Montcigoux

Hi all. Any suggestions for the best way to do this. I am converting a very old first floor grain loft to a sitting room and eventually the space between the joists will be insulated. Ideally although it is more fiddly work and cost I want to leave the old wooden roof joists exposed rather than covering them with plaster board. But there is a big gap where the end of the joists meet the top of the thick stone wall of several inches to be closed off first and from experience it needs to be animal proof. Even fixing insulating board to the underside of the joists thus hiding them would leave a big gap. I was thinking of using those thin red large tile size bricks bedded into mortar on top of the wall and the top of the brick would then meet the underside of the roof tiles. Any thoughts or suggestions or previous experience please? Bear in mind that I am female and not as strong as the average man. Thanks

It can definitely go direct to a foreign currency firm if you give the full account details in writing to the notaire ( check and double check the details). I decided against this in the end and had it transferred directly to a foreign currency account with my bank First Direct / HSBC. I have never been sure what protection you would have if the foreign currency firm goes bust when your house money is with them. Or you can send it to a french bank but don't have it transferred into a La Poste account especially if you are closing it at the same time as it can take weeks to be transferred. The main thing is to make sure your notaire knows clearly in advance that you want the money transferred on the day of the Acte otherwise they wait days sometimes to send it. Don't agree to an Acte on a Friday either or you wont get your money until the Monday - tense weekend!

Think for a moment about your use of language and what it implies. Would you describe either Mick Jagger or Donald Trump as "bed hopping Mick", or say "Donald's been round the block a few times"? In this day and age the number of relationships that a woman has had over decades should not single her out for perjorative comment any more than it would for a man. However, I quite agree with you about her taste in men and still can't see either what women see in Francois Hollande. As for Mick Jagger his taste in women is definitely dodgy!

I know Firbeix well. Houses do seem to stay on the market there for years. I went to look at one with my Mum a few years back and it was still for sale several years later. The only thing wrong I know of which puts people off is the 24/7 heavy traffic noise from the N21 especially as there are two long hills at either end of the village so you get the big lorries grinding up the hill. From about now the road also gets very busy during the summer season. The road noise carries quite a long way too into the countryside around the N21. On the plus side compared to ten years ago the village has really improved. Many derelict old buildings have been renovated and the fishing lake has now been made the most of as a tourist spot and there is now a friterie! Nearest small supermarket in La Coquille my daughter went to school there. For access to services, Firbeix is right at the limit of the Dordogne the Limousin is literally on the village boundary, so you have about an hours journey to get to Limoges and Perigeux which makes buying things from the "grandes surfaces" and dealing with the Dordogne administration a bit of a mission too..

I am finding the fact that I have to scroll down quite a . distance to read the text of the post very tiring and irritating. The picture is too bright and distracting. The main thing that was wrong with the forum before was that you couldn't hover over the post and find out what it was about which you still can't - pity.

My partner is about to buy a house in France for us to live in as our main home. It will be bought in his name only as the purchase money is his and is his only house. We are not married and he has two lovely adult daughters from a previous marriage. I don't want to disinherit his daughters and I want the house to go to them as it would under French law anyway I think. But if my partner were to die first is there any way he can leave the house for me to occupy even for a period before it passed to his daughters? Also without making their tax position any worse than it would have been had they inherited immediately? We could marry before the house purchase if that would help. The promis has not been drawn up yet. Any ideas would be gratefully received.

I have owned a house in France since 2000 but had to go back to England in 2003 but I am coming back to live in France soonish and can't wait. Just to say that over the many years I have been reading the forum how much I appreciate the regular posters and their expertise and miss them when they disappear. In the early days I always enjoyed Teamedup posts which were a sometimes scary counterbalance to the rose tinted spectacles of most of the rest of us. So glad she is still here even under a different name. Wish I knew what it was! I also wish we still had the archive from the pre 2004 posts what a different time that was.

Just a point pension credit is not payable in France only the basic state pension or any work pension that you have

If you need the funds on the day of the acte make absolutely sure in writing that the notaire understands this and how you want to receive the money. Otherwise they do tend to faff about and you may have to wait days or even weeks for the money. For payment on the day of the sale your notaire will keep a small amount back for any unpaid taxes. If you are present at the sale he can either give you a cheque in euros or arrange for the euros to be transferred to a bank account. He will need the full bank details for this. However don't have the funds put in your french bank account open a euro account in the UK with either a currency broker or if you have one your UK bank and have the funds transferred directly to that account. You can then instruct either the broker or your bank to transfer the funds into GBP and a UK bank account or a UK solicitors bank account on the day that suits you when you think the exchange rate is most advantageous to you or with a broker you can fix the rate in advance. Above all if you do have the funds transferred into your french bank account do not close the account or tell them that you are closing it until well after they have sent the euros on from your sale as it could delay the transfer while they wait for all the final transactions to come through before closing the account.

Thank you lovely photos felt like I was there too. I wish!

If you haven't already read it Rose en Marche by Jamie Ivey is a fascinating account of one young couples year trying to establish a business selling rose wine in the south of france. It gives a really good insight into the workings of french markets. His other books are good too.

Just wondered  after the report published in England today recommending a high pay commission. for the UK  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8204530.stm   There is a quote in the report from the french finance minister is this a problem in France too? Do the top french bankers get paid enormously more than the lowest paid in the banks like in Egland or is this uniquely a City problem? I thought that even at the top end of the french property market the main buyers were foreigners because the french hadn't got any money.

Don't worry  too much about this. You will be able to relate to his friends and their parents and help with his homework. It is fantastic for your french and you can buy the guides to the curriculum in local bookshops which will keep you one step ahead.  I have been a parent in both countries and although from what you say you will be starting with a higher level of french than I had I was perfectly able to relate to my daughter's friends in France.  You start off in exactly the same way in both countries at the school gate admiring baby siblings arranging play dates, helping at the school.  I have moved a lot more than average in England too and it is always a challenge to move to a new area even in England where you have a common language.  One tip make sure your son stays to lunch at school as soon as possible as this is the opportunity for him to make friends. Also don't be too sympathetic it's not that tough in french schools and there are other challenges at schools in england they are just different challenges. French schools are unsurprisingly not like english schools and french teachers are very different especially at infant / junior school level. Being in France won't change your relationship with your son in fact it will probably bring you closer together. The point about rural schools and their potential disadvantages for getting into lycee as opposed to college is well made by other posters. Certainly I was much more laid back than many of the french parents who had their sights set on the lycee and not college at secondary school stage A couple of french parents moved their children from our local rural junior school beacuse they thought it wasn't good enough when I thought it was so much better than the english  state system that at the time I couldn't  understand this. I always recommend  the book "sixty million frenchmen can't be wrong" as a good explanation of the very competitive french system. You will have to accept that your son will be like the children of immigrants to England he will always have one foot in both camps his home / parents country and  his own french country and culture . So long as you keep your Britishness but integrate as much as you can this won't matter. You will find that at six his english will be firmly established and he won't lose it. My daughter was 9 when we moved to France and was fluent  in french within six months. Much younger children aged two or three when they move do tend to lose their english and strangely can't always read in english although they can read in french. Re  recreational opportunities in France these are all done outside school. Even in rural areas there are opportunities if you seek them out but you will have a lot of driving to do.  Thinking ahead a decade (and I thought I was a worrier!) to when he is a teenager he will be at college or lycee with all his mates so will feel exactly the same as them and they will accept the status quo and have a lot of loyalty to the area you live in.. Good luck.

Thanks Rose  and to all the people who have posted such interesting comments.  Rose's experience pretty much mirrors my own and I have stayed in both english owned and french owned gites. I have stayed in some smashing gites  well done to the people at Lassales with the pool  in the Haute Pyrennees - you know who you are. Others have left a lot to be desired. Booking ahead doesn't always get you a better gite in my experience. Although I have never run a gite or a b& b  I find both these forum topics very interesting and feel I can almost put myself in your shoes. Sorry also I don't post very often a very demanding working week of 60+ hours every week including travel means I am usually too shattered to do anyhing more than  read the posts. I envy you all living in France and wish I could join you again. Perhaps one day!

As a regular gite user often taking two or more holidays a year in France who has also owned properties in France I thought I would get my most common gripes off my chest. I think you are all quite heroes to put up with guests but there are some things some of you could improve on. My first gripe is the lack of photos on the website especially on general booking websites rather than your own dedicated website. When you are choosing a gite you can be researching hundreds especially if you are looking in a region or if you don't want an exclusive pool. The photos are crtical they can tell you so much about the gite.  Please post lots of  clear photos of both the interior and exterior including the main sitting and dining rooms,  and especially the kitchen with details of the sink and cooker - you can tell a lot from that and the bedroom pics as well, why not use the maximum number of photos allowed by the website? Try and avoid the photo of the ubiquitous green or white plastic chairs in the garden they just look so depressing and cheapskate even though they are practical. Please include details upfront on whether the gite is detached and the degree of privacy  and what facilities are shared with the owner and or other guests.  Don't use up limited space telling me about the region and local attractions I can find that out  for myself tell me about the gite in detail. Make it absolutely clear which bedrooms are completely private and which are walk through to other bedrooms or the only bathroon and if you are offering a bed in a reception room tell me if the room has doors that can be closed and whether or not you have to walk through it to get to other reception rooms. Always tell me how quiet or noisy the gite is from road or railway noise etc. and whether and where there is parking.  Include a photo of any put-u-up type beds or sofa beds made up and dimensions if you are expecting a couple to sleep on them. Is there somewhere nice and private to sit and enjoy the sun? The next thing I need to know is immediate availability I don't want to have to send off an email or a booking form only to find the gite isn't available so a web site that clearly states availability up front is critical especially as I often book quite late. As discussed in other posts include details of any extras and their charges and what is included in the basic price. You don't need to be overly generous we don't need a welcome pack. In advance send very good directions on how to find the place written from the perspective of a complete stranger to the area arriving from different directions who may be looking for the place in the dark as we were in Normandy a couple of years ago. By this stage of the journey everybody is tired and it is not a good start to be unable to find the gite. Please include landmarks at point where you turn off, a physical description of the gite and its location and the type of road. Don't use the sort of directions that include "turn at the fourth roundabout" by this time we have lost count of how many roundabouts or we are not even sure if we are on the road  that you are referring to, instead use the road numbers, the directional signs we will see and landmarks. The google earth link is useful but if your gite is in a town the google earth map doesn't give all the street names so it isn't a lot of help when you are lost.  A really useful service would be to offer to provide a set of free street plans  for the locality or nearest town or village or at least an indication of where the nearest tourist office is and its contact details. On holiday you don't always have sat nav (its an extra on hire cars) and so few gites have internet access. It helps to know where to find things for the first couple of days. If somebody is going to be there to greet us please let us have their full name and mobile number. Other useful information to give before arrival is the opening and closing times of local shops or supermarkets especially ones that sell  bread and fresh milk and what if any basic provisions there are in the gite as often I call in at the shop or supermarket before I get to the gite. Please clear out rancid and already opened provisions left by previous owners and don't leave used tablets of soap and dish sponges and scourers of uncertain origin in the sinks. If you feel you must leave soap leave either use wrapped guest tablets or  leave liquid hand wash instead. Cleanliness  - gite owners you pay cleaners who in my experince are often frankly not worth it, all they seem to do is change the bedding and do a quick wipe round.  The standard of cleanliness is often very low -  do you ever check their work?  I have cleared out green mould from breadbins, last week I found myself cleaning three loos as they had dark ingrained dirt in the bowl and that gite was on mains drains. Make sure your cleaner cleans with the shutters open so they can see what they are doing. When we arrived at our very expensive gite this week all the shutters were closed and the key wasn't where we had been told it would be. Eventually we realised that the cleaner was still inside with the key it was 1.30pm and she was virtually cleaning in the dark as the lighting in the main rooms was so dim. I do sympathise with you when guests trash the place again please be clear about what standard you expect I had no communication on that from this weeks gite. Having met the french cleaner I could have assumed that she would do everything of course from my regular reading of your complaints on this website I knew better and even mopped the kitchen floor! You need to be realsitic about the amount your guests can do on the last day especially if they are setting off for an early flight find out how your guests are travelling so that you knowwhat to expect when they have left.  Consider a deep clean during the season there is a lot to get through in a changeover peiod just changing the bedding etc so try to allow one day for a thorough clean of ovens, tile grouting, loos, skirting boards and ledges, under the beds, high shelves in the kitchen, storage containers, on top of the fridge freezer and grotty kitchen cupboards. Dim lighting  makes it hard to read in the main reception rooms especially if you tend towards short sight as I do and having time to do lots of reading is one of the main pleasures of the holiday.  Beds -this last week all our beds were uncomfortable and we were glad to get home for a good night's sleep. Please use good quality mattresses.  I am used to gites where the crockery and cutlery is all oddments so I can put up with that but they still need to be checked by your changeover person and any chippedor stained crockery or glassware thrown away. If you supply a TV or DVD or satellite  dish or an oven or grill please make sure that they work properly and leave simplified quick start guides on a laminated sheet next to the appliance to try and prevent people from breaking them. The only thing I have found that always seem to work in a gite is the microwave even if it is at least 20 years old. I understand about financial pressures so I am tolerant of  the mismatched second hand furniture and the pine self assembly stuff in most gites that frankly would all be better in a skip. Could you try and keep the grot factor of the sofas to a minimum though and also make sure that the chests of drawers and wardrobes are not broken in some way. Please  make it clear what you expect us to replace before we leave we are not psychic and custom and practice varies widely so if you want the barbecue charcoal or the loo rolls replacing tell us. I note  that nearly every gite I have stayed in does not have clear basic information pinned up on how to contact a local doctor or the ambulance. Many British guests may not realise especially if they are in a panic that you don't dial 999. I also think you should out of courtesy send an email to your guests after their holiday asking them for specific feedback on things like the directions, the furnishings and fixtures and fittings etc. Many guests won't rebook just because they like to travel widely not because they don't like your gite and most of us are not serial complainers so if you don't ask you will never hear from us.            

I have just arrived home this morning from a week in a gite we are English and travelled by plane plus hire car. The luggage weight restrictions on Rynair mean it is not practical to take any towels at all especially as you may have to travel back with some or all of them still damp. The gite owner helpfully said we could hire towels from a local launderette and added it was open on Satrudays.He failed to tell us that it closed for the weekend at 12 noon and we arrived too late! We bought towels from Carrefour 8 euros for two bath sized towels they were a bit thin and we had to buy two packs as there were three of us so that was 16 euros. They doubled up as pool, and bath towels. I knew we would have to leave them behind which grated a bit. It is completely different if you drive you can fit them into the car presumably why the mainland europe guests expect to bring their own towels and bedding. Next time I fly I will look for a gite with towels and bedding provided and inclusive. Clair my advice is don't go over the top with the towel pack try a smaller pack ie one towel for less cost. My other gripe in most gites is a lack of tea towels but as I never take a gite without a dishwasher that solves that problem! I also left the gite cleaner then when I arrived something I seem to do every time.

Hi,  Not directly relevant but make sure that it physically suits whoever is going to use it as for a woman they can be achingly heavy after a few minutes and the harnesses seem to be designed for men. Also get anti vibration gloves or you could end up with what I think is called white finger. The better ones give less vibration. Make sure you allow enough money for the safety equipment you will also need especially goggles but I also use my Jonsered chain saw helmet which has attached ear muffs and visor as I got fed up of being hit in the face with stinging bits of vegetation. Long sleeves and trousers rather than shorts are advisable for the same reason. You will need a disk on the end for brambles rather than the cable so buy the disk at the same time.  There are newer ones now that don't need two stroke just unleaded petrol and they are great and seem to start every time plus you don't need to faff about with mixing two stroke. My ex got one last summer from the internet on e-bay but can't remember the make wasn't one I had heard of. Also depends on where you can get reular support and servicing pays to buy it from that dealer especially if he is your nearest dealer. This is how strimmimg goes with a brush cutter. Stride purposefully out to barn to get brush cutter. Find that special plastic measuring cup  (to work out proportion of oil to petrol )missing . After complicatd maths and use of best kitchen measuring jug to work out proportions again get it fuelled up. Put on protective gear. Try to start it but can't remember exactly what position all the levers should be in. Refer to instructieons eventually get it started. Start strimming, heart as always in  mouth in case a) come across a snake or b) even worse cut snake into pieces. After demented hour of strimming in hot sun admit defeat and retire for cold drink with back aching, ears ringing and fingers tingling.

The notaire is principally a tax collector  and ensures that title is correct and moreover will only tell you something if you ask him or her, they don't volunteer information as they act for the vendor as well although you can opt to have your own notaire.  The other problem is that the contract to purchase is binding before you get all of the infromation unlike the English process. It is important to undertsand the clause suspensives and know how to use them you can include additional ones. For example I had a clause enduring that the vendors cut the grass on an empty  property with a large acreage as my offer was made in the early Spring and I knew that as we wouldn't complete before the end of the summer I would have foot high grass to cope with. sure enough they didn't cut the grass so I mentioned the clause to the notaire before completion and they did then cut it. You should always go to the Mairie and study the local plans and maps for yourself as well. Any issues with boundaries use a geometre as advised in another recent post. I have bought four houses in France over  the past eight years and then sold them at different times without a solicitor.  In future even though my french is pretty passable for property related matters I will definitely use an english french specialist solicitor working in tandem with the notaire for peace of mind. So far problems that I have had using only a notaire include only being told about a right of way over the front garden of the house by the notaire only on the day of completion too late to back out, the vendor of one property being wanted by the police and them chasing me for his address and finally not being clear about what were the exact boundaries of my property - a property with a lot of land and woodland. The worst problem was a particular notaire who was extremely slow in dealing with everything (again I only found out later that he had a local reputation) and also didn't reply to emails and phone calls or letters. This caused huge amounts of stress as my purchaser needed to be in the property for the start of the school year. In the end I let her move in anyway. Another notaire also would not commit in writing when I challenged the subsequent sale within twelve months of a property I had sold. Then I couldn't afford a solicitor and the notaire refused to commit in writing and just brushed me off verbally. ( sorry about spelling  and typos no time to spell check)

Yes the attitude in France is very different. The local chateau which was next to my house had an annual event and people attending it parked on any convenient bit of my land they could get to including the forecourt directly outside my barn and all my verges especially if there was parking in the shade.

Just in case you weren't aware the internet dating sites like dating direct allow you to have a french location and search for people in your locality. If you are youngish then the local french free papers have lonely hearts ads too. Otherwise again if you are youngish all the traditional things like sporting clubs etc. But I quite agree that when I lived in an isolated rural hamlet  there was nobody to meet. If you have ever read Michael Wright's column in the Telegraph and his book La Folie the stories about his attempts at interesting local french beauties in his charms are very amuzing. Try the French Entree web site as it has details of locally based social clubs for the anglo french at least its a start. You have to delve a bit on the site under the appropriate region to find the clubs.

If you haven't already read this then in addition to all the great practical books there are out there then do read "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" as it gives a very good insight into the french educational approach, french school teachers and also how french parents judge educational and career success. French schools are very different to english schools and french parents value entirely different things in a school to how we english parents would judge a school.

Hi, I lived south west of Limoges and still have relatives living around Chalus.  One thing to check is the height from sea level of the property you are considering as this makes a big difference to the local temperature. The higher it is the colder it will be. I bought a second property only 40 minutes further south of my property near Chalus located south of Thiviers in the north Dordogne and was amazed at how much warmer it was all year round. I realised that in fact that the drive to the new property from my relatives who still live around Chalus was a long slow drop in height. In summary though the diffeences in weather are as follows: The Limousin has a more continental climate with less influence from the Gulf Stream compared to the UK. The winters are shorter and  can be colder even than Newcastle or Hdrian's wall (an area I know quite well) and the summers are longer and hotter. I have personally experienced days at -14 C in the Haute Vienne winter when my water supply froze. The south west of Limoges area is pretty wet, Chalus is one of the wettest areas. In some years you get very severe and frequent thunderstorms in the summer. These are really prolonged and very noisy ( in the middle of the night)and also can take out your electric supply and a friend of mine actually had lightening inside her house.  These really are a different expereince to thunderstorms in the UK. Make sure you protect your computer. The summers in the Limousin are generally longer and when it heats up the light and the sun is stronger and much hotter than anything you will experience in the North East or in the South of England where I have also lived. Having a swimming pool is definitely worth while. Bear in mind that for milky english complexions and especially for children you will need extra sun protection. There can also be suprisingly warm and sunny Februaries and warm sunny Octobers.  Around Limoges there can also be prolonged ,continuous weeks of very lowering depressing cloudy wet weather in the late spring and early sumer like in 2002. The one thing that you can be sure of is that the weather is changeable like the UK with no year being like another so you can't really generalise. Around the Chalus area they have also had a couple of minor hurricanes which have damaged trees in the last couple of years. Snow in winter is not very frequent about the same or less than the UK. In a good year you will also get a lot of sunshine in the winter even though it will be cold. So to sum up for the winter you will need either central heating or woodburners that will stay in overnight. Please note that not all French woodburners will stay in overnight so check. If without entral heating your house needs to be suitable for the heat from the woodburner to spread around the house ie fairly open plan. I always thought that in the typical Limousin house with thick stone walls that an Aga would have been ideal. Not all garden plants will survive the cold winters and hot sun if brought over from the UK. I fly between Limoges and UK airports pretty regularly and my general experience is to leave a cloudy damp England behind and step off the plane at Limoges into sunshine even in the winter. You can't beat that experience.    

The simple answer is could you live on this in the UK? Overall costs probably balance out between the two countries. If you could then it will be enough. Are you careful with money now or not? That won't change just because you move to France. Is your estimate of income really accurate and have you taken into account the french taxes and health insurance you will need to pay. This is a complex area so do your research and get advice so that there are no nasty surprises. If the income is from investment there is a wealth tax in France and wealth I think can include certain property. If your income is in sterling there will be a continual cost for transferring the money to Euros and to France. Be aware of things that could derail your budget though. Things that I found I hadn't antcipated  were as follows. One of the key ones is travel to and from the UK, the cost of regular trips can be very high when you take all costs into account. The expats I know that live successfully on a fixed budget rarely or never go back to the UK say once every five years. Also be careful of the cost of keeping and feeding animals the tempation in rural France is if you are animal lovers is to acquire cats, dogs, farm animals etc. The points made by others are also very valid when choosing between houses beware of high utiliy bills and taxes choose a house that will be less expensive to heat and where the property taxes are lower. Unfortunately you will have to do some digging to get this information as it won't be automatically provided by the immobilier or the vendor. Health care will also add to your costs not just the cost of insurance but even with top up insurance not all medical expemses are reimbursed sometimes only a proportion of them. Beware the exorbitant cost of visitors especially in the first couple of years and think twice before issuing a casual invitation as when you live in France people take you up on it. Make it clear to visitors that there is a kitty for food and petrol . Be wary of regular trips to the airport, railway terminus etc to pick visitors up as this can add a lot to motoring costs. Then there is the money pit of french house renovation buy a house that is already finished and have a survey before you buy it. Be wary of swimming pools which add to your costs, choose a small car for fuel economy and low cost of ownership.  Think about the hobbies you enjoy and whether or not they will be accessible in your part of France without a long journey. Eg (thankfully) in some parts of France there are very few golf courses. Be a regular reader of this site and the forums in Martin's Money Tips www.moneysavingexpert.com, use the budget planner there and check out the synopsis of his programe Make Me Rich as this shows you how to cut back and use your money to enjoy life. Although it is a UK site the lessons are equally applicable in France. Finally to preserve the capital funds you do have make sure you keep the cost of house purchase and removal as low as you can. Ensure you understand exactly what the total cost of the purchase will be before you make an offer ie be clear what the costs of notaire's fees, immobiliers fees and purchase taxes will be before you sign for anything and question everything.  Make an offer on a house that is normal in France. Don't move a lot of junk to France it could cost you several thousand pounds to move the contents of a typical family house to France and you can replace practically everything in France.  Be ruthless and get rid of as much as you can before the estimators come. Good candidates for decluttering are books and magazines, clothes, garage, loft and shed contents. Again there are posts on this site on cutting down on removal costs and options for removals.  

Look for one that has something like feu continue in the description this means that it will stay in overnight when closed up and with the right wood burning. You will need to ensure that you have a supply of the right dry wood. If you buy from one of the smaller specialist shops they will also deliver and install it for you and seal up the chimney if you have an open inglenook fireplace. Don't forget that you will need your chimney swept once a year and a certificate as proof for your house insurance. I have bought two woodburners in France and the Godin stove that I bought last year was by far the best      

If remaining in France follow advice above and register your car in France ASAP no road tax in France. As a first step you will need to contact DVLA to get a car exported certificate. You return your log book to them fist but keep a photocopy. Unless you notify them you will get fined as soon as your UK road tax expires. If you want to keep your car UK registered you will have to change the address on your UK log book to a friend or relative's address. Then when the time comes to re-tax the car send them the insurance cert and MOT cert and the money to do it. This is not strictly kosher and won't work if you have french insurance. Your UK insurance will only cover up to 90 or so days abroad and will need to be the same address as your car registration. Don't forget to note in your diary when the road tax expires as you won't get the reminder and they don't always arrive from DVLA.