Alan Zoff

Shove a gold-topped head down it?

And I quite enjoyed a couple of Mayle's books as light reads.

I'm beginning to wonder if ALBF is my former neighbour from Shropshire with whom I lost contact many years ago. A good drinking pal but, as a journalist, he couldn't resist playing a mischievous devil's advocate at every opportunity, just to get an argumentative debate started. Depending on the way the conversation in the pub was was going, he would always put the opposite view, deliberately causing great irritation. It was a case of lighting the touch paper and waiting for the reaction. He moved on to a Liverpool daily, using similar tactics with his editorials. Must be retired now - perhaps somewhere in France....

Do you provide Euromillions numbers, ALBF? Preferably before the draw,

The northern Allier is not the most picturesque part of France, is miles away from beaches, ski resorts and international airports and certainly doesn't enjoy the best winter climate. So I meet very few other Brits. But as a place to live and mix with the locals, it is just so easy. I find it difficult to identify with a lot of the negative experiences mentioned by contributors - and the UK media - in relation to other parts of France. But then again, perhaps being deaf has something to do with it....

I have dismantled both a Bosch and a Parkside angle grinder and the innards were identical. I doubt someone called Parkside makes them for Bosch....

No different in UK. With the possible exception of University Challenge, contestants on TV quizzes know all the answers to questions about celebrities but none on history or global affairs. As someone commented when Robbie Williams was holding a concert by the Thames some years back, one word from him and the crowd would have stormed Parliament.

Most people below 40 have never seen a blue passport to be nostalgic about, a lot of the older generation pleased to see its return will never travel overseas again anyway, and every UK traveller, regardless of age, will now be faced with increased hassle when going abroad, assuming post-Brexit they will still have the means to do so. Yes, it's a real triumph.

Thanks for posting that link Lindal1000. I found it really helpful

Thanks both for the comments. Some great tips there. Short term thinking seems to be the norm in UK. Just look at the plaster patches applied to roads always under repair. My Dad used to say "Do it once, properly" - good advice that, to my cost, I have not always followed.

A comment by Thiere on another thread has prompted me to post this. Our 1920s detached house in central France is seriously lacking in insulation - and very cold in winter. Honeycomb brick rendered walls. Unfelted tiled roof with "A" frame in attic space. Insulation materials seem a lot more expensive in France than in UK but are bulky to transport. Perhaps I have been looking in the wrong places. Any suggestions will be appreciated on what to look for and where.

Nice to read a frank but not bitter appraisal from someone leaving. I am sure many readers will identify with the points you have highlighted. Good luck with your next adventure.

I was thinking of changing to ING from C-A to get free banking but perhaps I am misreading the blurb: https://www.ingdirect.fr/compte-courant/

A ferry from Calais to Wiltshire? That will save a few driving miles.

Frequent traveller deal through tunnel is great for me. I make 6 single crossings a year; my mate makes 4. So we make maximum use of the 10 tickets. Mostly works like clockwork and half hour crossing time taking you straight onto the motorway network does it for me. Moreover, unlike with the ferries, my 2.8 ton van is charged at same rate as my car. Also great that I can change the travel date and vehicle details as many times as I want without charge right up to the day before I want to travel, so it's very flexible. So it's like Speedferries was but even better, as far as I am concerned. Helps of course if you either make 10 crossings in a year yourself or have a reliable person to name as your nominated joint user.

Nor is Cheltenham but it's crawling with seagulls. And other birds. Tits like melons

Sad when they dress them in silly tight clothes. But that's just corsets for horses, I suppose

I have just tried it, Norman. Seems to work well with quite natural translations of some tricky phrases.

OK. Thanks all. New ground for me and just doing some preliminary research while dealing with other stuff in UK. Back to France shortly and I will try to track down the rather elusive but very helpful French chap who helped me out with a heating problem a while back. Not sure of the extent of his services but he might be the one to do the installation.

Is it feasible to install a chimney in the centre of a house? Hundred-year-old two-storey house, brick and tile construction with oak flooring. I want to put in a wood burner but the only chimney is miles away from where I want to position the stove: it's on an outside wall next to the kitchen, whereas I want to put the wood burner near the centre of the ground floor to provide general heat for the whole house - i.e. it's not a visual feature, just somewhere I can burn the plentiful supply of free wood available to me.The rooms have individual electric heaters already. I spoke to a stove "specialist" in the UK who said it wasn't a practical proposition, even though there is an unobstructed route for the chimney and flue up through the the two ceilings to the loft area. He suggested instead rearranging the ground floor rooms and installing a more traditional fire as near as possible to the kitchen so that the flue could be sloped into the existing chimney. Our dining room would then become our sitting room. I can see the economic sense in that but it does not offer what we want to achieve, particularly as all the heat would be generated in one room on one side of the house. Anyone got any experience/thoughts?

It can work both ways. A - French - friend moved from here to Bordeaux as he was approaching 70 and thought he and his wife would need somewhere warmer in winter and with more facilities. After 18 months he felt he had made a big mistake and hankered after his former village life. He even missed the cows! As someone has said, it's horses for courses.

To avoid the Americans? :)

This is for the most part a lovely part of France in which to live. The people are friendly, courteous and welcoming and home feels very safe. But when an Auvergnat gets behind the wheel of a car, he or she takes on a completely different persona which makes me a little anxious for family and friends when they drive here to visit. As for the bikers, well, they are downright suicidal.

Going by the number of fatal accidents reported in La Montagne each day, I suspect many would-be thieves have killed themselves on the roads before they can commit crimes in this part of the Auvergne.

Thanks for that information. Very useful. I was going to have a word with the local notaire anyway but it helps to be prepared with some knowledge from an independent source.