Araucaria

[quote user="Hoddy"]..... The War Graves Commission do wonderful work where they can; my great-uncle is buried in Baghdad and I have no idea what kind off a state his grave is in. Hoddy[/quote] It's not up to their usual standard, I think: this picture (from Google Earth) shows what it looked like in April 2011. The CWGC says they are unable to maintain the cemetery at present. [URL=http://s585.photobucket.com/user/Vanman15/media/Baghdad_zps25705254.jpg.html][IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/Vanman15/Baghdad_zps25705254.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The CWGC Cemetary in Kut (also Iraq) seems to have been completely trashed. There are a couple of pictures on Google Earth but they are too depressing to post.

[quote user="idun"][quote user="Araucaria"]Thanks - but that is a bit discouraging! Any idea where I might be able to find out whether the interest can really only be offset for the first five five years of the loan? because if that is all it is, there would be almost no point at all in going to the bank. [/quote] 'because if that is all it is????' I reckon that that is a great help, not that the french government will cover all the interest either, there will be a plafond and a percentage limit on it. [/quote] ....because she's not likely to be able to move into the property (and move to France) for several years, perhaps knocking out three or four of the first five years that are allowed. The property needs a lot of work to make it habitable, which she'd be doing herself (with our help) as her budget is limited.

Thanks - but that is a bit discouraging! Any idea where I might be able to find out whether the interest can really only be offset for the first five five years of the loan? because if that is all it is, there would be almost no point at all in going to the bank.

My daughter is thinking of buying a semi-derelict property in France. It couldn't be habitable until a couple of years later: there will be quite a lot of work needed. She might subsequently relocate to France to live in the property and work here (or she might not). Is there an advantage in having a mortgage from a French bank? I am completely ignorant here, so please treat this as a genuine question! Would a French bank loan enable her to set all/some of the interest payments against any French tax she might pay? Are there any other considerations (aside from the exchange rate risk)? Might the bank feel happier if we were to act as guarantors (or doesn't that work in France)? Thanks in advance.

If you have a spare hour or so, this is very much worth reading: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/eichenwald/2013/09/republicans-know-obamacare-will-work I think it's possible the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot.

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Catalpa"]... do other people find it difficult to keep track of what books they've read?[/quote] I use Calibre as a library of all my ebooks on my laptop (except iBooks). I have configured it to copy all my Kindle books and remove the DRM (which is the bit that prevents the ebooks from being read on other devices). Once an ebook is copied in my Calibre library, I can tag it as read once I have finished it, or convert it, transfer it to my Kindle or my iPad, read it on my laptop... [/quote] I can't recommend Calibre highly enough. Kindles are in some ways just a bit basic and I have found that Calibre (which is free and really well written software) gives me a whole lot of really useful extras. But perhaps I should add one cautionary note: Calibre itself doesn't contain any way of removing the DRM from your e-books. You'll have to look elsewhere for that. Personally I prefer the large numbers of public domain books available from Project Gutenberg and Mobile Reads. They arrive without DRM, and Calibre provides some very easy ways to get them onto your Kindle and organise them into collections.

Thanks Norman. I'll try the ethernet connection eventually, of course - it was just very inconvenient. I may also try 12.10 if that is what you mean (I went for 13.04). Has 13.10 been released now? Aren't the numbers the year/month of the release?

[quote user="NormanH"]Use Linux [6] [/quote] Norman - Windows 8 is such a disaster area that I'd love to do just that. I've downloaded Ubuntu, and managed to get it installed - which was many times more difficult than I expected, but the so-called "dual boot" doesn't seem to work (so I have to mess around in BIOS to switch), and Ubuntu hasn't found the laptop's Wireless driver - the suggestion appears to be to download it from the internet - tricky if the problem is that you don't have a connection ....

[quote user="DerekJ"][quote user="Araucaria"]We only have an 09 ... number in France, and members of our family in the UK regularly call us on it, usually several times a day. So I can't think that there's a block on calling 09 numbers from the UK generally, in view of our own experience. [/quote] Are they calling from a UK landline or from  VOIP/Skype? [/quote] Most often from a UK landline, but I believe we have also had calls from UK VOIP lines occasionally. Skype calls generally come to us as Skype at this end too (because we like to see who's calling).

We only have an 09 ... number in France, and members of our family in the UK regularly call us on it, usually several times a day. So I can't think that there's a block on calling 09 numbers from the UK generally, in view of our own experience. We gave up on the landline because it always seemed to be faulty: callers could hear us clearly, but not vice versa. We then found that there are two benefits of having nothing connected to the regular phone line: you don't need an ADSL filter, and you get fewer telesales people calling you.

[quote user="confused of chalus"]Have you tried the new tunnel to the west of Paris? We did it at Christmas, and saved a lot of time compared with out usual via Rouen route. I'd love to tell you how we got there, but perhaps someone more knowledgable can. I have heard that queues build up at holiday time, and some people have found it claustrophobic, but we thought it was worth it for the time saved. Just a thought. Kathy[/quote] I've never heard of it - and apparently neither has Via Michelin. Please - just a few more clues? Roughly where do you turn, or what signs do you follow? Your post is just too tantalising!

For some reason, ViaMichelin.fr at one time used to offer you a route that turned off the A10 to the right along the A86, and it was fairly easy to follow: I believe it's signposted "Lille" all the way through. Now they suggest you go further in and use the awful peripherique, and no amount of tweaking the route (at least, none that I can do on their website) will shift it back to what they used to recommend. And that's what many standard satnavs suggest too. I wondered if it was roadworks on the A86 (they always seem to be doing something somewhere) and this was why ViaMichelin ignored it, but my daughter used this route last week and it was OK.

Something funny with the formatting there, Parsnips. But just an aside: do you think PLR payments (Public Lending Rights) fall within the Royalties article? These are payments for an author's books when borrowed from public libraries.

[quote user="Gastines3"]Having moved back to UK 3 years ago I understand many things have changed since I was in the French Tax system.I wonder if someone could advise me the basics to help a friend who is having horrendous problems and payments in France. He doesn't seem to be getting very much help from his accountant. I always got the best advice from the C.d.C. and the Impots but again, he seems to knocking on brick walls.With his house in France being his only home/house,no savings in UK accruing any interest and at present his only income being a UK pension.Therefore income is £5400 into euros. As far as I remember this is not liable to tax,he has been informed otherwise. Also I understood that there was a level of allowed earnt income before tax was payable? At the moment he has had a social tax demand of 3000+ so surely something is going wrong? Trusting someone could help with the basics? Thankyou, andyes my wife and I wish we had stayed,returning to UK after 8 years by St.Malo was definitely a shock how quickly things had deteriorated.   [/quote] I wonder if Gastines3 means £5,400 per month? That might make sense of the accountant (just) and the social charges - if it's a private pension (annuity-type) I think it would be liable to social charges.

On another forum the OP says that s/he spoke to the owners, and they weren't interested. My own contribution to all this is that very few young children get drowned, and those that do are usually below the age of 24 months: at that age they should be with their parents all the time.

Is the idea that you take tents and camp at riverside campsites? Sounds fantastic fun, and I hope the weather is OK for you.

[quote user="Rabbie"][quote user="Araucaria"] And under UK law, I believe (I am not a lawyer) you need to be careful with words like "domicile". You cannot be domiciled in the UK, or in Britain: it's either England and Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland. Oh, it's all a minefield! [/quote]This page on the HMRC website would appear to contradict this as it talks about being domiciled in the UK. But I am also not a lawyer so what do I know[:)] [/quote] I'd guess that's HMRC being careless, though not quite as careless as they appear at first sight: on that page a number of the references are either to being "not domiciled in the UK" or being "deemed domiciled in the UK".  In their more detailed guidance here and here, they make the distinction I did, and explain some stuff I'd never heard of (or perhaps I'd long forgotten). When domicile is used in the context of UK tax it doesn't matter where in the UK you are domiciled, as UK tax law is the same in all parts of the UK. That's maybe why they are careless on the page you linked to. But your country of domicile also affects things like divorce or inheritance: and I believe the law in these cases can be different in Scotland (for example) from England and Wales.

I find it irritating to hear that a person's accent is "British". That's surely an impossibility. It might be English, or Scottish, or Welsh, or even (depending on your point of view) Irish. And yes of course within the larger groups there are almost endless subdivisions - a Black Country accent, anyone? Mine's probably London, but neither cockney nor "received pronunciation" (as posh accents are now described). A careful ear might detect South London, at that. If you are referring to an individual, as opposed to a group, in my view if you know where he (or she) comes from, it's sensible to say: he's English, Scottish, etc... But when people outside the UK use the term "British" they are quite often not referring to a group that might be made up of people from all over the British Isles - it's often because they don't know that these distinctions exist. And under UK law, I believe (I am not a lawyer) you need to be careful with words like "domicile". You cannot be domiciled in the UK, or in Britain: it's either England and Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland. Oh, it's all a minefield!

Thanks very much NoMoss. That link was just what I needed (and I've now bookmarked the on-line dictionary, too). It might also be débit Moreau, according to the Wiki France page on sawing.

Does anyone know what the French words for quarter-sawn boards might be?  My builders dictionary (the pretty useless Hadley Pager one) offers sciage trait bas and sciage trait haut, for sawing "flatways" and "edgeways", but I don't think this is the same and I wouldn't know which was which either. Or will I just have to draw a picture for the chap at the sawmill? Thanks in advance

A friend nearby has a pull switch with a cord to operate his motorised garage doors. I think it makes it convenient for access when in the car. The switch is inside the garage: I have no idea whether there's a waterproof version for outside.

[quote user="Théière"]What is the attraction of these inefficient old bangers?[/quote] Don't feed the troll.

[quote user="powerdesal"]A bead curtain will probably work. You could of course catch it and tell it to go back to Africa, cos it shouldn't be here at the moment !!!!!![/quote] We've had a couple of swallows round here (Southern Auvergne) for more than a week. Are they really early? Or is it just spring that's late?

I think you can turn off the Firefox "check for updates" feature.

The electrician who put it on our downlighters is a qualified man, French, and does contract work for a number of the businesses round here. I think he knows what he is doing. Instead of using fancy boxes above the downlighters to keep them away from the insulation, he simply used large tin cans (somewhere between the ordinary size and catering size of haricots verts) with both ends taken off. They sit on the plasterboard above the light and protect the light and fitting from touching the insulation, and provide a bit of ventilation too - downlighters can get hot. However to do this ideally you need access above the plasterboard, which the OP might find more difficult.