Babnik

Looks like you were overdrawn and the charge is interest on that amount overdrawn. Steve

In defence of french bank customer service, at least when you phone a french bank you do not get a machine (well at least I don't) or a call centre God knows where. We have someone in the bank who always deals with us, if he's not available, he phones back. Are you trying to speak to your bank in French or in English? I'm pretty sure if you were to try and speak to your English bank in French(or any other foreign language), then their customer service wouldn't rate that high! Now as to your charges, I have to agree that banks here like to charge for things that we're not used to being charged for in the UK, but a quick call usually clears up any misunderstandings, and has also managed us to avoid a few of these charges. Steve

I was pretty sure it could be done...here's an illustration of what I mean   I'd only change two of them, but it all depends on cost really.....   Steve

I've just found a study on www.industrie.gouv.fr, that compares average prices for domestic heating : Prices are for 100kwh   Fioul Domestique                   4.69€ Propane                               8.45€ Charbon                               5.61€ Bois                                    1.75€ Electicite                            11.06€ Gaz Distribue                        3.82€   While there are no prices for Geothermal, if you go with the principle of 1 kw in for every 4 kw out, you get 2.77€. All quite complicated though when you get into different tariffs for electricity. While fuel looks pretty good compared to both electricity and propane, it's price is linked to that of oil, and that's only going in one direction...up!! Steve

A question for those more experienced than I. I have 4 very large exposed beams in my house. Two of them seem to be original beams, and two look very recent (Roof has been redone recently, but before we bought the house). The two old beams look as if they were cut using an axe, whilst the two new ones were definitely not done by hand. The two old beams have a natural curvature to them in the centre that gives an extra few centimetres headroom, but the two new ones are perfectly straight, and a little in the way (unless you are about 1.65m tall or less) Whilst, it's not that bad, can anything be done about these two beams? Someone has mentioned lowering the floor in the area of the two beams, giving an extra 10-15 cms of headroom. Also I have recently seen pictures of how a beam can be replaced by quite an intricate (well in my eyes at least) structure of joists and cross beams. Is this possible, and if so is it prohibitively expensive? Or is lowering the floor a more practical solution? (first floor!) Anyone had this problem? Steve

Theoretically for geothermal heating, for every 4 kw of heat you pay(I suppose electricity) 1 kw...therefore sounds like unless there is another fuel which 1/4 the price of electricity, Geothermal might work out the cheapest! (Solar might be cheaper, but I'm not sure how practical that is for a full heating system!)

Have you tried switching off and on again?

I'm in the same line of work...everything is working out fine. My employers were a little wary initially and put me on a 6 month probation. 6 months are over, they are very happy with things and I got a raise! So go for it, you won't regret it! Steve

No chance of your father moving to France? He'd get excellent care whatever his condition.  

Charlotte, it's very easy to find a CT garage to pass a car if you don't have the correct headlamps, whether it's legal or not I'm not so sure. It's that or I've just bought an expensive pair of headlamps for nothing? Steve

You can't just be upgraded to broadband. For one thing you'd need a different modem. Unless someone has installed one in your absence, you're still on dialup!

What you are seeing is your network speed. 54 mb/s is the 802.11g wifi standard speed, while 100mb/s is a common speed for wired networks. Your internet connection is 'only' 2 mb/s, so is well within these parameters. To check your connection got to : http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp Steve

Great that's reassured me a lot! Yeah I guessed things are going to take longer. Does anybody have any tips for good books? (especially for the bigger jobs!) Steve

I don't know if you are thinking of permanently moving the car over to Franc, but if you are, you'll have to change the headlamps....beam diverters won't pass the CT!

This is going to be rather an abstract question, but I'm sure someone must have gone through the same kind of delimma. How much can you actually do yourself when renovating? I know this depends on what experience you have, but I'm not a builder, and while I've done most minor DIY stuff, I've never built a wall or done anything with concrete. Apart from the savings, it's the whole back to basics lifestyle which I want to embrace. Sure I can get artisans and say do this and do that, but even though I'm sure it's more difficult to do yourself, , it's got to be more satisfying! I'm thinking on the lines of : laying of floors/plumbing/laying of underfloor heating/replacing windows/installing skylights/tiling etc etc. I would leave anything to do with structure(outside walls)/roofing and electrical installation to the experts. anyone been there...done it? Steve

As far as the company is concerned, they have nothing to do. all the work in setting things up is from your side. Another point  forgot to mention, is that any expenses incurred for travelling back to the UK for business can be reclaimed against tax and social charges. I've found I don't need to go back that often (Last tie I was in the UK was August, next trip booked for December) ADSL connection is a must though..for me at least! Can I ask what line of work your husband is in? Steve

Well avenue is actually an old french word meaning 'A broad roadway lined with trees'...so perhaps its' just called Avenue! Steve

We actually went to the local URSSAF office first, but I'm sure if we'd gone to the Acountant first she could have arranged all that for us. One word of warning, my wife is French, so it was easy to communicate what we wanted to do, but still got a few blank faces. If your French is not up to that then you're better off finding an accountant who can do it. Where will you be in France, maybe you can have my accountant who now knows what to do. steve

I am in exactly the same boat, except I've been in France for 6 months and have everything set up(or so I hope!!!) Here's a few tips : 1) You can be employed by a UK company and reside in France. You'll pay Frency Tax and social security, and not pay a thing in uk, unless you plan to be in the uk more than 178 days a year. Then it gets complicated. 2) since the French administration have no juridiction over UK companies, you'll be liable for both Employee and Employer contributions. My compay pays me gross and adds the contributions, then I take care of the rest. You'll be what is called 'A Sole representative of a Foreign Company' You are still employed, and NOT self employed. 3) French system is wickedly complicated and confusing. Find an accountant (French) to produce your monthly wage slip(UK one no use in France). It's 3 A4 sheets long!!! I pay somehing like €15 a month for the privilage...money well spent! 4) French employer contributions are much higher than UK ones, so unless your employer is kind enough to make up the difference, then you'll have to make it up yourself. 5) Do NOT bother with UK accountants who claim they have expertise in bth UK and FRANCE, they charge a bomb (£1000) and give you NOTHING. (once bitten, twice shy!)   any other questons I can answer, please contact me Steve

You'll probably be surprised at how many rural areas do have broadband. We recently bought a place, which is about 2 kilometers from a very small village (pop. 249), and you would have thought 'ADSL? No way!', but a little investigation on the France Telecom site, told us that ADSL would be available in Dec 2004.....but that was the village. I phoned France Telecom, and gave them the actual phone number, and they confirmed it would be available 4 Dec 2004 on that number. So if you've got a telephone number, you can confirm when ADSL will be arriving. The Maire is always a good source of this information too. Steve

My wife has just found the number of an Architect in Chalais(16) with the name Mr Batard...surely not the same person...anyway we're not calling him!! Steve

Any Architect recommendations in the Jonzac(17) area?

Joists and floorboards are quite new, but I'll have to check the spacing between joists. Joists are also painted, so a little difficult to tell what the wood is. All I can say is that it feels springy in some areas, and I definately want to do something about the noise insulation (or lack of it). I will definately be looking into it though!   Steve

The place we just bought has had renovations started on it, one of the things already done, is the first floor (or second floor for Americans), which is basically a load of beams with wood floorboards on top(must be a better technical term for that!). My questions are : 1) Is this strong enough for a bathroom? 2) Since I can't tile (doesn't seem stiff enough), what do you put in a bathroom? (don't say vinyl!!!) 3) Is their anyway of stiffening this floor (light weight concrete etc etc) without starting from scratch? thanks Steve

Walls are pretty solid, and the first floor is in place, although it is a wooden floor, and I would have prefered a block and beam for convenience. All that is needed really is the layout of the rooms, but I will definitely think about more than one staircase and also kitchen and bathroom layout first! Steve