gfplux

Hello SarahK. I am rather surprised no one has raised the issue of inheritance. Do you know about French inheritance laws? If not this is something you should research IMMEDIATELY before you sign anything.

have a look on Google Earth

Why not average out your risk. Split your money into say 4 equal amounts. Buy €'s now with 1 amount. then buy €'s 3 more times at equal intervals up to the dat you need all of the cash in November

You also have to consider when you become liable for tax in France or when you become non resident in the UK for Tax. To become non resident in the UK for tax  you have to convice the UK tax authority that you are living permantly somewhere else. I live in Luxembourg and a letter to the UK with a copy of my Luxembourg tax number, residents permit, etc did the trick. However if I had wanted to I could have kept a UK address, continued to pay tax in the UK and lived in Luxembourg OR any other EU state for as long as I wanted to. Except!!! when you come up against other types of law or regulation. For example I believe (just like the UK) your UK driving licemce can only be used for 6 months in France. If you have a UK registered car the insurence will only cover it for trips of less than 3 months. etc, etc.

Hello Pierre ZFP, We have 3 pay as you go phones in Luxembourg.  Two Vox and one Tip Top. Are you saying buying one or more Tango PAYG simcards and credit and putting those in one or more phones would be a better deal than buying PAYG simcards and credit in France. Remember this is for use ONLY in France during a two month stay there. I would have thought that two phones equipped with French PAYG sims and credit would be cheaper to use (speaking to each other) than a foreign Luxembourg Tango card. I may be wrong and I want to do the best thing.

 I have a Pay as you go phone which I use in Luxembourg (where I live) On my rare visits to the UK I put in a Virgin Sim card and buy a pay as you go ammount of money to make local UK calls. I have never felt the need to do this in France as our house there has a phone and that is all we have needed. However my daughter is now 15 and to keep a closer eye on her I need her to have a phone. (her mobile is a pay as you go and only works in Luxembourg) I wonder wether I can buy a sim card/pay as you go in France. We are off in 10 days to France for the summer and I do not want to take our phones and chargers if this can not be done. I know I live only 20 minutes from France but this thought has just occured to me and I will not be going accross the border before we leave for our summer break.

Sorry I meant BBC1,2,3 and 4. I have also put a TV tuner card in my PC and have saved a bit of space in my office by getting rid of the TV. it was quite difficult getting the right piece of kit but the Pinnacle PCTV 400i (98€) works a treat. However still trying to get my favourates set up. Not very easy. I also have an old Pace Sky Digibox with a card in an onther location and on that I get Channel 4 and 5

Buy a cheap digital box about €50 you can then watch all free to air. BBC1, 2, 4 and 5. ITV 1,2 and 3 Sky News and a few more. This works for me with an 80cm dish in 83.

What bad weather this is the Var!. Only joking but could do with some less "good" weather at the moment. The thought of going to breakfast in the rain seems only a dream not a nightmare. Any idea what you friends costs were? thanks

hello I hope you can help. We have had a very small property in the Gulf of St. Tropez nr Ste Maxime since new 15 years ago and now need more space. We are thinking to convert our semi-detached garage in to a bedroom/shower room/WC suite. The garage is only 3 metres away from the rest of the property and will be ideal for the purpose we have in mind. We may in fact do a bigger project and join it to the rest of the property, but one thing at a time.      It measures 3m by 6m and already has cold water and electricity installed. The attached neighbours “garage” was converted to a bedroom by the builder (since gone bankrupt) many years ago so our neighbour can not help with the questions we have.     It has a pitched tiled un-insulated roof, 20cm block walls and a concrete floor. The conversion will require replacing the existing up and over door with a window and shutters, full thermal/soundproof insulation to the walls and roof. A number of partition walls building to create a shower room with sink and a separate WC. The floor to be fully tiled and the bathroom to be tiled floor to ceiling.     Has anyone undertaken such a project and do they have any tips and or tricks. Does anyone have an idea of the finished cost of such a project.