There are of course lots of ways you can exchange your hard earned cash for euros on your holidays but what about if you have a holiday home or live here? Since the advent of the European Union you would have thought that transferring sterling to France and moving money around would be so much easier – right? Sounds great in theory but in practice …..

Originally, I opened a euro account with my UK bank, thinking this was going to solve the problem. Although I get a very good exchange rate, it still costs me £20 to transfer the euros to my French bank account. This may be a good solution for large transfers but for regular amounts it’s very expensive. I have now found a solution to my problem (details below) and the whole process now only costs me 80 centimes! The instructions shown only work for those who have a sterling bank account with an address in the UK. The account Name in France must match the account name in the UK (see later). If you don’t have a UK address, you can still open an account but it will work slightly differently – contact me if you want. Read my instructions before using the link at the bottom:

1. Register online. Ensure the account currency is EUROS (this is very important). Country of residence is entered as the UK. The details of your name must match exactly the name of your bank account(s). This is because money laundering regulations will not allow moneybookers to receive money from a 3rd party.

2. Once your account is open, log in and select “My Account� tab. Here you can set up your french bank account and get this verified ready to transfer your euros. You can also, get yourself verified to increase your limits etc. Just follow the various instructions.

3. Now select the “Upload Fundsâ€? tab and select the Bank Transfer option. This will give you details of the bank account, sort code and your reference number. IMPORTANT – You must include your reference number on the transfer, otherwise it will get lost.

4. Now set up a payment transfer from your UK account to the bank account details given in number 3. above. Be careful to ensure that you do not send more than your limit allows. The transfer normally takes about 3-5 working days. When the money arrives you will be sent an email confirmation. The sterling will be automatically converted to euros and be added to your account.

6. Now log into your account and select the “Withdraw� tab. Select the French bank account (you set up earlier) and enter the amount. It will show you the maximum amount you can withdraw taking into account the 80 centime charge. Follow the instructions.

That’s it, your money will arrive in a few days and all for less than a euro!

Here is the link: moneybookers

Well after so many weeks and trips to Limoges I am now fully Immatriculated, that is to say French registered. The old car has shiny new number plates and we are really settling in to French life.

Well if you are wondering why I haven’t been posting on my blog lately, it’s not because there’s nothing going on. We have been having a problem with our phone line and ADSL connection. I’m only able to connect to the internet for a few seconds or minutes at a time. This makes posting blog articles and pictures nigh on impossible. We’ve had 2 engineers out already. The first ones were a complete waste of time. They simply told me that my modem was broken and they removed a fuse from the telephone connection in the garage. Of course, nothing changed. Our calls cut off when the wind blows and we can’t connect to the net. Called again, this time the 2nd engineer got up the ladder and has decided that we need a new cable because the old one is corroded. This was last Wednesday and in May the French have lots of bank holidays. So we are waiting for the arrival of the engineer on Wednesday to replace the cable. I have no doubt that this won’t make the slightest difference to the problem, but they seem to like to do things one step at a time, taking at least a week to do each stage. Watch this space ….

Some things in France are way ahead of the UK and some things just ain’t. In fact when it comes to customer service, it’s about 20 years behind. Take supermarkets for example. Most don’t open until 9.00 am, this means that to make the most of a what seems like a very short day, you arrive at 9 to a queue of people waiting to go in. Oh and don’t forget your 1 euro coin if you want a trolley! They open the doors (usually late) which are the big rotating ones and everyone piles in at the same time, which jams the doors continously as they all try and get into the same section! Then you have to negotiate the metal “styles” which can only allow 1 trolley through at a time so it’s another back up of trolleys. Finally you are in the supermarket. Off to the fruit and veg. Here another queue again as you have to put what you want into a bag and let the assistant (or is that the assasin) weigh it to put the bar code on. I have learned to my cost that you need to check all the prices once they have been weighed. The last time I went I was charged 4.90 euros for 5 small new potatoes! After the hassle of actually getting your shopping you then have to negotiate the ridiculously small checkouts. If you have a trolley full of shopping, you can only fit about 2/3rds of an average trolley load. Oh and I forgot to mention that the trolleys are so deep, you break your back getting stuff out of them! Oh and don’t wait for the cashier to wait until you’ve unloaded, no, she’ll put your shopping through as you are unpacking it so it’s jamming up the other end and you can’t pack it away quick enough. The whole process is designed to be as difficult as possible. No wonder you see every garden here stacked with fruit and veg, they all know how awful it is to go shopping here!

I started the process of car re-registration today. After asking lots of questions on the forums, I discover that I need a Certificate of Conformity to confirm my vehicle is up to European standards, even thought it’s a German car and aren’t we all in the EU??? Anyway, I thought I could speed up the process by sending off a request before we left for France. No chance, I got the email back saying that I had to visit in person with the original V5C certificate. Oh no it’s in the middle of Limoges, this is going to be a nightmare. Armed with Multimap print of the location from the website, and tons of other maps, we set off. Actually we found it remarkably easily – those good old ring roads work wonders around the city. I finally found the office on the 6th floor – phew! I walked into “Bureau Numero 603″ to find a lady sitting at the desk, reading a newspaper and listening to the radio. These government clerks are always so busy! I handed over the email, it was easier and she asked to see my V5C. “Le Control Technique?”, “Non” I replied. “Le quittas fiscal?”, “Non” I replied. After the usual pigeon french conversation, I found out that I needed to get all my other documentation before the Certificate of Conformity. Oh well, I always knew it wasn’t going to be a straight forward affair. First Stop, Hotel Des Impost at St Junien for the Quittus Fiscal. This basically proves that you have paid VAT on importing your car to France. Of course the old thing was second hand so it’s just a formality really. However, you never know what they are going to want. As usual I went armed with every bit of paper I could think of. We arrived at the most stunning looking building I’ve seen in a long time and wasn’t convinced I’d got the right place. Surely this can’t be one of the government offices? I walked up the steps to a huge solid wooden door with the biggest knocker of the head of a lion. I turned the handled and went in. After establishing which office I needed I opened a door to see a lady sitting at a grand mahogany desk. “Je voudrai un Quittus Fiscal??”, “Oui”. I sat down and asked which documents she needed. V5C, yes, proof of address, I handed over my Bank Statement. “Non, ca dois le facture EDF ou FT.” Damn, “Attendez, je vais a la voiture.” Dropping everything I went out through the grand old doors, “Steve, can you look in the drivers door and see if there is an EDF bill in there”. Yep, great. Back in, “voila” facture EDF. Scribble, scribble – “Est ce que le puissance?”, “Le puissance?” I pointed and said it was a 250 TD, “Non, le puissance, c’est different” It would be! I have no idea what she is talking about. She suggested I look at my insurance to see if there is a category on there. “Attendez, je vais la voiture…” Off I went and got my insurance papers. No nothing. I shrugged and asked who I could speak to? She picked up the phone, waffled onto some other person for 5 minutes and then put a big question mark on the form! More scribble, scribble, “Le nombre le KM sur la voiture?” Ooh la la, “Attendez, je vais a la voiture…”. Steve what’s the mileage?” 195,223. Now there’s no way I can be bothered to convert that to KM so I just give her the number and she writes it in. Finally, I get to sign something, and got my Quittus Fiscal. Now for the Control Technique. More later….

We had been given a name of the local Doctor and I arranged a visit to complete the paperwork. We arrived at what looked like a stone house (which is basically what it was). Walked straight into a pristine waiting room “Monsieur, Madame� we said to the people patiently waiting in the room. Where’s the receptionist to announce our arrival? There wasn’t one so we took a seat. We could hear the echos of the consultation going on next door and then “bon au re voir� and the door opened. A very jolly looking gentlemen stepped out and blatted some french to on of the lady’s waiting and off she went. He then turned to the young girl to confirm something with her and then looked at me and asked if I was waiting to see someone.

“Oui, Mnsr Sauget�. “Ah c’est moi�.

He then called in his next patient who was out in a few minutes. Madame Bennett, we went in. Bonjour. I explained we were there for registration – he’d clocked we were english of course.

“Ok, I will just put the information into her�.
He looked at us and said “of course my computer is a herâ€? and continued to type. Name, address, DOB, past history etc etc. Operations no, Alchohol. “Some wineâ€? – “Ah normal, we say Normalâ€?. Now for Steve, Name, address, DOB, past history, operations S – “Yes, I’ve had lots of broken bones, wrist and a knackered shoulderâ€?. M.S. – “Is this a sport?â€?. S – “Yes, cycling VTTâ€?. He shrugged his shoulders “Oui, c’est la sport – normale!â€?

So a few stamps here and a signature there and we are done. That’s it. Back to the CPAM office with my RIB and forms. All done, we now wait for something – not sure what she said exactly but I get the gist and it could be up to 2 months. C’est la Vie!

Everyone has heard about the old french red tape. It’s true! We took ourselves off to the offices of the Caisse Primaire de Maladie. As we are British Citizens and have been a hard working husband and wife for the past few years, we get 2 years of complimentary health cover from good old Blighty. However, we do have to register with the french system first. We sat patiently until a cubicle became free and a very nice french lady called us over. I explained in the usual pigeon french that we wanted to register for a Carte Vitale but of course she’s done this a million times before.

I’d taken every conceivable bit of paper with me that I thought they might want. Ok here goes, E106, “bon�, Birth Certificate, “bon�, Marriage Certificate, “bon�. Off she went to take the obligatory “original� photocopy. This is going well I thought, blimey after all those horror stories I’ve heard too. She duly came back and returned my documents, now “RIB s.v.p.� so I handing it over feeling very smug. After checking the RIB, “j’ai besoin deux�. She wants 2 originals, even though it’s the same bank account for both. Explaining the best way I could that it was simply a print from the internet and couldn’t she take a photocopy of it, “NON�. Steve had a go, “Vous dit mois, je dois aller l’internet ….� Now she looked puzzled and disappeared. “Now you’ve done it J� After a few minutes, “Oui, l’internet c’est daccord� and duly started typing on her computer.

So she didn’t quite understand the meaning of what was being said. She thought that we wanted to verify that an internet print was ok! Well we failed on that one and were duly sent packing with a form to take to the Docteur to register and instructions to come back and bring another RIB!