Paul King

Thank you everyone for all your help and advice. We will be making thr trip tomorrow and will keep a close eye on the fuel guage! Thanks again Paul.

My final destination is Bordeaux and I'm afraid that my car can only travel 300 miles on a full tank - hence Tours is normally where I fill up. To be safe I would need to be sure of getting some petrol south of Le Man but north of Potiers. Thoughts welcome! Many thanks Paul.

Hi All, We are arriving at Calais at 10am on Tuesday morning (Oct 26th) and driving down the A16 and then A28 towards Tours - does anyone know if the petrol stations on this route still have petrol and wether we are likely to encounter any issues? Many thanks Paul.

The stupid thing is that I already have a built in Sat Nav within the car - but it dosen't alert me to either me exceeding the speed limit or speed cameras which are the two features I really need after missing a speed reduction sign last week. Does anyone have any suggestions to a product which will provide me with an audiable alert when speeding or approaching a speed camera in both UK & France? Many thanks Paul.

Many thanks. Does any one have a TomTom which would give an audiable warning when you exceed the speed limit? Thanks again. Paul.

Hi All, I know quite a few people on this forum have Sat Nav's I wondered if anyone has the Garmin 1340? I was at Halfords today and the assistant insisted that this device would provide an audible warning if you exceeded the current spped limit but Garmin's web site would seem to say otherwise within the FAQ section. Can anyone who actually has one confirm who is correct? Many thanks

Thank you. Just to close this one, is there any mapping service which you can enter your French journey into that will then tell you on the roads on which you will be travelling what the speed limits are? I have seen mapping tools which tell you where fixed cameras are to be found but not a service which tells you the speed limits? I'm just keen to not to miss another 90 kph sign in the future especially in the dark.

It is the points added to my UK licence that I worry about - can I assume as I wasn't stopped that no points will be added? If say some UK registered car was stopped - I assume they have to pay the on-the-spot fine, but would they also get points added to their UK licence? Thanks again.

Sunday Driver – Many thanks for taking the time to confirm my error – I thought it was 110 kph, a lesson learnt for next time. Polly – I like Chancer drive at 100kph for economy and truly thought the speed limit was 110kph. Thank you all for your replies and time taken. Paul.

Hi All, I was just leaving the last peage on the A16 tonight (it was almost dark) heading towards Eurotunnel and just after I cleared the bridge which directly follows the peage as you approach the slight incline I noticed a flash and a policeman standing on the side – could he have had some form of held hand speed camera? Does anyone know the speed limit over the bridge as I had my cruise control set at 100km/h. If it was a speed camera and the limit was less than 100 km/h can I expect a fine/points to my UK address? I was driving a UK registered car. Many thanks for your thoughts. Paul.

Thank you Just John. Does he speak English as I want to avoid any mis-communication? Thanks again Paul.

Hi All, We recently had our first annual service for our hot water/central heating boiler and asked the engineer to investigate why the boiler water overflow was constantly running – almost as much as a partly open tap. He responded by identifying a small valve within the boiler which had failed and showed us the history of the boiler on his computerised records and showed us that this has happened previously on a regular frequency – he said the problem was the pressure reducing valve fitted just prior to the boiler “was too short”. He pointed to the fact than whenever any water was run from the system it takes a while to fill back up again and the valves in the boiler were breaking due to a build up of pressure issue. I am no plumber so wanted to ask is the resolution as simple as seeing if the pressure reducing value can be adjusted – I am assuming it needs to allow more pressure as the water pressure from our taps and shower is very low. However, if we increased the water pressure would this not just make the pressure build up in the boiler worse? Please bear in mind the complete boiler discussion was in French and my French is now up to this industrial standard so I have made some, or many misinterpretations! We only use the house as a holiday home and live near Villebois in Dept 16 – if there is a plumber in the area who believes they could help we would be most grateful. Best Regards Paul.

Thank you Danny - all sounds very simple.

Thanks Tom - do you include the "payment slip" also with your cheque but don't complete the details?

Hi All, I have today received our very first “Taxes Foncieres” bill to our UK address for our holiday home in Charente. I am very keen to ensure this gets paid as promptly as possible but could someone please help me with some of the documentation – it would be greatly appreciated. At the bottom of the letter is what looks like a detachable payment slip which looks like it is asking for my bank details to be entered to pay (TIP Titre interbancaire de paiement). Can someone please advise do I have to complete this form with my bank details or can I just send a cheque? Many thanks Paul.

Thank You

Hi Everyone, We are arriving into Dept 16 late on Thursday evening next week and are wondering are supermarkets open on Easter Friday? Many thanks Paul.

Thank you Dave - we will call in when we are over at Easter. Best Regards Paul.

Many thanks for the link - but his website says he dosen't cover our area and we need someone to fit the woodburner as its way beyond my talents! Best Regards Paul.

Hi Everyone, We are looking to source a Godin "Regence" (http://guidemateriaux.toutfaire.fr/dept.asp?dept_id=304&niv=FN2&deptprec=CHF) similar to the one contained within the link or indeed any suitable woodburner for our property.  We have an existing chimley so require a wood burner to be supplied and fitted - we live new Villebois Lavalette (16320). Our property is a second home and we will next visit at Easter, if anyone on this forum supplies and install's woodburners in our area and would be prepared to visit us to quote please email me for more details. Many thanks Paul.

Hi, The card reader refused the transaction - saying insufficient funds (which wasn't true as there was a large amount of cash in the account at the time). Many thanks for your help, I guess the only solution is to carry more than one card. Best Regards Paul.

Hello Everyone, I know that this has been discussed before but I'm wondering if someone would kindly clarify the precise details. What is the daily or periodic limit that can be used on a Nationwide Account when in France?  Last week we used the card to buy petrol and grocery at different outlets on consecutive days and were then refused a third transation on day three.  Is the limit a daily one or is it within a 24 hour period, or is it a maximum amount when cleared by Visa when it reaches Nationwide back in the UK? Additionally, once the limit is reached - how long is it before you can use it again? Many thanks Paul.

Hi Everyone, We are preparing for our first winter in Charente (16320) and have Antargaz gas central heating by a combi bolier.  We only intend visiting the property for three weeks in total over the winter period but will obviously need to use the gas heating as this is the only form of heating available within the property. This maybe a very hard question to answer, but approximately how many litres of gas will we use per week in order to heat the property to 20c from 8am until 10pm each day - 21 days in total?  The property is 180 sq mtrs with 8 large radiators in total. We currently have some 700 litres of gas in the tank and I am wondering if this will be enough. Any experiences greatly appreciated. Many thanks Paul.

Thanks Danny - this is a great explination.  A couple of further questions - what type of salt is best to use, and what is the material put over the bottle top to keep the salt in but allow the water to drain thought? Lastly, why do you put the oil on the cotton wool in the lower container as isn't hsi where the water collects? Many thanks Paul.  

Hi, We are suffering this exact problem - has anyone any pictures or links of either the Crystal Humidifier or the "Salt" equivalent as I'm struggling to visualise. Many thanks Paul.