Mrs Trellis

Make a gain?  Well of course we may not, so CGT wouldn't apply, but we bought the house in 2003 and replaced the grotty mismatched bathroom suite, adding a shower, put in a fitted kitchen and had the electrics done so we can hope!   That's if we can ever sell it of course.  It is a small 2 bedroomed village house so..... possibly easier to sell than a big expensive property.

The glass in our Jotul stove cracked one day - I think OH put too much highly flammable wood in.  I contacted the supplier/installer who said they would phone when a new piece of glass was available and we could drop the door off for it to be fixed.  That was 3 years ago.  In January I rang the company for a friend who doesn't speak French and I asked again.  'Oh dear, let me check your phone number, I will definitely contact you this time.' We are about to move the stove to our new house (now it's getting colder) and  I think we'll have to go elsewhere to replace the glass.  I think the stove is more efficient without cracked glass! A friend suggested EBay UK but the postage would be horrific!  Also, the glass is curved at the top and it might be tricky to cut to fit. Is it difficult to replace stove glass and the surrounding cord?    

I'm hoping the CGT doesn't apply to full time residents of France?  The trouble is, it can take so long to sell houses now.  If we rent out the old house meanwhile, I have a nasty feeling we'd be liable for full CGT when/if we sell it.

I checked the official website once I realised I have to apply to UK but as CPAM told me they were processing my EHIC application, it is now too late!  Obviously their staff do not know even though there are so many British in France the issue must arise often. I did try getting insurance and ignoring the health question - so we'd be covered for other things - but the website didn't function properly and it wouldn't proceed to the pay section.  I sent the company a message about 3 weeks ago but had no reply.  Doesn't inspire confidence! There was a warning that anything arising from existing conditions would not be covered but so far I have not been hospitalised or had treatment so would risk it. The GP and hospital have not suggested surgery is an urgent possibility, in fact may not be necessary at all. I told the consultant I am going away the day after the MRI scan and he seemed fine about that.  I just need to convince an insurance company. I just wonder what would happen if one of us did need medical treatment.  With no EHIC and no insurance, presumable there could be huge bills.  Would the French system reimburse us? Or more likely the UK one?  Or nobody because of no EHIC?   Even when people have them, I bet some manage to lose them.

Thanks for the comments. Of course I now realise about the EHIC;  ours are  very out of date, I can't even find mine, and we haven't travelled much.  We moved to France in 2008 before the rules changed. OH has been covered by my Carte Vitale for 5 years and we have had no problems.  Until recently, he used it far more than I did as he had skin cancer.  We went to CPAM (there should be a rep in the village 3 times a month but they haven't turned up for weeks) to 1.  Apply for my husband's own carte vitale now he is 65 - taking all the certificates, S1 etc. and photographs.  The woman didn't want the photos, though my card has my photo on.  2. Request the EHICs, see above! I asked the local AXA office about travel insurance and was met with puzzlement, maybe we could get insurance to cover money already paid if we had to cancel.  Not for delay, loss of baggage or personal items or illness/accident. Looking at an online comparison of UK travel insurers, they are only for UK residents. The company someone kindly recommended on this forum is the one I tried but was concerned by the health questions. One has to contact a separate organisation to explain the issues and they decide. (Haven't done that, suspect they will want info from doctors and there isn't time now.) I don't like the idea of travelling uninsured but would be horribly disappointed to cancel now, especially as we have already paid out quite a bit of money and this is a special holiday (40th anniversary, a bit late)    

A month ago went to CPAM to ask for a Carte Vitale for OH who is now 65, and also requested the European Health cards.  The woman seemed helpful, wrote it all down and highlighted the holiday departure date.  I phoned the other day and was told there is no record of the health card request and to go online and order a provisional EHIC or come to the CPAM office. The Amelie.fr website refused the request but with no explanation. I then went onto this forum and found I get EHICs from UK now.  If they'd told me a month ago I could have got them.  A friend had the same experience.  Why don't the CPAM staff know? I also tried to get holiday insurance online but have a problem  because of the health question.   I'm having investigations, MRI etc.  No reason to expect anything nasty to happen in the 11 days in Greece - I have gallstones (which apparently many people have without knowing and are only a problem if they get stuck somewhere) and an almost certainly benign tumour which may not need any treatment.  Now I'm really worried in case I get ill in Greece and have no insurance of any kind.  I have a Carte Vitale which currently covers both of us.  I wonder if OH will ever get his! edited for html - Mod Clair

Ha ha!  My feisty French friend came with me to the bank but we just got the brush off.  'I'm not going to diss  my colleague' - a dopey young fellow long since moved on.   I wrote to CA head office pointing out we had been charged for a card we did not want, did not need, had not asked for and which had not been mentioned when we opened the account.  After a month I received a letter telling me they had received mine, a few weeks later another ignoring all my points and with no apology.

As I am going on holiday to Greece, I walked along to CA to ask what were the limits on cash withdrawal.  Without discussion, they upped my limit to 3000 a day (450 per withdrawal) and 6500 for payments.  Way more than I need (barring disaster) or will have in the bank. It was then pointed out that if I lose my card, I could lose a lot of money as I don't have card protection insurance. I said that was because they charged us for card protection for 5 years when we had no card.  (I'd thought it was a charge for having a foreigner's account but they'd just slipped it into the tiny print without mentioning it.) If the card was lost, would we be liable for all fraudulent transactions?  

Thanks Dave, that made me laugh. Oh dear, my sunglasses are not designer ones, just Specsavers... I'm reminded of when we were hitchhiking many years ago and ended up in Sicily with some Americans.  They explained that every junction was a game of chicken - people drove out without looking and mostly they survived intact.  As for pedestrian crossings - something to aim at.  

Thanks! Venice is always worth it, but not this time.  I seem to remember Italian drivers beeping, flashing and zooming past.  We are going north of Cahors (to drop dogs off at kennels) and across from Brive via Clermont Ferand, Lyon, Turin.  10 hours at least. Can you not use cash in toll booths?

(I know this is the 'Driving in France' topic!) We are driving to Bergamo (Milan according to Ruinair).  Are there any regulations/problems we should be aware of when driving in Italy?  

Our cattery owner says she doesn't think Frontline is effective any more. I was puzzled by you saying about tablets 'they only kill the fleas present when the treatment is applied.'  But I think you were referring to Capstar.  The tablets I meant were recommended by the vet and not sold over the counter.  They are supposed to work for about a month.    

I went to the bank today and eventually was told there should be no problem, I must have entered the info wrong.  But if that was the case, surely it wouldn't have got as far as giving me the code via the phone? After hanging around and speaking to 3 people I completely forgot to ask about withdrawing cash abroad!  The bank is only along the road so no problem.  Just that I need to transfer money from UK bank before the holiday as I don't have much in CA, Friends who run a business here were told they can only withdraw £500 a month!

Arghh!   The last time I tried to buy something online with my Credit Agricole bank card it was a nightmare.  It finally emerged that the bank had made an error in noting our email address. Today I tried to pay a subscription, all seemed well and the phone rang to give me a code to put in.  I wrote it down carefully and entered it into the online form.  'Your bank has refused this transaction'.  I know the funds are there as the pension has just been paid in.  Why does nothing work with French banks and/or Internet? The system also means that you can only make online purchases when at home (or possibly have a mobile to hand) so they can phone with the code. It makes me wonder if it is safe to assume we will be able to withdraw cash in Greece - and will there be a limit per week?  I know UK bank cards have a daily limit but had no problem withdrawing cash two days running.  French banks tend to put a limit however much there is in the account!  

Our dog needs a tablet every day for his heart murmur.  I have been wrapping it in ham or cheese but recently just offered it to him and he happily ate it.  That makes things simpler. I decided to try tablets instead of liquid flea prevention.  No problem with the dogs.  The vet's receptionist said they must be given with food.  I find if I crush tablets in their food, cats just eat round them.  They must be tasty.  My husband suggested trying to give them the tablets and 3 cats just ate them.  I gave them something to eat afterwards as I was told they would vomit if given tablets without food. The fourth cat, a rescued Siamese, was fussier and refused so I pushed the tablet in and gave him some ham afterwards. Has anyone tried the flea tablets and do you think they work as well as/better than the liquid you spot on?

I thought of Banc Postale, they have more sensible cheque books too, but I see the queues in the post office.  I've been kept waiting even when there's no-one in front of me and if there are 3 or more, take a book

I was wondering if CA charge for making a cash withdrawal outside France?  As Nationwide now charge - I believe £1 + 2% I'm looking for the cheapest way to get cash in Greece.

Not thought about getting insurance before booking!  But if we hadn't been able to get a flight, we wouldn't have needed the insurance.

Oh dear!  We've just sorted car hire via Ryanair for a holiday in Greece (Kephalonia).  Now I'm worried that they are going to sting us for an extra charge.   While on the subject, we don't have travel insurance and live in France;  can anyone recommend a reasonable policy to cover cancellation, repatriation etc?    I will try again to get EHICs.

Thanks for that very kind offer.  My son is going to post birthday presents as unable to visit, so will make up a parcel to the max weight.  I ordered 2 duvet covers from Ikea to be delivered to him.  One I saw in Ikea Toulouse last year but didn't buy because of the square pillow cases.  The 2nd is not my favourite design but OK and they come with 4 pillow cases instead of the usual two!

Hi all, Thanks for helpful comments.  I got a quick reply from M & S and the next day found my way to the French site in English. The 2 duvets sets I particularly liked are not available and one is now not available in UK in the size I need.  I saw one I liked in Ikea ages ago but the pillow cases were square. No-one is planning to visit by car.  The shopping service replied when prompted and quoted 15-20 but omitted to say whether that was £ euro or %. When I have the time and energy I will check out the French supermarkets - or maybe order something from M & S France even if it isn't my first choice!  

I would like to buy a couple of new duvet covers with pillow cases - but oblong ones as OH doesn't like the big square pillows in France.  So I thought I'd try buying online from UK. So:  Tesco - don't deliver abroad except clothes. Laura Ashley - I found nice duvet covers but no matching pillowcases.  They sell them 'singularly' which presumably means singly or separately. Debenhams and John Lewis - rather expensive. M & S had some I liked but referred me to their French site which had 5 and none I liked. A friend suggested La Redoute but the choice wasn't great - too flouncy or cartoony. Littlewoods Europe?  I Googled it but just got referred to the UK site - which says try Littlewoods Europe.  A certain UK shopping service will deliver to Cahors - about 25 miles away, so not bad - but did not reply to my email enquiry re delivery to their depot (food shopping can only be delivered in a 2 hour slot on a specific day which wouldn't work for bedlinen) and when the next delivery would be to Cahors. Argghh!  Please don't suggest I make them.  I am not great at sewing, material is expensive (if I can find some I like) and I'm not feeling too well at the moment.  I just felt like buying something new as we've had one of our duvet covers 10 years and it's a bit cat attacked. 

I have managed to get the phone transferred to the new house and have opted to try the Stop system where calls are filtered.  I had one today, a voice asked me if I wanted to accept the call but I couldn't hear the name of the caller.  So I said 'yes' as a friend often calls at that time.  I heard a bit of distant muttering and the line was open but no-one spoke. I realise I don't know how to add friends' numbers to the VIP list.  Somewhere it says Orange filters only numbers that are withheld.  I looked on the website but could not find anywhere that tells me how to add numbers to VIP list and couldn't find a way to contact Orange to ask.

Something to think about, thanks for comments. We dismissed 'Duntiling'  'fin de Bricolage' les quatre chats (bound to lose or gain one), chat chateau, We have walnuts trees but somehow The Nuts doesn't work. As we are dwarfed by  the pilgrim gite above, maybe 'Pas le Gite'.  That is signposted but we still had someone yesterday looking for the owner, not seeming to realise they run the gite. Don't want to upset the owner though, especially as he gave us a bottle of champagne for the 'nuisance' of their building work.

Not sure if this is the best topic to post on, but can't see a more relevant one. Our new house has no name.  The Mairie gave numbers to all houses in the village 2 years ago.  The house opposite has a number.  When I asked: 'You're not in the village'.  But we are according to the plans, or someone couldn't have built a house there - the surrounding land is classed as agricultural.  'You'll can think of a nice name instead'. I don't want something corny like 'belle vue' or something accidentally funny/rude in French.  (A friend's house, already named when they bought it, is unfortunately very similar to something a bit rude - so they pronounce it very carefully and there are sniggers.) Is there any sort of convention for naming houses?  It didn't bother me in our little street of 7 properties but the new one is at the end of a chemin and recently the man from Lapeyre was right outside and still confused.  So a name would help. It's a 2 bed bungalow so nothing grand would suit, there is a wonderful view.