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JimmyEveriss

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Posts posted by JimmyEveriss

  1. Some of our English customers stopped off at a McDonalds on the way down here in the morning.

    They ordered their 'food' and tea and sat down at a table and a few minutes later one of them realised they had no milk and went with his very limited French to ask for some.

    The young woman behind the counter gasped in horror, as did the customers waiting behind him who then proceeded to shout and gesture furiously at him before he was thrown out.

    Any ideas on what he said? I'm always very careful when asking for milk now!
  2. I'd stay away from deet, nasty stuff. Just be sensible, don't go through long grass in shorts if it's a deer area and don't have any picnics in the woods or sit on a tree stump ect.

    I've only ever found one tick on me and I'm working outside on the land all the time. They're only really bad in large woodlands where you get loads of deer - that's why hunters get them so much.
  3. It's pretty common, my dad's had it and a friend of our's has had it also.

    It's pretty easy to spot though, and if you catch it early then it's not a big deal. If you've had a tick or been anywhere that tick's hang out (mainly woodland) and you develop a red ring or red circle then see your GP ASAP. The same goes if you find a tick and later develop flu-like symptoms.

    They will do a blood test and put you on antibiotics.

    Our friend decided his red mark was shingles and left it until the very late stages, it could easily have killed him.
  4. When I was looking for a digger leboncoin looked full of scams, 20k machines being advertised for 5k for example. Could just be trying to make people look closer at the add, but I doubt it.
  5. We had an oil fired Rayburn for years in the UK and never had the tank cleaned out as far as I remember. I've spent a bit of time on a farm and never recall them having their diesel tanks cleaned either.

    I'd drain it then have a look inside, I wouldn't worry about it unless for some reason there's loads of sludge in it - or if you don't have a filter fitted. If the tank's really dirty then it might be at the end of it's life.
  6. I couldn't see this mentioned here:

    I believe that the banks (or at least CA) offer an interest free loan (what I presume is a government initiative) on certain types of eco-friendly work on your house and some septic tank installation fall under this category - worth checking out anyway.

    "Eco pret"

    http://www.credit-agricole.fr/particulier/credits/credits-immobilier/eco-pret-a-taux-zero.html
  7. Hi all,

    We are interested in building a toilet/shower block on our land away from the house and it's amenities. I can trench water and electricity to the site but the thing that worries me is whether or not we'd be allowed to install a septic tank.

    I more or less understand the procedure of having a tank fitted for your house (soil tests ect) and I know that if you need one you can't be denied permission but I guess that right probably goes out the window if it isn't for your dwelling. Has anyone got experience in this?

    I'm also interested in whether or not there is anything stopping me installing a tank myself or do I need to use a qualified fitter (I'm aware that the whole lot is inspected and signed off after installation)?

    Any insights into this are welcome! (Especially if anyone has any resources on the correct construction of a filter bed... though I may try and dodge that difficulty and invest in a micro station)
  8. Thanks for your replies,

    I've been down to the gendarmerie and was told I should wait a few days before officially declaring the wallet as stolen in case it turned up and that in the meantime I should declare my CV and driving license as lost or stolen (I had obviously already cancelled my bank card).

    I think I may have mis-translated the document I mentioned - I think it is saying that I should have the CV updated every year, rather than renewed every year.

    I'm 26 and admittedly don't really spare my CV much thought as thankfully I've never needed to use it! I have my attestation/social security number and as far I'm aware as long as I continue paying my contributions via my AE I'm covered.

    The gendarme said that I needed to cancel my CV but suggested that because it was a photocard it wasn't much to worry about.

    In the end I've followed the instructions on ameli.fr and have posted a lost/stolen declaration to Harmonie Mutuelle - nowhere did it say that I needed to contact them by phone and cancel it urgently so I presume that it isn't of much practical use to a thief. Should I be more concerned?

  9. As some may have read in the driving section, I've had my wallet stolen (or at least it's very very lost). It had my Carte Vitale in it and I've downloaded and printed off a form to report the card lost or stolen.

    However, on the papers that came with my carte vitale in 2010 it states that the period of validity is only up until a date in 2011 (a year later) - a 1 year validity period seems excessively short, so am I translating it correctly? and should I bother sending the form in if the card expired 18 months ago anyway?
  10. I've talked to the DVLA and as Emily said it is £5 to have the certificate of entitlement sent through. I asked over the phone what the situation is with licenses and he confirmed more or less that a UK license remains valid but you can't have it renewed if you live abroad permanently.
  11. Well it was an automated system and when I saw 'I no longer live in GB and I have lost my GB licence' I thought "ooh that's handy".... ha

    I have scanned copies of my driving license for my insurance policies, Would the information on those be enough to use at the prefecture without waiting for a certificate of entitlement to come through from the UK, do you think?

    I have no aversion to getting a French license really, and it looks like it's going to be the most straight forward option.

    Does anyone know if the prefecture issues a temporary document which you can use whilst waiting for your license? - Much like they sometimes do with a carte grise.
  12. Thanks for all your help but although it may or may not be okay to keep your existing license whilst it is valid, I've just used this DVLA 'email us' service for people wanting to replace a license whilst not living in GB:

    https://emaildvla.direct.gov.uk/emaildvla/cegemail/dvla/en/driver_2_4.html

    This is the reply I recieved:

    As you presently reside overseas, I regret that we are unable to issue you with a further British licence.

    Changes to British legislation resulting in the implementation of the Second EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) since 1 January 1997, have required that driving licences are granted only to drivers who are resident in this country.

    As you have lost your licence, please make enquiries with the Licence Issuing Authorities in the country in which you now reside regarding advice on driving there.

    Should you require confirmation of your driving licence details please telephone the centre to request a certificate of entitlement.

    Down to the prefecture it is then...
  13. Well I've been down to the Gendarmerie which wasn't very helpful, they did however inform me that I should have had my license changed to a French one, and that because I live in France full time my British license was invalid, so he wasn't able to give me a document to allow me to drive in the meantime.

    If I contact the DVLA is it wise to be honest about living in France for the last 7 years? I hate the idea of lying about anything official like this, but I could try not to mention it.
  14. Thanks for the advice, it's been invaluable. I'm going to the Gendarmerie this morning to report it lost or stolen and find out if I can drive without the photocard, then phone the DVLA and see if I can obtain a certificate of entitlement - Will the prefecture recognise this certificate as an alternative to the photocard?
  15. I've just had the pleasant experience of losing my wallet in town, or had it stolen. I've lived in France for 7 years and have always used my EU license which was registered to my old address.

    Now I realise the smart thing to have done would be to have had the license exchanged for a French one, but I didn't.

    I have family in England, so would it be a bad idea to lie about where I've been living for the last 3 years and order a new UK license which I could then exchange for a French one - could I get in trouble for lying about my address?

    Or would I be able to take just my counterpart along to the prefecture, perhaps with the police statement I plan on making tomorrow referring to the loss/theft of my wallet plus a scanned printout of my plastic part license?

    Any advice appreciated.
  16. If anyone is interested, we went to the mairie and found out who owned the house (took about 2 minutes, very easy if you know the cadastre ref). The owner was a farmer who now lives about 5km away but still owns the house and the fields leading up to it.

    It took us a while to decide how to approach them and after being told by several people a letter would be a horrendous idea, a friend of ours who knew them a little phoned and asked.

    She was asked to ring back in three days time so they could discuss the matter. Three days later she was basically told that they are unwilling to sell the house as they were waiting for it to fall down so they could take the stone away and incorporate the rest of it's land into the field (all 500m² of it).

    I'm starting to believe what our friends say about french farmers may be true...

    Nobody was the slightest bit offended by the way.
  17. That's good to know Chancer, I'm going to view this as a great reason and opportunity to get my french to a much higher standard.

    I've been living here a good few years now, with my english partner, english family and spending time with our english customers! I suppose it's time something cropped up and spurred me into this.
  18. Very helpful post Julia.

    The hygiene course is news to me, however if I'm capable of doing the alcohol course I'm sure I'll be able to do that too. I was wanting to open this next year so I suppose I'd better try and learn as much french as I possibly can between now and then. Perhaps giving me a reason to really knuckle down and learn will be a silver lining.

    Angela, the restaurant will supplement a fishing business, not a B&B. Besides, new B&B type businesses will need to do the course too now if they want to serve drinks.

    Considering how many english run businesses could be affected by the change in regulations it would probably be useful if we could start a thread clarifying everything, as there seems to be differing opinions and very little practical advice on actually taking the course.
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