Carolski

No confusion and I understand that they dont charge as such BUT they give 1.5 cents below what the interbank rate is for that day..so in a way that is their 'fee'

Well, I've asked this question and it seems that neither decide the rate, they use the interbank rate that day and also their charges are in fact less if you take into consideration that brokers also use the same interbank rate that day and then add 1.5 cents onto the rate for themselves. The only dissadvantage i can see with the bank is that its a longer process. Correct me if I'm wrong please!

What I need to know then is what rate do the banks use as I have been told that they use the interbank rate for that day in which case how can that be 'costly' for us? I know its slower than using money brokers but these brokers seems to charge about 1.5 cents on top of the interbank rate. Can yo utell me which brokers you used that was better than the bank? Thanks

I went into our French bank today to try and find out how they would transfer our cheque from the Notaires when we sell our property in May to our UK bank account and how much they would charge. I had been told not a lot. seems that they charge 15€ and then a further 1% for every 1000€ that they send to the UK. I was quite surprised as I had been led to believe that their charges were much less than that. When we transferred our Sterling in to Euros 4 years ago from the UK, we paid about £20! We have been told various prices by different people and seem to find it hard to have 'true' picture of what we can expect. maybe its better then to go through companies like moneybookers etc. They also have said that it can take 8 days to clear a Notaires cheque, I assume that also we have to allow a few days to clear it in the UK on top of all of this. OOOOOh La La! Thoughts much appreciated.  

Hello Would like to know if its true that if you sell a second hand car over here in France, if something goes wrong with it in the first 6 months, you are liable. Its not that I have a problem with that as such but we plan to sell it then return to the UK. What happens in these cases (there must be a lot of people who do this). I have spoken to our local Renault garage (as its a kango and in good condition) and he is happy to 'take it off our hands' for less than we could possibly get for it privately but to be honest given the convenience factor and possibly this 6 month warrenty, it may be easier to do this.

Just a thought; had you ever considered using LD Lines from Dieppe to Newhaven? The crossing is only 4 hours and our little westie has done it several times and seems to be quite happy. They are very efficient when it comes to Pet passports and in our expeience have always been helpful. We too live in dept 17 and find the drive to Dieppe doesnt really take a lot longer. Also LD are a lot cheaper!  

I had seen that some time ago...but even though his behaviour was a tad inappropriate he was not the presenter of the show. I do think that there is a difference and that Sharon was in a position where she should have been way more professional Obviously one can never be 100% sure how artists are going to behave on a live TV show; Serge Gainsburg's behaviour being a classic example.

After seeing Sharon Osborne presenting (if you could possibly call it that) the Brits last night, I was appalled by her total disregard for any form of acceptable behaviour. Her language was disgusting ( and I am by no means a prude) let alone her aggressive outbursts. Should we be allowing this sort of behaviour to prevail in a culture that seems to have lost so much when it comes to general manners and where sadly this sort of outburst has become the norm. It begs the question..would this sort of language and behaviour be accepted on French TV? Whether we like it or not she is a role model for so many young people; should there not be a standard set? or do we ignore such behaviour at our peril? I would like to think that Sharon would feel ashamed in the cold light of the following day and could find it in her to apologise..lets hope so!

Thanks, is there a standard price or does it depend on the car?

Silly really but can't seem to find out and need to know when it would be due. We bought our car in June 2004 (new).   C

Hi, I've just pm'd you..

I would be so interested in peoples experiences on how differently the French approach the whole negotiation process when it comes to agreeing a price for a property. Are experience so far ( and we are selling by the way) has made us realise how different we are culturally..but maybe there are those out there who would disagree.  

I have a French friend who is a journalist for the Sud Ouest here near La Rochelle. I emailed her yesterday to pose your question and she supplied the following info I have posted below, hope it helps!   hi 1. about Keni's questions he should ask them (in French) to Sud-Ouest (much larger diffusion than Charente Libre) or to Ouest France.  www.sudouest.com www.ouestfrance.com   or the S.O.'s La Rochelle agency : 05 46 28 05 05.  

So empathise with your problem, we have had a fouine in our loft for the first time this year throwing wild and noisy parties at 3am in the morning!!! We used mothballs (but as the previous posting said they are not as strong as the original) but we have also used peppermint oil on pieces of cottonwool stewn around the place...it really does work promise...( we think the combination of both seems to do the trick). You can buy peppermint oil in most pharmacies in France.       Let us know how you get on!   C

Hello   Would much appreciate some pointers as to who/how to contact a haulage/freight company that will deliver some equipment as part of a load from where we are just East of La Rochelle to Scotland. The cubic capacity is 3.5 cubic meters.   Thanks

Hello   Would much appreciate some pointers as to who/how to contact a haulage/freight company that will deliver some equipment as part of a load from where we are just East of La Rochelle to Scotland. The cubic capacity is 3.5 cubic meters.   Thanks   Carolski

Did I hear correctly or had I had too much of the old spiced wine last night...there was a wild boar running amok in a clothes store in Poitiers yesterday at the height of the Christmas shopping frenzy. Apparantly it was shot dead in the middle of the shop. Assume it found nothing in its size then? Seriosly, do hope no one was hurt in the process? C  

[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii39/carolskianne_m/DSCN7216.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii39/carolskianne_m/DSCN7212.jpg[/IMG]   Eureka!..Hope these photos work but they are of the evidence left behind from our visitors...any ideas???

I'm sure I'm being really dim here but how on earth do you post a photo downloaded from our camera? Have no probs with uploading them when it comes to blogs etc...but no idea on this forum  

Can't say that we have a large tree or indeed a tree at all by our roof, as my most recent post said, the moth balls and the peppermint oil seem to have shortened their visit duration but it/they still arrive at about 4am thus waking us (they're sooooo noisy), scratch about a bit in the other side of the roof now (which we cant get to)..then go quiet. Can I assume that's because the moth ball smell etc has genuinely put them off and they have left the 'building' or are they lying in wait in the roof tiles?  

Seems conclusive and advice given by many re the mothballs and will certainly go out today and get some. Interestingly enough though, I had heard somewhere that peppermint oil is a deterrant too so as I had some I liberally soaked some cotton wool with the oil and placed pieces of it around the attic last night; at 4am they arrived as usual..then suddenly they went! Perhaps the peppermint oil did the trick too! worth a mention.  

Thanks for that info..does sound likely that it could be a fouine....BUT...how do you get rid of them? any ideas???? I dont fancy them getting to cosy and stinking the place out let alone damaging the roof space! HELP!!!  

  Not sure where to post this but here's a start! We've now got used to living in rural France and even the mice/rats etc that seem to enjoy free reign in our attic in the winter months. However, this year it seems to be inhabited by something noisier , more destructive and bigger altogether. We have just come back from 3 weeks away in the UK. On our first night back and pratically every night now around 3 in the morning we are woken by the sound of knawing and creaking (very loud) just above and at the side of our bedroom, in the roof space and the attic. On investigation the first following morning, we discovered faeces not unlike cats or small dogs..certainly not like rats or mice. We put down rat poisen granules...they havent touched it. We are tearing our hair out as  this animal is causing damage to the velux window padding etc in the roof space. Any suggestions greatly appreciated and what to put down to get rid of it.    

Have a small group of French people learning English; their knowledge is pretty limited at the moment but would love to find a book that we could follow together that makes it interesting and yet has 'interactive' elements to it as well. Any suggestions please? 

Oh dear, I feel hopelessly out of my depth, I'm just someone who responded to a need in our local commume; fairly good at communicating but certainly not a trained teacher. It all went really well at the beginning of the year until May when we 'broke up' for the Summer.They now want to start again for the Autumn/Winter...but as I said, they have developed into 2 clear level groups and I just wanted a bit of advice from all the 'experts' out there! Its also 'free' as it was about putting something back into the community. By the way, I seem to have 'lost' my original identity. and have been locked out of my 'log in' .I've now had to create another one which is why the name appears to be different! Annie