Loiseau

There's certainly a musical rhythm to it, but like Idun I can only get the odd few words. My sister-in-law is Québecoise, and when I first heard her speak French I thought she was putting on a funny voice... When I stayed with her lovely family in Montreal, they all said they would have to speak a French "très pointu" for me! They took me to a "sugar shack" in the countryside somewhere, to see maple syrup being made. Listening to the guy demonstrating how he pulled threads of it out over ice, I had the impression of listening to a tape being played backwards...

Well if you know roughly where you want to charge, TP, why not just google "bornes de recharge xxxxxx" (insert departement or town)? Eg I just tried for Dreux and got: https://fr.chargemap.com/cities/dreux-FR I don’t know how you pay for a charge, but maybe you do already?

Whoops! That seems to have shot off the page. Maybe it’s better to go to this, http://www.autoroutes.fr/fr/bornes-recharge.htm And then get to the map from there.

Here's a link to charging points on the motorways http://www.autoroutes.fr/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/Bornes%20Recharges%20Electriques.pdf Hope the link works!

I had a feeling that to use CESU you had to give the service at the client's house - i.e. cleaning, gardening, piano lessons etc. Is it still ok if someone is giving the lessons in an office rather than the home?

Hoddy, I think after 25 years' ownership of a second home, the French tax on the plus-value dwindles to nothing. However, as mentioned above, the UK will be interested in the increased value of the second home, no matter how long you have had it. Though if you have incurred any French tax,I imagine they would set that against your UK liability. I am in a similar position, having sold mine in November, and am trawling my files for any artisans' receipts to present in the hope of reducing my liability.

I should keep them one season in the pots, and see what sort of growth they put on.

Excellent, Pommier. Very moving read in reverse.

I hope he's the dishy one at stroke... ?

slight thread drift coming up... Very advisable to keep the French account going, of course, ANO, though - weirdly - my "bip and go" tolls have always been set up to charge my UK credit card. (I just have to remember to call them whenever the card is renewed, to give them the new digits from the back of it.)

Bon courage, Ian.

Welcome back, Clair!

Well, quelle surprise! I just received letters from both taxe d'hab and taxe fonc saying they are going to reimburse me for the Jan and Feb payments taken in error. 200 euros - enough for me to buy you all a drink perhaps, as long as you're fairly abstemious! I have no idea whether it was my letter of 31 Jan that produced this result, or whether it would have slowly sorted itself out with no prompting from me. I did try and phone them the other day, but of course it was the wrong day or the wrong time.

Théière wrote: Yep, not painting it would be best .... ——————— LOL, tp!

"Passionate”! Arrrrrghhhhh! Everything, from restaurants to shipping lines, estate agents to schools declares it is "passionate" about whatever it delivers.

Would not painting it be best? We had a house built, with crépi on the exterior, and after a few years it developed sort of "weeping" black and brown marks and looked most depressing. I subsequently noticed other houses with the same problem. It was as if the crépi contained tiny "colour bombs" that burst. Once it was repainted, the problem stopped.

Me too, nomoss!

But Richard, they are both praising the EMAIL service - which I must admit I had never considered, as I thought it even less likely that I would receive any attention. Though I will now...

Thanks for the input, folks. I have just found a phone number buried in the small print, so will try that now. Ha ha, Norman! I rather imagined that scenario with one or other of the services after the sales - which is one of the reasons I have kept some money in the bank account. All the others (FrTelecom, EDF, water board) have been brilliant at stopping their direct debits on the dot, but I knew it was too much to hope I would encounter the same efficiency all round!

I sold my house at the beginning of November 2017. So I no longer own a property in France. And I have noticed on my French bank account (lucky I kept that going!) that a total of 100 euros has been taken on the 15th of each month since for the usual taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation. ? Now, I did think it was up to the notaire to advise the tax office about the sale, but clearly I was wrong. So I wrote to my erstwhile local tax office on 31 Jan, enclosing the notaire's confirmation of the sale and asking them for a refund. Predictably, there has been no reply to my letter. But my new bank statement received today shows yet another 68+32 euros going out on 15 Feb. Should it have been up to the notaire to inform the tax office? I presume my buyers must be delighted to have a "tax holiday"!

I am so glad you are better, Chancer. That sounds really nasty. I should miss your entertaining and informative posts if you were to leave - but hey there's always another forum...

Whew. Hurry back, Chancer. The forum is v quiet without you!

Hmm, I don’t see Béziers up in the top 10 for anything, Norman. No surprise there, then!

Terry, do you have a French-speaking British friend, or English-speaking French friend who could possibly go with you to an appointment?

Mostly autoroutes, to be fair, nomoss. And I have noticed that autoroute driving has improved a great deal in the last year or two.