tristanspeed

Try Direct Assurance - it's the French version of Direct Line. I'm 34 with a 0.76 bonus and pay about 540 euros fully comp with breakdown for a 2001 Saab 2.2 Tid 7cv and about 630 euros fully comp for a 2007 Ibiza Tdi FR130, also 7cv. That's with a manageable excess, although I can't remember the figure. Everything's done online although they did require an insurance expert assess my Saab before insuring it - checking I hadn't put a big spoiler on the back perhaps... Certainly get a certificate of your UK no claims bonus - I didn't and had to be classed as a 'young driver' for 2 years despite never having had an accident. Diesel cars tend to be lower 'cv' for the equivalent power, so my old BMW 325TDS was 7cv, despite having 150bhp. My petrol Golf was 8cv with a puny 90bhp. I used to pay a lot more - around 1000 euros - until I really really shopped around. Direct Assurance won't insure it while it's on UK plates, so you may have to go with a more expensive firm until you've done the papers. Take care, because you can only cancel your insurance once a year at the renewal date unless you sell the car. Above all, enjoy driving here, it just so much more fun than in the UK! JR - that's a bargain, well done! I bought the Seat over the Skoda Fabia vRS because the insurance was 300 euros lower for the Seat...

Hello - I live near Lyon and have been to the Alps and down south to Provence several times for summer holidays, but I'd really like to explore the Atlantic coast this year. Trouble is I've never been there before so I really don't know where to aim for. I'd like somewhere quietish, lots of nature, nice villages etc. I'm planning to go in early September rather than in August. I'd like to be near the sea too, and will have a baby in tow by then! Does anyone have any advice for where to start looking - or places to avoid? I don't want to go up to Brittany because I want a reasonable guarantee of decent weather, but other than that I'm open to ideas.

You could try www.bacchus-insurance.com - they helped me out with this on my UK reg MX-5, as did Naafi financial - www.naafi.co.uk I'd say probably don't bother with importing it - you'll have to pay to change the headlights, possibly fog and reversing lights, get a cert of conformity (about 80euros), Controle Technique etc. It can get very complicated, or be very easy, I've had it work in a few weeks (Golf)or several months and a great deal of tests (MX5). Keep it UK road legal (tax, Mot) of course. Good luck!

Just a quick point of related info on something I've just discovered myself:  If you live and work in France, work for a French firm and pay French tax then you can deduct a sum for your travel to and from your workplace, and your lunches if you don't have a subsidised canteen, from your final taxable income. So for example you are allocated 4.10 euros per day for lunch to de deducted from your 'net montant imposable' on your December payslip. It won't get you much, but it helps pay for a sandwich! In terms of transport, you multiply the return distance to your workplace by a number given on the 'bareme' on the back of the 'how to fill in your tax form' document that comes with your tax declaration form. You need to know the 'puissance fiscale' of your car, say 7cv, in order to work it out. You can also deduct all 'peage' bills for getting to work. You need to include a photocopy of your 'carte grise' as proof. I know this because I had a chat with my tax office today. I got on the case because after 5 years of working here a colleague actually told me all of this was possible! You can ask for the last two years of tax declarations to be recalculated, so that's back to 2004's earnings at the moment as I understand it. All in all it doesn't seem much better or worse than the UK, just different.