Araucaria

My OH is hoping to go off on a trip to India next year, and she needs travel insurance: cancellation, medical, theft etc. The UK on-line travel insurance sites normally ask you to declare you are a permanent resident of the UK. We aren't: we're resident here in France. Does anyone have good experience of getting this kind of insurance from a French insurance company? If so, which (and what was the product called)? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I think the full extent of Petain's willingness to do anything that the German regime wanted has been known for more than thirty years: Robert Paxton's book on Petain and Vichy was first published in 1972 and made extensive use of documents from the German wartime archives (held in the US). He repeatedly contrasts the German record of meetings and negotiations between Vichy and Germany with accounts published after the war by the French participants. Many of the latter proved to have remarkably poor memories of documents that they had prepared or offers that they had made. After reading Paxton's book the sad fact that emerged was that the Vichy regime's collaborationist strategy simply didn't work: the Germans had no intention ever (for example) of releasing the numerous (2 million or more from memory) French PoWs who had been captured in 1940, or of allowing the Vichy regime any independence of action. Paxton contrasts nutritional levels in fully occupied countries like the Netherlands and Belgium with those in France: the Dutch and Belgians on average had more food. French agricultural production was massively diverted to Germany. And so far as the treatment of Jews was concerned, the area of (SE) France that was occupied by Italy proved to be a refuge for many Jews who would have perished under Vichy's harsh antisemitic measures.

[quote user="cooperlola"] ...... Work carried out in France is taxed in France, not the UK, thus he'd have to declare here, possibly through either a factor or by setting up a subsidiary company here......  [/quote] Coops, in practice you may be right about the type of difficulties, including needing and getting insurance, but in principle the Tax Treaty between the UK and France says that a UK builder working short-term in France need not pay tax in France. What the treaty says (and some of this is a paraphrase, but you wouldn't thank me for the exact words) is that a UK business that carries on work in France will only pay tax in France if it has what the treaty calls a "Permanent Establishment" in France. And a permanent establishment is defined quite closely - it includes obvious things like a branch, an office, or a factory - but it only includes a building site if it lasts longer than twelve months. The basic principle is that UK businesses pay tax in the UK. It's modified when the UK business carries out some activities in France, but what the treaty is trying to avoid is the situation where trivial activities carried out abroad by a business in one country are subject to tax in the other country. Hence the twelve month rule for building sites. And the treaty is probably serious about this: the UK's treaties with other countries sometimes specify shorter periods (and very occasionally longer ones). This aspect of the tax rules is actively negotiated when the treaties are renewed, and the UK-France treaty is one of the new ones. I have no idea whether France would ask the builder to declare the income and then formally claim exemption from the tax under the treaty. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was necessary, and again it would make it all the more difficult in practice to get the exemption. Having said that, if the builder pays tax in France when under the terms of the treaty he doesn't have to, he would still have to declare and pay tax on the same income in the UK, and in such circumstances he won't be entitled to a credit against his UK tax for the tax he has ("unnecessarily") paid in France.

And these: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2/2281235/ShowPost.aspx#2281235

Nutmeg in a pack marked "Average content - One".

We didn't really enjoy Chamonix, despite its good slopes, because the town and all the accomodation is down at the valley floor, and it can take a good hour - if you are unlucky - to get from your front door to the snow. Even if you're lucky (and depending on where you stay) it can be a good 30 minutes: there are often long queues at the lifts going up. And coming down, for that matter.

[quote user="Cendrillon"]".......................The boiler ignites automatically using a electric hot air blower (like a highly concentrated hair dryer)." If there's a power-cut does this mean that the stove will not work? Can it be lit manually?[blink] [/quote] Cinders, it can't be lit manually and if there's a power-cut the archimedes screw won't work either, so no electricity definitely means no heat. I suspect this is true of quite a lot of the more sophisticated (= expensive) boilers, ie the ones that promise very high thermal efficiency.

If you can find the initial cash (and it's a lot) then instead of a wood pellet boiler, get one that runs on woodchips. These use a big silo full of splintered wood, and have an archimedes screw to feed the boiler. The boiler ignites automatically using a electric hot air blower (like a highly concentrated hair dryer). The advantage is that the fuel is very cheap. Any wood will do, the local farmer chips it up on an attachment on the back of his tractor, and it only takes months rather than years to reach the right degree of dryness. There are disadvantages other than price: one of these is that it is noisy (the archimedes screw groans like a cow in pain).

[quote user="Department71"]Thanks for the replies, will look into this further when back in the UK. The motor is I have been told is 4hp, it goes like a jet engine, think 2hp will be enough, but will be bringing it home with us. Wonder if I can get it rewound. Steve [/quote] Steve - the cost of getting its motor rewound might well exceed the cost of getting a three-phase supply installed (or reinstated) on your property. You'd then have the ability to run all sorts of wonderful kinds of powerful electrical gadgets. We had to have a three-phase supply installed (for a quoted charge from EDF of €120, which they never in fact billed us) to run our wood-fired boiler.

You can get a copy of the plan cadastre on line (from http://www.cadastre.gouv.fr/scpc/accueil.do ) and look at it on a sufficiently large scale to work out what should be where - it's been digitised from a paper plan at 1:2500 (in old money that's about 25 inches to a mile) and you can zoom in and out on screen. What I would suggest is that you check whether the boundary you are worried about is marked already with bornes - the geometer's official landmarks - or whether it is simply determined by a line on the map. I couldn't quite get this to show on the online version (or perhaps I could and didn't understand the way to make the different symbols appear) but what we had from our geometer certainly shows the location of each one. If it's already marked with bornes you should have nothing to worry about. I believe it's almost impossible to shift these legally after they have been planted, and no geometer would do it illegally.

The radiator grille doesn't look much like a Scania: they were always a bit more square. Could it be a Swiss (ex-military?) Saurer, like this one (though not that precise model). You'll note that it is RHD.

Citroën made 2CV-based post office vans for the Belgian market that were RHD: the idea was that the postman would be able to get out onto the kerb rather than into the traffic. And if I remember rightly, back in the 70s one used to see Italian TIR lorries in the UK that were RHD: these had been built for the Italian market. It was thought to be a safety feature to put the driver where he had a good view of the nearside of the road (possibly the lorries were too slow for overtaking in Europe to be an issue).

I notice on that scary leptospirosis website that the bacteria is also killed by salt water: it doesn't say how many ppm though.

[quote user="nectarine"][...........] And, re "it's too good to be true", I heard of a classic Jaguar car advertised at £100. The buyer assumed it was a misprint and £1,000 or even £10,000 (can't remember which). No it wasn't - the lady's husband had left her and gone abroad and the divorce settlement said that she must sell the car and give him the money from the sale. Which she was doing. For £100. Well, the legal papers didn't say that she had to sell it for its current value, did they? So there are bargains to be had out there occasionally ...[/quote] I think that's one of those urban myths - see here. I appreciate the Snopes site lists a Rolls, a Porsche, and a Cadillac, but there's probably a Jaguar or two to be found in there somewhere.

[quote user="suej"] While you were waiting for them to contact you I assume they continued to deduct UK tax? Did they eventually refund this to you automatically or did you have to send off a claim for a refund? If so any chance you remember which forms you had to get hold of? [/quote] Sue - if HMRC don't act quickly, there's a good chance that you'll get to the end of the current UK tax year without hearing anything from them - 5th April 2011. After that date, send in a UK tax return as soon as possible claiming repayment of the tax you have overpaid. Tax returns are processed fairly quickly and you'll get that year's money back, usually within a month or two. Then by the middle of next year HMRC may well get round to processing the "France-Individual" forms you've sent in, and then you'll get back any excess tax paid after 5th April 2011. That should be done automatically, but it's always worthwhile phoning from time to time and asking what is going on.

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]Genuine Dell. About 3 years old now though.[/quote] I find it amazing that manufacturers (like Dell, but I know others are just as bad) are able to get away with selling computers that fail completely within three years. My Dell laptop lasted four and a half - good going I was told. But out in the hangar I have two old Citroëns dating from the 1960s that are in perfect running order, and which I confidently expect will still be CTed and going strong in twenty years time. I appreciate it's not the best of comparisons but I wouldn't even think of taking the computer out of doors, let alone out into snowstorms, frost, gale force winds, summer heatwaves, torrential rain: it sits quietly on my desk and goes phfut after being treated like royalty.

We don't have shutters at all (and yes perhaps we'll regret it one day). Our menuisier said when he installed the windows (with toughened glass) that he had never envountered shutters he couldn't open in less than five minutes - usually a lot less - without any special tools. He thought that as a security measure they were useless, but if you didn't like thunderstorms maybe they helped.

that's van D y k e Brown, for those who might wonder what the thought police have removed from the post .....

A very large number of towns and villages have municipal campsites. Usually you have to pay, but we discovered that "out of season" - and October is certainly that - you can often camp there without having to pay: in fact you can't pay even if you want to. Though on the other hand the toilet block/showers may be locked or may only have cold water. If you are travelling on a push bike getting into the campsite won't be a problem. And I am sure no-one in the village will mind. The worst that will happen is that they will ask you to pay a few euros. Good luck with the trip. I hope the weather improves!

[quote user="Dog"][quote user="Araucaria"][quote user="Stan Streason"]Lebara ltd had 2009 turnover of over £170m with profit before tax of about £12m. They are owned by a Dutch company. They currently trade in Holland Denmark Spain Switzerland UK and Australia. France and Germany are new markets for them. They clearly seem to know what they are doing but Lebara France could be left to go bust if it is not successful. Get it whilst you can but dont risk too much until it is up and running and successful.[/quote] If the UK company is trading in France through a branch that trades in other countries, it isn't possible for Lebara France (i.e. the French branch of Lebara Ltd) to be left to go bust if the branch is not successful. A branch cannot go bust separately. Obviously it can be closed, but creditors would get paid if the company of which it is a branch is still solvent. [/quote] Ho ho ho - you don't know how the lovely gentlemen in suits use the law to legally not pay creditors. ........ [/quote] You're wrong there Dog, before I retired I knew those lovely gentlement in suits very well indeed, and I knew what they did. How well do you know them?

[quote user="Stan Streason"]Lebara ltd had 2009 turnover of over £170m with profit before tax of about £12m. They are owned by a Dutch company. They currently trade in Holland Denmark Spain Switzerland UK and Australia. France and Germany are new markets for them. They clearly seem to know what they are doing but Lebara France could be left to go bust if it is not successful. Get it whilst you can but dont risk too much until it is up and running and successful.[/quote] If the UK company is trading in France through a branch that trades in other countries, it isn't possible for Lebara France (i.e. the French branch of Lebara Ltd) to be left to go bust if the branch is not successful. A branch cannot go bust separately. Obviously it can be closed, but creditors would get paid if the company of which it is a branch is still solvent.

Chancer An internet radio might be just what you need. Mine uses the Reciva list of stations, and they have at present 573 French radio/internet stations, or so they say. You should be able to find something you like. Other radios use a different list, but I think they often have a method for adding new ones on demand. I'm still looking for other peoples' recommendations though ....

[quote user="Mac"]Why do you need to change your licence for a french one? I thought that a UK driving licence was valid in France.[/quote] Because I'll need to get a new licence at age 70 if I stick with the UK one, while I believe the French one is permanently valid if all you do is drive private cars or motorcycles. Getting a new UK licence is something of a chore too. And if one day I get points on my licence - and of course I don't ever mean to break the law - I'll have to get a French one then.

Up till now, I have had no bad experiences with French bureaucracy. In fact the officials I've met have always gone out of their way to be helpful. Today at the Prefecture in Aurillac I tried to exchange my UK photocard driving licence for a French one. I had all the papers I thought I'd need. But no. First, the government form I'd completed on the internet (Cerfa No 11247*02) was the wrong form. I should have used the Cantal's own version. Then, I had to give her a photocopy of my passport: the original wouldn't do (luckily I had both the passport and a photocopy of it: in the past, though, when an official wanted a photocopy of my passport, they did it themself on the office photocopier). Then she said that I needed to provide an official translation of the driving licence. The Cantal's form says that the pieces a joindre include "Si besoin, une traduction officielle du permis a échanger". Since my UK licence is the modern-style EU type, I rather thought there was no need for a translation (don't the codes etc all correspond throughout the EU?): I could understand it if it had been a Russian one, for example. Then she said that as my UK licence was time-limited (it expires when I reach 70 in nine years time) I would have to have a medical examination. When I said I thought that was unnecessary if all I wanted was the permis for light vehicles, she said I should tell the doctor that the examination was only for category B. This was on the basis that point 9 on the list of pieces a joindre was "Eventuellement, certificat de visite médicale passée en Commission Médicale Préfectorale s'il y a une validité sur le permis." She then handed me a list of approved doctors, told me to make an appointment with one of them, and good-bye. It goes without saying that my own doctor isn't on the list. I rather think I'll give up at this point. I'd hoped to get my wife's licence done at the same time, but she has the old-style one green paper version. There are a lot more words on it to be translated than on my own (I assumed I'd get away with just translating my own photocard licence, rather than also the long paper sheet that goes with it). Can anyone suggest any way of getting around an official like this? And where would I find a sufficiently official translator?

Thanks for the helpful answers. One of the advantages of the Orange Liveradio (to set against the disadvantage of small speaker/poor amplification) is that you can't turn it off, except by unplugging it and removing its batteries. All you can do is put it on standby. This means it stays permanently logged on to the network and only takes a second or two to tune in and broadcast the station you choose. By contrast the Revo one can't be put on standby, and once turned off it takes a good 30 seconds, sometimes even a minute, to boot up, log on and buffer the station you want. How do the Roberts and the Pure radio compare with this? Also the Revo one has no back-up battery, so even the very shortest powercut (and we have plenty) returns the clock function to 00.00. This is a nuisance.