Quillan

[quote]And why is it that M Taupe can dig so many holes it in the garden when it is virtually impossible for any human to get so much as a tent peg in the gound due to the vast quantity of cailloux? Come to...[/quote] They have maps you know, yes in deedee. Not to mention things like thermic lances, explosives etc, you would not believe. Actually you have given be an idea. Do you think I could sell the hills as top soil?

Saw on the news today that flights from the US are canceled due to extreme weather conditions, loads of snow apparently and getting worse. So if you are in the B&B or Gite business and waiting for guests from the US to arrive today they won't be. Spooky really but I watched 'The Day After Tomorrow' last night, blinding film, and when I saw the news this morning I thought hang on a minute did I miss the end of the film or something. Oh dear just noticed the spelling, sorry.

If it's XP Pro you can install it to a different area of the disc and have dual boot, I have done this and it's not a problem. The next thing is that you will have to then install the applictions you require in to that version of Windows so you could end up doubling your used disk space. Don't forget the keyboard. you will need a UK one as well but then they are very cheap. I bet somebody will say you can work the keyboard out or put little stickers over the keys but for long term use it's a pain in the rear your much better off replacing it. I forgot, if the original is XP Home edition then XP Pro will create the dual boot but I am not sure if Home Edition will create a dual boot but you can always look on the Microsoft website.

[quote]Will probably go new build as we are now resident. If we could get similar value for money from renovation of an old property we would consider going down that route. 10 years ago we bought very cheap...[/quote] Thats the thing with some of these properties to renovate is there remoteness. If you do it for a holiday home it's different but when you live here full time it becomes a real pain driving miles and miles just to get a loaf of bread and even further to get to a supermarket. Transport is another thing, being 4km from Quillan where there are bus's and trains (OK only 6 times a day but it's better than nothing) is a real boon. I used to take my car to Carcassonne to the Landrover dealer for service. When they found a problem during the service and had to wait 24hrs for the part at least I was not totally stranded. Quillan has all the shops, banks etc you need for day to day living and two supermarkeds as well. Some of the places to renovate were really in the back and beyond which creates other broblems like getting materials delivered and because you (nearly) always pay for the service. The further you are away the more you pay plus the longer it takes to get the stuff. I often think it's the small things that catch people out when they go down the renovating route and this is only one example of a possible problem area. This is why I and many before me on the forum always say you MUST do your homework first and try to think about absolutly everything. Another example is that we know a couple who renovated and put oil CH in. They got to nearly empty and phoned up for some more, no problem, except they only delivered to that area once a month and not in the winter (because of the snow) and they had missed the last delivery date by 2 days. Stupid thing really but they didn't know and until they mentioned it I would not have thought of it either but it's just another of the many things you have to think about. As I always say we have been incredibly lucky as in the end when we bought our house the logic went out the window and the heart ruled but luck was with us and we have everything we need and in easy reach.

"has now been waived for EU citizens" Carefull with that statement, it's not for all EU citizens. People from the countries who have recently joined the EU especially those from the old Eastern Block still have to apply.

We looked at all three and our thoughts after looking at quite a few houses were these.   Renovation – A lot of what we were shown were basically four walls and if you are lucky a roof. Now I do a bit of DIY to a reasonable standard but a builder I am not. The major works would therefore need to be done by a professional and having followed some of the experiences of others here a few years back I became quite worried about who I would employ. I would have preferred to employ French builders, after all the older French builders have been around for years and are fully conversant with the types of houses built here. The problem with this is lack of French language which as others have said here and I now totally agree is paramount. How do you get what you want across when you can’t speak the lingo? Mind you I love some of the house descriptions; my favourite is “requires some modernization”. What that inevitably means is you would be better of blowing the place up and starting again.   New Build – Having seen a few round here, new builds, as do renovations, need to be project managed to ensure you get what you want and that it comes in on price. Approving a drawing, getting planning permission then going back to the UK and visiting every 6 to 8 weeks is not a good idea, you really need to be there. In my personal opinion you need to live very close by if not on site. Again this is the same with renovations. It’s often very hard to see from drawings, even with 3D impressions what things really will look like in the flesh. The bigger problem comes when the utilities are installed, do you want a power socket here or there etc as things do change as you go along. Probably the biggest thing is the wait. Any good French builder will be booked two possibly three years in advance and we were not willing to wait.   Modern – This is the route we went. OK in our case we had to make some changes as we converted the house to a B&B and made all the bedrooms en-suite. Having said that if we just wanted to live in it we only had to decorate, this is the way you put your personal mark on a house and for me I can do most (not structural) of the work myself. Our house was 18 years old when we bought it so we had a mature garden (something you don’t get with a new build) and the house had ‘settled in’. Houses of this age, like a new build, are well insulated which is difficult to do with renovations if you want to keep that ‘character’ feel.   We were lucky in that a lot of thought went in to our house and it was built to a high standard. There were quirky things about the house which we now understand like the kitchen faces north and not south as we are accustomed where possible in the UK because it would get far to hot in the summer. It has a walk in pantry, having it in sunlight during the day will make stored go rotten quicker. There are a few other things which we thought odd (well different to the UK) but as we get use to the house we work out why things are as they are.   Conclusion – At the end of the day we are not all the same and people want different things so I would be very stupid to say what we did is right although it was for us. Horses for courses and all that.

Our reporter can confirm that during the night Mole Bin Laden and his terrorist network have been at it again.  One railway carriage has been overturned and an engine shed damaged but fortunately nobody was killed. There being no sign of bodies it was felt that this was not a suicide attack but more of a well planned coordinated operation.   Observers have noted that the tunnel complex in which Mole bin Laden and his fellow martyrs have been using in the past seems to have extended it’s self by some 50% and increasing in size by the day. Inside sources within Laden’s camp have said that this increase in size and quantity of tunnels coupled with fresh attacks on farm and park land is in response to the almost complete annihilation last year of the complex by various unsavoury methods. Also they were particularity annoyed at repeated attempts of forced deportation to other areas.   Our reporters have tried to contact Mole bin Laden direct for comment but as usual he has proved quite illusive although he has been sending video recordings to that well know sympathetic news media “La Taupe Révénge” demanding independence and a homeland for Taupe’s although he has not made it plain where this would be.   The government response has been to bring fresh troops in to the area and begin new operations using more modern gas and biological weapons, large artillery, napalm (don’t you just love the smell first thing in the morning) and large bulldozers. Early attempts to ‘Nuke the *******’ were repelled by stinger missiles previously sold to the Afghanistan’s  by the Americans and have now found their way on to the open market. Satellite pictures have however confirmed that the new command centre built by Mole bin Laden have been dug so deep that it is highly unlikely that conventional weapons are likely to penetrate it. Colonel Shwatznegererer of the US Army Intelligence service (is the American army intelligent?)  said “It’s so big and goes so deep that it would bring a tear to even a Russians eye”.   Watch this space for future updates.

[quote]Q - in these PC times are you sure you should call someone "gentile" ? John not[/quote] Oooooops see thats what happens if you only get the job (or the box) half done you start making smelling pistakes. Piprob - He never said one what, just one. So living and working in the 'smoke' at the time I always go the max route. Being a contract consultant as well one tends to live by the rule of "eat (or in my case drink) today as you may not eat tomorrow" hic . Back to the other half, can't leave a job half done. Perhaps I have some Scotish blood in me as an old Scot I once new who taught me how to drink single malt (is there any other?) was that once the cork is out it does not go back in. Toodle Pip.....Hic

Having always thought of you as such a gentile person I would have said 'Ouch' but now I am not so sure. Off for my snooze now.

No, no, no, we have astrix string. It's tied to the moderator of the days right leg and when a nasty word comes up we get a pull (It's the only 'pull' I have had for years but thats another story). You see it's so relaxing here in France, taking your time, one sheet of plasterboard a day, don't want to over do it. That coupled with my heart consultant telling me he was pleased I was moving to France as red wine is good for the blood and that one a day was good for me. So after my mandatory 5L box of red (for medicinal purposes only) a day I fall asleep but then my heart is fine, well I don't feel pain........ anywhere come to think of it.

Some banks like CA let you print them off online.

"Because we have such a unusual property, we thought it would stand out in advertisements, Hubby has also got a picture on the back of his old 4x4" Actually thats exactly what I did as soon as we got here. Knowbody in France will know who the Landrover dealer is in Canterbury so I got a sign put on for the B&B. Don't know if it ever did any good but I felt good about free advertising.

I have to say we have never seen one in a shop over here.

I think the French pretend to be insulted. I made a stupid offer on the house we now live in pointing out what would have to be done, not to make it in to a business but just a family home, new kitchen, bathroom, decorating throughout etc and of course got an absoloute no. I then went back with an offer, after a couple of days (let them sweat), of what I really wanted to pay which saved my 20,000€ but that was back in 2002. Since then the value of the house has risen by just over double in just over 2 years, partly due to the redecoration (still haven't changed the kitchen on the oven and hob) and new bathrooms for the B&B but mainly from house prices here going through the roof. Mind you it only counts if you want to sell but as we are not concidering moving is of no interest to us what the house is worth.

"We are told they are working closely with the forum software developers but still we can be given no indications as to what issues will be addressed nor when these will be addressed (at least all I have seen is a link to the forum developers own forum that say nothing about planned enhancements and fixes and nothing about schedules. In IT terms this is not working closely with the developers. I’m sure they are taking it seriously, but are the forum software developers and others ? Failure to keep users informed is another classic failure that increases frustrations and aggravation in IT systems. Any IT manager should know this." We don't want to bore people with postings about upgrades and patches so any discussion is carried out in the moderators forum which is part of this site but private (you can't see it or access it). You were told that the software was being moved recently and that the forum was going down for further work, there was little point in saying anything else as to 80% of the forum members it would make no sense. I notice even TF (as an example mentioed by yourself) does not keep people informed the way you describe. Secondly the this forum and others run by Archant are free services and only cater for a small amount of the IT business of the company so for technical staff to spend hours, days, weeks on this problem continiously is not on, they do it when they can, bit like Forum Admin.

There are a couple of guys who advertise that they buy RHD cars from people in France who don't have the time to take their cars back to the UK. I have approached one and believe he is the same guy who was mentioned a year or two back on the forum, just mentioned and no comment either way was made. Well he wants to buy my car and says he will give me a HSBC Euro cheque drawn on a UK bank (HSBC I assume). Does anybody want to pass comment about a HSBC Euro cheque like is it OK and will I have problems with my French bank trying to pay it in. Does anybody know or has anybody dealt with this chap (Owl Trading). If its not good news you better PM me or just say something like wouldn't use him, I wouldn't like to get anyone in to trouble with the old 'naming and shaming' if you know what I mean. Thanks in advance.

I asked a friends son last year who had just passed his test because I wanted to know about positioning on road junctions when turning left and things like that. I also asked about this priority rule and he told me that basically it causes a lot of accidents and that the government is gradually doing away with it. Basically if the road on the right has a line across (like in the UK) people must stop before turning right on t the main road and do not have right of way. Sometimes, from when they started doing away with the priority rule there is the square sign to tell you you have priority and not those from the right. All roundabouts except one or two in Paris give priority to those on the roundabout. The thing is, which is typically French, is that they are taking their time in painting white lines at junctions or just can't be bothered. The problem comes, as it does also in the UK, with the fact that most of us older drivers never get sent updates on the Highway Code and never bother to refresh ourselves (seen the sign for a tram in the UK, I never knew what it was first time). Like my dad always said 'Been doing it this way for the last 50 years and I pay my road tax so there' before hitting a tree, mind you he did swerve several times before finally managing to hit it, image what he could have done with a moving target. Tell you what for a laugh Pat bought a CD for the theory test in the UK which performs a random test, good fun, and it's surprising hats changed over the years. Get your mates to have a go and see them get angry when they get only 60% right 'been driving for years, must be the computer thats wrong'.

Air France pulled it's London flight last year and didn't even bother to tell people who were booked, they had to go London - Paris - Toulouse adding around 3 hours on the trip and that was a scheduled flight.

Hi Val, Wow thats high. Our total bill was 242.40€ for 168 cubic ltrs. I was a bit ticked off as we bay for water used and for water out even though we have a fosse septic. We lived in a gite in Laval which comes under Quillan for the first 3 months and the water there is private i.e. owned and administered by the council (as is the electricity) and both were over double what we pay here and thats 4km down the road. We have 2 washing machines, 4 showers, 4 toilets and 2 baths plus a dishwasher and being a B&B they are used a lot. Fortunatly we can pump water from the river in summer to water the plants and wash the car. Now we never realised that the cost of utlities varies from one area (or town even) to another and to be honest if it was not for living in the gite would never have known. So if you are looking to buy in France it's worth finding out before you sign as 100m down the road may be considerably cheaper.

Hoddy - You see it takes a woman to mention this, us chaps are so macho about these sort of things. Suggesting to chaps that they should examine themselves for lumps 'down there' makes them think 'your having a laugh' but it is a very serious matter. My wife often checks her breasts for lumps (she even lets me check at times but thats another story ) but us men are so shy about checking ourselves let alone having a male doctor do it which is very silly really. There does seem to be a lot of cancer around these days in different forms and to think it's just smokers that get it is totally wrong. Another area of decease that seems to be rather overlooked as you get older is diabetics, fortunately I have a blood test every year for my heart problems and my doctor always includes this.

Having recently lost my mother-in-law to cancer in the UK and a close cousin in early 2004 and having a close friend here in France with cancer my personal opinion is that our friend is receiving far better treatment. That a side I have to say that I feel preventative care in France is not as good as in the UK as some of the female posters have already mentioned about smear testing. Mamograms are another area where one has to ask although I notice on the news sheet from CPAM that mamograms are 100% allowable. Err in doors still gets regular letters to have one (mamogram) forwarded from the UK which is good in a way as it reminds her to get one over here. However, reading what others have said I also don't think it's worth beating yourself over the head about what if's as sadly these things happen in life and are often not of our making where ever we are. I am very sorry.

Oh yes I like it. It's all very true down our neck of the woods although I saw no mention of French drivers always wanting to park in my boot when I'm driving, I think they must of invented 'tail gateing'.

Mazan - If memory serves me right it's only XP Proffesional that does this, not home edition. Mind you when I did my MCP on Windows XP the home edition was never mentioned (unless a student asked a question) on the basis that it was not considered by Microsoft to be a product that should be used in a commercial environment. In fact the instructor was rather derogative about it claiming it was mainly W2K with a little XP content and a lot of multi media stuff bolted in that came from 3rd party software houses. I don't know if this is true as I have only ever worked on a home edition machine once and that was as a favour to a mate.

Acer is a very good make, in act not many people realise they are the biggest manufacture in the world of computer equipment. How comes, well all IBM PC's are made by Acer, most of the clone laptops and they supply mother boards for HP and compaq. They also make printers, the Brother printers are made by Acer and badged Brother. I used to have a list of who they made PC's and printers for but I threw it away when I left the business but it was quite amazing. Mazan - Windows XP is the only version of Windows that can deal with multiple version DLL's. These normally get over written on old systems because whilst say a French and English language DLL does the same thing they are of two different languages and as such are shown as two different versions. Setup programs only check to see if the version they have is the same or higher version number so if they can't find a valid version for a specific language they just ovewrite with the current and thats where the problems start. When Windows XP came out Microsoft had had several complaints from developers that their software ran only with certain versions of DLL's so Microsoft allowed multiple DLL's to reside on the same system. A by product of this is that you can install other language software on a PC with their own DLL's whilst keeping the origianl ones for other packages.

As a B&B owner myself I totally agree with what Miki has written and would consider it good advice and there are some others in the past (two if memory serves me well) who have given good advice on tax and Chambre of Commerce which are well worth a read. Some of the comments made by others above are quite good and valid. It very much depends on what you want out of life. Many, like myself, use it to supplement their income, others expect it to support them totally. My observations so far have indicated that unless you have something very spectacular the chances of succeeding on just a B&B income is very small. One often sees B&B's up for sale (LF magazine is one source) offered by those that have piled money in only to realise too late that they won't be able to live of the income. We know of a couple of B&B's within a 50 mile radius who have failed and gone home or who currently have B&B's for sale. It's rather sad really. The comment about language is good, I did not speak French before coming here (learnt German at school, badly, and not very useful here) and am desperately trying to learn. Being able to speak French does open many doors for you. Not having the time to attend French lessons here we have actually made a point of aiming our marketing at the French sector which has helped me a lot and has been very amusing at times particularly with my poor pronunciation. I actually like the uncertainty of waiting for guests to arrive; it keeps you on your toes and in a strange way is quite exciting. Having said that the importance of good advertising is paramount, not just who you advertise with but the format of the advertisements themselves. I think quality of your accommodation is also very important as is now the expected en-suite bathrooms and general cleanliness of the establishment. In our area of France the prefecture has stated that much of the accommodation falls well beneath ‘European Standards’ which helps us by the fact that we do have nice clean en-suite rooms and make a lot of effort to help people enjoy their stay with us. A grading scheme in our area is being compulsory introduced which I actually agree with as there are one or two terrible B&B’s out there, so we have heard. There is a certain element of people, not just English, who do seem to think that you can ‘tosh out’ a couple of rooms and hang a sign up in the window and wait for the people to queue at your door, totally wrong of course and they are normally the first on the ‘boat’ back to wherever they came from. As others have mentioned it’s not an easy life either. Up at the crack of dawn (6:00 – 6:30) and then late nights (1:00 or 2:00 in the morning) entertaining guests at dinner then when they have gone to bed we have to clean, wash up and I like to set the tables for the morning, gives me an extra 10 minutes in bed. It’s bloody hard work and not for the week hearted buy hey it’s great fun. This year is our third year and we have done reasonably well, it has paid our utility bills and fed us but it has not paid for heating in the winter or the running of the car. We started with two rooms and added a third at the end of the first year and a fourth this year and that’s it, there’s no more space. We have a large garden with wooded area and the river Aude borders two sides, we have plans to put two cabins in the garden but it’s capital money spent which we will never get back and one has to keep this in mind. So all in all I and the wife actually enjoy what we are doing which is ever so important and have great fun doing it which is lucky I guess but if we had to rely on this as our only form of income we also would be heading back to the UK. So to the original poster I would say use this forum and any other source you can get information from. Think long, hard and carefully before you commit yourselves as it can be a very costly mistake if you get it wrong. Having a good partner who wants exactly the same as you is also extremely important. That last sentence is very important as not many people have experienced living 24/7 with their partner before and this in it’s self can be a big problem to some and can take a bit of getting use to. Hope this helps. PS. Thanks to all those on the forum who helped us a couple of years back, probably wouldn't be here now without it.