Graham and Lynn

Thanks to everyone for their advice - we have got the mattress and are still looking out for a bedstead, but will probably buy the bedstead and sommier together to avoid any problems!

Another question - and now we are looking at the bed for our spare room! - if we buy a bed frame  (ie headboard, bed-end and side-pieces) from IKEA (we have seen one we like), could we fit a sommier bought somewhere else? reason for question: we think we can fit the IKEA frame, once flat-packed, into our car, but the sommier will be too big for the car - however the local supplier (from whom we bought our main bed) could deliver us a sommier for free, whereas IKEA would charge a lot for delivery.  So we thought we could buy the nice frame from IKEA and take it home in the car, and have the local supplier deliver the sommier and matelas.  But only if the sommier will fit the frame!

Just wanted to share our experience with Darty's internet site.  We were in the process of buying our French house and didn't yet have a French telephone number - we therefore put in the number of the estate agent in France (the estate agent had agreed to field calls for us).  We also paid a 30% deposit for four large electrical items.  Darty telephoned a couple of days before our delivery was due but got the estate agent's answering machine (we think because they called in the evening) and rather than leave a message, simply cancelled the order.  Despite it being an internet service they did not send us an email to tell us about the cancellation.  We then waited in all afternoon on the date we had prebooked for the delivery....     When I called to find out what happened they told me that they had cancelled the order "because the number was an estate agency."  I would therefore not recommend giving a French number belonging to anyone who will not be available to answer in person both during the day and in the evening. We have always had excellent service from Darty when visiting their shops and they do have an excellent range of goods.  The person I dealt with by phone after the order had been cancelled was very polite and apologetic.  However I do not get the impression they are going to change their website or their delivery policies to deal with this issue. My practical suggestions for dealing with the issue are: (1) buy a French SIM card for your mobile and use this number for deliveries.  If you put the French card in an old mobile phone you can then leave it switched on in the UK (which from a French point of view is roaming).  We have successfully used this approach for orders since our debacle with Darty. (2) If your French is up to it, call Darty and order by telephone.  By telephone they are extremely helpful. (3) Go into one of their shops and order in person.  Again, in person they are very helpful. Incidentally, we ended up ordering most of our large stuff from Conforama, simply because they were able to deliver at a time convenient to us.  Our local shops, in Avignon and Nimes, were very helpful indeed, despite not really being set up for taking orders over the phone (they apparently can't take credit card details over the phone but agreed to let me give the delivery men a cheque for the entire balance).

Carphone Warehouse actually operates in France - under the name Phone House.

Thanks very much for all the advice so far - especially re buying things separately.  We are now building up a list of places to visit next time we are over! Graham

We are in the process of buying a small house in Gard (30).  We won't be needing much furniture, but we do want to make sure we have a good quality bed and a good sofa or sofabed. Having done some research both on the ground and via French magazines and the internet, it looks like the grandes surfaces like But etc will sell you very cheap beds and sofas, and at the other end of the scale there are people who will hand-craft bespoke ones - but at a price.  We are concerned that the very cheap beds will be bad for our backs, uncomfortable and fall apart in no time, and the hand-crafted ones seem to be hugely expensive. In the UK you can get good quality but not outrageously expensive beds and sofa in places like Laura Ashley, Sofa Workshop, the Iron Bed Company and so on.  Does anyone know if there is a French equivalent for this type of "middle market" shop - and does anyone have recommendations about where to buy good quality new furniture in France in general? Many thanks for any help anyone can offer, Graham PS - I know we could probably find nice stuff in second hand shops, auctions etc, but this will probably take time and what we are really looking for is a couple of items we can order for use immediately after we move in.

Thank you again - very helpful!  I guess the next step will have to take place when we finally move in (we hope mid-February) and I can see how well the UHF aerial works! All the best for the holiday period! Graham   

Have now read and it seems clear that in the short term I should probably use the UHF aerial for the French stations, and then switch to digital TNT when it becomes available.  I will buy a French TV set. For the BBC stations, what exactly is involved in moving the dish to face another direction - I have never had a dish and so don't know.  Unfortunately it is on the chimney! Thanks again for the very useful explanations above! Graham

Hello everyone.  Thank you for the very comprehensive replies so far.  Will go through them carefully tonight and come back with any questions! In terms of the terrestrial digital service, we are buying the the Gard (30) and according to the website, we won't be getting this service until 2007.  That's a pity, as we get Freeview in the UK and are very happy using the UK domestic terrestrial digital - sadly it seems it is not an option in the short term where we will be in France. All the best! Graham

We are in the process of buying a house in France and the vendor has just proudly shown us his satellite dish and demonstrated the large number of channels he can receive (270 apparently!) via his Canalsat subscription. Unfortunately when he moves out he will be taking his satellite boxes (but not dish) with him, and so we are going to have to make our own arrangements. All we really need to receive are the basic French channels (TF1, Ant 2, Fr3, Arte, M6) and ideally BBC World or BBC News 24.  However we would like to get the free French satellite channels as well, and any other English channels that are available without paying. I see that Canalsat has an 11 euro per month package that provides access to a fair number of channels, and this would be one solution. However I wondered whether it was possible to get the free French channels just by buying a digital satellite box by itself without taking out a subscription.  If so does anyone have any recommedations as to what to buy and where?  Would we also pick up any English channels? I have seen lots of discussion of Sky boxes on the forum, but would be most interested to hear about people's experience with the French satellite system. We'd be really grateful for any help or information anyone can provide!

We have stayed at the Hermitage Gantois too - would very much recommend it.

I  can confirm from personal experience that many Lille restaurants are open on Sunday at least at lunchtime - but many are closed Sunday evening. If you like fish, L'Ecume des Mers is a favourite of ours. http://www.ecume-des-mers.com/ Bon appetit!