DaveLister

How do you upload a birth certificate?….if you can find it ? Lol You're not uploading it, you're sending a photocopy in the post with the form. I'm assuming you have a passport which, as I said, is acceptable. Go on ALBF, you know you want to 😁

OK Mr French. One David Lister has just gone through the motions of applying for a lost National Insurance number via this website. https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/fill-online/get-your-national-insurance-number-by-post I put in a French address and telephone number, my date of birth, and the fact that I was married. Apart from that the only information they wanted was a copy of a birth certificate, passport, or driving license. You fill out the form and post it to the address given along with the identity document. It might take some time but there's no reason it shouldn't work.

Never say never ALBF there's always a way. If you worked, you must have paid taxes. Someone will have your National Insurance no. somewhere.

As it did when I applied, only for me to receive a letter of rejection due to the 15 yr. rule. I'll take another look after the 16th to see if the process looks different.

Thanks Judith for the feedback. I certainly won't be making an expedition anytime soon. Sounds like a typically French operation.😀

I could say the same about most towns in the UK (in addition to the ubiquitous Thai).

I have neither. Are you saying you never worked in the UK?

If you look at the eligibility to vote you still need to have been a UK resident in the last 15 years.

Unfair Norman. The question was broad enough to generate a discussion which drifted, as these things do, to the merits of alcohol free drinks. So, to quote ALBF " I give it four stars ".

I don't have an iPhone myself but you could try this. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/disable-alerts-iphone-53566.html

good news. 🙌

Sorry can't think of one.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose 👿

I have a very good friend who married a chateau owner. He had inherited the pile from an Uncle and worked himself into an early grave trying to make it pay. After his death I watched his wife age before my eyes as she tried to hold the estate together long enough for their son to reach maturity. It was sold shortly afterwards. I have two memories of that chateau. One was on their wedding day with the great hall decked out in all it's finery. The second was a winter visit where the entire family was huddled in one room around a gas heater. I wouldn't wish that life on my worse enemy.

Frankly I believe we are in the end times. I fully expect to be a victim of either war or civil unrest before I die. However having realised a few years ago that there was fu1k all I could do about it I'm now enjoying every day as if it was my last. Funnily enough, it's quite liberating.

I wonder how much the estate agents quoted paid for this puff piece. If I was going to be spending half my time in a foreign country the last thing I would want to live in is a "chateau". Not unless I could afford the staff. Still, bring it on I say. Might bring us a few new forum members.😉

Judith, I'd be really interested in your opinion after your visit. I've only been able to find it once locally and a trip to Béziers would entail an overnight stop. Like you, I'd really like to cut down the ubiquitous use of alcohol with every meal but the normal supermarket offerings just don't do it for me.

Judith, have you tried the Le Petit Béret range of alcohol free wines? They are the first ones I've found that actually taste like the real thing.

I agree with the notion that French home cooking tends to be less adventurous than other European countries. I only ever eat out when traveling and, in general, prefer French food to it's British equivalent. The British seem to want to jazz up everything whereas the French are confident to let the ingredients speak for themselves. Having said all that I've eaten three 'posh' home cooked meals over Christmas and the one cooked by a Belgian couple wiped the floor with both the French one and my own offering.

avec plaisir madame menthe 🤝

The 5 days is the minimum that insurance companies are allowed to stipulate in their policies ( for theft it's two days ). Some have longer. Regarding refusing a late claim, the insurance company has to be able to prove that the insured has 'caused them harm' by the delay i.e. deliberately leaving the claim long enough to prevent an assessor from making an accurate report. Most websites on the subject I've read say that under normal circumstances the 5 days begins as soon as the insured becomes aware there is a problem. This one appears to be the most definitive. https://www.village-justice.com/articles/declaration-tardive-sinistre-comment-vous-opposer-votre-assureur,43074.html I think, being the other side of the Channel at the time, Mr Banana won't have any problems. If he does, it's time to consider changing insurers.

perhaps this will help https://blog.elyotherm.fr/2013/05/vase-expansion-sanitaire-ballon-ecs.html

I think I remember reading somewhere that they were currently conducting trials to figure out how it would work. So watch this space.

My instinct would be to stay where you are. You've no idea what the roads are like on either side of the Channel. Meteo France still has a red warning for the PdC and one poor soul has lost his life in the UK. Things can be replaced.

So, the UK is probably going to have a general election this year. Apparently the rules will be in place to allow those of us who have lived outside the country for more than 15 years to vote. So, will you?