audiop

As the originator of this post many months ago, it has been very interesting to see the number of replies from said Brits under the 50 limit (not many as expected, which confirms my previous expectations) All please note - It was never my intention to cast any criticism on those over 50 living here, (I'm not that far away myself at 45) but it has come to my attention (ahem!) that those of us under 50 are in a very small minority ! Any of you who have replied to this post who would like to meet up , please get in touch, we are 10 mins from St.Junien. We are into fishing, moto GP and most things that people enjoy about living in France.

CH 4 in my opinion has a lot of good progranmming so I would not want to ne without it. Channel 5 - I don't think I have ever watched anything on that channel, it is actually worse than ITV and that is saying something !!

Maybe not in the UK but French TV is a pile of s~~t !

[quote user="Panda "] Interestingly when I called Sky about a subscription I wanted to cancel because I was moving to France they said, could you not use someone elses address and keep the subscribiton that way!  I have also phoned from my French landline and they did not mention it, so I think that some of the reports of being cut off are hear say, they want you to be a customer, they might have to be seen to not actively promote the use of Sky in France but from my experience they don't go out of their way to stop you and in fact encourage you to do it.  It's all business to them! [/quote] Well that is very interesting -  I was told about not phoning from France by a dealer who wanted to charge me €50 and another £30 for his UK Sky agent to update the card ! Seems to make sense what you say about Sky wanting to keep their customers, I think I will make a call to Sky and say that I was thinking about upgrading to Sky+ in the UK and would it be OK for me to use the equipment also in France.

Methinks you must be watching a different Sky to the me. Even if you said chance of quality you'd be stretching it [blink] "Regional Variation" mostly means little more than 5 minutes of local news or the odd ethnic programme, or sometimes just a minor time differential. Re phoning Sky, no reason you can't do it from France so long as you use a mobile and don't tell them where you're calling from. If you were say renting a flat or house in UK and didn't have a phone line this is what you would have to do isn't it. Q: Do they have caller ID or similar and therefore the ability to detect a call from a non UK mobile ?   Yup they do have caller ID so if you call from a french landline they will pick you up on it !If you use a UK mobile they will want to know why you are not calling from home - The last thing you want to do is arouse suspicions that you might be using the equipment outside the UK. I don't know how strict Sky are on this because there are dealers out there offering Sky in France they obviously must know how to handle the Sky outside the UK issues. Sky includes to me the UK BBC etc channels where most of the good stuff is, although Channel 4 and E4 we like as well "Lost" "Prison Break" etc.

[quote user="Ron Avery"]Thanks for the tips but I have two boxes, I was just wondering if you could install a SKY + box in France as they are going cheap on eBay with the HD upgrades. With the benefit of having the regional variations BBC Scotland has a lot of popular programmes on different times and days to the BBC English stations, but as usual despite absolute rubbish on most days the schedulers always manage to put good programmes together on some nights and a SKY + box would be ideal for recording the "other " programmes or while I am watcching French TV of course.[Www][/quote] Ron, this i what I am planning to do, I have already bought a 2nd box off Ebay (£67) and had it delivered to my UK address, I now need to order a quadout put LNB and some twin feed cable as you need two feed from the quad to the Sky+ box - this is what enables watching one channel whilst recording another.  I then need to temporarily set up the system in the UK and put in my current Sky viewing card, then phone Sky and give them details of the box and my viewing card so that they can send a signal to the box which will enable the card for the Sky+ features. All this is neccessary because of the fact that you are not legally allowed to receive Sky outside of the UK as Sky's broadcasting licence only covers the UK. I have been told that if you phone Sky from France, there is a good chance that they will cut off your card ! Interested to note your comments about the regional variations, there are loads of different regional channels like you say and that gives more choice of quality amongst the sea of rubbish !

That has changed in that if you now have a monthly sub of £30 or more, Sky+ is free, so it is now a very attractive option if you DIY your own system - its the having it in France side of it which is difficult !

That would be what Sky would like you to believe ! You can buy 2nd hand Sky + boxes (loads of almost new ones on ebay UK due to people upgrading to Sky HD), it is a doddle to install yourself, if you already have a sky set up you just need a new 4 output LNB, some new cable, the Sky + box and your card upgraded.

Anyone upgraded to Sky plus from standard Sky over here ? I want to do this and it is my intention to buy a Sky+ box , a quad output LNB and some dual feed cable on ebay whilst back in the UK over Xmas, then get the card upgraded by calling Sky (from the UK of course) and asking them for a "clone" card to use in the old sky box in another room. Would love to hear from anyone who has done the same or similar !  

I was asking what I believed to be a straight forward question so I will reiterate that question - do you need to inform any UK agencies that you have left the UK ? That is all I would like to know.....sorry if the question has been asked before but that does not negate my need for an answer !

Read the post before you reply! - I was a carer on benefits in the UK, of course I notified them when I stopped caring ! And of course we have registered our business here in France, the question I was asking was not to do with either of these issues - no wonder you are "puzzled" I rather think "puddled" would be more appropriate !

Is it neccessary to inform anyone in the UK when you move permanently to France ? I was a carer on income support in the UK and am running a business now in France. I have been here nearly a year now and I'm thinking that maybe I should maybe have informed someone !!!!

We have been told that public liability insurance is included in house insurance policies in France. Can anyone confirm that this is the case ? Does this cover include accidents etc incurred by  paying clients who are using our property ? All replies appreciated on this one !

Bit more than that, about 45 minutes cos thats how long it used to take us from Suaux to here. I'm Jon the old one at 44 the wife is Sophie a wee whippersnapper at 28, we are from Devon (actually I am from Bham originally but we lived in Devon before we moved here).

Know it well, we rented a gite near Suaux when we were property hunting. We have a  fishing lake so you will have to come and see us ! Where are you from in the UK ?

You didn't say whereabouts your French home is.....?

19 c'est la creuse ?

Yes it is definitley a better lifestyle out here, its all very well saying just come over but you have to make a living somehow ! Fish and chips could work as there are a lot of Brits out here, but correct pacement would be needed - do your research first ! Maybe on a main route which could serve two or more towns ? We are only a few km from Bussiere Boffy in a tiny hamlet called Demorange.

Thanks for the reply, where is Treignac ?

Panda,   Have not touched a cricket bat or ball since leaving school although it was the only ball game I was any good at ! Where are the teams/games ?

Just looking out for some like minded souls/friends of our age because we seem to be surrounded by much older people, and I was wondering if we were the only under 50's in the area !

We are also in the Charente (just) near the Haute Vienne border nearest town Montrollet. What do you call a good party - are you thinking of dancing under the stars or something completely different ?

Triumph - mmm no thank you !  Yam Fazer thou is top of my list for the next bike. Are second hand bikes more or less expensive here than UK ? I hope its not the same situation as second hand cars!

Pedrosa and Stoner are the only riders who will challenge Rossi this year. I like to see a good battle over the season not one rider dominating. Luca Cadalora alltime fave.

A ride out isn't do interesting when you don't have a bike !