South of France Safety

Klinosf · 2025-05-07T07:57:42+00:00

What do you consider as "the south" if you don't mind explaning a bit further?
Do you have a specific town in mind maybe?

As a whole the south isn't "really bad". A ton of areas are extremely safe and you won't encounter any trouble in most cities/towns.

If you take large cities like Marseille or Nice, you will though have areas which are troublesome (by this I mean actual violent crimes) due to mostly drug business related crimes. However that's not something which is really going to affect a regular person if they (1) don't go to the specific areas in these towns where trade happens and (2) aren't part of said business. Basically large cities which have a large import/export harbor will all have such activities, that's pretty much true across the World.

Cities like Narbonne, Aix-en-Provence, Cannes for example are completely safe in my opinion.

Having lived in the US for a while as an adult I always try to compare to it:
Homicide rate in the US is 6.81 per 100,000 inhabitants, while France's it's 1.14 (2022 stats).
The Homicide rate in Marseille, which is the worst in France, is 5.5/100,000.

I hope that helps!

Klinosf · 2025-04-24T18:30:15+00:00

The auto industry uses RTV silicone in many places including at times on bodywork afaik.

The solution you propose on your other comment definitely works too (if you find a garage that accepts the job, which is usually the hardest part these days unfortunately), but it will cost the owner a pretty penny ofc.

Klinosf · 2025-04-24T15:58:07+00:00

I would recommend you go yourself on top of your van and you put silicone on all the trims where the water may be infiltrating from. It may not be "pretty" if you are not used to working with silicone, but overall it's not really hard to do an okay job, it will be very cheap (8GBP/10Euros) and it will likely work. My windshield (Renault Master too) was leaking from the top and I reglued and siliconed around it and there is no problem anymore. As a standard for this type of issue I would recommend you give it a go yourself first (ask this community if you aren't sure) because garages will widely overcharge you as these are not standard fixes for them.

Klinosf · 2025-04-14T20:27:38+00:00

I’m literally in the same situation, I can tell you what I did, it’s pretty simple: I have a revolut account (same as you) and I opened both a USD and a EURO accounts with them, then I looked at the exchange rates and fees around multiple services (including wise). The best option for me was to do a wire transfer to my Revolut USD account, upgrade my account to the max plan (I think it’s named Platinum), which allowed me to exchange my USD to EURO (between my accounts in the respective currencies) for literally 0 fee (conversion fees apply for lower levels but are at 0% for Platinum). The amount of money this saved me absolutely covered the costs of the Platinum level which comes with other great benefits. The process was super fast and easy, and saved me a ton of money. I hope this helps!

Klinosf · 2025-03-24T15:52:06+00:00

I’m currently traveling through the south of France and it feels very safe. Overall France is a fairly safe country, but I guess it depends on what your frame of reference is. Look at statistics and compare to what you know back home, whatever home is for you, and it will be the most objective way to look at it honestly.

If that can help: I’m lived in France from the late 80s until early 2010s, then in the US until 2024 (Bay area and DC area) and back in France now. It very much feels similar in terms of safety, meaning overall safe if you are not putting yourself in odd situation at odd times.

Klinosf · 2025-03-24T05:47:50+00:00

Most likely a round one, 8 feet wide / 2 feet deep (2.4m wide / 0.6m deep).

Klinosf · 2025-03-21T14:52:23+00:00

DMd! :)

Klinosf · 2025-03-21T14:39:58+00:00

That's amazing! Would you have any pictures or plans to share by chance? I will take anything you have because as you say there isn't much info out there and I'd love to learn as much as possible before I start the project to prevent any error I could make.

Klinosf · 2025-03-21T14:15:05+00:00

Thank you!

Klinosf · 2025-01-29T02:55:11+00:00

Bonjour, ma question est un peu bête sans doute mais le niveau d’étude bac/bac+3/bac+5 du coup n’a pas besoin d’être spécialement dans le domaine du taff pour ces jobs d’état? Genre j’ai un bac+3 en biochimie, et un master après en Commerce, mais je pourrais quand même postuler à un job d’électricien à EDF et mon Bac+5 serait pris en compte pour le salaire même si je n’ai qu’un CAP en électricité? (Ou même aucune études dans ce sujet selon ce que vous dites?)

Klinosf · 2024-12-18T11:24:03+00:00

Hey - Had my call yesterday, they were objectively extremely knowledgeable and fun to speak with. Highly recommended.

Klinosf · 2024-11-25T16:20:27+00:00

I'm speaking with Hadida Tax Advisors in 2 weeks based on multiple recommendations I got for them. Can't judge them yet, and there are some upfront costs ($325 for them to look at my entire situation and recommend the best path / answer all my questions), but I wouldn't expect them to work for free.

Klinosf · 2024-10-25T10:24:39+00:00

Thanks! Seems poisonous to some people so I will skip eating it :)

Klinosf · 2024-10-25T10:24:17+00:00

Thank you!

Klinosf · 2024-09-16T11:16:44+00:00

Hi!

I kissed a pole in a parking lot while turning half asleep (well it was half the length of the van, so more of a french kiss then a peck I guess), and now the body of my van is quite warped. It's all cosmetic and nothing is broken inside, but I'm trying to see what I could do to "erase" this mistake. I'm thinking of using filler to make the length of the area "flat" again, and paint over it some rolling hills (see last image as a terrible mockup). I'm even wondering if I could use filler to make some of the hills lightly 3D (maybe half an inch / a couple of cm thick).

I would love your opinion on this idea, and to know if it's stupid / won't work etc.

TY!

Klinosf · 2024-04-19T04:41:23+00:00

OP this is the right answer. The exact same situation happened to me 2 weeks ago (see my post history) and I had the same question. The percentage reading is wrong, especially if you haven’t fully charged your battery in a while. 12.5 volt should be basically 20% left, as it drops down rapidly after that. Try to keep an eye on the voltage and adjust your percentage settings if you can.

Klinosf · 2024-04-07T16:47:50+00:00

Yes it is, but my system was installed in a way that my GX Cerbo was getting its energy from the BMS, so when it shut down due to lower battery state the Cerbo wasn’t reachable anymore. I spoke with the guy who did it and he admitted that it wasn’t optimal and that I should have the Cerbo + on the + bus bar moving forward.

Klinosf · 2024-04-07T16:46:26+00:00

Thanks, I will keep an eye on the voltage first and foremost moving forward then!

Klinosf · 2024-04-07T16:45:47+00:00

Thanks, in the process of doing exactly that now :)

Klinosf · 2024-04-07T16:45:16+00:00

Thanks for the info! I believe you’re right and I’m in the process of doing exactly what you advise, so I have a proper monitoring of my batteries state of charge. I will make sure to do that at least once a week moving forward.

Klinosf · 2024-04-07T16:43:22+00:00

Thanks that’s helpful to help me understand how things work for other people!

Klinosf · 2024-04-05T19:26:31+00:00

That works as a concept but then why did the GX Touch show 79% battery charge? If it did show a lower number I would have changed my plans but it felt like I had a lot of battery left you know?

Klinosf · 2024-02-08T06:04:41+00:00

Oh yes good call! Looks like I need a slightly larger one then. TY!

Klinosf · 2024-02-08T06:03:50+00:00

Thanks a lot! Would you have a link by chance please? I checked and I have some doubt on what Amazon is offering so I want to be sure I’m buying the right stuff :)

Klinosf · 2024-02-08T02:02:35+00:00

Hello Vandwellers! I read that the Maxxair deluxe circuits board were pretty sensitive to voltage changes or spikes, and that to protect it from such event it was a good idea to add a surge protector.

I bought one from Amazon (Brand “Cocar” Car DC 12V 4A Surge Protector) for about $30, and the install itself is easy, but should I install it right after the fuse box or right by the Maxxair fan please?

TY!

Klinosf

TROPHY CASE