Sorry Guys, I have another question for you since you all did so well with my meltdown last week 
Does anyone know vaguely what reams of paperwork I will have to produce in order to set up my French bank a/c?
Hi Thea,
Sorry, I've only just seen this and you may have it all sorted by now.
I opened an account at Credit Agricole last month in preparation for when we move over to France in February. They took a copy of my passport, birth certificate and a utility bill I'd brought over from Malta just in case. I didn't even have the exact address of our new house - it doesn't appear to have a name or a number - simply the hamlet it's in.
My account is open, I have a credit card awaiting my arrival (I asked them not to post any cheque books or CCs as I'd prefer to collect them personally) and she gave me the IBAN number so I transfer funds into my account before I leave here.
She also opened a little savings account for my son who now has his own French bank account with the princely sum of 10 euros.
Hope that helps.
Valerie
I opened an account with Credit Agricole "Britline" before I moved here. There is a lot of paperwork involved. When I got here, I was renting, and so had a "maison secondaire" phone line from France Telecom. They then sent me a bill., and that was accepted as proof of residence when I had to re-register the car we bought here. I also made several copies of our passports, birth certs, marriage, certs., etc. and scanned them all on to laptop as well. Hope that helps. Sheila.
Not sure what I used but I opened an account in France before I had bought a home here, or lived here. They cant expect a ute bill if you are only just arriving, but I guess the best way is to ask the manager next time you are in France.
Ok I will chase up the tenancy agreement. Thank you for your help.
Thea, I'm sure that's all you need, can't think of anything else. I opened a second one with another bank a few months ago and that's all I needed. If you haven't got any bills yet maybe some sort of proof of where you live .
Hi Jane, wow, is that it?! I was expecting to have to show much more… That said, I won’t have any bills yet so thats not going to be easy… 
Hi Thea, you will need identity (passport) and a utility bill in your name.