Tony F Dordogne

[quote user="Hoddy"] I cannot find anyone to do it at any price.[/quote] Hoddy, will give you the number of our tree guy when you come back next year - assuming the tree hasn't fallen over by that time of course, in  which case, know a couple of guys with chain saws who can cut it up for you ;)

Perigord Noir has other rules and regs above the norm.  In our commune, where there is a chateau which is listed, you cannot make changes within 1km without permission and because it's an historically listed village, the rules are very strict and are harshly imposed, not necessarily by the commune. A chum who lives just on the limit recently asked to improve their home.  There's no way the house can be seen from the chateau (it's round several bends, behind a hill and a quarry) and the Batiment de France guy refused permission on the grounds that the owners had ideas above their station - I kid you not, he even put it in writing!! In the Perigord, which is full of chateaux, it's not as easy as it may be elsewhere and that's from personal experience too, you MUST maintain 'the Perigordine style' and any permissions will be with held if the various authorities think you aren't doing that.

The second song on the clip is 'Lean on Me', now that one can be a real weepie!

Music to make you cry ............ Last year I found the original films online of British and Australian POWs being rescued from the Pacific Ocean, September/October 1944, 3 days after the ships they were on had been torpedoed by American submarines, the rescuers being the submariners who had torpedoed them. I've met some of the survivors and the submariners, all of whom were so effected by this that it has informed many of their lives subsequently. Link to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tVPux2y3f0&feature=related The reason it makes me cry ........ One of the men being rescued is my father .............. And every time I hear Carole King sing it now, it really makes me well up.

And they're also at some of the junctions on the Rocade in Bordeaux, offering to wash your windscreen for you - but in droves, must have been 15/20 women doing it last week when we were there.

The Dordogne is protected and motor boats are not usually allowed, except the tourist boats and emergency vehicles.  And in most places round our bit, it's too shallow to use an outboard, hence the canoes and why the old boats that historically used the river were so shallow draft.

John, I've changed my email address so have emailed you through this Forum.

Sorry to cut across this thread other than to say that John has got this right with the exception of the divorce thingy, J and I both have the drive and dream we had when we arrived despite some horrendous things happening since but they have been dealt with. John, have you/Di received my pms of the past few days?  I don't have you email address for some reason (and mine has changed) and need to send Di a message.

We shared the rain and thunderstorms with Hoddy!

Hi Judy PM/email not arrived, I'll give it another hour and then recontact.  

Hi Judy Would be very interested in the gardening and cookery books, also some of the fiction, for myself and the Association I belong to which has a library and runs a help team for gardening etc. No problem in coming to get them either, could do with a day out.

Not sure where you got that from Andrew, sounds very mis/ill informed as there's a lot in  the French and Brit papers in the SW explaining the new routes etc at Bergerac.

There are a couple of Brit electricians working in the south of the Dordogne (Perigord Noir) and they seem to be doing ok.  But as somebody else mentioned, there is a serious downturn in house building and renovation work here and a number of artisans are turning to other things - I know of two plumbers, both Brits, who are labouring because they can't find any other work. To be honest unless you have excellent French and understand the French system well and have qualifications that can be transferred easily, even perhaps have a job lined up with a company (tho unemployment round here is high) I'd think very long and hard about moving to this area. That said and for what it's worth, life in this part of the Dordogne is pretty good but then we're early retired and have a regular income so we don't have the economic pressures that others have. Could I also add that you seem to have done this the wrong way round.  If your house is already on the market and you'd already made the decision to move, you're doing things the wrong way around, many of us did all the research and asked all the questions long before our houses went on the market and from experience of meeting younger people with families who have done what you're doing, with one notable exception, they all ended up with substantial problems from unhappy children to no work, to being wholly unable to get into the employment or health systems and many have ended up working on the black although they hopefully didn't arrive here with those intentions. Sorry if this sounds negative but this place isn't a place to come unless you have evevrything organised and in place first and for many of us we spent up to 2 years researching the move before we sold our house.

Wondering what you can do in the winter and live within 40 kilometers of Le Bugue (24).  ACIP may be the answer for you! We have a very full programme running throughout the autumn, winter and spring.  Membership is open to everybody (€15 membership per person then most activities are free) and the Association is very multi-cultural.  It is based in Le Bugue where many of the meetings are held in a large room donated by the Commune for ACIP use plus plenty of outside events. The group runs a help and advice service which will provide fluent/native French speakers for people struggling with the language and have accompanied people to hospital, notaire offices etc etc, anywhere that help is needed. Activities include French conversation, advanced French, English for non-Anglophones, Wine Appreciation, Film Club (with a new classic film group watching and discussing classic films), Walking group (very popular), re-launched gardening group (which now includes a training/outreach/help project for members), Yoga, Art, Bridge, Rock and Roll and a few new projects are being discussed.  Plus there is also the social side of course, the Xmas lunch, vide-grenier etc etc. The web site is:    http://acip24.com and that has all the contact details.

Just the same as the accident that happened here a few years ago in which I was involved (the aftermath) when four were killed - overloaded (4 adults and 4 children in a Jeep Cherokee) most of the people didn't have seat belts on. The driver in this case will be lucky not to be prosecuted for manslaughter if somebody died for both the overcrwding and the seat belt offences, the driver in the local case faces 13 counts of manslaughter relating to the seatbelt x 4, the overcrowding x 4 and the excess alcohol x 4 plus 1 instance for speeding. I think the insurance company did exactly the right thing in this recent instance.  Interestingly the insurance companies all paid out on the various claims from 2006 but they're suing the nuts off the driver!

I agree with BobT, I use the Rocket brand screws from Weldom, buy in bulk and they're excellent, they also do a non rust type if you want to use them outside.  As for other disposables, I just buy as I go, accumulate points/money on the various fidelity cards and then use them when I have a big purchase.

And of course, if you have UK fittings there have been sories on here over the years, both first-hand and anecdotal, about the problems that vendors face when they try to sell their houses with UK fittings and wiring, though obviously some people may have got away with it. If you ever come to sell your French house, be aware that you may have to spend out again to make everything French legal.

Tessa, you really do need to speak to the Maire and explain that you're coming out to France (?permenantly) in August and that you'll start renovating the property when you arrive.  And that you've spoken to your insurance company about it and they're sending an expert to assess the damage, which they certainly will want to do, they're usually flexible for dates and you may be able to make the appointment for when you're here.  Unless one of the slates hit somebody or something, he's likely - but not assured - of cutting you some slack on the date if he knows you're coming. Doesn't anybody 'keep an eye' on your house for you?  After 10 years of ownership I would imagine that you must know somebody in the village who might be able to update you in an emergency.

Is that the Champion on the roundabout on the way to the airport? Not been that way for some months, turn your back for a few weeks and everything changes!

Chinese hypermarket in Bordeaux also sells it.

36 hours without power, 37 hours without water and telephones. But what fun, lots of community pulling together, done the rounds of the vulnerable, helped a few people with downed trees. Usually have central heating but we also have an unused insert since the first winter we were here - until last night! Have loads of rainwater saved for the garden so used that, boiled for washing and washing up, bottled to drink. Fridges and freezers ok. Phew, wouldn't like to do it all again but at least our emergency kit of wood, torches, batteries and candles all worked out.

In our bit of 24 things are ok, not too bad but so windy, very heavy rain yesterday tho.  Just had a visit from the blood nurse who has told me that many of the chemin rurale are blocked with large branches or trees, travelling off the bigger routes is difficult. We lost a fruit tunnel yesterday - well, I had to take it down anyway - just blown over, so that actually helps, trees in our/the local woods are whipping round quite fiercely and as we're relatively high up, seems to me getting double battering. And we've got to go out this morning!

Hi Martin, just back from UK and picking up messages - if you sent me an email asking for details, I forwarded it on to the Secretary. If you haven't heard anything, send me another and I'll forward it again with a mild remonstration!  

Just bumping this up so that people who've arrived late may get to read it as this is actually trying to be helpful.

Sorry, I just didn't understand that at all.