David

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]Personally, I always try and negotiate a better price, whether it offends or not. You'll never see the people again, so who cares what they think of you. I even haggle in Darty! [/quote] I respectfully suggest that for those buying in rural France this advice is not correct and should be treated with caution.  In my experience this advice may make a sucessful buyer regret ever moving to rural France. When we bought our house, we researched the seller who turned out to be the local "laird", in that he owned the entire valley and rented out most of the houses, and all of the farms in the valley.  Our house was his house, and the only direct sale.  He was only moving because his wife wanted, after 40 years, to live in the local town. We paid the asking price without haggling, and have never regretted it.  After moving in he visited us every day to make sure all was well, and after six years he still calls round usually once a week or at a minimum once a month.  He introduced us to all the local farmers, and took us visiting them.  They are all our friends now.  He visits the valley once a week, and does the rounds of the farmers and us, stopping for a pastis or local brew at each place, varying his stops each trip.  We are part of the community, and the neighbours have saved our bacon many times, one time even it could be said saving my life.  He is well liked locally, but I am sure that if we had offended him when buying our house, our life here would be very different.  He would have put the neighbours against us, and we would have been outcasts.  The neighbours confirmed to us that they initially took the trouble to get to know us because the seller asked them to look after us. This may be an extreme case, but if we had followed the advice of "LyndaandRichard" we would have regretted it.  The part "You'll never see the people again, so who cares what they think of you" certainly did not apply to us, and I suspect that it would not apply to many buyers in rural France. I would always treat the seller with respect, and in rural France I would expect to see the seller again. David

Thanks for your answers, but I am now in trouble with my computer. I am writing this on a borrowed computer as mine has completely crashed. I am trying to contact Tim, of Kalyn Computers, but so far no luck. Will be off line for a while now, unless I can borrow this computer again. If anyone is talking to Tim, I would be grateful if you would let him know - thanks. David

On my computer, when using via michelin or google for route planning, the suggested highlighted route is not aligned with the map, but is usually somewhere between half and one centimetre (on the screen) to the north west.  Is there anything I can do to re-adjust it? I use windows XP, SP2, with IE7. My wife has her own lap top which uses the same livebox as me, and also with a wifi connection, and that lap top aligns properly.  She uses windows XP, SP2, but with IE6. Also should I update her IE6 to IE7? Many thanks in advance, David  

Thanks Bugbear and Coops, I much appreciated your replies to my genuine post. I was trying to lighten up the thread as I thought there was a lot of useful info available if the backbiting stopped. I have also noticed that in past threads there seems to be some confusion as to what benefits an E121 actually confers, without defining the basis of the E121. Edited David

Humphff.  [:(] On page four I saw a chance to finally contribute something to this forum.  I thought this is my chance, I know the answer and nobody has beaten me to it for once.[:D] So I posted, and was very proud of myself.  [B] [Www] Had visions of following in the footsteps of SD. [8-|] And what happens - Nobody even notices.  [:(] [:P] [8-)] Everybody too busy being upset with each other and arguing.  Humphff. [+o(] So will lick my wounds and retire to my corner to await another chance in a few years. [B] [B] [I] In the meantime I will lighten up and see if Bugbear has posted any more funnies. [:D] Kind regards to all those who have helped me in the past. [kiss] David

[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"] Shane and others .......... An E121 has nothing to do with the level of assistance you get towards healthcare costs in France.  The E121 is issued in the UK and means (a) you are unfit for work because of a health problem and you are in receipt of IB or (b) you have reached statutory retirement age. After arriving in France, you have to make a case to your GP for the 100% cover, who will then almost certainly refer you to a specialist, who will, in turn, then fill in the appropriate forms for CPAM to make a case for you to obtain 100% health care cover.  However, you do not get 100% of everything, you get 100% of the costs of treating the condition/s that you have of 'longe duree' of which there is a fairly flexible list. Therefore if you break a leg, have appendicitis, need an arm transplant and if those conditions are not directly related to the original condition, you have to use the 70% state and 30% top up provisions. 100% does NOT mean 100% of everything as Shane's posting seems to indicate and certainly means more than dental care etc. [/quote]   Sorry Tony F, I do not wish to fall out with you, but while you are correct in that most E121 holders recieve the benefits outlined by you, you are wrong to state that this applies to all E121 holders. For the benefit of those people confused by the conflicting statements of Tony F and Shane, I will explain. Shane seems to be totally correct to state that she receives 100% on everything, except blue label medicines on which she will receive 35%. Tony F is correct for the majority of E121 holders, but despite his categorical statements, he has not checked his facts, and he has either forgotten, or does not know about, one group of E121 holders who do receive 100% on everything, perfectly legally. If on your E121, the reason for issuance is described as invalidity, then you get 100% on everything in France, as Shane says.  This does not just apply to 'longe duree', but all illnesses, all transplants, all blood tests, x-rays, physio, infirmiers etc., and all white label medicines (or at least it did apply to all white label medicines until the recent changes in France).  Further, those described as "invalidity", do not need to make their case to their GP, and they do not need to make a case to CPAM.  CPAM do it automatically if the "invalidity" box is ticked. These people, however, do not get 100% on dentistry or spectacles.  There may be other exclusions, but I have not come across them yet. Hope this clarifies matters. David

He would take Tony Blair to Granitas and plead with Tony to win the next election and then stand down. David

Got stuck in level 12.  Made 525,000 points. Try again tomorrow. David

Nickel, I have PM'd you. David

Level 11, 469000, will keep trying, very addictive. David

Many thanks Nickel, Doesn't sound too bad.  Will wait till Monday to see what to do about it. Thanks, David

I have just returned home after having an echographie, and I have been trying to translate the report. I have not had much success, and I only succeded in frightening myself.  I would be grateful if someone could give me a proper translation, as I cannot see the GP till next week - unusually for France he is fully booked. Report deleted after receiving some very sensible advice by PM. This forum really is wonderful, with some wonderful and helpful people contributing. David

Very addictive.  Missed level 11, only got 404,000 points.  Will try again tomorrow. I find the maps are very small, and it is good most of the time just to get the correct country. David

Gary, Many thanks for your reply.  I think we will study the map and set off, probably go one way through Bayonne, and back through Perpignan.  Or vice versa. Hope you have a great time in Spain.[:D] David  

Fully agree Gary, Lets hope then,  "smiley big smile". David. p.s.  how do you stick them smiley things into a post - never seems to work for me.

Many thanks Gary, If it is not asking too much, can you give further advice? Such as, how do you go about looking for an hotel each evening - do you go to the tourist office, or just cruise around?  What sort of prices are available? I looked up Jacarilla and it seems great for a stop off.  We had thought about Cartagena, but part of the trip is to consider the possibility of buying a holiday home, or permanent home, to get away from the bad winter weather in North Deux-Sevres. We had thought about going to Perpignan, and then driving down the coast.  Can you say how long would it be from Perpignan, or alternatively as you are in the Vienne, what route would you recommend and how long would it take from Vienne? I am very hesitant about just setting off, as I am on crutches for short distances, or a wheelchair, and I cannot afford to find myself without a handicapped friendly room - i.e. in particular no stairs to the room in the hotel.  Also we have never toured in Spain before. Many thanks, David

We would like to tour down the Spanish Mediterranean coast by car for a couple of weeks, but we cannot find any cheap hotel chains such as B&B or Etap. Any suggestions gratefully received. Thanks, David

Welcome to the forum. I suggest that you post this in the B&B/Chambres d'hotes section, where you should get a reply. David

[quote user="writersblock"] Thanks for that - where would you recommend buying the dish and box from?  We have one here in UK but have been told that won't work.   [/quote] Could you clarify why you were told your dish and box won't work?  As far as I understand it both should work fine.  Certainly if your box is a sky box, then you will need that to get sky programs.  Getting a dish in France is cheap and easy. Perhaps someone with more knowledge should advise. David

I saw this on digital spy today.  Does this suggest that the Sky satellite "Free to Air" programs are going to be reduced?  See below - my bold. If so, which channels may be lost to viewers in France?   Quote Discovery Networks UK has signed up to provide a factual channel on Sky's pay digital terrestrial TV service Picnic. The Discovery Channel would be available to Picnic customers between 6am and 6pm daily if the service is approved by Ofcom. A public consultation on the proposals from Sky to remove its free TV channels from Freeview in favour of launching its own pay TV offering closed on December 14, and the regulator is expected to announce its decision early next year. "We’re delighted to welcome the Discovery Channel to the Picnic TV line-up," said Picnic managing director Jeff Hughes. "The addition of the channel to the service demonstrates our commitment to give families the opportunity to receive a better choice of TV through their aerial. With access to leading content brands such as Discovery, we are confident consumers will respond to the quality, value and increased choice the service offers." Keith Underwood, head of business development and content distribution at Discovery, added: "Discovery is committed to utilising new platform opportunities to ensure our outstanding content is available to as many audiences as possible. Securing distribution on Picnic, an exciting platform which could greatly enhance choice for consumers, is entirely consistent with this strategy." Unquote David

Many thanks for all your replies. I have deleted the e-mail without replying. Is there anything that I should be looking out for, or any danger to be alert for in view of Gluesticks comment "Subsequent analysis shows which emails were rejected by the Postmaster and which were logical and current"? Thanks again, David p.s.  I really am grateful for all the help that I receive on this site.

Many thanks Gluestick, I have removed my e-mail addresses. David

I have just received the following e-mail from ebay which appears to be genuine. It was sent by Quote  "eBay"<[email protected]  "   Unquote, today the 5th December to my old email address which I no longer use, but which I can still receive. I have never bought or sold anything on ebay, and I did not visit the site on the 3rd December.  I did visit the site months ago, but I never set up an account, in part because my French is poor and I could not understand the instructions. I am concerned that someone is buying things on my old e-mail address, and I wonder if anyone can advise me as to what to do, preferably through an English language contact.  Alternatively could it be a false e-mail trying to get a response from me to show that the e-mail address is active? The e-mail is shown below.  I have not responded to this e-mail, and I have not downloaded it to my outlook express on the computer.  I presume that the little square boxes are where the e-mail uses French accents which do not show on my UK computer. Many thanks for any help you can give me. Quote Bonjour, Votre facture mensuelle eBay est maintenant disponible pour consultation en ligne. Date de la facture:�Dec 3, 2007 Montant d�: � 27,00 Vous pouvez consulter les d�tails de votre facture et de l'�tat du compte � tout moment en cliquant sur ce lien:� Voir Facture Pour r�f�rence ult�rieure, vous pouvez acc�der � votre facture en proc�dant comme suit: Aller � la page d'accueil. Cliquez sur mon eBay dans le haut de la page, connectez-vous � l'aide de eBay votre ID utilisateur et mot de passe. Cliquez sur le "compte vendeur" (Mon compte ci-dessous dans le menu de navigation de gauche). Cliquez sur le bouton "Facture". Cordialement, 2007 eBay Inc Unquote Many thanks in advance, David Edited to remove my e-mail addresses. David

Just wondering - did anybody have problems with using the tickets? Were there any checks at the gates? Would be good to know for the future. Thanks, David

Sorry to put a damper on this, but it is reported that the tickets are issued to the name of the holder, and that only the named ticket holders will be permitted entry to the stadium. This may be wrong, but please check the ticket authority web site for clarification. David