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Babnik

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Everything posted by Babnik

  1. The wife (or husband) of an eu citizen is entitled to live and work in any EU country her (or his) partner is resident in. You need to get what is called an EU family permit, but it should be just a formality. Initially it's for 1 year, but renewable thereafter. If you're talking about going to any eu country on holiday, things may be slightly different, and I'm not sure what the answer is.
  2. We've found mutualist cover to be very good, and it covers existing conditions also. Be careful though as some companies have a period of 9 months (don't know if this has anything to do with babies) where you are basically not covered. This is to stop people from hoping from one mutalist to another I guess.
  3. If you were allowed to nominate your prinicple residence, wouldn't all those people with large 4 million pound mansions buy themselves small flats for say £50,000 and nominate that as their principle residence? Maybe that's what they do and I don't know about it!!!
  4. On a more serious note, and as someone who has been a 'guest' in various countries (I'm maltese and have lived in UK/France and Germany), I think it's important to integrate wherever you go, and I always consider myself a guest. If French men wore skirts, and that's not something us Maltese men usually do, then I believe that as a guest I should wear a skirt too. A stupid example, but hopefully it makes my point. As I guest, I should abide by all the customs and traditions of the host country. If I don't like it, I can always leave. I have no problem with legal immigrants (I am one myself), but I do have a problem with those that expect to have a little part of their own country wherever they go. As a result I speak various languages (to differing degrees). I will always be Maltese, and proud of it.
  5. If you have your own section, you might be seen as 'different' and have all of us against you as well as the french!!! (just joking!)
  6. While I have no idea where to get lhd headlights for a Honda Prelude, you could try your local Honda Garage. We asked at our local BMW garage for a pair of bmw headlamps, and a friendly mechanic made a few phone calls and found us a pair from somewhere in the east of france, had them posted over and even fitted them for us (in his own time, as BMW garage not allowed to fit second hand parts). Maybe we were just lucky and found a nice guy!
  7. As to land area, there are several options depending on what land area you actually have. Horizontal option needs around 120% of the area to be heated. Vertical option, doesn't need much lan at all, but I guess is quite expensive and depends on the tye of land you're trying to bore a hole in. Third type depends on the water table, and again depends on the water table being present and is more a vertical solution. As to insulation, as with all heating systems, the more the better. The less you have, the harder the heating is going to work. We have decided to insulate all outside walls (to whatever the norm is) and only leave internal walls in stone. As to tax credit, it is indeed 40%, and I always assumed it meant you'd pay less tax in subsequent years. Their is also a ceiling. I have found prices to be failr reasonable with quotes in the region of around eur 16000 for an area of 165m2. This includes the underfloor heating. I'm sure if I were to go for radiators and oil fired boiler I'd get a bit cheaper, but not too much! With the tax credit, it's a no brainer. From what I can gather, Sol/Sol or Fluide/Fluide is the simplest system, and basically has two systems of Refrigerant Fluid, with the heat from the outer fluid directly heating the inner fluid which flows through your underfloor heating. Advantages : Simple. Disadvantages : Cannot regulate room by room, cannot use existing radiators and cannot have an option for cooling in summer. Sol/Eau, uses a system whereby the outside system is again refrigerant, and the heat is indirectly, through an exchanger transmitted to the inner water system. Advantage : Since the inner system is water, can be used in traditional radiators, each room can be regulated independently and can be reversed in summer for cooling. Disadvantages : Dunno! Where is get's complicated is that each system has what is called a coefficient, which seems for most systems to be in the region of 4. What that means is that for every 1 kw of electrical energy (you didn't think you were going to get something for nothing did you?), you get 4kw of heat. I say most systems are around 4, but nobody gives you exact figures. The guy pushing Sol/sol tells you his system is more efficient, while the guy pushing Sol/Eau tells you the opposite. If anybody knows the answer to that question, I'd be very interested to know it. For those with pools, it's possible to heat the pool using the same equipment, BUT only when heating is off. Basically it will extend the duration of pool use to those months where it's warm enough to have no heating, but too cold to swim. I guess April/May and September/October. Doesn't sound like much, but does double the amount of time you can comfortably use the pool. As you can see I've done my homework, but still a few unanswered questions remain!
  8. The property we have is pretty large, and we have decided on Geothermal heating. Only problem is there are various technologies, Sol/Sol, Sol/Eau, Eau/Eau, and obviously everybody says their system is the best, and the competition are not to be trusted! Very difficult to find out what is true and what is sales speak!
  9. Has anyone installed geothermal heating, and if so any recommendations? Various different technologies to choose from...a little difficult to separate wood from the trees! Steve
  10. I suppose if it is your principle residence, then you'd be resident in France and filling in a tax return....or is there a case where you wouldn't be?
  11. I believe there is a 40% tax credit on all material related to 'green' technologies.
  12. All the above is assuming it's not your principle residence!
  13. A friend of mine had the same problem with an ADSL line (usb, therefore he had to 'dial') Everytime he accessed Outlook Express, he was disconnected. I installed Thunderbird (Firefox's little brother...mail client), and problem went away. He recently re-formatted his hard disk and started again. Outlook express is fine now.... Steve
  14. Thanks Robbie, that means I can get myself a receiver without a card (usually quite cheaper) If the card doesn't work for some reason, I can always get the new ftv card. Steve
  15. I have a sky card (blue with yellow house) with a sky box that doesn't work (the box that is) Is it possible to get another box and use the same card, or are they twinned? I have never seen this card working as the box never worked. (don't ask...bad deal!!) Steve
  16. I have the same modem DLink 604....I use it here with Wanadoo(used to use it with Freeserve in uk)....don't remember too many problems when setting up! If you have problems pm me! Steve
  17. Changing the car over to French plates/insurance requires : 1) Certificate of Conformity from Manufacturer 2) Changing of headlamps (some people say they have gotton away with stickers, but I'm not sure what their position would be if they had an accident!) 3) Passing CT (equivilent of mot) 4) Insurance (I was able to use my UK non claims bonus) 5) Obtain a Carte Grise I'm sure I've missed something, and some things may need to be done in a different order...I've forgotton exactly how it was done! Steve
  18. Thanks all for the replys....I'll pop into Mercier in Pons next time I pass (have been meaning to for ages as I pass from there quite often, but usually on a Sunday!)
  19. I am still to be convinced that a wood burning stove looks good in an open fireplace, but the amount of heat lost up the chimney means I have to go down that route. Does anyone have a picture of a stove in a fireplace so I can get a idea of how it looks. (my imagination is pretty limited!) Steve
  20. Sounds like mice to me...but I would get it checked? (btw what other evidence of mice were you thinking of?)
  21. I have just sent off for the following : http://www.visiosat.com/images/products/sup_3lnb_75.jpeg I already have a dish with a dual lnb (19.2 and 13)...need to buy another LNB. I already have a Diseq switch which allows me to have one wire going into my receiver from Astra and Hotbird. I'll have a second wire going into my other receiver(sky box). Haven't received it yet so don't know if it'll work, but can't see why not? Steve
  22. From what I have read from this forum, 6 months occupancy sounds very optimistic to me. I'd base myself on more like 3 months occupancy especially if you're planning on livving on the proceeds. Anything extra would be nice, but think small to start off with.
  23. Babnik

    Etiopathe

    By sheer coincidence a friend of mine mentioned the exact same thing to me this week. She swears by a local Etiopath for any aches and pains. What an Etiopathe does exactly I'm not sure, but as an example this friend had a back pain, and the Etiopath diagnosed it to a problem with the hip. Fixed that and voila pain was gone. Anyway here's an url for more info : http://www.etiopathie.com/portail/index.php Steve
  24. You could arrange for a transfer every month from your UK account to your French account. If you do this with one of the multiple specialist Currency exchange companies, you can fix the exchange rate for a certain amount of time, thus being assured that the same amount is transfered each month. Steve
  25. Re. changing of licences, I suppose it depends on the particular Gendarme you meet. I recently was stopped by a couple of gendarmes, and the first one (quite young, obviously the junior) asked me why I hadn't changed my UK licence to a French one. When I tried to explain that it's an EU licence and it shouldn't matter, he was having none of it, and told me to get it done. On consulting his more senior partner, he found out he was wrong, and that my UK licence was perfecly ok. Five seconds later he changed his mind, because due to the 2 points I was about to get for speeding, I'd need a French licence. To cut a long story short, I now have a French licence (with 2 penalty points!) Steve
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