Deepdale

Pickles, thank you very much for the simple and concise further info. If only everything concerning this type of new media could be explained as comprehensively clearly as you have done, then there would be a lot less misunderstanding and confusion circulating! I went in to my local 3 shop today, asked similar questions, and received answers that were as clear as mud in reply, full of "ifs, maybes, could bes, dunnos and oo-ers-that's-a-difficult-one-sir.....you'd-have-to-check"....which is what I went in for in the first place! Thanks again.

[quote user="Pickles"]I think I mentioned previously that I was trying Joemobile. Well, I am using it now and it seems pretty good. This is probably most useful for owners of holiday homes. Joemobile runs on SFR's mobile network, and allows you to switch on and off your monthly subscription as and when you wish. Obviously you pay for a minimum of a month at a time, but if you stop it say at the end of one month and then restart 6 weeks later, your "month" runs from the restart date, not the original start of the month or whatever it was. Where a 4G signal is available, you get 4G speeds. Obviously usage is capped, but it seems to be worth considering if your need for internet usage is intermittent. To use it, I bought a UK "3" network PAYG 4G Huawei 5372 mobile WiFi box which provides a WiFi hotspot. I am a mere user; I have no link with the provider other than as a user.   [/quote] Thank you for this info. I don't want to appear thick but have a problem fully grasping this type of technology. I'd like to be able to temporarily connect to the internet when (often and regularly) staying at internet-deprived in-laws in rural France, but where nonetheless, a mobile signal is operative. Perhaps you can help me to understand better the principle: you say you bought a UK 3 PAYG example. Does this mean that you "connect" to the UK 3 network whilst using this item when in France? Is the Huawei 5372 "locked" to the 3 network? Or is it unlocked and  you just put in a French sim card when in France? Are there special sim cards for this type of set-up....a Joemobile one for example? Does this company have shops where you can buy them? (and how much are they?) I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

[quote user="Boiling a frog"]Or free calls to the UK internet and SMS https://www.b-and-you.fr/[/quote] To all those who kindly gave details of the deals available: thank you. We went with the "B and You" in the end. An unlocked new smartphone was obtained through Ebay  in GB, and the offer seems ideal at 19.99 euros per month, all in, including free calls back to fixed GB lines, and heaps of data provision which, as well as offering a lot of internet access, allows you to send, via an app, free text messages back to GB as well. There seemed to be some problem with the equivalent Free offer, which seemed to experience some problems sending/receiving free texts to/from GB so we left that one alone. Thank you again.

Hello everyone; I've been a very interested observer of this forum for sometime, as well as its predecessor, and have been amazed by the co-operative and good-natured content of the answers given, to the many questions posed on here, in various topic headings. I wonder can anyone help me with the above request, and give me the benefit of their experiences and recommendations. Voilà: My 20 yr old daughter is due to start, next month,  a 9 month "stage" in Dieppe, with EDF, as part of her GB university studies in French. Like all of her age, her left hand  seems permanently fixed to her English mobile phone, sending texts, messages, and calls, at will to just about anyone she knows. We are worried naturally, as to how she might keep in touch when in Dieppe, and are obviously aware of all the financial pitfalls of merely using an English mobile haphazardly in France. In GB she has a Tesco contract on her "Blackberry" phone, with an allocation (I think), per month of something like 1000 texts, several 100's minutes' calls, and 500MB, or even maybe 1GB of data use which she can use to access the internet. She also has through her phone, this "Blackberry instant messaging" function which means she can contact her friends, who also have similar mobiles, for free, and so not use up the already massive amount of texts. She can't use any of this abroad we know, without financial penalty, but we don't want her feeling cut off from her friends  in GB. Does anyone know of a similar package on a French provider? I believe her phone is "unlocked", and she wants to use this,  and if it is helpful, we have a Bougues pay-as-you-use sim card in our phone, which we use when we are in France, and top-up when required.Can anyone let me know what are the best options? Whilst writing this, and finalising her accommodation arrangements, I've just wondered also about how she goes about registering/paying her income taxes etc etc.Do new young workers in France pay "emergency tax rate" initially, and then get refunded as in GB later on? I realise this may not be the exact place to receive such a reply but any help you can give this somewhat frazzled parent on these matters at this time,would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[quote user="602"]Most cards [including UK cards] work on the more modern pumps at supermarkets these days.[/quote] I think the OP may be referring to pre-paid holiday cards loaded with euros, and not standard credit cards. Most visa/mastercard type credit cards do now (mostly) work at automated petrol stations, but beware pre-paid travel money cards. During the summer, I bought one from a certain issuer, whose name escapes me temporarily, who was it now.............?....oh this is Vergin' on the ridiculous...............Anyway, wherever I went: petrol station, motorway toll-booth, supermarket, it was repeatedly declined. Not worth the hassle.

...........I must be honest we usually watch UK TV on the Sky dish but do miss the odd look-in at French TV so I'll happily spend €50 or whatever on the correct aerial. We'll try first using a redundant UK Terrestrial Digital Box................ I suspect you'll find as I did this summer, that a normal wide-band UK terrestrial aerial, (circa £10-£15), and a simple Freeview box  (£25 or less) will work very well in France, enabling you to pick up TNT without any problems.

I expect NorthEnder is a very happy chap on this Sunday 3rd May.............if I read your details properly.

Surely the Kenwood one at the top of the list serves your purpose?

You seem critical. I'm sorry if you were offended by your perception, of my "lack" of courtesy. I'm sure the end of my original post ended in something like  "thank you in advance for any help."  Your and Ernie's responses were of immense help. Ernie turns out to have somewhat prophetic powers........ We duly went down to Le Cher, and collected our restored pride and joy, with the words of my father-in-law ringing in my ears: "c'est de la rigolade tout ca, tu veux aller voir la préfecture au mois d'août.....t'es fou" . The restorer had kindly had it put through a CT, "pas de problème monsieur, elle est superbe." The "controleur" had also withdrawn the "wrong-sided" rear foglight......"y'en a pas besoin en France monsieur....". We arranged all the paperwork as you suggested, CT, Type Approval, temporary insurance, and tried for a VAT paid document: they took one look at my "old style" V5, said it wasn't the normal type they dealt with, then demanded to see the original receipt  from  when we purchased   the car brand new................in 1986.....(which I didn't have........), asked us for our utility bill showing proof of address in France. Can you guess the rest? We don't have a personal "home address" in France, we stay with my father-in-law. His utilty bills, because he's the house owner...........and I'm the 2cv owner. Limbo. "Come back with a utilty bill, in your own name" was the firm, but very respectful, response.  "Je te l'avais dit, je te l'avais dit...." repeated my "beau-père." Well not wanting to cheat on the road,  we recently took the 2cv back to GB.  I was stopped at both customs  check-points.....so that the respective officers could,  "jeter un coup d'oeil à la belle deux-deuche" and chat to the GB officer who "used to have one of these years ago sir.....do they still......? etc etc......."  Then I put it through the MOT....." no problem sir, it's in a fantastic state. I've just blanked off the right-hand drive headlights so it will go through without any problems................that's quite in order for the MOT here sir..." Next came up to date insurance here, and am joyfully using the Charleston at least 2/3 times a week.......whilst we work out a way of getting our name on a utility bill in France. We don't want to bother elderly beau-père, by suggesting he puts his name on the registration document....."tu blagues, non?".but it might be a last resort. I can heartily recommend the workmanship of the young chaps who restored the 2cv to as new status. I don't want to advertise their details on here without permission, but if anyone wants to be put in touch with them privately, let me know. I have had only intermittent access to the Internet, over the last few months, hence my lack of responses. Elderly French fathers-in-law, in very rural backwaters, tend not to see the advantage of having access to such technology.....

Ah thank you very much! I have an Acer Aspire T180-UB7Z; 160 GB Sata; AMD Athlon 64 x 2  3800+; 1gb DDR 11; DVD RW Dual, Double Layer; Microsoft Windows, MCE 2005;  elsewhere is stated Media Centre Edition, service pack 3, 1.81 Ghz, 768 MB Ram...................well that's the "Ronseal info"......what it says on the tin so to speak. Does one "back up" My Documents, All Programs, E-mail system, Favourites.....et alia? Thank you

Well Danny, if Jazzer doesn't want to ask for advice on how...............perhaps you'll indulge this duffer, and explain how to me.................?

Hello, I have just joined your forum and am pleasantly surprised at the quality of questions and answers offered here, and hope you can help me. I'm aware that I might be asked to search out previously given answers, but I don't think they fully detail my position. Here goes: 12/13 years ago, after the birth of our daughter, my wife and I took our 2cv to France with the expectation that we'd leave it there, and use it, after going through whatever administrative hoops existed at the time, whenever we went to visit her parents on the outskirts of Paris. This would enable us to get a cheap flight, or train ticket from GB, (yes I know that was probably wishful thinking.....), and we could have use of our own vehicule in France. Well we did duly leave it there, and like many "best laid plans...", we never did use it, and instead, we  more or less travelled by car each and every time we went....which was very often. The 2cv has languished in my father-in-law's garage ever since, gradually deteriorating........  Then, this year, we decided to have it properly restored by an afficionado, residing in Le Cher (18), with a definite view to actually using it when we are in France. Well, now it is restored to its pride and glory, and we do want to use it......legally. First connundrum: the MOT expired in 1993, as did the last tax disc.  When the SORN regulations came in in GB, we didn't have it done, as it was first registered, new, at first purchase by us in 1986, and was not covered by the SORN rules. Can any of your erudite members help me, as to the path we should follow, in getting it properly "covered" for use in France? I don't want to be an insurance cheat, from a GB  perspective. I'm a bit worried about being able to manoeuvre through the mine-field that is French bureaucracy. We have had conflicting advice from many angles, including the repairer/restorer, the local "controle technique" chap, a (quite) big French insurance broker, the local annexe of the Prefecture, as well as the policeman husband of a family friend of the in-laws.  (It seems that wherever you are in France, there is a different "take" on the procedures to follow). The language does not bother me, and it bothers my french wife even less but  one "Clochemerlesque" scenario I have in my mind is our attempt to get someone, somewhere, to address the acceptabilty, if that's the right word, of a 2cv made in Paris, bought by us new in GB in 1986, with RHD, coming back to be used in France......I can also see myself having to take the car back home with us after this coming visit, to get an MOT done, and new isurance issued, in order to return to France next time and have it set up there......I'm also somewhat concerned about the fact that my English paperwork has long since expired, date-wise. Maybe I'm overly worried about nothing, but can anyone point me in the direction of easily understandable procedures which mirror the case I've described above? Thank you in advance if you can.