Stan Streason

My son discovered he could not find his passport last night. I know I have been to France and back through the tunnel on a driving licence (customs stopped the car and emptied it both ways to get their own back) but the French Embassy site now specifically says no to driving licences (dont know since when). The passport service speedy route (so we found out today) is OK for new passports or renewals but not for replacements.

We used one English solicitor who was not really acting for anyone.  He had pre agreed instructions from both parties. Receive funds from me, agree account details with seller, receive instructions from notaire to release funds and then release funds into sellers account.  A couple of hundred pounds plus some tt bank fees.

http://www.procopiuk.co.uk/contact.html 3 names and numbers - a trading address and the registered office address

We have something similar.  At the rear of our house are two rooms that are pretty much inaccessable with a door from our kitchen but no steps down to a different level. We asked the mairie what was required to put in an outside door so it could be used almost as a storage shed.  He stated that as there was already a (very small) window there I didnt need any paperwork to change it to a door. Once again totally unoverlooked and no one else would ever know. - just seems odd.

Looking back at the link to the previous thread I saw what was my first post on this forum. It did all go through very easily.  The whole independent UK solicitor holding the funds bit was just me bending over backwards to ensure fairness to the vendor.  I could just have easily arranged a direct TT but it also gave the notaire some comfort as he knew there were cleared funds available which in normal circumstances they would have in their own account. Last February when I completed the exchange rate was at its worst so the euro equivalent went into the contract at about 1.06.  Great for the vendor as his euro capital gain was much reduced, wheras my euro cost starting price is very low. Good luck.

France is a big place and even with 10 years of holidays you won't scratch the surface of many parts. Other things may come into play which may or may not be important but which may rule out big areas for you (you have already ruled out "the south".) Proximity to a coast, climate, ease of travel to UK/rest of France etc etc - there will be lots of things. From travelling to the South on an annual basis 25 years ago we always said if ever we got a house in France it would have to be south of Lyon as we felt we noticed a definite change in climate that far down and for our point of view what was the point in going somewhere where the weather was not noticably better. (We are actually about 35 miles north of Lyon by lattitude). I know ours is a second home but our criteria was as far south as we could get within 6 hour drive of Calais, within 90 mins of 2 airports with flights to Stansted or Gatwick and within an hour of a major town/city.  That really narrowed our choices of area whilst still leaving us mamy many square miles and locations to look around.

[quote user="P2"][quote user="Stan Streason"] I think my answer of -  "You had all my french bank account details a year ago.  Lots of funds came from this dont you think it would have been sensible to pay it back into this?  Why has it taken you a year to admit to it which in itself was only prompted by my visit, wouldnt a letter or email have been nice?" - was nicely framed in my mind but all that came from my mouth was a meek "Thank you here are my details"..  Am I pathetic or what? [/quote] In a year you could well have changed banks and you would now be posting: 'they paid the refund in to an account that I had closed - why did they not ask for the account in which to pay the refund'. Paul [/quote] I think I probably realised that deep down and did not expect the money paid back but a letter or email would have been nice - I think that was the frustrating bit.  If I had not arranged to go and collect the paperwork I would never have known about this.  Its not as if they told me once and I just forgot.  They never told me. Surely there is some rule to say they have to inform clients if they are holding their cash.  Nice little earner or what? Yes I know its not much in this case but thats not the point.

I went in to pick up my documents about one year after purchase to be told I had a surprise €45 euro due back to me and what account did I want it paid into (helpfully a cheque signatory was not present at the time). I think my answer of -  "You had all my french bank account details a year ago.  Lots of funds came from this dont you think it would have been sensible to pay it back into this?  Why has it taken you a year to admit to it which in itself was only prompted by my visit, wouldnt a letter or email have been nice?" - was nicely framed in my mind but all that came from my mouth was a meek "Thank you here are my details"..  Am I pathetic or what?

Hey - I was a skinhead in the 60's but never a punk! It certainly looks like luck.  There is no facility on the website to book and it specifically throws you out if you say more than 3cubic meters.  I suppose one could book it at under 3 and then turn up and hope - both ways! I dont mind the ferry - my wife hates them.

Am looking to come over with some stuff in a transit which had a load capacity of 5cubic meters. The eurotunnel site for a van seems to cut off for loads of 3 cubic meters.  All I will be carrying is a couple of beds and matresses and some chairs.  Is this right I wont get through the tunnel? Thanks

mine has failed once out of about 100 barriers

Yes and No If you are returning for an outgoing flight which has an incoming flight they often dont open until long after you have left the car and gone through check in, in order for them to meet the arrivals.  Never had a problem

Both in UK and in France our kitchen is about 2.5 times what may be normal.  Both are big enough to cook and eat well away from each other and both have 8 seater tables so for the majority of the normal day they are the focus of the house. I think a big kitchen is not necessary to sell a house but a house with a surprisingly big kitchen can be the difference between similar sized houses.  For example having a bigger lounge or bigger bedrooms wont have as much of a positive effect as having a bigger kitchen.

Just having my loft done.  Our surveyor said spray or brush, it didnt matter - just wear a mask, overalls and then leave the house for about 8 hours. My contractor has a compressor and is blasting the beams clean with air in advance of the application.

Whilst there are people around who seem to be watching this thread and who know their stuff - a quickie please. For years travelling in France only during summer I have pretty much ignored deflectors but since my house purchase I do find myself going down in winter and having to drive in the dark.  Up till now I have forgotten all about deflectors till this thread reminded me. Do I still need those cut off strips for my 2/3 day visits?  (I think I already can guess the answer).  What are the penalties for being caught without them?  Can one only be caught at night? What is the best method for regular changing back and forth? Thanks

I had a quote of nearly €4,000 to put insulation between beams and platerboard over (ie the insulation was the downstairs side of the ceiling/floor).  We were told much of the cost was the plaserboard. We eventually decided that if I ever felt rich enough to convert upstairs I would be rich enough to re-do the insulation.  We ended up just laying insulation on the floor upstairs and locking the door to the attic.  Significantly cheaper.

I guess I am with the same bank and their services in total cost me about €60 pa.  I dont mind getting correspondance in French, it gives me another excuse to try to translate and understand the language.  We had one problem last year with a direct debit (not the banks fault as it turned out) and the opportunity to ring up and speak to someone in English when it got complicated was well worth the money.

I have just booked a Good Friday out Easter Monday return cheaper than the frequent traveller fare plus peak addition.  Daft.

I used a fluent english speaking notaire in Ruffec.  PM me if you want details

Dog - the problem with your "they must have known" argument is that there will always be people who have booked the day before any announcement and they will always be aggrieved. Make the announcement earlier - a different group feel hard done by. Perhaps this was the earliest opportunity - they could have carried it on at least another couple of months if it were a scam.

This is probably against the rules but I would also whole heartedly endorse Calorex. I have no financial connection with them but know both the current owners and the former owners who sold to them. I have had one of their dehumidifiers for about 15 years. They are a great company who know their stuff and are very enthusiastic about it.

Can I just butt in on this one please. So for me who probably spends about 50 days in France on and off, I could install my old computer, get a dongle and get internet access for about €100 a year (and any family visitors could pay me for their usage). Sounds ideal but a few questions please. Is 10mb enough for some general website surfing? How do I check if I can get a signal in my rural area? Seems too good to be true - is there a catch?

Sorry - looked on the Alis site and answered my on query. Should be ok as under 2m tall and under 3.5t. I often talk to myself!

I am driving down next month in a Land Rover Discovery. Is it in the same doofah category as my normal car? Thanks in advance.

Looking back a year ago I was due to complete on 18th Feb (Wed) - my notaire had the funds on 12th (previous thurs.). I added the various things together told him what I was transferring and left it to him to tell me if I was short or not (I wasnt).