lynpy

Hi We are a family of 4 with a very well behaved dog and we are looking for an unfurnished year rental possibly around Sarlat or Eymet.  We need to be near to a reasonable sized town that has a college or Lycee. We are looking to move in August. We are willing to look after the property (maintenance) or help with gite management in return for a reasonable rent.  We require 3 bedrooms and  4th bed/study. Please contact me ASAP if you have something that may be suitable as we will be in the area on Saturday for 1 week. Thanks Lynda

Thanks for your responses! Panda That's the first time I've heard that if there are no objections after a period of time that the 'problem' becomes legal - I may pursue that a bit more! Alex, you've sparked an idea! Perhaps I can find some of that sticky plastic stuff that you can stick on the window that looks opaque - that way I keep the window, which the style is in keeping with the house, and people are less likely to object! Cheers Lynpy      

Hi Can anyone shed some light on this for me please. We have an illegal window (we only have a permit for glass blocks) which overlooks a field which is unused by the owner and the land is 'non constructible'. The owner is happy for us to have a window but he can't swap his piece of land with a bit of ours, in order to make the window legal, as his nephews own half of it. Sadly he's lost contact with them and they're not local. If we can't locate the nephews to resolve the situation and we sell the house in the future will this cause a problem to the sale?  Everyone in this village seems to have illegal windows and buildings. Our neighbour has an unmissable 60ft x 15ft illegaly built barn in his garden which is on view to all and most of the village has illegal velux windows !  Noone is affected by our window. We're still trying to trace the nephews but although they've inherited the land, their mother is still listed as owning it. When I contacted the Mairie of the commune where she was listed they said they'd never heard of her! The only reason we didn't use glass blocks is because it's in the living area and glass blocks would make it look like a prison or a bathroom! Any ideas? Thanks Lynpy

Hi Whitey We only want the frame, not the window. But perhaps I can ask at Lapeyre if they can just make the frame. Thanks lynpy

Hi there Just wondered if anyone knew where we could buy a window frame? We are adding a window to our room and have found a perfect match to the other window in the same room. Unfortunately as it was from Emmaus it came without the frame.  I guess we were so overcome with excitement we just didn't think about it! So any ideas would be welcome! Many thanks Lynpy

Hi there Have you tried sites such as http://www.getafreelancer.com ? I've no idea if they are any good but I've seen some other sites like this which offer freelance work if you are qualified in design, publishing, IT etc. Wish I was! Good luck. lynpy  

Thanks Danny That's a great help! Cheers Lynpy

Thanks very much for your responses. I have thought about cheaper options but Will has made a valid point about sticking with Orange/FT in case of any problems with the phone lines. I'm hoping to start a small business within the next 6 months so I'd prefer to pay out a few more euros each month for peace of mind. Just one more (probably daft) question, can I still use a cordless phone ? Thanks again lynpy    

Hi there I've just been looking at the 'internet & calls' package with Orange. It appears that it will cost me only 29.90 per month + 7.00 for international calls. This seems a good deal to me as at the moment I'm paying 24.90 for orange internet only and between 20euros - 50 euros each month with Phonexpat! Apparently I will also get a 2nd telephone line via the live box ( Well I think so!). My question is does anyone understand if both of the phone lines will work on this offer or is it just the calls via the livebox that are free? It all seemed so straightforward but as my command of the language doesn't include 'small print' I don't want to sign up for a 12 months contract that isn't really what I had in mind. I'd be grateful for your thoughts! Lynpy    

Thanks Smiley In that case, I think I'd be safer forgetting the scenic route and doing the motorway via Carcassone & Toulouse and drop down to Lourdes/Tarbes. I didn't realise it would take so long to get to Foix, but of course it's difficult looking at a general map to get an idea of the route. Many thanks Lynpy

Hi I'm looking for a family room somewhere between Foix & Lourdes on 14 & probably 15 July. Clean & comfy is all we need. If anyone has availability and would like to direct me to thier website/info then please pm me.   Many thanks Lynpy  

Hi We'll be holidaying in Argeles in July and are planning to drive across to the Lourdes area on our way home. I just wondered if the extra 2 hours drive via Foix was worth it as against the motorway via Toulouse? I believe it's going to take about 5 & half hours.  We live in the Vendee but thought we could across to the west of France so we could see some more of France. The kids are getting the beach & Spain but we want to see the mountains! The one small complication is that we will be travelling on 14 July! I believe the Tours de France will be in Foix area but I have no idea if it will delay our drive. Any advice, thoughts etc. would be most welcome. Kind regards lynpy  

Just a thought, as I don't know what type of business you've been running and if you've got the time but if the business is quiet why not one of you try for some temp work to get you through.  I don't know the legal ins and outs but if one of you was 'temporarily employed' that may put you in the system or so I believe. May be worth a try. Wishing you all the very best, Lynpy

Hi there Shame you're not a bit nearer to 85 as my OH is a pro guitar player and also taught guitar in UK schools for years. Anyway if you check out some of the French music sites you can sometimes find teachers - you can search by area. Here are a few that may help: http://fr.audiofanzine.com/services/petites_annonces/?idpays=1&idregion=21&idtype=0&order_pa=date&prix_min=&prix_max=&model=2&pmpa=0&idproduit=10008&page=1&filtreOK=1 www.vivastreet.com  www.musiciens-dans-ta-ville.com  www.infoo-groupe.com  www.zikinf.com Good Luck Lynpy

We are also having a problem with a guest in the attic who likes to play right above our bed, usually at 3.00am! My OH now sleeps with a long handled brush next to the bed ready to bang on the ceiling to frighten it away! He only suceeds in waking me up though! I did come face to face with one of these rather cute creatures a couple of years ago when I was in a furniture shop. I wanted to measure a mattress and I reached into my handbag to get my tape measure out  but instead I pulled out a four legged creature with Mickey mouse ears and a bushy tail! It must have crawled in for a sleep when I'd left my bag open on the kitchen floor earlier! Thank god I didnt pull it out 10 mins earlier at the till at Leclerc!  

Thanks for the responses I had thought about an independent email address but I wasn't sure how to go about it and if I could open it in Outlook.  I have a hotmail address which I use on occasion for certain reasons but I much prefer using Outlook. Could I open gmail in Outlook? Lynpy

Cheers Tim! That's really helpful. regards Lynpy

Hi I'm not very technical minded so this may seem a daft question! If I change my ISP from Wanadoo/Orange to Teleconnect would I lose my wanadoo email address and if so would I lose all my  old emails? And would I loose it immediately or would there be a time lapse. I'm sure when I was using wanadoo in the UK I was able to use my old wanadoo uk address for about 1 month before it stopped working. There are certain things that I have signed up to using my email address, so just trying to think ahead before I switch over. Many thanks in advance Lynpy

Hi Sandra You don't say what type of work your looking for or what your language skills are but if it's of any help to you my OH has been working  for temping agencies, as permanent work here is hard to come by. Providing he kept in regular contact with the agencies he had no trouble finding work and he only speaks basic French. If you do go down this route check out some of the following agencies - Adia, Manpower, Adeco Most of the temp work is unskilled, factories, fruit picking, labouring,  however they like to see some sort of experience on your c.v. If it's general work you're after then make sure your c.v. reflects that.  ie. be careful not to be overskilled! Good Luck Lynpy

Thanks Cassis But unfortunately I can't keep repainting every time the kids get their mucky paws on it! The crepi is going up the sides of a staircase so it's going to get somewhat dirty after a time so I just wondered what other people did to clean their walls. Lynpy

Hi Just wondered if anyone has any experience of cleaning interior crepi and if so what with as a normal sponge seems to leave bits behind. Would a scrubbing brush be best? Any tips welcomed as I need to clean up after 'school hols' and lots of grubby hand prints! Cheers Lynpy  

If you're looking for an adorable dog that is small to medium sized, well behaved, house trained, good with other dogs and cats, is lovable, fantastic on car rides, great with kids, gentle, with a very waggy tail, injections and ops up to date then perhaps Boo is for you!   You may remember seeing her on one of Christine's posts  previously.  I'd add one my own photos of her but I can't figure out how to do it!   Anyway Boo came for a short stay last week, but sadly my other dog didn't give her the welcome she deserved when she first arrived. So Boo's first impression of him wasn't good and to cut the story short they didn't take to each other and sadly I had to return Boo to Christine.[:(]   She's a lovely little dog, full of personality and would make someone a great companion. It's without doubt that if we didn't have the other dog she would have stayed with us.   If anyone would like any more info about how she behaved when she was with us then I would be only too happy to oblige. She really is a sweetheart!   Lynpy            

Hi Christine I've sent you a PM. Lynpy

I highly recommend Les Gardes, Cheffois, not far from La Chataignerie. It's on the road to Pouzages. They are fantastic with my dog and have gone above and beyond to help with his 'problems'!  The owner is Delphine, she speaks English if you need it and her no is 0251526821 Let me know if you need any further info.

Sorry I don't know the french for booking agencies but I do know that there aren't many booking agencies in France at all - my OH is a musician here and most bands/orchestras find their own work.  You may find these websites useful: http://www.info-groupe.com   http://www.lememo.com/sources/annu/annu_artiste1.asp   Best of luck Lynpy