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marina

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  1. With LD Lines you get what you pay for, i.e. inferior service. Though if you dare to say that on the Anglo Info Normandy forum you will get torn limb from limb, probably because they are a load of cheapskates who think that Brittany Ferries is part of a conspiracy theory against them and LD Lines is the saviour of the planet. I have used both, and usually go with BF out of choice. The thing in favour of the Newhaven crossings with Transmanche/LD is that they are short. An overnight crossing on the Norman Spirit from Portsmouth is not a nice experience.  Booking in advance or not is a bit of a lottery. I generally find that outside the real peak seasons when the ships are packed out, you will pay no more, possibly a bit less, if you book with Brittany late. Whereas LD Lines will, like Ryanair, load the fares considerably for late bookings, so you will often pay less for the far better BF service.
  2. If you are French resident you have to make a tax return even if you have no tax to pay. In fact it is to your advantage to do so. Once you are eligible for E121 form you will receive, at no extra charge, the same health care that any other French resident past state retirement age would get. That means you would have to take out top up insurance to be fully covered. However if your income is very low you may be entitled to a free top up. Most over 60s have to contribute, at least until they qualify for E121.
  3. The 'making charges easier' thing was a Chirac idea, which might or might not reach fruition under Sarkozy. It all seems to be tied up with having just two bodies, RMI and URSSAF, collecting charges rather than the three (URSSAF and a variety of primary health insurance and old age caisses) which most independents have dealt with up to now. None of these things stop you paying charges, they just hope to make the first couple of years a bit fairer if you do not get much in. The best way to keep charges down regardless of who is in government is to have a good accountant who keeps your income down. Dont fall into the trap that some people have done by thinking that 10% is all you pay to the portage companies, making them a much better deal. You still have to pay the social charges as well, not to mention your tax. Your clients have to be companies that the portage co can invoice, not other individuals. But they can work well for some.
  4. If we share them, they wont be secret any more [:D]
  5. Lindaandrichard - be very careful. If you are offering a house or business for sale in France on behalf of somebody else you have to be profesionally registered as an agent immobiler or notaire. The authorities are hot on 'illegal agents' in some areas.
  6. British buyers are obsessed with prices when it comes to property. To please them you have to sell at a very low price so they can make a big profit when they come to sell it on in a few years. Sorry to generalise, but there is a lot of truth behind my cynical comment. 99% of them want cheap rather than quality. If you want to sell to the British is it because you have heard that British buyers will pay more than French buyers? No longer true I am afraid. The best place for French sellers to meet British buyers is through one of the agencies that specialises in English speaking clients, you will find plenty of names in French Property News for example. But you will need to accept their valuation if you want a sale, and also bear in mind the agency fees which may make the house look less attractive to the price obsessed British. I like your approach to getting round the forum's 'no advertising' rule by the way.  
  7. Has Sarko already outlawed tourist offices speaking English then? That didnt take long [:)]
  8. If UK police power makes you so uneasy I think you will have a shock when you move to France.
  9. Ive never seen any hostility in Wales though I am sure there has been some. I have though seen just the sort of thing that Monaco has posted about directed towards English people in Brittany.
  10. marina

    bad word.

    Also Capt Pugwash and his mates Seaman Staines, Master Bates and Roger the Cabin Boy, though they did realise with the last one and changed his name to Jim.
  11. We have a Grundig sky box which is working perfectly on all channels.
  12. Note that many French banks are not really national banks but strings of regional banks, some of which may only have one or two branches, but they share the same name, and some of the products, so it is hardly surprising that there is a lot of variation where charges and policies are concerned. You will find one particular oddity of this is that although you can draw money out of any bank sharing its name with your home bank, it can be very hard to pay money in when you are out of your own region.
  13. ...stick it? My suggestion would be up those who do not know the difference between mairie, maire or Marie. But not any of those were handy, so the deed was duly done to a passing...
  14. marina

    bad word.

    It is strange, when I put my cursor over the post in the active list, I can see what you wrote, but if I view it in the forum it just shows asterisks. You should be OK writing 'pussycat'.
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