robinwolf

Thanks for the clarification. Robin

Every month I put cash into CA to pay my mortgage. I have been doing this for the last three years without a problem. Today I get a letter stating that to comply with French Banking Regulations I have to advise in writing: The precise origin of the funds The destination of the funds Copies of supporting documentation, such as contracts of sale, invoices etc.   Has anyone else had this snoopy letter, I am sure this would not be allowed in the UK as it would breach privacy law.  [8o|][&]

Phoned P&O yesterday to book some sailings. They confirmed that they will pull out of Portsmouth Le Havre @ end of September. I had to book Dover Calais for my October break, a route it seems I shall have to use more often, given the high prices Brittany Ferries quote. Robin Wolf  

Portsmouth - Le Havre; Have a look at http://savetheferries.free.fr Your chance to support the French P&O workers in Le Havre. Robin Wolf  

P&O is offering 24 hrs in France for £49 return & 72 hrs in France for £70 return. Book by 29 June travel by 30 June. ALSO offering for £150 return limitless time in France. Book by 11 April travel by 31 December 2005. Does this mean P&O are keeping Ports - LH open past September, it seems so! Robin Wolf

Hi Alan, Sounds like you had the perfect break. Interested in your comments about the boat. I have had offers sent to me today from P&O based on book by April travel by end December for £75 each way(no time limit). I thought P&O were out of P/mouth - LH during September, perhaps not. They also offer £49 for a 24hr return & £70 for 72 hrs return. Enjoy your Easter visit Regards Robin

We are going to 27 on Thursday. Amazing to think that 2 weeks ago we were under 3ins of snow! 20c + today in 27 so the grass will now be growing. Robin

I've heard of birds in a chimney, how do you get a Badger? Robin Wolf

Hi to All, Enjoyed a great but cold visit to 27 last weekend. Actually found the Hippo Service shop in Cormeilles, it has to be the smallest shop around, so I was not surprised that I had never seen it before. I am hearing reports that the weather has got colder. My neighbour tells me -8C in Cormeilles yesterday morning. I also understand there is 10 ins snow near Lisieux. These temps always concern me because of the damage to the house that this extreme cold can do. There is a new resturant in Cormeilles. Les Gourmandises in the main street. Must admit to looking but being put off by the price, which is on the higher side. We took a meal at Les Mont Mirel in Rue Pont Audemer. The meals were on the good side of OK, but I would not travel too far for the experience. Best meal of the weekend was on the Pride of Portsmouth last Sunday afternoon. Boat was well full (end of half term) so rather than face the cafe, we ate in Langans. Do not do this very often (1st time for 3 years, which was then pre Langans) but turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. Looking forward to returning to 27 next weekend on our P&O Booze cruise. Hope it will be warmer by then Cheers Robin Wolf

Good reply Dick, Must admit I have never noticed the place before, not being very interested in horses. I will take a look later this week when we visit. Pages Jaunes seems a useful source of information for this type of request. Cheers Robin Wolf 

As I said we live in Cormeilles, need a clue ref "Hipo Service Place"?? where is it?? Then may be able to comment Robin Wolf

Hi, We are in Cormeilles which is about 8 kms from Moyaux. Have a look at the Informative Forum (5 star) thread and you will see there are quite a few people in this area. Cheers Robin Wolf

I am on Tempo & find it fine for our maison secondaire. I thought option heures creuses was the best option for full time residents in France. The advantage of Tempo is being away during the expensive period and taking advantage of the lower rates between April & October. My main complaint is EDF still send me a bill based on full time use, so every two months we have to get them to adjust it to reflect the short times we are at the house. Robin Wolf

Hi Sue, Sorry, no idea on the glass blocks. Not sure that I have ever seen "big strong boys" on our TV. I can imagine what you are looking for, but I have not seen it. Lets hope someone else has an idea. Robin (27)

Hi to all 27's & east 14's, To Bosgouet -- looks like none of us are full time in France with school aged kids! Sue, what do you mean by glass blocks & fittings?? for what?? If you can clarify, we may be able to help. 10 days to the next visit, looking forward to it. Anyone got any interesting news? Cheers Robin Wolf

Info for the last leg of your trip. It is 15 mins from the Pont de Normandie toll gates to the P&O check in. This is a fine tuned run which I do on a regular basis. It is fine tuned to make sure we arrive @ the ship 35 mins before sailing. This gives you a good chance of parking on deck 3 which saves you 10 / 15 minutes getting off the boat in Portsmouth. Robin Wolf

Hi to All 27's, Alan, I booked the P&O offer via phone, I must admit I did not use the internet. Missing la belle France under this gloomy Jan weather in the UK. Looking forward to returning for a few days in mid Feb. Keep the string going Cheers  Robin Wolf    

Hi to all, amp - paul, have a look at the owning french property section. There is a good string there on the fosse. Alan, our booze cruise was P&O Portsmouth to Le Havre. This was the Daily Mail offer which I placed on the travel section a few weeks ago. The £9.98 offer was for 24 hrs in France with bookings to be made by 10 January. They will now charge you £20 (web) or £25 for this booking for travel up to 25 March. P&O is also offering a good deal for 48 hrs in France. This costs £48 and is available for booking until 24 March. We have already booked for the first weekend of March. We get the Friday afternoon boat out of P/mouth and return on the Sunday afternoon boat from L.H. This maximises the weekend to the full. It helps as I do not work Friday afternoon so we can get off straight to the Ferry port @ lunch time.  Looking forward to it. Robin Wolf

Hi to 27's + 14's, Just back from our 24hr "booze cruise" to cormeilles for £9.98! Not a lot of time but well worth it, if only to get some heat into the house. Relaxed on Sat with a glass of wine, in front of the log fire watching the NRJ Music Awards on TF1..... just perfect. Woke on Sunday to 2cm of snow, this spoilt the outside work planned in the garden, so we went for a walk before lunch and the ferry. It seems there is a lot of interest in 27 issues, so we should keep the thread going. The Relais de Poste seems well worth a visit, I will certainly book an evening there later in the year. Causette, your holiday home must be close to a road that will be well known to a number of us. The D22 which takes us up from the Pont de Normandie up to Beuzeville. It is usually a happy ride up and a sad ride down (en retour). Looking forward to the next visit in mid February. Robin Wolf

Talking to a guy @ work today. He is not a home owner, just going on his 2 weeks hols in July. "Where are you going"? "Brittany.... camp site near Roscoff". As we are near Bristol I state the obvious " taking Brittany Ferries from Plymouth"? Answer "You must be joking! The prices they quote, it is cheaper for me to take the tunnel & drive. Bristol to Folkestone Calais to Roscoff". Something wrong somewhere! Robin Wolf

To All, This is a very interesting thread, but I think you will find P&O Cruises (Aurora et al) are owned by a third party & have nothing to do with P&O. P&O sold them off but allowed their name to be used as part of the agreement. P&O is now known as a ports operator with a dwindling ferry operation. The losses (£2.2 million) for the Aurora will not touch P&O. Robin Wolf  

Hi all 27's, I have just made a note of all the resturants in the earlier part of this string, hope to use some of them this year. Looking forward to our 24 hour "booze cruise" visit this weekend. It will be great to see our house again, even if it is for a short stay.  Robin Wolf

Hi, Thanks for your notice on the homeowners loyalty scheme. Reading the P&O web site it is full of all the usual "rubbish" you always seem to get when a Company decides to back out of something it basically can not or is not prepared to run. So us loyal travellers can just join the crowd and have no benefit for loyalty. This will encourage us to shop around & could cost P&O in other ways. It seems odd they should scrap this after just one year ( too expensive). The homeowners scheme has been good to me, may be it has spoilt me with the free day cabins and the points that have resulted in many free trips. I will remember 2004 as perhaps the best year for good value travel. Your post drew me to the P&O web site and I noticed the free day cabins to LeH are still being offered. I booked two trips before Chritmas for 2005 and was told £30 each way for day cabins to loyalty members. I have called P&O this evening and they were pleased to adjust my booking to offer the day cabins. So I have a small gain in that respect. Robin Wolf I am not sure what the P&O policy is any more or how competitive they will be, I guess only time will tell.  

Hi to all 27's, Any good Christmas stories?? We visited our house, lucky following the big storm the house was in one piece but the Sat Dish need €50 worth of repairs. We got to know our French neighbours better this holiday & I am allowed 2 kisses on each cheek (with Madame). I think this is good going, I need to practice some more ready for the next time. I like this thread, try to keep it going. Cheers Robin Wolf

A little more for you. I have just had a look @ my book on French life & the Option tariff is "not recommended unless you use little or no electricity". It seems you get no reduced night rate & the rate is higher than the white rate on the Tempo tariff. You pays your money & takes your choice Robin