soupagirl

"Good". As in a reply to the question "How are you?" - "I'm good." I know it's a standard expression in the USA, but that doesn't mean I've got to accept it!

Thank you for all the replies. This day 2 test.....I understand you have to order it before you leave for the UK and it will be delivered to an address specified by you. Now I can see the reasoning behind this if you are travelling to UK to your property there or staying with relatives. But we would (probably) be staying in a Travelodge somewhere and I would be anxious about the delivery not reaching us. Has anyone out there had their tests successfully delivered to a cheapie hotel?

We heard the first ones going over in the early hours of Sunday. I love seeing them go, and come back again, it gives me a sense of the changing seasons that you don't really get when you live in a city. And reminds me that even times of pandemic, the cycle of nature goes on.

Thank you for the information! Still haven't made up our minds, will decide at the end of October all being well.

Please is there anyone out there who can tell me exactly what the current rules for travel are, as both UK and French govt sites have me confused. We are resident in France. Our daughter is getting married in Cumbria in early December, and we would love to go, but if we've got to order and pay for day 2 and day 8 tests over there, plus tests when we come back to France, we will schedule a visit instead for whenever travel is easier and safer. We are both fully vaccinated. Thanks in advance for any definite information.

Well that was unexpected. Tried to do my normal morning peruse of the forum (couldn't yesterday as we were entertaining) and it looks all different, I had to reset my password as after trying my usual password three times I got locked out for security reasons, and when I did manage to get on, it's so confusing as absolutely nothing is familiar and there's no 'Active Topics' which is my normal go-to part of the forum. I hope things improve soon!

Thanks very much AB that's what we thought but just thought I'd ask. Now reassured!

Couldn't think where else to post this. Yesterday we saw the only other British person we know here, haven't seen him for a couple of years. He asked if we'd exchanged our passports for blue ones; he'd just applied for and received his after reading somewhere on facebook that burgundy passports had to be exchanged for blue ones before some time in 2022 after which they would no longer be valid even if, like ours, they don't expire till 2026. We'd not heard anything about this and when we got home looked for more information online. On the government's passport application site it says: 'If your passport is burgundy or has ‘European Union’ on the cover, you can continue to use it until it expires'. So it appears that, unless the government site is telling porkies, our friend has needlessly spent time and money on an unnecessary exchange, all because of seeing something on facebook. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!

Sorted! Turns out there's a specific link to download the passports via FranceConnect, not straight through your ameli account: https://attestation-vaccin.ameli.fr/

Just looked at my espace on the Ameli website but can find no mention of where to access my covid passport. Any ideas?

Whoopie doo! Our new cards arrived with the postman this morning. Our visit to the prefecture was January 7th so we had almost 3 months to wait.

Thank you for your replies, didn't see them till this morning as yesterday we went out for a picnic! I am going to order a new Kindle from amazon.fr today. Cheers!

Hi. I'm certain I've seen seen something about this a while ago on the forum but can't find it so apologies if I am going down a well-worn path. My Kindle needs replacing. The current one was a gift from friends when I retired, bought in UK just before we moved to France. I see on Amazon uk that Kindles cannot be delivered here. If I order one from French Amazon will I be able to transfer my current hundreds of books from the old one, will I be able to register it with my Amazon uk account, and will I still be able to buy Kindle books on Amazon uk, BookBub etc? Thanks for your help

We had our visit at the prefecture in Mont de Marsan on January 7th. Almost an in-and-out job, handed over new photos, and our current TdS. Were told the new ones would be posted to us 'in a few months'. Obviously haven't got them yet and it's nearly April but not overly worried, it seems like every prefecture has its own schedule. Good luck!

Many thanks to you too EuroTr@sh. I've always found members on this forum knowledgeable and helpful on all sorts of subjects.

I hope someone will be able to help me. Recently my 95 year old uncle died of a covid-related stroke.His estate is to be divided equally between six. My share will be paid into my UK bank account. We are not talking life changing sums here, possibly a few thousand. My question is: this money, being in a UK account, will be liable to UK taxation, and so will I also need to declare the amount on my next year's French declaration, or just the interest paid, as I do currently on UK savings? And if the full amount has to be declared, in which section of the tax form will it go ? I've never had the need to look for an 'Inheritance' section before. Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to answer.

We had our appointments at the Prefecture yesterday. 14.20h and 14.30h respectively, we got there at 14.15h, were both dealt with together and were out by 14.20h! Had to show passports, hand over our current CdS and new photos. Were told there was no need to have fingerprints done as we'd had them taken in 2018 when we first applied. New cards will be sent out by post. What was interesting was that the nice young lady dealing with us had, before her on her desk, the huge dossiers that we had compiled for our applications in 2018. There must be an cavernous filing room somewhere in the building to keep all the dossiers they must receive!

Those programmes are hilarious. I, like you Idun, always marvel at the way any Tom, Dick or Harry can open a restaurant at the drop of a hat, with no catering experience, qualifications, and no signs of having to get official permission, or hygiene/ heath and safety certificates. And no matter which country they are in, however remote the area, their customers always seem to be 100 % Brits. Great entertainment though!

Thank you so much Idun for starting this thread. As well as being a great trip down memory lane, it's been lovely to be able to contribute to a thread without having to worry about being shot down in flames, sometimes the endless bickering between the 'in crowd' is a great deterrent to posters just wanting a quiet life. Really hope you're feeling better now.

Yes, you got 'corned beef legs' by sitting too close to the fire. But a consequence of this was always chilblains on the backs of your heels from the draught coming in under the door, which were treated by a noxious smelling dark green(?) ointment called Zambuk, I think, it came in a small round tin. Do chilblains still exist in this world of central heating and double glazing, or have they been eradicated like smallpox?

Hope everyone is getting over their poorliness. This thread has really taken me back to childhood. Yes, the frozen windows - I remember warming a penny up between my hands and putting it on the window to make a peephole. A long time since I've heard liberty bodices mentioned too. And to stave off poorliness, a large spoonful of malt and codliver oil every morning ("toffee on a spoon" my mam would call it in an attempt to make it sound more palatable). And of course every time I went to my nana's out would come the syrup of figs, she was obsessed with the whole family's bowel activity. No Friars Balsam, but Vic's Vapour Rub in abundance. At school when I was in Reception Class (it was called 'the babies class' then) there was a big open coal fire with a metal fireguard round it (whatever would Health and Safety think?) and we all used to put our gloves/ mittens on the fireguard to dry out and warm up before we went home. Of course, as someone mentioned earlier, a day off school was unthinkable, acceptable only in the event of bubonic plague.

Oh definitely remember 'being poorly'. You knew you were really poorly when a fire was lit in your bedroom (all that coal being lugged upstairs). More likely to be kept warm by mam's moth-eaten fur coat over the blankets. Lemon, butter and sugar for sore throats. And can you remember 'sneeze and come to'? And of course 'feel the benefit'.

Bear in mind that different prefectures have different ways of going about things, and depending upon where you are it may not be a question of requesting an appointment and turning up at the allotted time, if you go onto your prefecture's website there'll be a section that explains this. For example,at Mont de Marsan the office is open 8.45-11.45am Monday-Thursday, and for first applications for CdS there are no appointments, so to be sure of being dealt with you have to get there as early as you can. We were there at 7.45am and were second and third in the queue outside, they only admit as many as they can deal with in a morning, about 20 I think, and so anyone that arrives after that will be turned away. Reckon about an hour for your dossier to be closely examined and your fingerprints taken, it's not really an 'interview'. We were able to go into the office together which saved us, and them, time. Four weeks later we got a letter saying the cards were ready, and this time we could make an appointment online to go and collect them, Friday morning is appointments only. Job done.

But "right" as in "correct"? How on earth is that a response to "How are you?". I apologise for not being familiar with antipodean-speak.

When asked "How are you?" the new accepted reply seems to be "I'm good", which really annoys me.