fesuvious

Hi, customs can sometimes be a bit 'funny' but otherwise we've had no problems with taking plants.

ardtihs

Thankyou for you reply that ha put my wifes mind at ease as she wants to take quite a few plants over that she has cared for over the years

mpprh

Hi

Roughly, the situation is this :

Plugs are different. In the short term bring loads of UK multi socket adaptors and fit a French plug (I'm still doing this after 15 yrs !
Voltage is the same
TV is a different system, but you can use your UK TV via satellite decoder
Washing m/c's and Dishwashers only have cold feed but you can by a Y feed adaptor cheaply in UK

Otherwise it all works OK

Peter

javajive

I think it really comes down to logistics. If you are moving a van load of stuff and have room and aren't too concerned about possible problems getting it repaired in the unlikely even that it breaks down - then it seems like a good idea.

Between France & UK voltage is the same. Although be aware that TV standards are different (so for your UK TV to work in France it should be a multistandard one that supports SECAM).

TIP: Take some multi socket extension plugs, then you can just cut the UK plug off and replace it with a French one. Now you can run 4 applicances without changing UK plugs.

chalice

Hi
Just moved to France and still finding my feet, but haven't looked back.
Brought a trailer load of my best loved plants, but being completely bogged down with settling in, left many to their own devices and the snow! so don't have quite so many now. Had no problems getting them over apart from the moving costs. As to electrical items, I,m lucky as my partner is an electrician, but we brought most of our appliances over and he changed the plugs as it was far cheaper. White goods bought new as they seem quite resonable compared to UK especially if you get them on promotions which happen regularly. I knew nobody when I moved here in Sept 04 and now have some really good English friends and some French ones too, although they spend alot of their time amused at my awful French and my 'odd' English ways. The main difference to living in the UK I have found is the timescale on different things, in my limited experience its much slower, so lay back, dont get stressed and laugh alot.
Good Luck

ardtihs

:scared:

ardtihs

Thankyou for your reply to some of my questions, I feel a lot easier about the move now. I have my bungalow up for sale now and I have purchased a motorhome to get us and our 3 pets to France when bungalow is sold. We are looking to buy in the Charentes area when we finally sell up. I wish you and your family a happy and prosperous future. Regards Keith.

Michael E

In fact all your UK electrical goods will work in France - just unscrew or cut off the UK plug and buy a French plug - 3 pin for power or 2 pin for any connecting cables that only have 2 pin - the difference between 220 and 240 is academic and all modern appliances will work on power in that range.

The only major problem is that French Television works on the Secam system and UK on Pal. If your TV and video are fairly modern there is chance they will work on the French system but not certain. If you buy French TV and Video etc it will 99% of the time be dual standard Pal/Secam.

All is not lost for your UK TV equipment if it does not work - if when you install a satellite dish to receive UK TV via Sky or whatever then the UK will equipment will work with that- as will the French...

mpprh

Hi

a few points :

If you intend registering your motorhome in France, you should check out if that model has been sold in France. Their French importer must be able to produce a certificate of conformity if you want to save a bundle of trouble !

And there are a few other electrical things to think about :

Washing machines / dishwashers in UK have both hot & cold feed. Hot wash loads hot water only then heats to required temperature if needed (but may use cold water only for a last rinse programme). Cold wash loads cold water only. In Europe they only have a cold feed. The solution is simple : buy a Y pipe adaptor so that the French cold water installation will fill both hot & cold inlets as required. The heater / thermostat will sort out the correct wash temperature. You can buy these Y adaptors in UK to use for cold feed only, but I don't remember seeing them in Europe.

These days, it is quite expensive to buy a lot of French plugs because all new products come with a moulded plug attached (10 years ago you could buy them cheaply in packs of 10 : not now). For us, we have maybe 50 electrical appliances. You can buy adaptors in UK for 3 square pin to French sockets. It is worth buying a few of these (Odd things I use very rarely are still UK plugged). Also get a couple of UK 1 into 4 socket adaptors : replace the UK plug with a French one and it saves fitting plugs to equipment you use regularly (After 15 years, my hi fi and strimmer still work through English plugs). The adaptors will work well with your visitors hair dryers, shavers, etc !

You can buy both screw and bayonet light bulbs in France. Bayonet is rarer, with a smaller range, and maybe, a little more expensive. Worth bringing a stock of bulbs to match your light fittings ?

Bonne chance

Peter

ardtihs

Thankyou for info Peter. There is quite a lot to think about, the one thing you have now led onto gives more worry than anything, you mentioned motorhome. I am going to buy a motorhome before my move to France and bring it out with me, but I shall buy a LH drive, now I do know that it is a problem registering the vehicle in France, as explained in this months French Property News magazine by someone who has done it. If there is anybody out there who can enlighten me on an easy way to register it I would be very grateful . Once again thankyou Peter for your words of advice, much appreciated. Regards Keith.

Michael E

Keith hi,

I have not seen the article but I suspect the problem is this:- All French plates refer to the area you live in.... therefore you must have a French address (also enables them to send you parking/speeding tickets). The next problem is that they will ask for ID with that address - for me or any other (UK)French resident it is your 'carte de sejour'. To sum up the only 'easy' way for you to register a French vehicle in France if you are a UK resident with no French address is to find yourself a French resident - put the vehicle in their name at their address. Catch 22 is that I would not do it as it means I would be legally liable for all your speeding/parking fines or fraud for stating a vehicle was mine when it was not!!
Alternativly you could buy it in France (privately, not through a garage who may have problems with not registering it) drive it to the UK and provided it is a standard eu design go througnt the process of haveing it registered as a british vehicle - not that hard provided it is a standard eu model- just lots of paper work.
regards
Michael

CarlM

A great expat agent there is at www.vefuk.com - they give advice on the whole process, and have lots of proerties for sale.

chalice

Sorry to say this but I have heard from many people over here that vef are the last people to contact if you need help of any kind.

barbara00000

I agree

mpprh

Hi

actually, I registered an imported car using the address of a friend.

They signed a statement that I was resident there at the time.

No big deal, but I got a tax return from that area 2 years later !

Peter