daniel

from my experience : You don't need to divorce, just pretend you are splitting (your wife went back to america, bla bla). You will declare your income and pay taxes accordingly. But remember that taxes depend on the ratio "income/number of people" so your "nombre de parts" will be reduced to 1", and this will increases your taxes ... !

[quote user="Jc"]We had one in 34,but it closed after a few years;the owner told me he had to employ a French "sleeping partner" to get the licenses.[/quote] Well, I'm definitely wrong : I'm in the 34 and never heard of a fish and chips around. "Sleeping partner" sounds like a nice job but you probably don't need this anymore with the EC rules.

My daughter used to be an éclaireuse and she enjoyed it. Religion was not a problem as they were also "ouverts à tous". I have to say however that I was a bit scared by the lack of adult "coaching". She now goes to a "colonie de vacances" every summer and I find it much safer.

[quote user="chris pp"]We have one fairly near to us Daniel, the interesting thing is that although a large number of local French people use it, they apparently buy everything else on the menu except fish. It seems the idea of fish fried in batter is too strange. By the way, it's not British in origin. Chris   [/quote] OK I'm wrong then, as I would have guessed just the opposite. As an ex expat in London, I thought I would know what the French would prefer : fish and chips but not saussages or sandwiches. I agree with the remark that runing a restaurant is hard work but remember that in a country where taxes are so high, this is where people cheat the taxman the most ...

KathyC, yes in your case you want the seller to pay the fees, but your notaire fees are higher. The law is quite simple actually : whoever signed a "mandat" with the agent pays his fees.

As far as I know, all french scout organisations are directly related to a church (catholic, protestant or jewish). Miki, there is no such law ! But this may be a local tradition I'm not aware of.

If I were British and I wanted to live in France, I would open a fish and chips. There is none and I'm sure it would succeed in large citys (>100 000 people) But I'm French and that's why 1. I know it would work and 2. I can't do it myself  :-)

Yes they are allowed on your land. As far as I remember they can even shoot from as close as 150 m from builings. There is a recent law however, which states that you can claim for philosophical opposition. Buts the laws on hunting are complex (http://www.oncfs.gouv.fr/) and I would rather try to talk to the hunters and ask them for not allowing their dogs to ruin your garden. Remember you can alway build a fence around your property.

Avoid the scouts d'Europe (catholic traditionalists). Try the protestants (Eclaireurs Unionistes : http://www.eeudf.org/). But I must say that my (huguenot) view is not neutral on this matter !

The chambre d'agriculture and SAFER have nothing to do with this. You should ask your notaire. If this is a small village, get in touch with the "maire". First, your daughter should check she is the "only" owner of the land as it might be in "indivision". Even if this is not the case and the land is yours, the neighbour may belive the opposite. This may be checked at the mairie : tell them the "cadastre" number (as mentioned in the "acte de vente" : usually a letter followed by a number) and they should be able to find the name of the owner(s) in their computer. Sometimes they would agree to print this for you, otherwise you can go to the "conservation des hypothèque" and pay (cheap) for an official document. Now assuming the land is yours and only yours, the seller may have rented the land to your neighbour. In any case (rented or not) there should be a statment about this in your acte de vente. If there is no mention of a "bail" (rental contract) in your acte de vente and if your neighbour is unable to show you such document, then he has no right at all on the land. Let him know by sending him a "lettre recommandée" and if he keeps using your land go to the gendarmerie and request a "main courante".

Anton, Sorry but my English is not good enough and I couldn't find "Wispering" in my dictionnary. So I shouted this morning at the poste office and it worked as usual. The thing is that if I stop shouting they will stop shouting back and it will be much less fun. But I agree that you may need some training. You can learn how to shout French in Marseille or Sète.

[quote user="Georgina"]Back to the original thread: my french friends tell me that none of the English teachers they have ever had have ever been to England!! Georgina   PS I am curious to know why, not that I don't welcome you, a French person is interested in an expat site for mostly Brits. Please tell. Unless you are improving your English??[:)] At least you have learned what chips really are not [/quote] The only English teacher I know is my ex wife. She is French, traveled a lot across the US, and we spent two years in London. Why am I interested in your forum ? To tell the truth, how I ended up browsing a forum called "Living France" i don't know,  but it took me a while to realise that it was as you say for "mostly Brits". As an ex-expat myself, I know how it feels when you don't understand the why and how so I may offer some help if I can. I'm sure those of you who have been here for years know just as well as I do if not better but as I sometimes write : "hope this helps". Lots of Brits bought properties where my parents live (Poitou) and they created an "association" to know each other better, teach French to the British and the other way round, etc. I guess you could ask my parents the same "why are you interested in ... " question. As I mentionned before, the reading of some threads is great fun for a French, and it also reminds me of my time in London, which was great. I must admit I don't quite understand why so many of you want to live in France. So that my own "why are you interested in ... " question. "Not to say that I don't welcome you" in France, "au contraire"... As for my english, I never learned it at school. I Just went to London and tried to cope. That's where I learned what chips are and are not. I miss Britain actually and I was recently very happy to find some "chips salées au vinaigre" at Intermarché :-)

[quote user="Ron Avery"]"Negociate the fees to no more than 7 %." Why would you be worried about fees if you ae selling, the buyer pays them. [/quote] Ok. Let say that the fees are, say, 25%. Do you think it will help you to sell your property ? If you sign a "mandat de vente" with an agent, you will pay the fees as these will be included in the official price (as indicated in the "declaration d'aliéner"). This means that the buyer will pay taxes on this : much better for him to sign a "mandat d'achat" so that the official price is exclusive of the agents fees. Avoid signing a "mandat d'exclusivité". As for Miller : I wonder what will be left if Britain desappear someday.

Yes, assuming this in an 'indivision" and not a SCI, this should be like selling. However, when I got divorced I broke the indivision with my ex-wife who bought my part of the house. We didn't have to do the termite/asbestos/lead trilogy. But maybe it was because the house was recent (1980ish).

Déferriser is a good one, but how about défriser (parisian slang : cause discontent). Exemple : "y en a qui se fartent quand y voient la tronche à Sarko, et ben moi y me défrise" (ben = bien. y=il(s). Tronche=tête*). According to my English thesaurus, you would say the opposite : "make one's hair curl". *a bilingual one : "tronche de cake" (=stupid face).

Cheapest is by far la poste (now banque postale). Unless the "conseiller financier" at your post office is bad, there is no reason to look further. I've tried to go to some other bank twice in 25 years but I always came back to la poste. Now if you have a problem with them, or with any other french people, shouting is the way to go ... but in french, évidemment  :-)

Notaires usually charge valuation as do immobilier agents when you tell them your not going to sell.  You (buyer) will have to pay for the "frais de notaire" unless the seller agree to share the cost. I'm not sure you have to re-do the termite/asbestos/lead survey in this case.

I new about dynamite but I never heard of vegemite, so I understand that when you see a can with "xxxxmite" written on it, you'd better stay away. As for andouillettes, you are right : this is probably toxic but still quite safe and this is a good training before trying the real terrible french "abats". You won't find amourette anymore (because of the mad cow desease), but you could try (at your own risks) the "tablier de sapeur", the "pieds de porc" or the worse : the animelle, sometimes called "rognon blanc". Bon appétit les angliches :-)

The prices are not going down yet but this may happen in some places. Even in my département, where 1000-1500 new inhabitant arrive every month, prices are not going up anymore and lots of properties stay unsold. In my village (Montpellier suburb) , you can't fing anything below 250000 euros and there are maybe 15 properties for sale above 400000 €. Nice recent villas with swimming pools and beautiful gardens, for sure. The few people who can afford this have plenty of choice but sellers are still hoping and refuse to lower their price. As for hold houses in need of major renovation, there is no rule. Most sellers ask for unrealistic prices but it seems that some are not aware that the market has raised so much. This is why excellent opportunities turn up every week for those who are prepared to react quickly (they are sold before being advertised) and know the french legal system well enough. For instance, I found last week end two big houses (300m2; >3000m2 land) in the haut languedoc for 85-100 000 € with I guess the same figure to be spent on renovation.

Before you sign the quote (devis), you should ask your artisan for an "attestation de responsabilité civile". This will be a proof that he is insured for an accident he may cause while working on your property. The "garantie dommage ouvrage" is different. If done by a professionnal, your new roof will have a "garantie décennale". This means that for ten years, the artisan is responsible for any problem due to wrongdoing. But if in the meantime your artisans goes out of business, you are left without any garantie. The garantie dommage ouvrage is an additional insurance you take (and pay !) which somehow double the garantie decennale. If you are dealing with  a respected and established artisan, I don't think you need this garantie which I am told is expensive. You may seek further advice from you notaire. Hope this helps (sorry for the bad english). Daniel.

Mistral, marmite is a faux amis for the french until they try it. After this experience, anything which sounds like british becomes a vrai ennemi. You should not be allowed to import this stuff without a special licence for toxic products ;-)

Yes ask a local notaire but unless you know one, preferably try to find an "office notarial". This is just several notaires working together so that they each specialise (immobilier, familly, business, etc). You can't negociate the fees are this is fixed by law. You can, in addition sign a "mandat de vente" with a local "agence immobilière" but make sure not to sign an "exclusivité" and put them in concurrence by signing with several, say 2 or 3 from different groupements (FNAIM and the like). Negociate the fees to no more than 7 %. Hope this helps.

The administration in charge for water quality is the DDASS or DRASS (look in the yellow pages at "administration". They can tell you where you can have your water analysed, what is allowed or not, etc... You will have to make sure your water from the well is not sent into the general water system and use a "clapet anti-retour" (sorry, I don't know how to translate this). Even if you don't drink the water, it is nearly always worth using your well for the toilets, washing machine and of course the garden.

If I understand this text, CGT is 16% for non-french E.U. people and 26% for french people. I have to admit the fact that I was born on the wrong side of the channel. Je le savais depuis le début, Put*** de Bor*** de Mer**.

French are formal as long as they don't know well each other and machism goes up when you go south. I was very surprised when I first went to Britain to find that you were so casual. We - the french - have this image of brits being gentlemens drinking brandy or old fashioned ladies having tea so that we expect you to be as casual as Charles or Elizabeth. These wine things are old fashion and boring. Just be yourself. This will help us - formal latin machists - to change. Salidobay, I'm tempted to try your cork trick, but I wonder how long I should keep it and how long the effect could last...