johnycarper

Thanks for al the information,i am still not sure what to do as i have been told that the alice is good and i keep my ft line which in some ways is good.just  need to sort out which is cheapest for phoning the kids mobiles in england.

Thanks to every one,where do i find the alice company and what is there deal.I am not a computer buff and need something that is going to be a straight swap and not too much technical stuff involved. 

Thanks clair,it seems most people are happy with neuf it was just the mobile calls as my wifes daughter only has a mobile and we get 2 hours of calls a month included in our france telecom bill but it is 60 euros a month.

Good morning all,I know this has been on in the past but they have contacted me and it seems such a good deal compared to my present france telecom and orange.Has anyone got a good reason not to change and the only query I have is the phones,they tell me I have to plug our main phone into their box and use wireless phones in rest of house.This is ok but we have a old house with 80 cms thick walls so it might not work and you have to leave the box switched on all the time i guess.The last thing is most calls seem to be free bar a few obscure coutries but how much do calls to english mobiles cost(our kids) any one advise if they had problems with this and any other pitfulls.

we looked at gites of france when we moved here and found them not to be very helpful,it took a long time to get a response and when we got all the forms it was a lot of form filling.we also had to go on a weeks course and all in french obviously and they seemed to have a lot of control over what you did,but we have other friends who had no problems at all with their local branch. I think you can also get a lot of grants if you go with them and the tie in is only 5 years i think. 

I agree we are just going down the legal road as one of our wc went straight into the fields and not the fosse septic,the sellers claimed it had been done a few years before properly connected to fosse septic.if when you flush loos and empty sinks you cannot hear it running into fosse septic(if possible to lift lid)smell a rat as stated or worse if your not careful.    

hello,Yes we have been in all the local stores but they have now removed fires to put in gardening we should have brought it in the winter but had a lot on and did not get around to buying one.we will keep looking but if you should pass the place you mentioned we would appreciate your help. 

Does any one living near us (la ferte bernard area 72)know of a good place to buy a log burner as we need to buy one for our new gite and are having problems in buying one. 

Hello, Dont know if this will help but we have a lake which we are setting up as a fishing business and we were told we needed a licence which we duly searched out and found how and where to get one.we live in 72 near la ferte bernard so not sure where you would write to but the people to go to are the Departemental de lAgriculture et de la foret ours in le mans,theese are the people that issue any licence you might need.The other option is to contact the local gard de peche for your area,they were very helpful,but be careful as they can be a bit over official and have a lot of clout it will also depends what classification your lake is.Ours is not river or stream fed it fills fron underground streams so there is no outlets in it so is called a "closed lake"by the gard de peche so we did not need a licence. Hope this helps and if i can answer any other concerns please just contact me. john Contact details removed by a moderator. Please use the PM or email buttons to contact the poster.

Thanks for your help,at least i have something to look at now. john

Can anyone tell me if there is a site in france where you can compare the cost of differant heating costs,we are on oil heating at present and was wondering if its worth changing to gas or electric.

I know this has been discussed in the past but do all people have so much trouble getting cash out of their bank.we tried to get a large lump out but was told we can only have 1500 euros at a time,it is due to a new law just passed to stop money laundering we were told.Any suggestions how to get your money out without all the hassle or closing the account.

hi,not sure who you use but we used cpo when we got here as the previous people had,but a friend told us to go to auchan the hyper market people as they sell oil as well and they were a lot cheaper here (72)we have just got 1000 litres at 72 cents a litre. 

Thanks for the information,that confirms what the company told us. 

Can anyone tell me the process for claiming back against your tax when you have had windows and doors fitted to your home.we have been told you get back a % of the labour costs offset against your tax for the year.

 we live in area 72 just outside la ferte bernard and are looking for a reliable builder to do a barn conversion,we have a builder who has taken a year to get a quote to us and now its double what people are advising. If you know of a good builder in this area we would really love to know. 

yes you can get a grant from gites of france and it can be up to 80%,but as always in life there not an easy way of getting it.we applied and got a 30 page questioner back,you have to speak very good french and you have to go on a weeks traing course as part of the deal.we did not bother as they also seem to have a lot of input into your business afterwards,but if you have the time and knowledge its worth going for. 

has anyone experianced their cash machine not giving money out,as we experianced this and when i asked in the bank (bnpa)we were told you are only allowed to use it twice a week for cash withdrawells.Also can any one explain why you have to give two weeks notice to withdraw large sums in eccess of 4000 euros.

thank you for the help,we will try them.It does not look like there are too many around here that speak some english,i am afraid our french is not good enough yet to face the complex matter of tax returns.

can any one help us to find an english speaking accoutant that is near la ferte bernard,we are setting up a gite and fishing business and need to register for tax and setting the business up.we have tried several on the internet but with no luck for this area.

Thanks gluestick, The notaire was thinking the same when he sent the letter and he also suggested a lawyers letter if his fails. thanks for the feedback, john

Has anyone experianced problems with the house they brought in france after the sale had gone through,as we are experiancing problems a year after.We have found faults in the heating but the biggest problem was the fosse septic not being connected and just going into the field,it would not have shown on survey as it seemed to be working when we moved in.we have had a letter sent by the notaire to the previous owners but have not had a response yet,anyone any help or advice. many thanks.