Wendy

Because we live in France and someone has to start somewhere. This system here will not change until people challenge it and enforce change. We are pursuing this because this old codger is a public menace on the local roads. In short, he is a drunk driver. Care to put your kids across the road in his path?...  

Oh dear, this reminds me of when a beautiful big black dog was struck by a car outside our place two years ago about 7am. I was up getting my son ready for school when I heard a bang and the sound of glass breaking, but it was pitch black outside and windy - I thought something had blown off the windowsill upstairs. Leaving the house 30 minutes later I saw this large dog dead in the gutter outside on the road. I drove to the Mairie, then the Gendarme to report it. No interest at all. I returned home and the scene was so distressing; I was wondering what to do next when a local vineyard owner turned up in a van. The dog was his. It had strayed 1.5km's over to the road. Seeing that old man cry as his son placed the dog into the back of the van was so heartbreaking.  Remembering the sound of the breaking glass that morning...I hope that the driver had to dig very deep into his pocket to fix the damage to his/her vehicle.

Well for what it's worth, we are still fighting the elderly, deaf, French tractor driver who caused such a serious accident involving my husband and 13 year old son in May 2007. He has never been brought to justice even though he left the scene of the accident by driving off. We are STILL seeking compensation. We found out a good while ago that he had been drinking alcohol in the local cafe that morning prior to the accident...and the accident occurred at 8.49am! Why is it that one cannot buy a meal in a French cafe before the usual 'serving' times but one can imbibe alcohol from the earliest hours of the day here? French law is an ass/arse/whatever word you want to use. We are not letting him get away with it even though it is costing us. He is going to pay in the long run, that much we know. His actions cost us thousands in the months afterwards, not to mention the fact that it was a miracle my husband and child were not killed. I can understand you being pissed with the French system. It works in favour of the French.

J.R the French are not motivated by money, or business, so yes they would turn away those with debit cards and cheque books. And another thing...this attitude with car rental companies is worldwide. They know darn well that some people will make off with the car if all they have to do to drive away is leave a piece of paper in the form of a cheque (and that is all it is) or a debit card whereby nothing can be charged to the client unless they are present and willing. To these companies debit cards and cheques are useless. With regards to cheques...I have noted that all the shopping centres, hotels, cafes, restaurants and smaller shops in the region now all bear the sign 'reglement par cheque pas accepte'. Even MacDo's and Quick state 'cheque bancaire pas accepte ici' now. We have asked, and been told, that too many people now are bouncing cheques despite the laws here. So we no longer accept cheques in our hotel here either; if the locals say 'no' then so do we. It appears that the day of the cheque in France is nearing an end...great! maybe that means we will all get through the damn checkout alot quicker!                

What I found so disturbing Tegwini is what this journalist had to say. She had spent a good deal of time investigating the cases of child rapes/murders in SA and had worked alongside the very police who were working to fight all this. Yet, amidst all this horror, Mandela chose to pull the rug out from under them all...because it all cost the Govt too much money to fund. If I can find the name of this woman I will publish it here. She is an Australian journalist. Naturally, her reports do not attract much interest from those in the UN. Mandela is their 'darling'.    

So the German soldiers were like 'Oh sorry, we didn't mean to kill all the women, children and babies in THIS town, but the OTHER town instead'...? They did it because they were cold hearted and sadistic monsters.

Hmmmm, maybe they are getting you back for dumping them somewhere else during the week?

Nick: yes, there are credit cards, but they're very rare. This is a bit of a plus point actually in that there don't seem to be any cash advance fees for French credit cards. You must have had a really low credit limit in the UK. As far as I know, the maximum credit limit in France is 21,000€ or so. In fact, up to a few years ago I understand that the maximum was lower than the minimum limit on many UK cards. For example, HSBC France had a maximum limit of, I think, 5000€ about four years ago when the comparable HSBC UK account came with a minimum credit limit of £5000 (ie 7500€). One card that is very easy to get in France is that from Auchan. Apply for a loyalty card and about a year later they will offer you a credit card. You start out with a store card version but you can upgrade that to Visa/Mastercard in the store. The only documentation required is your passport plus the offer letter. Charge is 8€/year for the store card, 25€ (I think) for Visa/Mastercard. Incidently, if you got your ONEY card (issued by Auchan these days) was acquired in the days when it was Egg, their acceptance criteria may well have changed. I gather that loads of Brits here got it in the early days. We tried later but were turned down though that was in the midst of their takeover by Auchan which may have complicated matters somewhat. Although we are here about four years, we have yet to get the documentation needed to even get a contract phone never mind a credit card!   ErnieY: as you say the problem with Visa Electron and Maestro is that the customer is supposed to be present for the transaction. This seems always to be the case for Maestro (bear in mind that Switch may be rebranded but it still has more facilities than a normal Maestro card). However, it is actually possible to do customer not present transactions with Visa Electron and we do that quite regularly. You can actually book a car online with both Visa Electron and Maestro BUT the car hire company will still ask for a credit card when you come to collect it as they want to be able to bill you for any damage which they can't do on Visa Electron or Maestro. It's not always clear from their sites that they do this either. In principle, you can pay the excess amount upfront in cash but it's usually the equivalent of around 2000€ to do it that way and they are "less than keen" on people wanting to do that.   P3: Depends on what you're getting up to in "creating" a UK address. We did it by accident rather than design but it's quite a legit address for us anyway. No credit card company would consider taking a customer to court so long as the payments were being kept up. Aside from that, I suspect that it's only good sense to maintain a UK address in some shape or form in case you find yourself in the situation of considering a return. After all, there is a considerable number of Brits who do return. In explaining the the French have no concept of credit cards; we had some problems with one of our cards and the security settings applied to it's use in the first two years we were here. It was repeatedly refused at places like Carrefour and Auchan...each time the cashier tried to direct us to a cash machine we explained that it was 'credit' card and not a 'cash' card. Total incomprehension in response. We could have done a cash advance on said card, yes, but are not that stupid or inclined to pay the high interest on a cash advance. We never do them.  

The French still have not grasped the concept of credit cards and are not likely to in the forseeable future. They only deal in debit cards at the moment. You should never cut ties with your homeland completely. HFC still continue to call me (on my French phone number) offering me personal loans until I inform them I am in France, then they terminate the call only to badger me again a few months later. Do you want an actual 'credit' card or just a debit card with a Visa/Mastercard symbol on it? You could try American Express though it will cost you about 200 euros a year for their credit card but you will need to create a UK address, plus you will need to prove your level of income. The Co-Op Bank in the Channel Islands will issue British citizens everywhere with a credit/debit card so you will have to go off-shore in that respect...you will need to provide a passport and proof of address. Otherwise your only other option is to create an address in the UK (using that of parents, siblings, adult children - a family member with the same surname as yourself is the best bet), open another UK bank account, or even change your Nationwide account to the new UK address and wait until you qualify. Could take 2 years though before you get your card. There really is no easy way around this. You are literally now a non-UK resident trying to get a UK credit card. Extremely difficult despite your previous life there.    

Actually my white and coloured in-laws all say the same thing...choosing Mandela as leader there was SA's biggest mistake. This country also has the highest rate of child murders than anywhere else in the world. And in 2006 Mandela chose to dismantle the special child protection task force that existed there...due to reasons of 'economy'. This in fact was announced by an award-winning journalist at the VISA Pour L'Image exhibition in Perpignan (exhibition for international photo journalism) who had been specifically investigating for four years the rate of child murders/rapes in that country; both the police in their attempts to curb it and the Mandela Govt's blank refusal to address the problem. On average seven children (under ten) every week are murdered in that country. She stated that the only police who were willing to fight on were doing so completely unpaid and at the expense of their own family lives. Disgusting. Mandela is not the saint that the world makes him out to be; and time will reveal just how corrupt and hypocritical this so called 'leader of human rights' actually is.    

Depends on how you term Languedoc as a 'town'. It is a very large and diverse region, some regions expensive to buy in (depending on who you are buying from) while some areas still offer you a three bedroom village house for under 150K euros. Also, Provence does not exist anymore as one 'area' or 'one place' so to speak. The re-jigging of the local govts has seen to this. If you wish a busy and vibrant town then avoid at all costs deepest rural France, or rural France altogether. Anyplace busy and vibrant offering what you are after will require a healthy bank balance.  

What can you do with the good-for-nothings that sit behind the PO's desk? In our surrounding villages...nothing! I have never seen such lazy and useless jobsworths in my life. Here is an example of our local PO. One person mans the PO counter. Up to five people 'work out the back'. This much I know. At any given time of day you can walk into this PO and encounter up to six or seven people standing around the walls whilst one person leans on the counter waiting to be served. Said 'one person manning the counter' more often than not is either on the phone with back to counter; at the filing cabinet with back to counter; staring intently at the new computer recently installed so not noticing person at counter or fed up persons lining the walls; chatting at the door to the back-room with back-room staff...with back to counter. That's if you are lucky to get in in the first place. The opening hours of our local PO, for one example, are 9am to 11.30am Saturday; the door to the PO is always locked at 11.am so you cannot get in after that time. Even though the stated opening hours are until 11.30. Why? because, on peering through the window, you will notice that a huuuge crowd of THREE people are already waiting to be served and to allow anymore in after 11am would severely jeopardise the staff's chances of bolting out the door at 11.30am sharp. This was the case throughout the Xmas period recently. The PO during the week is supposed to be open until 4.30pm, as stated on the sign out front, BUT was always locked between 3.45 and 4.00pm to prevent further customers coming in  after that time and creating more work for the oh-so stressed out and exhausted staff. Poor dear things...imagine having to work until 4.30 and then having to spend time locking up afterwards! Several times I tried to post cards and parcels for Xmas only to encounter a locked door up to 45 minutes before the official closing time. I saw one man bashing his fist on the glass window at 4.10pm one day when madam inside refused to open the door even though the PO was suppsoed to be open until 4.30. What a crock of **** What lazy people. The sooner France does away with this nonsensical 35 hour week the better. Extend working hours here and pay people to work them. Then teach them HOW to work!  

Mike, there is a set-up fee for Credit Agricole too and PayPal is too dear for everything billing-wise...didn't you PM me a few weeks back with this same enquiry as regards a Chambres D'Hote ? Pretty sure you did.  We answered you to my knowledge and in great detail too. Theoretically you can use a UK issued credit card machine if you can find a bank there to give you one knowing you are in France and are prepared to pay the costs; with a French issued machine you will not be able to take deposits/payments from Switch/Maestro cards unless the customer is present...useless really if you are doing B&B and wish to charge a deposit before they arrive - or charge a no-show if they book and do not show up without informing you. Get in touch again if needed.  

Forget this 'great adventure' business here in France Katie-poo; great problems lie in store in France for the unsuspecting. It is not Utopia, it is not the be-all and end-all of everything in life. Unless you are retired, self-sufficient, or have toddlers. The grass is not always greener...in other words. If it is for some, then fine. It ain't for many others.

AMEN Macky!!

No, but whoever wrote it was right. Traders in this business anywhere else work well over an 80 hour week. What a wimp. This bank has an operating income of 22 billion euros. This guy lost this bank in excess of 5 billion euros. It's net income! With employees numbering WORLDWIDE at 122,000. How many employees do Nationwide and Halifax employ UK wide? much more! This bank is in serious trouble with losses like that as are it's account holders. "Last night a spokesman for Sócíété Générálé denied that Kerviel was overworked, insisting he lost the money after betting that the French were about to stop being rude, lazy, arrogant b@stards" You can bet what you like on this one and never come out a winner. No icon here because I am serious. No wonder the French are the laughing stock of the world; after the UK that is.

Then PM that person my dear if you do not wish a forum answer. A life/future in France should not be based on the climate as you so clearly emphasise. South Africa has a brilliant climate, much like Australia, so I doubt that is why they wish to move here. And it does differ wherever you live here in France do not forget. The fact is that native born South Africans have a hard time getting a visa to visit here let alone live here...I know this from various points of interest. This couple need to contact the French Embassy in either Durban, Cape Town or Johannesburg FIRST and go from there. I wish them luck.    

If I was to get started on about the local village post offices (3 in our area within a radius of 10km's) and their ineffectual, useless and lazy staff I would surely be banned from this forum. So I won't... as much as I am tempted to vent my spleen[:@]  I drive 27 km's into the city to post anything these days. Talk about a job creation scheme for College dropouts!

Look, whether this person speaks Zulu or Swahili makes no difference Tegwini. The fact is that white South Africans do have more hassles coming to visit France, let alone live here. We have been in contact with so many of them to state this fact. Some nationalities are subject to more negative response rather than other's. I was not being so much 'negative' than honest and realistic. Forget about those SA's on the radio or TV who secure residency here via an employer...we are talking about an ordinary couple who want to buy a cute house and live here. One thing is sure though...no one here in France lives behind barbed wire compounds as opposed to those living in Durban, Cape Town etc.

Mackyfrance; if I was those people I would be going to the Prefecture and reporting that Maire's activities and attitudes. Otherwise they could always threaten their Maire, and Prefect, with a rendezvous in Strasbourg. And actually do it! The French, and France, are part of the European Union and so are subject to European laws whether they like it or not, just as the UK, Germany, Spain et al...unless more people take them to task on this they will never pull their socks up and act accordingly.  If France wants to make it's own rules and apply them then she should withdraw completely. But you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

Mackyfrance, I have news for your teacher. If said non-french speaking English kids are under the age of 16 then that College MUST accept them if they live in that particular school's  Commune. The French really annoy me in this respect...they started the EU and are very much a part of it, so why should they not be prepared to do their duty and accept those arriving to live here from other countries and cultures under their EU rights?  Other countries, especially those in the UK, have to accept foreign students from other non-English speaking EU countries and cope with them, and so should the French do the same with non-french speaking kids.  They simply do not wish to make the effort, this I have found. I think it is pathetic that a supposedly forward-thinking nation as France maintains an education system that cannot cope with English speaking kids. In the 21st century! I mean we are speaking about English...not Mandarin here. The whole idea of the current EU is no barrier to movement; freedom of movement to all EU citizens everywhere within the EU, including nationality and that has to include language. I suggest that France get out the textbooks and start educating their teachers to speak, at least, the english language to some degree and stop pushing the Republican crap. Don't forget the same EU laws that allow the British to come and live here are the same laws that REQUIRE their children to be educated here. Regardless if they speak French or not. Why on earth have the EU at all then? Scrap it? so then the  Brits will have to sell up here and go back to old Blighty...so long as the Poles sod off back to Warsaw I suppose. Personally, this teacher needs to clear her school's refusal to accept local non-French speaking kids with the Mairie first before they really get themselves into trouble.  

[quote user="sweet 17"][quote user="Frenchie"][quote user="Bugbear"] [quote user="Jura"] Bugbear...can I sit on your bike and go 'vroom, vroom'?[:-))][/quote] Of course you can.................................but you'll have to get really close, I've only got a single seat............[:D][:D] [/quote]   Here it is ![:D] [/quote] Oh, that Bugbear is SO promiscuous!  He promised me I could ride on his pillion provided I didn't look over his shoulder.  I always knew a man with a name like Bugbear could not be trusted [/quote] He can't...so you ride pillion and I'll sit on his shoulder[;-)]

Awww, he looks so lonely.

Because if you have an Irish parent/grandparent you can then obtain an Irish passport and Irish citizenship. This will enable you to settle in an EU country as an EU citizen. It is by far the easiest option for anyone wanting to live in France. Applying as a South African citizen is just about a no-goer; I know two South African guys who live here but they married French women.

Jambo Tania, habari! I hate to be the negative one (many will disagree) but there are some points for you to consider. The main one being that Sth Af's have a hard time getting a visa to come here. We receive a lot of bookings from South African people to stay with us and then are not able to come because they are not able to obtain a Schengen Visa; and I am mostly referring to Sth Africans just living in the UK. People from South Africa tend to have particular difficulties in this purpose.  If you wish to live in France then obtaining the right to settle here has to be your first port of call. Do either of you have Irish parents/grandparents OR European born parents? if so then it may be possible. If not then I suspect you will have your work cut out for you coming to live here. It will be incredibly difficult otherwise. My three eldest sons' father is Sth African born and yet will need to use his Australian passport when he plans to come visit them...simply because coming here as a Sth Af would be all that more difficult. I do not know why they are so hard on the South Africans here, but they are. Well, in a way I do, but maybe I should not state it here. In short, they tend to arrive and not leave; many white South Africans are leaving their country for certain reasons these days ( I know, I have ex in-laws there) and other countries know this... Personally I don't like your chances. Just being realistic and honest[:)]