hastobe

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="wen"] But, having said that, how many French are leaving France because of the 'foreigners' moving here? [/quote] 36 ?.............................................................[Www] [/quote] But then the French are 30 years or so behind the Brits...or so everyone says [;-)]

Just reading all the above with great amusement and wondering which departments have all these available artisans that will give you a written devis....in less than a year.  Oh the luxury of a choice of devis....! Kathie

Same here - both professionals (Chartered Accountant and NHS Consultant).   There is no way we would contemplate giving up our careers in the UK to move permanently to France - it woud be financial suicide.  We are staying in the UK (with all its problems) until the kids are safely at Uni and we have sufficient pension / capital on which to retire to an enjoyable (and comfortable) lifestyle in France (with all its different problems).  In the meantime we have a lovely second home which we are renovating (minor renovations - I would add!) in our spare time and spending lots of time in (that is when we are not swapping it to travel to other (more exciting) destinations [;-)])... Kathie

Completely opposite to in the UK then.... Kathie

We also have a French mortgage - fixed at 3.8% for 15 years.  Even with the set up fees and the cost of (obligatory) life insurance, this was the best deal we could find (and I work for a bank so get staff rates!)  I would also second the comment above - your French mortgage is the one thing that will slow down your purchase so if you can get the ball rolling beforehand... Kathie

[quote user="Iceni"]Do you mean EUR vs GBP mortgage ? If yes then borrow in the currency that yields income thus minimising currency exposure. If no, no idea. John not [/quote] The flip side of that is that if you borrow in Euros you hedge the investment in your property.  i.e. the euros you get on the sale of your french house will go to repay your euro mortgage - rather than have to be converted to sterling (at whatever the then rate is) to repay a UK sterling mortgage.... Kathie

[quote user="Dick Smith"]Yes, well if you want to be pedantic it's a case of literacy and oracy. That is a judgement of functionality. Articulacy is something else. Normally we would speak of fluency as the spoken or oral element. But hey - why not pick nits? [/quote] LOL - well I learned from the master nit picker Dick [;-)] Kathie

[quote user="Dick Smith"][quote user="hastobe"][quote user="Teamedup"]Tourangelle, [:)] so would that imply that an illiterate french person was not 'fluent'. I know some non french people who write excellent french. French people say that they do. But they don't speak french very well and sometimes have trouble understanding spoken french.............. As I always say, a language is a language, ie use the tongue, otherwise we would call it an ecrivage wouldn't we. [/quote] So you can be fluent but illiterate?  Kathie [/quote] Of course - fluency is about spoken language and literacy written language. The question may be at which level you are fluent. [/quote] So when I see job adverts for international tax consultants etc that require fluency in french it means I only need to be able to speak like a french fishwife and not able to write a word?   I think you'll find that the word fluency can be applied to either verbal or written proficiency in a language and so you are not truly 'fluent' until you are have a natural ease and competency in both. Kathie

[quote user="Teamedup"]Tourangelle, [:)] so would that imply that an illiterate french person was not 'fluent'. I know some non french people who write excellent french. French people say that they do. But they don't speak french very well and sometimes have trouble understanding spoken french.............. As I always say, a language is a language, ie use the tongue, otherwise we would call it an ecrivage wouldn't we. [/quote] So you can be fluent but illiterate?  Kathie

[quote user="Valleyboy"]...but to avoid the risk of this thread being pulled or blocked, I'm going to shut up now! [/quote] Ditto - mouth is now zipped on the subject! Kathie

[quote user="Lou"]I live in the Hautes-Pyrenees so am clearly biased!! ...... You can also walk up to the Pic du Midi rather then take the cable car (in the summer - though there's so little snow at the mo that you could probably walk up now too!) Lou [/quote] 96 kids from my son's year have just headed off there - for a weeks skiing....don't envy the teachers trying to keep them entertained [Www]. Kathie

Back to the main point - what happens if you have a second home and so never receive the census notification - and in any case couldn't get to France to complete it? Kathie

[quote user="Valleyboy"]Gardian Like yourself, I still cannot understand the knee-jerk reaction to the Poll Tax, except from people who wished to stay outside of the system for some reason, It seems a very fair, and egalitarian, way of collecting local revenues, and yet it generated such a huge volume of hatred from the -  presumably -  egalitarian left wing. I was in The Strand on the day of the Poll Tax riot, and witnessed first-hand the mindless damage by the mob! [/quote] I agree.  My parents, have always worked hard and, although on low incomes, have been careful with their money and have ploughed it all back into their home.  They have never drawn benefits (even when both were very ill, without pensions and fully entitle to disabillity). Their home is their only asset - they have never taken holidays abroad (we had a second hand tent and camped!),  never had a new car or new clothes (we lived in 'hand me downs'), didn't go to the pub every Friday, - yet because they were careful with their money they pay much higher rates than say a family of 6 - both parents unemployed living in a council house.   At least poll tax was based on your income (i.e. ability to pay) and the use you made of the services (the number in the household) - I see nothing wrong with that.  It's a little like making those elderly people with homes give them up to pay for their 'care' in a care home.  What about all those who have &*^$* their money up the wall so to speak - spending over their lifetime on new cars, holidays, nights out, clothes etc - such that they don't have any assets to speak of when they get to their old age (and I can think of quite a few that fall into this bracket!) - they get all their care free!  I would also add that we are much better off under the current system (and its predecessor - the old rates) - but that still doesn't make either  system right - or fair.  Kathie

[quote user="Dick Smith"] And just how weak are the men in the house? I hadn't watched any of it this time (I watched the last one and promised that this time I wouldn't) until the Big Row, so I may have missed something - but what are they like? Complete wimps. [/quote] Exactly - no one (with the exception of, perhaps, Jermaine Jackson) seems to have said anything.  Too many people nowadays seem to be happy to be bystanders..... Kathie

[quote user="Dotty "]Come on if folk really believe the masses in UK are just like Jade, then what is the world coming to. [/quote] Sadly Dotty (well certainly where I live) an awful lot are... Kathie

For me it has nothing to do with racism - simply respect for your fellow human being. I hear what you are saying about parental influences Katie - but why oh why have people made a celebrity of her???  She is hardly someone to aspire to.  Its almost an inverted sense of pride some people seem to have in being an ignorant ***. Kathie

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Ahhhh at last I know who this Jade Goody is that people have been talking about!!  Never seen BB or similar 'Reality' (Ha!) shows and don't want to.  OK now I know who she is, what is she? actress? singer? or what?[/quote] She is an ignorant, uneducated, inarticulate lout - and heaven only knows why she is admired enough (in certain sectors) to have become as famous as she is.  It clearly shows some people have no aspirations - or personal pride.  She's an embarrassment. A quotation from Ghandi springs to mind - 'It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.' - which about sums up Ms Goody. Kathie

Thanks! Kathie

Anyone know where I can get this?  I've scoured the shelves of the big Carrefour / Leclerc in Trellisac (Perigueux) without success - I can find SR flour but not baking powder. Kathie

We've found white goods in France to be really cheap - the 32" Phillips TV we bought at Christmas (against our better judgement - the kids wore us down!) was 750 euros in the sale at the Conforama in France. In the sale in Comet in the UK the same model was £850!! The same model of fridge (Whirlpool American thingie) was also cheaper in Foxy in Perigueux (900 euro, so ~£600) than in Comet sale.  Having said that £500 does seem a pretty good price - but I guess it depends on what it costs to get it to France... Kathie

[quote user="Llwyncelyn"]Val today the good old Bank of England put up interest rates as well and that in itself will bring pressure so I am not sure if in France we continue to see a drop in the number of our countrymen and women who wish to come to France for to borrow money in the UK is going to become harder. [/quote] We borrowed in France - at 3.8% fixed for 15 years....our work colleagues (with UK SVR mortgages - at nearly double this figure) hate us!  They're now muttering about moving to France LOL Kathie

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Back to the original question, if I'm actually allowed to change the subject away from banks?[;-)] The French could learn a thing or two from the UK in splashing out (no pun intended) just that extra couple of euros to install proper sit-down toilets in the stopping areas on autoroutes (and everywhere else, for that matter). I'm not sure I see any benefit to the hole-in-the-ground toilet[+o(] [/quote] LOL - I sooo agree!!!  And the thought did occur to me on our last visit...how the **** do disabled travellers go to the loo... Kathie

Welcome back Ali! Kathie

[quote user="saddie"]Sorry I should have added I don't like Ikea. I will probably suffer a virtual lynching for that.[/quote] Ditto - horrible stuff Kathie

[quote user="Teamedup"]    The ADVANTAGE you have is that most of you have made money in the UK which means that you can take this cheap housing stock, something that the locals and SMIC'ards can only dream of.  [/quote] Exactly - it is the heavy taxes and low income of the majority of the French that create the cheap housing and lifestyle that give the (British / Dutch / German etc) immigrants their high quality of life (by comparison) in France.  Kathie