Special offers for Christmas with the Welcome en Limousin network:

The Welcome en Limousin network of professionals celebrates Christmas with special offers:

The National Museum Adrien Dubouché in Limoges suggests a practical training of porcelain for children (from 6 to 9 years old) about "Les Fleurs dans l'Art Nouveau" ("Flowers in the New Art"), on 3rd, 4th and 5th January 2007 from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. More information: 05 55 33 08 50

La Cité des Métiers et des Arts invites you to a new exhibition: 'Romania in Limousin, Bacau d'Hier à Aujourd'hui' from 7th to 22nd December. La Cité des Métiers et des Arts, Jardins de l'Evéchée, 5 rue de la Règle, 87000 Limoges. www.cma-limoges.com . Everyday from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Free entrance

Azur Assurances : 3 months of subscription for a car, house or health insurance are offered if you subscribe before 31st december and if you are a British or a Dutch citizen. More information: jp.petit@agenazur.com

The "Bison farm" of Jean Lutier, based at Saint Martial sur Isop (Haute-Vienne) offers special recipes using bison meat for Christmas. More information: www.bison.fr

The Planète Informatique company offers a bag and a mouse if you buy a laptop computer, free settlement if you buy a desktop computer (except transport charges), labour costs and website hosting with 5% discount. Planète Informatique, 12 rue JB Defumade, 23320 Saint Vaury : contact@planete-informatique.fr ou www.planete-informatique.fr

La Chezotte Farmhouse, Guesthouses, Ahun (Creuse): special offer for Christmas with 10% discount if you stay between 24th december and 6th january 2007, including your first meal and a bottle of wine for free. www.lachezottefarmhouse.com .

Le Verger, Guesthouses, Bourganeuf (Creuse): organize special events for the end of the year. www.leverger-france.com

The ambassadors' club

Created in 2005, this Club is made up of British people who have integrated successfully in Limousin (a local advisor, the vice president of a tourist information centre, a company manager) and of French people (Presidents of French-English associations) who work to create links between the two communities. The aim of the Club is to gather together people living in the three departments of Limousin so that they can share their points of view and discuss their own experiences. You can find on the website all the addresses and contact numbers of these ambassadors. More information: The Ambassador's Club

Association "J'Arrive à Limoges" "J'Arrive à Limoges" is an association for newcomers to the region whether French or foreign. If you are new to the region, if you have left your country of origin, if you are far away from your family and friends, and if you wish to meet new people, you are invited to join "J'Arrive à Limoges"! They are a friendly group who enjoy visits to cafes and restaurants, outings to places of interest, parties and many other activities. Family, husbands, partners and children are welcome to join them in social activities. If you would like more information, come and see Carmen and Martine (President and Vice President) on Tuesday afternoons, between 2.00 and 4.00 pm (except school holidays) at: Maison des Associations, Room 2, 40 rue Charles Silvestre, Limoges

Les Bistrots d'Hiver (Winter Pubs) of The Pays Sage The Pays Sage Organisation has developed a very original idea - concerts -in pubs and restaurants in order to provide entertainment during the winter within various small communities spread over the Plateau of Millevaches. Possibility to have lunch if you book ahead directly with the restaurant hosting the concert. More information: The Pays Sage Organisation, 00 33 5 55 67 88 58. La Cure, 23260 Flayat (Creuse)

Interview with Tim Roper, Alliance Informatique at Bessines

Mr Tim Roper is the owner of Alliance Informatique, a completely bilingual and bi cultural computer service company, based in Bessines sur Gartempe in Haute Vienne.

Is it better to buy a computer in France or in UK?

It is more convenient for the guarantee to have French software on a French computer if it breaks down but British people also need software to be in English. It is possible to set up English software on your French computer and still have a working guarantee

How to protect your computer from lightning?

After a recent storm we experienced 2 or 3 breakdowns. That would be possible for people to avoid. The simplest (and cheapest) method is to unplug the telephone and electric cable when the machine is not in use or there is a storm coming. You can also use a protected multisocket or an "uninterruptible power supply". It is essential to save your computer data regularly as this protects your photos, email contacts etc ...

How to save your data?

That depends on how much data you have and how often you change it. If you do not have a large amount of data you can copy it on a CD. If there is a lot, it would better use an external hard drive. And a step in the middle: you can use USB Memory Cards.

How to get ADSL?

People often ask whether it is worth subscribing to ADSL or a modem is sufficient. It depends how much you use your computer. If you are simply emailing 2 or 3 people a day, a modem is sufficient. But if you use the Internet for research ADSL is a benefit. It depends on your perception of how fast you want to download something, how fast you need something. I have an example of a retired couple who only use email once a week but they were receiving and sending photos to their family so it took very long to download them. In this case ADSL was a benefit.

How to get an Internet presence for people who start a business? Is it better to have a French or an English server?

This is an interesting point and depends on the type of clients of the company be it English or French or a mixture. If you have substantially English clients a proportion of them will only look at English sites (registered as .co.uk) and so an English registered and managed site is better. If your clients are either French or a mixture then it is better to hold the site on a French server with a French address (.fr) as this simplifies the management of the site. - Having said that Alliance have a number of UK sites that can be managed from here in France.

Bear in mind also that sites that are resident on UK servers sometimes only have free phone support telephone numbers, which are inaccessible from outside the UK. Alliance can always advise on the best course to suit your circumstances.

Other comments: In general the culture is now to repair the computers and not to replace it: this is a good thing because that allows people to save their computer data and memories.

More information: info@allianceinformatique.fr or www.allianceinformatique.fr

Integration Vouchers for English speaking inhabitants of Limousin

The aim of this convenient local service is to make your integration into Limousin a success!

Who is this for ?

• For English-speaking people living permanently in Limousin who have been here for less than 18 months.
• And who have no other access to learning French
• Limited to one person per household

How does it work ?

• To help you learn French : 100 hours maximum of interactive French lessons based on common situations encountered in everyday life.
• To help you with paperwork when you arrive: 20 hours maximum to help you deal with common administrative procedures, including interpretation.

This training is available from organizations registered with the Limousin Regional Council. For terms and conditions and details of participating organizations please contact: MC Consulting : +33 (0)5 55 76 18 86 contact@mc-consulting.fr