toni

We used IKEA to have our kitchen delivered including appliances-cooker, fridgefreezer etc. It cost us €200 for a delivery over 1 hours drive away from our nearest store. As it is a holiday home it was our builder who took delivery and according to him there was some damage to some of the doors when he opened the packages. IKEA were very efficient in resolving matters but we weren't the ones having to make the phone calls and hang about waiting for redelivery. I have been told that Ikea in France use mainly contract type delivery services which may account for a little less care being taken. Overall though I found the system worked reasonably well- I ordered all the stuff on the net, paid by credit card over the phone and had no problem getting refunds on surplus stuff inspite of havin no receipts at the time.

As Baz says everything will be busy until the end of August. I would also recommend Leucate Plage as well as its 'little sister' Le Franqui just around the corner which is smaller but still has a few restaurants etc. If you are staying in Carcassonne itself there is a lake which has been developed as a beach and swimming place-lifegaurds, pedalos etc which I have seen out of season but never used. Maybe others have and might be able to remember its name??

We have one of these ANFOR security covers. Depending on the location of your pool it may be the only feasable option as was the case for us as fencing was not appropriate given the proximity of walls, hedges etc to the pool. The debate about the suitability of alarms has been ongoing for sometime- see previous posts- so I think it would be inadvisable to invest in one of these at the moment. The 'couverture a barres' works fine, it is reasonably easy for one person to operate manually. There is a sort of sidewinder thing( called a manivelle) to open it and a rope/tape to close it. In theory the pool should be covered when not in use which is obviously a bit of a chore if you are just going to be away for a short time but I guess you have to use your own discretion there. I think there is an electrically operated version available also, maybe someone else has some info on these?

.... and also see the hugely informative discussion on the whole inheiratance thing started by 'Phil the francofile' on 23/5 on the subject of why he isn't buying a property in France (sorry dont know how to do the link thing but you'll find it easily if use the search engine)

Have just come across an interesting article on the whole inheiritance issue which may be of some help. http://www.frenchentree-property/displayarticle.asp?id=14997

Thanks for the advice and enjoy the daze!

Hi jonzjob- sorry about the birthday celebrations maybe they'll get it right this year!! but just in case they don't I would be really interested in seeing the bastille/tour celebrations on the 14th. I know this has been mentioned somewhere on an old thread but I dont recall any definite reply- where is a good place to view the action from, is it better to stay well  away from the citadel and view events from afar and if so where would be a good vantage point- I would be coming from the Lezignan direction.

or brokeback mountain- absolutely wonderful!

Our house is a holday house also and we have our insurance with Groupama- I think they have offices all over France, but you could check their website- circumstances differ of course but you premium does seem pretty steep!

Sorry to raise your hackles Nick, but I simply wanted to find out if there are any general regulations governing what type of glass should be used when one property overlooks another - I will consult the Marie as you suggested. As for complaining I don't believe I indicated any intention to do so, I would just like to know the general rules before approaching the owners next door.

Yes Albert, to answer your question our house is overlooked by the window. It is in a sort of terrace but our house is 'stepped back' from the others giving it a  small private front courtyard with the walls of the houses on either side forming two sides of the square. The windows of the house to our other side which look onto our courtyard are all frosted so I had assumed that those of the house being develpoed would be also

The window concerned was in fact in a previously derelict building and was covered with a few planks and wire-no glass. The fact that the work was underway when we purchased last year probably explains why we were not consulted. Is it possible to have a look at the permission at the marie?

The barn next door to us is being renovated for gites and is directly attached to our house. On a visit last week I noticed that the barn window which overlooks our front courtyard on the first floor has been reopened and clear glass inserted. I thought there was some sort of regulation on this-ie that frosted glass had to be used when one property directly overlooks another. Having done a search on the site here I see there is a brief ref to this area on another post but the link isn't working so any help would be much appreciated.

Try a website called www.bedbreak.com and look for Perpignan .We stayed in one of theirs last year and found it good-home cooking, home grown produce genuinely nice hosts and reasonable prices.

Thanks for all the replies and advice everybody. There seems to be a bewildering number of different arrangements in place! Our job is a preytty small scale project €20,000 approx and while we do feel confident with the builder we will not be there to supervise the work-it's a maison secondaire- so we are a bit anxious about paying most of the money up front.Given all the views above I think we'll be looking for a bit more flexibility on this aspect. Thanks again!!

We are about to get some work done on our house and are wondering what is the standard proceedure for payment for work agreed-that is how much does the builder/artisan usually insist on prior to commencing work with regard to (a) materials and (b) labour?

Our pool is small as well. we ordered our anfor compliant cover from our local pool supply shop. It was very easy to install and cost around 1,500 and came with apprpriate anfor certification and included delivery. If you want any more info you can pm me.

Just been listening to some environmental stuff on the radio. The expert advice was that since we're going to reach 'peak oil production' by 2010 woodchip boilers are the way to go. Apparently these can be hooked up to existing gas/oil systems and are environmentally neutral. The only snag would appear to be that you need a fuel storage area adjacent to your boiler so probably not suitable for appartments or small dwellings. Maybe the best option would be to sit tight for the present and wait and see.

I have just heard from a contact in France that there was  a snowfall for the first time (apparently) in 50 years to the west of Narbonne. Has anybody any further info? Has it all cleared at this stage? What areas were affected?

Hello Poolguy,   Thanks for all the info. Is there any way of finding out how much 'TDS' there is in the water?

Thanks Baz i had a look at that site and it does appear to be really useful, i hope you are right about it being easy when i get the hang of it!

Hello Poolguy,   The pool has a' manual' chlorination system i.e. you put a chlorine tab into the basket at the side of the pool- you see i really am a pool novice i don't even know the correct names for things! As far as i know the pool had been taken care of until about June and would have had a partial  water change then as it was prepared for the summer. Between that and Oct when we took over, the care was i think a bit more haphazard and so the water was a bit green at that stage. Not having the time or the knowledge to sort out anything at that stage we threw in the overwintering stuff covered the pool and I'm afraid, left it.!!  As you say any advice in relation to this particular problem or general info for novices like me would be appreciated.

We have recently bought a maison secondaire with a small pool. When we took posession of the house the water was a bit green but as it was the autumn we added the 'overwintering' solution and left it  be. What is the proceedure for preparing the pool for summer use and how long does this generally take before it is safe to swim in?

 I also www.frenchentree.com quite useful for general articles. they also have a forum.

There is a guy making regular  van trips between Ireland and France who I came accross on another forum. P.M. me if you want his details