[None receipt of documents l'Assurance Maladie]

Don't forget that the 'pièce manquante' and the 'dossier perdu' are the cornerstones of the administration.

I have sometimes had to send a document 3 or more times.

The worst was when I had to produce a 'livret de famille' which obviously we don't have in the UK, but I cobbled up a replacement which consisted of birth/death/marriage/ divorce certificate as appropriate for all the family,  passport, carte de séjour,  'fiche d'état civile ' etc It ran to about 14 documents and I had to send photocopies 3 times!

[Does working/running a business in France make you ineligible for a E121 at UK state pension age?]

For discussion...not a wind up!

From the Department of Work and Pensions website:

[:(]

the UK might not give you healthcare cover if:

• you get a pension from the country where you live or go to live;
• and you can get healthcare cover under that country's rules.

It is possible that you may have to pay into a sickness insurance scheme in the other country

I assume that means that those who have worked or run a business and

paid enough 'cotisations' in France to get into the Health system  and

receive a French pension  (however small) may not be eligible for an

E121 at UK state pension age, but have to continue paying contributions

to remain in the French system.

This is in contrast with those who have been in the CMU, and so have

not been paying pension contributions here, who can get an E121

automatically, and  no longer pay in Britain

This is of course an example where E121 holders have an unfair advantage over others.

 French pensioners(including British holders of a French

pension)continues to pay Social security charges on Pension income in

France whereas a British pensioner  having an E121 doesn't pay social

security charges anywhere.

So, leaving out questions of 'Mutuelles' etc which are the same for

both, the 'British' pensioner  (on an E121) gets basic health cover without contributing, whereas the

'French' pensioner (including British holders of a French pension)  continues to pay into the system.

Perhaps Europe should look into this and ask Britain to get into line?

Perhaps British people on an E121 should be required to pay Social

Security contributions in one of the two countries.

I don't notice much of a campaign on this issue from Brits in France to have the same rights as the French...

[contributions sociales]

Or ask the professionals: the French.

I doubt there are any real experts (that is to say fonctionnaires working in the relevant department) on here.

There are however some people who are confident  enough in their opinions to give the impression of being an expert, but have just enough knowledge  to be misleading or even dangerous.

[Stolen Crops !]

I agree that it's disgraceful, but I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often as I walk past inviting rows of tomatoes...

["Lighter" wood for starting fires]

Souche de vigne?

[Storm warning]

Ah softies...when it rains here it really rains..[:)]

[cheque d'emploi CESU]

I think a lot of British people don't realise how reglemented  the 'Code de travail' is in France, and tend to go about things as if it were the UK.

Even the small part-time job I do now is covered by a contract

I have been  on the receiving end of CES (coaching) and used them  for help in the home. On the receiving end they even contributed a minuscule amount to my pension. It is a system I recommend, but which needs to be fully understood.

[Slow computer]

I use Acronis true image and keep one copy on the D drive and one on an external hard drive.

This has been very valuable on at least 3 occasions, but as you have said it's worth doing it at a moment when you are sure is nice and clean and working well.

There is an incremental option so you can save your basic set up, and then every month or so save the additions you have made, but always keeping the option of going back to an earlier stage.

[Storm warning]

There is a storm warning till 9pm this evening  : "L’Hérault, le Gard, les Bouches-du-Rhône, le Var et l’Ardèche sont en

alerte orange jusque ce soir 21 heures, en raison de violents orages.

Les cours sont suspendus dans le Gard pour les collèges et lycées."

[Vineyard Photos]

There is a nice site full of atmospheric photos of the Languedoc vineyards here

Just click on the various areas.

[Paying EDF Monthly]

Blows a hole in my theory then!  [:)]

[Mozilla Firefox]

I'm not sure that this is up to date

[Paying EDF Monthly]

Benjamin "It therefore appears that the monthly amount is open to discussion and that one can start any time in the year."

Your first point is in line with my experience.

I suspect however that there are accounting moments in the year when all  has to be calculated, and settled.

For me it is the end of June, and for ams the end of December, both clearly at the end of a 6th month period.

There might be other such points at the end of March  and the end of September (quarterly) . It would be interesting to know if anybody else has a period that doesn't end on one of those dates.

Once I started in December, but this meant that I hadn't paid the September and October sums, and that year I had to continue in July and August.

They didn't calculate December-September. I still was billed at the end of the Sept-June cycle

I agree with Quillan that you have to clear off the old bill before starting this system. You are in effect paying in advance, and the old balance can't be paid off like this, so it's not a way to pay the heavy months of Nov-Feb in arrears. You need to build up a credit over the year

[Mozilla Firefox]

I use both Firefox and Opera. I have Firefox 3 0 3 and Opera 9.6

Opera is faster and lighter, but I like some of the Firefox add ons

[Renewal of Carte Vitale refused]

Surely if you were working for a company you wouldn't be in the CMU.

You would be in the Régime général des travailleurs.

Is this a source of confusion about how long you have been here?

[Mozilla Firefox]

I am having the same problem with 3 0 3 . I think I have the beta version.

[Paying EDF Monthly]

I pay over 10 months, from September to June .I am not sure if you can choose when to begin the plan. I suspect that you can start to pay in January but it will be over 6 months, (to June)  but it's possible that there are other options.

 If I owe money at the end of this period I have July and August in which to pay it (this is calculated automatically by the EDF)

If I have overpaid I get a virement of the overpayment to the same account that my payments are taken from.

Both situations have arisen.

I have had the experience of changing circumstances where the previous year's payments were not a good guide to what I was going to use (again in both directions)

My local EDF were quite happy to take a higher monthly payment than they had estimated. Surprisingly they were also prepared to accept a lower figure on another occasion, knowing that I was in any case paying the majority monthly, and they had the two months at the end to recuperate any shortfall.

[It Started With A Year in Provence....]

One of the best writers about France was Roger Pilkington who had travelled all over the European canal system and written entertaining and informative books about it in the "Small Boat in the..." series.

When he felt too old to continue travelling he settled in the Midi and wrote a warm and accurate account of  choosing and buying his house. The guidelines he used for the best area climatically are still valid, and are the ones that  guided my choice.

I was able to call in and thank him.

For me he remains a better and more informative author than the majority.

[Good fish restaurants near Prayssac]

[quote user="chessfou"]It is in the commune of Noailhac (12320 not the other Aveyron Noailhac and certainly not this in Correze or Tarn). Look carefully between Conques and Decazeville - it is on the Chemin de Compostelle:

http://compostelle1.uniterre.com/entry_tags.php?id=1541&w=compostelle1&tags=Livinhac-le-Haut[/quote]

Thanks for this link! I know that area quite well. I nearly bought a house in Combes about 10 years ago, and have friends in the bassin.

[John Travolta to stay in France's most notorious suburban estate]

More filming has been done there recently..of Police reaction to stone throwing:

Rue 89

Not quite 'fluffy France' !

[100% ALD]

More or less what I said..but it needed the Imprimatur

of SD to make it true![:P]

[Is it a good idea to pay tax in France?]

Over 60you wouldn't need private Heath Insurance. You would be covered  by a E121.

You would simply join the shameful group of sick British  immigants to France, who during their working life chose  to live in a country which charged very little in terms of tax in exchange  for a sub -standard level of Health care, but who suddenly ( surprise surprise) settle here and start demanding the same level of cover as French people who have paid for  years and years a much higher level of Social Security payments and who unlike the British continue to contribute after retirement.

If anything can make me sick it is the ill-imformed and greedy attitude of those  who come here as simple 'health tourists'

[Average gross salary in Lot & Garonne]

Things have changed a lot too.

When I came over in the early 90s my lifestyle which includes a disproportionate amount of eating and drinking out was much cheaper here than in the UK.

I went back recently for the first time and found that this is no longer so obviously the case.

Other lifetstyles may have undergone similar changes.

I know for example that if you need to earn a living it is much harder for British people here than in tha UK

[siffler la marseillaise]

The obvious answer seems to be to stop singing jingoistic, nationalist and often frankly 'warlike songs' before a match in which 22 gormless overpaid buffoons kick a ball around a park for 90 minutes.

[Intermittent Internet problem]

I wouldn't touch anything to do with Orange with a bargepole, but I imagine this is not 100% helpful in your present situation.