking French to a non-English speaker, you WILL have to make the effort and learn more.

I don't know how practical this would by, but why not wire up a network? All depends how 'finished' your place is.

the french (or at least the french I know) have a sweet tooth at breakfast. Jam/Nutella etc etc rather than savoury stuff!

I stand corrected. ANY potable water was what I should have written.

First of all it's Franche Comte. I do not live there, but my wife is from the area, so I know a bit about it and I have been quite a few times. Not all that popular with the english, because I guess it's too far, popular with the Germans though, who are just next door. Beautiful area, very green! Vosges and Jura mountains are beautiful. Can get very cold in winter though (-25 last winter) If you need more specific info, let me know and I'll ask the wife! Steve

If kids misbehave, rather than try and control them yourself, wouldn't it be easier to take the parents to one side and tell them what is expected(perhaps you'll embarass them, although I doubt it). If it doesn't get better, give them their money back and throw them out! At worst, they'll never come again (isn't that what you want anyway?)

ban covers well water as well as mains water. Pools of ANY type cannot be filled with ANY water.

if you are stopped by the gendarmes and have a blown bulb, if you do not have a kit, you'll be fined, if you do, no problem. I doubt they'll check if you have a kit or not if your lights are all ok! (I speak from personal experience!)

Richard, you say : "We do not use any chlorine or other foul chemicals...", but then say : "The BIO-UV system has a ph meter that automatically checks the ph twice daily and doses automatically with ph+ or ph-" and "There is a second automatic pump that doses with a nominal amount of Remanent (anti-algicide) daily." and "Should you get an algae build up a dose of Oxygene Actif (Hydrogen Peroxide by any other name) clears it in no time". Are these not chemicals? I'm not criticizing, but wondering what's the advantage of this system? Steve

First of all good luck, and if you want to hear our story (so far), go to : http://www.afrenchdream.com Steve

Well thanks for the comments. It's difficult to keep it going (I'm lazy too), but knowing people actually read it helps!! Steve

[quote]The price I am talking about is the length of time one is tied in with GdF (3-10 years depending an amount etc)and the fact that one needs to have devis from bone fide artisans, thus pushing up the pr...[/quote] I realize we will be tied into a contract, but you can get out of the contract. Basically you give back a percentage of the money depending on when in those 10 years you decide to back out. Now in this region, there is no restrictions as to who takes bookings. You can choose to either have GDF take over your summer months (they haven't told us which weeks they take, but I can guess!), or you can do it yourself. Unfortunately you can't mix and match! But you can change from one year to the next. You can have gdf take your bookings for the first few years until you're up and running, then take over the marketing and booking. You'll still be on their website and in their book, but bookings do not go through them. I will obviously confirm all of this again before I sign anything. I don't see what I can lose really, except the annual fee I must pay!