I earn my money in UK and have invested for myself and family in France. The family are actually there and I see them every weekend. I have been using my bank to tranfer monthly wages there but have found them to be very expensive.
One of my friends had used a company called Capital IFX to but his in France. I started using them also to tranfer monthly wages. The savings I have made are significant. I would seriously recommend using a company like Capital IFX for any foreign exchange or currency exchnage. But you must do your homework as well.
Their website is www.capitalifx.com