robotpierre

of interest for marciac jazz fest visitors and others........ryanair flights to Pau from july 27 to august 9 are to be re-routed to Tarbes/Lourdes due to runway works at Pau at this time.... this could complicate car hiring if they propose to land you in Tarbes then bus you over to Pau to collect a car !!!!!   there are car hire facilities at Tarbes airport.....

for comparison - a driver on a French licence in the UK would get 3 points and a £60 fine...... the 3 points would be recorded on his 'record' on the DVLA computer....he/she would have to attend Court for implementation of the penalties as Fixed Penalties can currently only be applied to British licences.............as in France accumulating 12 points would bring about a 6 month ban.... there has been and continues to be discussions/plans to co-ordinate all EU motoring points/fines so that fines in one country can be pursued and collected in another...

we do have available telephone and small pc to visitors as an added feature.. ADSL is useful but probably requires a 12 month contract so you pay for empty months ! we use OneTel for telephone calls and itemised bill is readily checked on line; France Telecom charge for dial-up internet time at local rates; so what has worked for us so far, is that a refundable Security Deposit is taken with the full payment for the booking and any costs incurred by visitors can be deducted from this deposit before it is returned...    

should you purchase tv equipment or have an aerial installed from a french firm, they are legally bound to report you in order for the french tv licence to be charged......it will appear on your annual Taxe d'Habitation demand..... many folk carry on regardless...am not aware of the existence of spotter vans in rural areas.....

yes, anton, you are right.... have just tried here in GB and no C4 or 5 if card removed .... thanks for help...

george many thanks for that link.... have had a subsequent thought, which ties in with a more recent thread too, which is to buy on ebay or wherever a second sky digibox and park it in france but here is the question.....assuming when i go down with my properly paid-for sky card all works well, would it continue to receive the free-to-air channels (i.e. not my subscription channels) WITHOUT my card ???? any thoughts ?

anton many thanks........will give it ago.......just want to have a basic facility without carting sky digibox and card back and forth....

have tried to find an answer in previous threads but....... am i right in thinking that if i have an existing dish set up to receive via a sky (subscription) digibox, replacing the sky digibox with a new french (non-subscription) digibox and into a new french tv set,  free english channels like the Beeb etc will automatically be receivable ? profuse apologies if my patience let me down in searching for  a previous answer ........

another personal view..... have used frenchconnections in recent years to advantage and despite website change have had enquiries and bookings for 2006... tried holiday-rentals.com for first time this year - complete disaster - only 4 enquiries - unlikely to repeat booking for 2007 we do have our own website.... but would be very concerned if rentals were an essential source of income....a warning for future "investors" anywhere in la france profonde....

There has to be a potential that supply exceeds demand in the gîtes/holiday rentals market.   Have all those families and individuals, who over the last 10/15 years rented in France, now bought their own place and boosted the potential of rentable places with the effect that times will become harder and harder for everyone to find ‘clients’  - last minute or otherwise ???   How effective are agent websites in finding customers?  We have had a satisfactory experience with frenchconnections.co.uk but also this year tried holiday-rentals.com, which to date has produced 4 enquiries only and no bookings - £50 an enquiry ???   Anyone else experiencing this ?  no doubt that as Lotman says marketing is very important....

Sorry if this has been up before… I have used an old british portable tv with skydigibox and sat dish to watch uktv but now find the old brit tv on the blink…..tube probably going as only a compressed 3 in screen viewable.. I also have a one year old Thomson french tv which I use off a separate aerial for french tv….. Any chance the Thomson would work with the sky digibox thru a scart lead ??? any risk in trying ??? All fully licenced !!

tony just picked up your message.... our location is an hour east of Pau www.maisonlavande.net if it is of any help   rgds peter  

bit of a long and cheeky shot but anyone heading down to the Gers (32) in the next 2 months in a VAN with that enticing prospect of a small amount of spare space ?????????? (amounts to 3/4 boxes and couple long lenghts of wooden handrails) happy to contribute to costs.... rgds peter