Loiseau

Exactement, chère menthe ! And if someone wanted to shed light on me and the banana, I would blow them a raspberry! (Reminds me of that wonderful Ronnie Corbett sketch!) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI Angela

Never come across it, mint, but I googled the phrase out of curiosity and came up with "tenir la chandelle à qn" Angela

Look, albf, this is what you WROTE: "I have to admit I prefer the UK system where the GP consultation is free. I think that if you have to be referred in the UK then you pay and then claim the money back through health insurance. I kind of hybrid of the two systems. " Maybe you meant to put a word like "should" in there, (after "...in the UK then you" and before "pay and then claim..."), but you didn't. So maybe YOU need the specs... :-)

Minnie, somebody happens to have just sent me some info about auctions. You might find it interesting reading: http://www.notaires.fr/multimedia/document/VAE2016/Catalogue-Province-Semaine-vente-encheres-2016.pdf It looks as if there might an annual week of property auctions each spring. Not sure if they are held at other times of year. Angela

I have a separate bill for rubbish collection (also giving access to the fancy new déchéterie) each year from my communauté des communes. It was 79 euros last time. It is nothing to do with the taxes fonciere and d'habitation. Angela

Yes, dharma.wheel; as idun mentions above, I was also wondering whether there is any problem for US citizens (which I am guessing you are) moving to France. Worth checking before you are much further down the line with your plans. Angela

I can't be of any help re the tax exit, but I would think it best to keep your French bank account going for at least another year just in case something you have forgotten about needs to go out or in. Angela

I saw that version a few years ago at Richmond Theatre. It was excellent!

Ha ha, ALBF! I hadn't noticed the date on the OP!

Do you actually hear FRENCH people say that, mint? I can' t say I ever have. Angela

Might it be worth asking a local Volvo dealer? https://www.autoebid.com/France_new_car_dealer_directory_search.asp?make='Volvo'&country=FR®ion=*Nord-Pas-De-Calais* Angela

CHEEKY, Norman!!

That would be telling, mint! ? I guess he has got it made, since get has a lave-vaisselle AND a part-time meuf! A few produits ranged beside the basin is a small price to pay, in my view!!! Angela

I did arrive eventually, thanks Cendrillon, but only at about the time you wrote your post! I read about the sink hole only today, so feel I got off comparatively lightly. Mint, I have just listened to the clip - hysterical! I wonder if the banana will tune in... And, if my ears are not mistaken, I think it was all in alexandrines! Très classique! Angela

Ah, so all this explains why, after 40+ years, my French bank has just asked me for a certificate of fiscal residence from HMRC. Angela

Oh mint, I yearn to watch your video, but am stuck on a mystery train from Gatwick that is conveying me I know not where... Wanted a simple journey to Clapham Junction, but big probs going that way, so am on a train to Bedford(!) and hoping to jump ship if it stops at a convenient tube station. You bet I shall be watching it later, if only to see Chancer's table basse! Angela

LOL, mint! Never heard either of those, so I am all agog for when Eric pops along to tell us. At first sight, I thought the first one might have been a bit of advice on looking good while walking - a Gallic equivalent of "n*ppl*s first" (which certainly does encourage good deportment!) Angela

Oooh, better start stocking up with wine each trip from now on, then!

LOL, mint! I hope it would be made of softwood.

Well honestly, Blodwyn, I would go with a mention on Trip advisor. You could say which room you had, so you are jot slagging off all of them in case the others were fine. After all, you have emailed the hotel and had no response. Angela

...however, I do wish that those little homilies that some people like to set up to appear automatically at the end of their posts had either a single line abode them, or appeared in italics or something. It often seems to be a follow-on from the post, and can be a bit mystifying to see how it connects to the body of the post. ? Angela

Thanks for the rapid reply, Norman, and I think you are quite right. It does make me cross that the staff can give you such wrong info on something so important. At the same time, I took in a "certificate of fiscal residence" from HMRC, which the bank had suddenly asked me for, and he didn't have a clue what to do with that until an older colleague popped by to tell him. Angela

Ah, I think I have just answered my own question, and I was right to be sceptical. https://www.lcl.com/guides-pratiques/succession-donation/heritage-succession/succession-blocage-comptes.jsp She needs to be a "co-titulaire" for the account to continue, and even then she has access to only half of what remains in the account - the other half being part of my estate. I presume she would be allowed to top up the account with more money, to which the EDF, water board, France Telecom, tax offices etc would still have access. I feel another visit to the bank coming on tomorrow... Angela

I went into my French bank today to ask about the mechanics of adding my daughter as a co-holder of my French current account, from which various standing orders etc go out for the running costs of my holiday cottage. My thought was that if I should drop dead, the account would not then be immediately shut down, and would continue in my daughter's name, so that the outgoing payments would continue (as long as she regularly topped up the account of course). The young man on the desk assured me that it was very simple, and would only require the two of us to go in with her passport and a UK utility bill to confirm her address. (I fully expected her to have to provide certificates for birth, marriage etc, but he assured me not.) He kept saying this was a "procuration", while I reiterated that it was to ensure the account continuing in her sole name in the event of my death. On reflection afterwards, I have been thinking that "procuration" is like UK power of attorney, in that it gives someone the power to sign for me in my absence or incapacity, but surely I would need to still be ALIVE. Can anybody put me right on this? Merci d'avance Angela PS. I am absolutely aware of the need for the account to be in the names of "Madame Loiseau OU Madame X" rather than "ET".

+1 to both those, idun. I splashed out on "Noirmoutier potatoes" yesterday for my guests, and they were delicious. Though I did have to pick carefully through the bag to find the smaller ones. Angela