Lyn

Pip So its nearly time to move in. Good for you. Lyn and I were originally moving to our place in Montjardin in May 2006, but now we have decided to bring it forward to the end of setember this year.Whats the point of continuming to work for workd sake? We are out at easter but are back in the Uk on the 4th of April so will probably miss you. Hopefull will see you in September. Plerase let us know how you get on with the broadband as we are taking our computer with us, like you at the moment I'm, not prepared to pay the extorinate prices they want for it in the UK. Arthur

Hiwould be interested in an on line possibly but our French is not yet up to it, for us currently it would need to be in English, but in a couple of years time................. Lyn and Arthur

Rob I can't speak for the others but we are back in blighty waiting our next fix of France( Languedoc that is). For lucky old me its august for 4 days to do some painting after our carpenter Adam has finished putting in our grandchildrensafe stairs etc. Poor Lyn has to wait until September( ran out of holidays apparently) but then we are both there from the 4th until the 11th walking the High Pyrennes( gulp) with Headwater and then back at the house until the 19th. If you recollect we are hoping to have a go at white watwer rafting with your goodselves( hopefully you will be fully ensconced by then) but I suspect the rivers may be too low. Ah well we will see. Roll on August and september. Arthur

Pip/Rob We bought our house in Montjardin near Chalabre last March, and eventually we plan to retire there as you know. We get over about 4 times a year and at easter saw that there is now an Immobilier in Chalabre and whats more it has a sign in the window saying English spoken, and now also so does our bank Credit Agricole. Both these changes in 12 months and looking at the prices in the Immobiliers window they too are shooting up, looks like we were lucky in what we paid. Arthur and Lyn

Rob you naughty boy. I hope we can see you out in the Languedoc in September seein as we miss you at Easter. arthur and Lyn

Sorry e mail address is incorrect it should read [email protected]. I was having a mature moment. Lyn and Arthur

Dear all and in particular Hegs,Kira and PipRob. Sorry we hasven't been able to keep in touch but we have a virus on our Living france forum site( I am doing this on a computer at work). We will be out at Montjsrdin from the 9th to the 18th of April and hope to see some of you then, You can contact us via [email protected]. We have contacted Living France about the problem( every time we try to post or reply to a message it won't let us) but are awaiting a reply, but I think the problem is ours not theirs. Lyn and Arthur PS I hope the weather is better there now.

Hi We have a house at Montjardin which is about 20 minutes away, we only use it for holidays at present but will retire there in about 2 years. The are a number of people living local piprob who are on this forum are having a house built there. Lyn

Yes it usually is the local paintstripper or perhaps we have just been unlucky. Certainly were we have our holiday home in 11( Aude) in the local town of Chalabre the wine in the plastic bottles is awful. But its worth getting a fillup of your local stuff it might be OK. Arthur and Lyn

Hi We have a holiday home at a tiny village called Montjardin about 30 mins from Limoux, 1 hour from the coast and about an hour abd a half from Spain. We were over at Xmas and it was cold and wet for three days prior( in fact we had snow on one day but it didn't last). Xmas day we spent on the beach at Narbonne and it was lovely and warm as was Boxing Day when we went working. New Years day we went to the coast again at Gruissan and I have never experienced such a biting wind.It cut through everything. That said it was the only day it happened. We bought the house last March ( first week) and it was lovely and sunny. As it was in June when we finalised it all. Two weeks in September were mixed weather wise but never cold( although a fair bit of rain). Hope this helps a little. This Xmas we will( we hope) have a woodburner installed as it was cold in the evenings. Lyn and Arthur

We are over at our house in ontjardin for two weeks holiday in September this year. We recently got a Headwater Holiday Brochure through the post and see that they do an 8 day walking and gourmet food holiday based on the Mitchelin one star Hotel/Resteraunt Castrum near Lavenalet. Has anybody been on this holiday and if so what are your views on it and its value for money? Has anyone eaten at Castrum and if so what is your opinion of it? Thanks in anticipation Lyn and Arthur

Does anyone know of a plumber local to us. Our holiday home(to be our retirement home in 2 years time)is located in Montjardin near Chalabre,Aude. We are hoping to have an additional toilet etc installed this year. Secondly a carpenter for some work inside the house( banisters and stair rails). Third and finally a blacksmith or someone who can make a metal guard rail for our first floor french window. Currently they open and you step out into the ether.WE have nightmares of what might happen if our young grandchildren came out to visit. Many thanks Lyn

Hi We have a house at Montjardin which is about an hour from Carcassonne. Last summer we drove down through France from St Malo( its 300 miles nearer than Calais). We got our route by going on the viamichelin website we found them excellent and the route was very clear. Can't remember how much it cost but we used motorway all the time. On the way back we left Montjardin at about 8am and got back to St Malo about 4.30pm( we stopped only once really for lunch and the odd fuel stop) but that extra 300 miles we couldn't have done to Calais, but it is cheaper to travel to Calais than St Malo, but you obviously have to pay the fuel on those extra 300miles.On the way down we stopped at a hotel on the motorway outside Niort it was really good,food was local and superb.All the information will be found on that website. I hope that helps. Lyn and Arthur

We bought a house in March last year and completed in June. We are I suppose about 30 mins from Limoux. We were out in September for 2 weeks and again at Christmas. In was really cold then and we are hoping someone already living in the Area may know of someone who supplies and installs woodburners. We would be grateful for any help. We are next out at easter for a week and then in september for a fortnight( although my husband can always take time off and fly out to sort out the installation. We are retiring and moving out in about 2 years and attempting to get the house sorted out before then. We would love to meet other people living or with holiday homes in the Area. We both love hill walking and cycling( although don't profess to be super fit or good at either) and birdwatching is a new hobby.We are hoping to learn to ski and going to have a look at Ax le Thermes at Christmas certainly made us want to get onto the slopes asap. We would love to hear from any of you. Lyn and arthur

We have exhausted the list of tilers in our area,all fully booked they have said and we need to find one so that our plumber and electrician can come and finish their work. We are still aiming to open our vegetarian (mainly) ferme auberge at the end of June but we really need the floors done next.If all else fails we will do it ourselves but would really prefer professional help as there are plenty of other things to finish.Any reccomendations?