bertie

Thanks ams. The mystery has been solved. Since 2004 I have been sent estimates (although it did not say on the bills) and this year they read the meter. Since January I have only used 1 cu.m. so no leak. At least I now know where the meter is! Thanks to all those who tried to help, Eillen

Thanks Val2.  I have looked all around the house and in the garden but cannot find any soggy patches or areas where everything grows well. I also cannot find where the water meters are to do another reading to see if the problem is continuing. Our bill comes from the mairie so do I ask them to check the meters for me? If there is still a problem what type of organisation do I ring to check for leaks? I was cut off for 2 weeks earlier this year. the man who worked for the commune told me that there had been lots of problems with water in the village but that the problem was not to do with my house. Does normal household insurance inFfrance deal with this or should I have taken out separate insurance for this? I have only just received a cheque for a burgulary in November. It's not my year! Thanks Eillen

My water bill for the year is usually between 100 -180 euros. I have just received the bill for last year which is 1237 euros for 860 cubic metres!   The house is only occupied for about 12-14 weeks of the year. I had repair work to the pool so it had to be filled again but that was only about 40 cubic metres.  Also last year a neighbour told me that water was bubbling up in the road outside my house but not on my land. The problem was fixed by the commune and I wasn't billed for the work so  presumed it wasn't my problem. Would I have been charged for this loss of water from the leak? Everywhere is shut until Tuesday but I want to collect as much information as I can and hopefully persuade them that I am not responsible for the whole bill. Thanks, Eillen

Am I allowed to take part in the vote for the mayor next year? I am resident in England and pay tax here but also I pay some tax in France as I have a gite which I let in the summer. I realise I can't vote in national elections but some people in the village say I should be able to vote in the elections for the mayor and some say I can't. We bought the land for our house in 2000 and the house was completed in 2002 if that makes a difference. I would like to vote if possible  as we plan to spend more time in France over the coming years. Hopefully someone else has been in this position and can let me know. Thanks, Eillen  

No,it was London to Reims, all 400 kms of it! It felt like a long way round at times. Eillen

I did it! There were times when I didn't which bit ached more but I am glad I did it. The first day followed the London to Brighton route for most of the way but we headed off to Newhaven.  I thought Normandy was flat but I now know differently! I was amazed at how beautiful Normandy was, not at all as I imagined it. The cathedral at Reims was wonderful and we managed to find enough energy to party into the early hours. I am wondering what to do next but it will definately involve cycling. Eillen

We set off tomorrow from Crystal Palace at 7.30am so apologies in advance to anyone on the road from there to Newhaven! I have done lots of training including a 90km day followed by a 50km day two weeks ago. I am a lot fitter but I still have trouble on steep hills. Maybe if I get behind the fast riders I will get dragged along.[:)] It is looking a bit wet in France and I don't have any waterproof trousers as I get too hot in them so I need some sun to dry out in between the showers. I will let you know how I get on, at the moment I am feeling quite nervous but I'm sure I will be fine once it starts. Happy pedalling Eillen

My house was built by Marin and my neighbours was built by Lamont. I also know of another builder who is english speaking who has set up in the last year. pm me if you want any more information. Eillen

Thanks for all the advice. I am now in France for a few weeks and I am trying to ride here but I am in the foothills of the Pyrenees and the trouble with going downhill is that you have to come back up! Do semi slick tyres have smooth sides?  I have a hybrid bike, would they be fine on it?  To keep my feet in the correct position I have changed the pedals and bought cycling shoes which click on to the pedals. I was told you only fall off once as it is a quick (and potentially painful) learning curve. I hope so as I fell in front of a queue of traffic on my way back from having them fitted.[:)] You are right about the gears JR. I went on a training day to learn how to use gears, it was amazing the difference it made. Eillen

I have signed up for a charity bike ride from Crystal Palace to Reims despite not having ridden a bike for 30 years! Although I am riding my bike most days I am having nightmares about the terrain. We are cycling from Crystal Palace to Newhaven and then through Dieppe,Gournay en Bray, Beauvais, Compeigne, Soissons before arriving at Reims. Has anyone had any experience of cycling along this route and if so , how hilly is it? Thanks Eillen

The 12 people are aged in 30- 40's. I don't their interests as they are a group of work colleagues of my husband. We are taking them away for a celebration and we thought that eating in the la Cite might be a bit different. However now I have all the other suggestions  for restaurants I will probably think again! Thanks for all your help Eillen

We are staying in Carcassonne for a weekend with 12 friends in May. If the weather is fine we have many ideas of places to go and things to do. However, if it rains we are short of ideas. Has any one got any suggestions? We are going to eat in La Cite on the Friday night, suggestions for a restaurant would be welcome and if it doesn't stay open late is there somewhere else we could go on to?

Hi elaineb Would it be possible to pm me again giving me your email address as when I try to reply through the forum it doesn't work. Thanks, Eillen

Hi Hendo We have only left it without topping it up for a short while because we were worried about the water going below the level of the skimmers. We were told that this would allow air into the pump and ruin it. In the winter when everything is turned off and the water level is lowered it does not appear to drain away completely, probably to about half the depth. I am down there on the 1st Dec for a week so I could look at it then.  We inherited the pool with the house so we are not sure how old it is but the previous owner was a DIYer and probably built it himself. As an example of how good he was we found a live wire in a walk in wardrobe! Thanks for your help  

Does anyone know when Ryanair publish their summer timetable? At the moment I can only book until the 25th March. Thanks

We are having a few problems with our pool. It is 9m x 4.5m and needs to be topped up by between 10cms and 15cms twice a week. Our pool man has suggested replacing all the pipework and to buy a new liner, it is has tiles at the moment. Although we will do this if necessary I would prefer an expert to come and look at it first to try to identify the source of the leak. Does anyone know of a reliable firm in this area (dept 11, south of Carcassonne) who does this?  You can pm me if that avoids breaking any rules. Thanks

Thanks for all the suggestions to remove the tide mark around my pool but that is now the least of my problems! On the last full day of my present stay the poolman came to clean my salt pool and I went out for the day. On returning at 1am the filter was on but I thought he had just reset it incorrectly. The next morning there was no noise from the filter so I opened the shutters to discover water everywhere including on the newly repaired terrace and in the pool box where the filter, pump and electrics are. He has accepted responsibility for leaving the water on when topping up the pool after backwashing and is going to let everything dry out before seeing what works and what doesn't. Anything that doesn't work he will replace so that is all fine but as I am ignorant about most pool technology could it be that some things will work for a short time but have had their life shortened considerably? Also how do I estimate how much to charge for the wasted water - the high pressure hose was left on for 16 hours? I am sure they will put things right but as I am returning in two weeks I would like to go out sounding more knowledgeable than I am. Can anyone recommend a book for swimming pool maintenance which explains in simple language how to maintain salt pools. Eillen

Does anyone have any good ideas about how to remove the dirty mark on the swimming pool liner where the water line is?  I've tried the usual substances. Eillen

Thanks Opel Fruit, I will pay a visit to his office with a well prepared message! Charlie - have sent you a pm.

Our house was built about 3 years ago by a well known builder in our department (11) and we are very pleased with it. After 18 months some tiles around the terrace had cracked and he agreed to replace them. As it was Autumn I suggested he waited until Spring giving the ground time to settle. He agreed but he didn't return. By then we had also noticed that the gates posts moved with the seasons (they are built on clay) which meant we cannot lock the gates when we are not there as they overlap or don't meet. He told our estate agent that he had not put in good enough foundations and would re-build them with connecting foundations between the two posts. Despite our estate agent repeatedly asking him no work has been done. We sent him an e-mail and had no reply. We sent him another asking for a meeting at our house when we were there at easter and he agreed. He was very charming (which he always is) and said the work would be started the next week. It wasn't and still hasn't. We have sent another e-mail with no response. Any suggestions as to what we do next? I think all work is meant to be guarranteed for 10 years isn't it? I am going to our house next week for 2 weeks so I could see him then but I am not sure what good it would do as he keeps promising but not delivering. My french is only at GCSE level so I am easily lost in conversations! Thanks  

I am visiting our house in dept 11 in March and want to plant some bushes as a windbreak for our terrace. We are in a valley and the wind can whip down the terrace blowing books, towels etc away. We want to create a bed of bushes about 3m from the edge of the terrace and pool. The soil is pure clay and we need bushes that have growth near to the ground. As they are near to the pool it would be preferable if they are mainly evergreen but not leylandii. Our main problem is that we are not there all the time but could arrange for someone to water them once a week when we are away. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am not a gardener.

I told them that I also had a wood burning fire. This heats up all of downstairs after a few hours and also our bedroom as the chimney is in there. It is a holiday home, we are only there 8 - 9 weeks a year so would hopefully miss the red days. When we are there in the winter we rarely use the heating due to our high electricity bills. I will try EDF again.

I went to EDF in Carcassonne last week and was told I couldn't go on Tempo because we had electric heating, so now I am confused.