Scarlett

We bought a couple of standard double beds in UK about 8 years ago, which we brought to France.  we've since bought nicer ones but want a couple of twins, so thought we'd saw ours up and make to singles out of them.  What's the most common single size in France?  Is it 80 or 90cm? Scarlett

Hey graham didn't manage to get to the first meeting, or yesterday's.  How did they go?   Scarlett

My OH has been offered the opportunity of some work in various parts of Europe (including France) working with an American couple who are sub-contractors of a UK firm and live in Austria (are you still with me....?[8-)])  They will want to pay him a gross sum and leave tax etc to him.  Of course the tax bit is pretty straightforward, we just declare it on our French tax form.  However, would he need to register here in France?  The company is based in the UK, he would not be an employee, but a sub-contractor, and some of the work would be in France but some of it in Belgium, Holland or Germany.  Anybody got any ideas about what he would need to do?

Oh my God, look, look!!!!  I'm in 4th place, and if I could read a bit faster I'd be in 2nd!!!![:D]  And that was without any help from Ron today [;-)]  I think that's my best score [:-))][:-))]

[quote user="Ron Avery"]No chance for 10 today, just  two French questions, 3 Scottish river and loch questions and one that insists that there is a Sscottish actor (Denis lawson) in Holby City, he played Tom Campbell-Gore who actually  who left the series at least a year ago, lucky that one question  on the Civil War has now come up three times.[:D][/quote]   OOOhh thanks Ron!!  Glad i read the last couple of pages before I had a go today.  You helped me get 6 instead of 5.  I didn't even know Denis Lawson was Scottish!!! [:D]

Now I know that this is nothing to do with saying sorry and more about getting confused with one of those "mots dangereux" which sound the same as an English word but don't necessarily mean the same, but when you come across two people in a supermarket isle gassing away and you can't get through with your trolley, just what DO you say.  I've said "excusez-moi, madame" "excusez-moi, s'il vous plait" but I presume it's wrong cos people stop talking, look at me and then carry on as before without moving.  Are they just blatantly rude or am I really from another planet, saying something totally ludicrous?

Hey Katie, What's happened to Dottie then?

That's the one, old two sha.......... sorry, two jags Prescott!

Too many questions on the Labour party for me.  How was I supposed to know how John Precott laughed in the face of old Labour in 2002?

Doh!! I've been knocked off the top already!!!!  Well I didn't even get fifteen minutes of fame either [:(]

Blimey!!!!  Sorry Cat and Tresco - didn't mean to do that - I thought I'd taken forever cos I was waiting for the hortensia question to appear but it never did.  Do they change each time?  That's a bit unfair if they do, cos then we're not all answering the same ones.  Mine were about nun's f arts and British Prime Ministers - knew my history O level would come in useful one day!!! ....... I am the champion, I am the champion [geek]

[quote user="hastobe"]If you want to buy the wild poppy seed there is a variety called 'Flanders' sold by Thompson and Morgan and 5% of proceeds goes to the British Legion (http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/6553/1) - not sure if there is one that donates to the equivalent French organisation. Hastobe [/quote] Probably not because they use the cornflower as their symbol of remembrance rather than the poppy.

Can I come to the party too?  But don't they normally do that dancing at midnight bit, naked? [:$]  I'm not too far away and we haven't got any poppies yet.  But I agree, I think it's a bit too early.

Well our friend is quite sad about the whole thing but has decided that he is putting this all down to experience (bad experience) but as he hasn't actually LOST anything on the sale he is going ahead rather than going through the hassle of a possible legal case. However, he's asked us if we want any of the furniture etc.  We don't want any of his furniture but we would be interested in his woodburner.  He doesn't think he can sell us that as he thinks it's part of the house sale.  When we bought our house the previous owner had taken everything, including the fitted hob and oven out of the worktops and cupboards.  The agent said that because it hadn't been speicified they could do this, so I would have thought that the same could be said of the woodburner in this instance. Our friend is happy to let us have it if he is allowed to but thinks that the mandat may say that it is part of the sale.  Are these kind of fixtures and fittings usually itemised at this stage or is it in the compromis de vente.  I thought it was the latter but I could be wrong [:(]  And it's such a pretty little woodburner.

[quote user="KatieKopyKat"] I have a friend in Wales (not one of the Benidorm Bashers) who think the deeper the groove in the bottom of the bottle the better the wine.  I dont know whether this is true but it could be a bad year.  What do they do chuck out all the deep grooved bottles and replace them with cartons? [/quote] I've got a friend who came out with that one too!!![8-)] Considering some of the c*** I've drunk with a deep bottom [:$] and some of the lovely stuff I've had with just a little dip, I can't think that it can be true!

Simple answer - join the end of the Hertz queue and shout "Hey Gareth, fancy a spliff"  and I can assure you my mate who's worked there for the last ten years will serve you before anyone else.  Oh but the down side for you guys, he's a dead ringer for Jim Morrison (well, he was 15 years ago!) so if you don't want you wives leaving you at the airport best carry on queing with Europcar [6]

Well it's an extremely well kept secret cos I haven't received any emails or private messages - so still waiting for the help please!!!!

For the last couple of days I've been having some serious problems with my computer.  I can't open any Word or Excel documents via the "file" button on the toolbar.  The only way I can do it is by going to Start and then into either My Documents or Recent Documents.  If I have an internet page open and try to type in a new page address either it won't accept it unless I do the whole http:// thing or sometimes as soon as I highlight the old address in the window it locks and then I have to close the programme.  When I close any of these programmes I get the Programme Not Responding box come up and I have to End Programme Now, close down the whole thing and start again.  I ran a virus check and I don't appear to have any virus's in the system.  Does anyone know what the proglem is?  I've rebooted, shut down the whole computer, switched it off and started again but I'm still getting the same problems.

I understand what you're saying and those houses last year were by no means snapped up - they were both on the market for almost a year and then eventually went to local French people, so weren't bought on the high of any holiday home market.  My friend made it clear to the agent that he was in no rush to sell and didn't mind if he still owned the house this time next year.  To have sold to the first people that were shown the house, who offered the full asking price without even trying to put in an offer and within two days on the market still seems pretty damned quick to me and would indicate that it is well underpriced.  In fact, I know of two sets of Brits here who wanted me to show them the house because, although they weren't actively looking for a second property, just thought it was too good an offer to miss.  Anyway, I've emailed my mate and told him that I'll do whatever he wants to help but haven't heard back yet.  Will keep you informed.

[quote user="nicktrollope"][quote user="Deimos"] [quote user="Opalienne"]Controle technique, French version of MOT, is needed every two years for cars over 4 years old.[/quote] I believe that when a car is sold, any existing CT test is only valid for a max. 6 months (less if it would have expired anyway - at least this is what the guy that did mine earlier this month said.  My comment is based only on limited experience and others may know better – do say so if I am wrong on this. Ian [/quote] No, a CT is valid for as long as it is valid. The rule is (as implied above) that the CT must be less than 6 months old (ie. 18 months to run) for the new owner to register the vehicle. And since not registering the vehicle is illegal, it is important to ensure that you get/can get the CT. It is nothing like as tough as a UK MOT - my Clio passed with a blowing exhaust and knackered gearbox mount. [/quote] We've been having real problems with our Renault Scenic just recently - keeps cutting out, loss of power.  The Renault garage say it's not a serious problem but when you live in the country you need something reliable so now my husband wants to flog it.   We have a controle Technique valid til next February, will we have to put it through a new one before we sell it if we sell it to a garage, as they won't actually be the new owners?  Also, can you trade a car in for a used car or can you only trade in on new cars in France?

Thanks for the replies.  I've suggested to my friend that I get another agent and a notaire to value the house.  That way, surely if they come in significantly higher that would be the "good reason" mentioned above for wishing to withdraw from the contract with the original agent? I just can't believe how much he valued it at.  It's a really nice 3 bedroomed house with 3/4 of an acre of garden and orchard, a triple garage (in excellent condition) and a lovely little boulangerie (in Normandy) and the agent says 120K!!!  The two houses either side sold last autumn, one fractionally bigger but with less land for 185K and the other much smaller, for 130K - both to French buyers, so not even Brits hyping the prices.

Hi I've posted this in the legal section as well but my friend is desparate for an answer: A mate of ours in the village who has a holiday home came over just before Easter and bumped into his previous estate agent who managed to talk him into selling the house.  The morning he was leaving he told us this and told us the price - absolutely silly money - at least 30K less than we have known similar properties to go for.  We told him at the time that we thought it was well under-priced.  He said he didn't care if the house took a year or more to sell.  My husband said he thought it would sell within the week. Within two days of getting back to the UK our mate was told that he ha dbeen offered full asking price on the property.  Of course he now feels that (a) he was duped into putting it on at a low price and (b) that the agent already had the buyer lined up and consequently that was why he valued the house so low. He has since changed his mind about selling the house but the agent has said that he can't because he signed a mandat de vente and that he can be taken to court if he doesn't sell.  I thought that this just gave the agent th exclusivity for the 3 month duration of the mandat.  In fact my parents lost a house in France a few years ago because although they signed a compromis de vente the owners had second thoughts at the last minute and decided not to sell and the notaire said there was nothing they could do about it. Does anyone know the rules?  Have they changed since my parents failed in their purchase?  Was it naivety on my parents part in that they could have forced the sellers hand?  Is it different rules if a property is being marketed through a notaire or an agent?  I feel so sorry for our mate because when he came to say goodbye last week I could tell he was already regretting having put the house on the market but I think he thought that it would take for ever to sell anyway and now not only may he have lost his house when he's had second thoughts about selling it, but also he's literally GIVING it away. BTW I'm talking about the fact that he signed a mandat de vente between him and the agent, not a compromis with any buyer. Is there a cooling off period for signing a mandat like there is for a compromis for the purchaser?  If so, I think our mate's house was sold before he had chance to think about it!!!

Hi A mate of ours in the village who has a holiday home came over just before Easter and bumped into his previous estate agent who managed to talk him into selling the house.  The morning he was leaving he told us this and told us the price - absolutely silly money - at least 30K less than we have known similar properties to go for.  We told him at the time that we thought it was well under-priced.  He said he didn't care if the house took a year or more to sell.  My husband said he thought it would sell within the week. Within two days of getting back to the UK our mate was told that he ha dbeen offered full asking price on the property.  Of course he now feels that (a) he was duped into putting it on at a low price and (b) that the agent already had the buyer lined up and consequently that was why he valued the house so low. He has since changed his mind about selling the house but the agent has said that he can't because he signed a mandat de vente and that he can be taken to court if he doesn't sell.  I thought that this just gave the agent th exclusivity for the 3 month duration of the mandat.  In fact my parents lost a house in France a few years ago because although they signed a compromis de vente the owners had second thoughts at the last minute and decided not to sell and the notaire said there was nothing they could do about it. Does anyone know the rules?  Have they changed since my parents failed in their purchase?  Was it naivety on my parents part in that they could have forced the sellers hand?  Is it different rules if a property is being marketed through a notaire or an agent?  I feel so sorry for our mate because when he came to say goodbye last week I could tell he was already regretting having put the house on the market but I think he thought that it would take for ever to sell anyway and now not only may he have lost his house when he's had second thoughts about selling it, but also he's literally GIVING it away. BTW I'm talking about the fact that he signed a mandat de vente between him and the agent, not a compromis with any buyer.

There's a place on the road just outside St Malo but that's probably a bit far!

  Or did God put dinosaur bones in the ground - just to mess with our brains?!!! [;-)] Well ...... Yes,Ali actually he did.  Or so several evangelical Americans have told me when I have had the evolutionary argument with them.  The same as he put all other fossils there, for our (human) entertainment and pleasure at finding them! As for the DVC  I really enjoyed it - but then, I did take it as a work of fiction.  No worse than James Bond, which so many men (but they must have boys brains to enjoy it) seem to love. The Olive Farm - well I asked for it for Christmas a few years ago because it was "about France" but what a load of pretentious, luvvy twaddle.  I am ashamed to say I read the Olive Season too, but mainly only because I believed things could only get better - how wrong I was.  I don't intend to read the Olive Harvest - I just can't take any more!!!!