cooperlola

I tend to agree, I just think he's being unrealistic and and naive rather than underhand.  There's some good advice here amongst the barbs.  I've just been helping a couple of friends move out here and they've taken my advice and are renting (from two other friends of mine) to test the water properly before diving in.  Maybe Chief might think about doing the same.  It's tempting to try to get all your ducks in a row before coming here but it's really hard to make it happen that smoothly. Go with the flow.  Most people on this forum have done it so (no insult intended) - it's probably not the rocket science he imagines it is.

[quote user="cooperlola"]Nogent le Bernard, Sarthe, myself.  Now isn't there a kind of "stick a pin in a map" website that forum members can post on?  Anybody know the one I mean?  Might be fun for this site.[/quote]Whoops .. just spotted the frappr post above- that's the one.

Nogent le Bernard, Sarthe, myself.  Now isn't there a kind of "stick a pin in a map" website that forum members can post on?  Anybody know the one I mean?  Might be fun for this site.

[quote user="Abs Turner"] Hi All Thanks for the ideas, I'll get out the French dictionary and draft myself a letter and try and get everything sent ot our local branch in Condom, and maybe copy it to our local branch and maybe do a blanket email just for the fun of it ;-) and let them know how miffed I am at not being able to set up direct debits and have to go to the expense of transferring funds to the builders account. Anyway why do they have an in ternational branch where they only speak French, I do try but foolishly I thought that it would be easy to phone the international branch. Does anyone know where I can get a chip implanted in my brain so I can suddenly speak fluent french under pressure!!!!! That might help!!!!! [/quote]My chip was implanted 40 years ago and it still malfunctions on a regular basis!  However, feel free to PM me with your draft letter if you would like me to help out with the french. Or maybe show it to a French friend before posting - a method I've found very useful myself.  You might try to get hooked up to an internet bank account with BNP.  Yeah, it's a bit of a minefield but at least you can peruse your account at your leisure, print off RIBs etc.

Only major problem I ever have driving Mr Cooperlola's RHD is that I keep trying to change gear with the window-winder, having an LHD myself.  We too, kept it because of the prohibitive cost of selling it and buying an equivelent here.  I have also just invested in an RHD Landrover to tow my ponies about.  At £800 it was a bargain I would not have picked up here and as it's unlikely to do a huge mileage, I can put up with the problems of sitting on the wrong side and the above gear-change problem.  The paperwork's a bit of a headache (prizing conformity cerificates out of Landrover for example) but it's worth the saving and really isn't too much hassle if you have the time (and the lingo).

I have watched the Parisien parking method on several occasions, vaguely amusing if it isn't your car.  Strikes me that this is why in such an apparently wealthy city, you see so few exotic cars.  Myself, I always go in by train for this very reason.

Thans basquen, I will give them a go and let you know the outcome!

[quote user="Cassis"]Don't suppose you fancy taking over the running of the B&B round about mid-June, do you?  Have you been over to Canada yet and did you pick up on whether the English-French conflict continues in the parts Quebecois? [/quote]No, yes, no (didn't get to the French bit).  However, I did meet a French Canadian couple on the train who were delighted to bump into the "first person we've met on the train who speaks French".

I had a similar thing when a BNP account was set up for me.  I wrote to them, authorising them to post the cheque book to my home and they did it. Somehow, the written word seems to go down rather better with the overly-beaurocratic banking systems here.

Makes sense guys.  I'll try Landrover France again although they so far haven't responded to my e-mails.  Probably in the "trop difficile" pile.

[quote user="Just Katie "]   I have to disagree because I have yet to meet a smoker who disagrees with it. [/quote]Well, here's one.  One of the things I love about France is that I'm not treated like a leper here. 

I guess one day, god forbid, you might be destitute too.

This interests me as I registered my UK Skoda here and got the certificate of conformity from Skoda UK (Skoda France pointed me in their direction).   I am currently trying to reregister my Landrover Defender and Landrover UK say Landrover France should issue this!  Does this vary from manufacturer to manufacturer or what?  Sort of thing Sunday Driver would know...

Try this chap, always very helpful to me http://www.aude-france-property.com/insurance.htm

Try a mirror designed for towing a caravan.  Trailer/caravan suppliers should have them . www.practicalcaravan.com/product/apr06.html  

I did this very successfully in the UK by painting the whole thing with acrylic primer, then any paint goes on top. Idle compared with stripping the whole thing but effective!

Maybe if you give up the gite, you'll get to the race eh?  Yes, the Saga mind often takes a while to catch up on some of these topics!

[quote user="Rayring"]I received my alice box 4 days ago, and all went well until this morning when the dsl (adsl) light would not light up and I could not connect to the internet. I have tried conntacting alice by telephone and e-mail without success, and unplugging and reconnecting the power supply and resetting the modem have not helped. Any suggestions gratefully received.[/quote]This may not help but with the Alice box I have you have to leave it switched off for a minute before switching it on again.  Worked for me - a brief interuption doesn't.

Certainly we paid our first "catch up" tax demand in full then were automatically offered a monthly prevlevement for the second year. I think this is pretty standard?

Cassis/Geordie I take issue with your statement that the retired contribute less to the French economy!  We spend almost all of our two UK pensions on French goods and services, we pay the tax here, we spent a good few thousand euros on a house here which went to a French couple, we have spent yet more thousands on French builders etc to do the renovations.  Neither of  us is robbing any local of a job - in fact we employ them!  That's always my comeback if this subject comes up here in conversation.  When local people I talk to look at it that way most agree after a bit of thought. Yeah, they make the odd throw away remark but it's like everywhere else, pleaseant reasonable people respond in a pleasant reasonable way, no matter where they come from  The others (French, British or whatever - st*ff 'em and talk to somebody else, I say).  The most hostility I encounter towards Brits here is for those who haven't made the effort to learn even a modicum of the lingo and aren't prepared to try - and on this subject I have every sympathy with the locals.

Mr Cooperlola renewed his passport by post with the consulate in Paris.  It was back in 10 days.  Not bad really, eh?

A friend of mine describes having stood on a paint tin with a large piece of plaster-board on her head for about an hour while her husband was attaching it to the ceilling.  We wives have are uses![:D]

Or put on a quick message with your new number. Vous pouvez me contacter a..... followed by your new number.

There's an object lesson in all this I think.  They may seem to be more expensive on the surface, but try to buy a SIM-free phone in the first place then you can chop and change, move back and forth to the UK, change suppliers etc at the drop of a hat.  After having had a couple of apparently "cheap" phones early on which turned out to cost a packet because I was tied into specific companies, I bought a Sim-free phone and haven't looked back.  I use NRJ now but if somebody comes up with a better deal in the next few months I can change from them for just a few euros and never have to worry about unlocking the d*mned thing! JR I'll look at the NRJ website and see if I can find the conditions about unlocking phones for you.

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"][quote user="powerdesal"]Paul, I think you see my point, all those parts were probably in last (say) 7 years of its life. No warranty issues, no servicing. May I suggest that you check prices on the net in France and UK and buy one from whoever is cheapest, if that means Currys or Dixons then so be it. As long as its an international brand ( you probably wont find any that aren't) then, when / if spare parts need to be fitted in the future you should have no problem, either yourself or finding a French tech who will fix it. This is only my opinion of course. On a personal note, our Ariston is cold fill only, same model is sold in uk as is here in UAE, probably in France, Italy, Germany etc.as well - badge engineering at its international best.Whats more we got it from a branch of Carrefour, so theres a start point. [/quote] Which bring us back to the original point...  All the machines here in France, the backs of which I have been able to peer at, are cold fill only. Anyone seen a hot & cold fill ? paul [/quote]Paul, I think you will see from my post above (not the one about the herd of washing machines - sorry just couldn't resist) that in fairness, I did answer the question!  My Laden machine has hot and cold fill although I don't use the hot fill myself for the reason stated above.