charlie*

I'm sorry that I'm not being politically correct but many people have chosen France as their home and then bang on about how great it is that the U.K have got the Olympics. WHY????  

I live in France and I wish Paris had got it.( Though I think Chirac is a twit!) Where was Blair when manchester tried to get the Olympics (no, I'm not from up North)?  

I live in France and I wish Paris had got it.( Though I think Chirac is a twit!) Where was Blair when manchester tried to get the Olympics (no, I'm not from up North)?  

Thanks for that. I'm not good at electrics ( uk or French) . I have bought U.K lampshades ( from NEXT)   as they seem very expensive / ugly here) Is there any way I can fit them?

We have light sockets that I have never seen before. I'll decribe them as best I can. Thin flat plastic circle on ceiling which has a hook (?) . There is a plastic bulb holder attachment which has a small plastic rectangle 'box' on the side - the bulb holder clips into the thing on ceiling.  I know that the attachment can be quickly transformed by removing it and turning it inside out or something so it can hold a strip light, although it doesn't look strong enough to me. The bulb holder does not unscrew to (securely) hold a lampshade as in the U.K.     Are these designed to have lampshades? Do I need to by any other attachments?  

I had some great advice about this very subject in the past 2-3 weeks from Motorhead amongst others - try running a search or just check Motohead's recent posts,  

we had our house built supposedly through a franchise of a reputable company...If only I knew then what I know now!! 1. Check for hidden surprises - assurance D.O, can come as a surprise and its not always obvious who pays for it! 2. Make sure that all subcontractors are contracted by the builder and not yourself ( the builder pays them and you pay the builder- keeps some distance between you) 3. Ask for detailed invoices - know exactly what you are paying for ( our factures were often vague) 4.If any invoice - facture comes in higher than the estimate, then make sure that the builder takes responsibility for the shortfall and not yourself. 5. If at all possible, check the work before you make any staged payment...do not trust your builder / project manager. 6. be a kingsize pain in the ar*se...they will take advantage if you let them!

We have had conflicting advice from the electrician and his mate about which particular socket we should use for the cooker. Is there anyway of knowing? We do have one socket that has two  wires ( two red, two yellow and two blue) wired to the socket unlike the others which has just one red, yellow, blue wire, but it is clearly connected to another socket ( if I move the wires the other wires move!!!)

We used et brokers- you can find them on the internet. You pay them a small fee ( I think it was £10.) and they find a removal company for you. They saved us an absolute fortune and the company that eventually moved our stuff were fantastic. 

  Help! New built house - new electrics etc. Electrician wired the ceramic hotplate directly to a flat plastic thing on the wall ( don't know technical term but similar to U.K) This works fine. The built in oven, (which we are now about to use for the first time) the electrician fitted a plug to the cable. It looks like a solid type of plug - but I can't understand why this is and if it's ok. Also, how can we tell which socket we should use for this plug? will we blow a fuse or several if we get it wrong?

Oooh you had me going then , you little monkey!

I've had a new house built through a franchise of a well known French company, and no one has given me a certificate!  

Purple carrots? What are doing TU, beating them up?

Could it be that its easier to transfer from one countries system to another? Immediately before I left the U.K I was unemployed ( I wasn't entitled to any dosh, because I'd left my job to move to France and therefore had made my self unemployed) but I was told that had I been in receipt of JSA, I would have been supplied with whatever paperwork I needed to claim similar in France.  

I bet she looked as though she had massacred someone by the time she'd finished! BTW I think its brilliant the way these topics digress.

I own up to using the English language part of the French website and had stuff delivered because we lived so far away. It worked well for us because we needed a lot of stuff, although I was irritated that certain things could not be delivered, even though we had to pay delivery costs.

I'm a kind of pickled crinkled cut type of beetroot girly myself...I just love it on a cheese sarnie. I never knew you could eat it raw

So sorry, its the Declaration d'acheivement de travaux , that I have. But does anyone know if I'll be in trouble for not sending it off?  

This 'declaration de traveaux' , Can you get penalised for not sending it off? We've been given one by our builder, but his idea of a finished house and our idea of finished house are two completely different things.

Hi I think this link might be useful in determining who is entitled to what. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/ If you enter 'unemployment benefit eu' in the search, you should find some answers. I was informed before I left the U.K that unemployment benefit was transferable but only for a very short period of time and then your'e on your own!

In the short time I've been in France, I am so disappointed with the supermarkets, the nearest to me looks like the kind of u.k supermarket I was dragged round as a kid in the 70s. For a nation that prides itself on its cuisine ( and don't get me started on that!), I just think choice (or lack of it) is really poor.

I hear what you are saying but I just think that if I was facing the possible prospect of having to pay to have a fosse installed which I didn't expect, to be told after the event what I should have done would make me reach for an even bigger bottle of plonk ! I do think ( as in my own case) you can do a heck of a lot of research and still get your fingers burnt and it's not necessarily your own fault. 

"...if it isn't, you should have asked the question when you viewed the property, just as you would have done in the UK". Isn't that just a bit harsh? who thinks to ask where their waste is going when the buy a house in the U.K? Ron and Olive, I hope the problem resolves itself soon.

We are having exactly the same problems with our builder. Is your builder part of a bigger franchise? We got fed up waiting for empty promises and have sent our builder a recorded delivery letter, which hasn't had the desired effect. perhaps you could contact me on my private email ( if its working) and we can compare / discuss tactics.

Hi Motorhead Sorry to change the direction of the subject slightly, but you seem to know what you're talking about.  I've looked at the website you recommend and I'm now worried. The first of the two covers for our Fosse is approximately just 2 metres from the bathroom wall, which is well short of the distance recommended on that website. We are not happy with the fosse for numerous reasons, is it legal to have it this close or should we call the builders back?