Llantony

[quote]Hi all we have just returned fro mour first visit to our new house in France ( near Nontron). We hired a large van from 1van1 to take stuff. We are going back in July and want to take a smaller va...[/quote] When we bought our house we investigated van hire and it seemed v expensive, especially as we travel from the midlands to south west France  We ended up packing the car full and buying furniture in France - small house, 2nd home so not much needed. We now have a Citroen Berlingo which has been invaluable for carting DIY stuff, wood, borrowing a concrete mixer etc.  If we leave England completely we'll need to take lots of stuff and removals are v expensive (and in one friend's case, unreliable - their stuff ended up miles away!) Someone suggested buying a transit van and reselling it when it's no longer needed, we might even do that. Maz  

Well said Ian! The popularity of the Sun doesn't indicate quality or taste, any more than the popularity of pornography or shoplifting. Why can't outcast learn to use punctuation, e.g. 'I'm here in France'?  and the odd comma would make his postings easier to read! I like France because it's the country I know best after England, because I speak French (not as well as I used to, but I can have good conversations with neighbours and friends), because there's lots of countryside and more interesting wildlife and because I could afford to buy a small house in a village I love - which would never be possible in England). I just cringe when I hear a bunch of Brits talking loudly in bars, usually complaining about the French.  As some people who post here might have said in the UK 'if they don't like it here, why don't they go back where they came from'.   And don't let me start on the appallingly behaved English kids I've seen here...    Yes I know, there are lots of lovely ones too, it's just that you can't help noticing the awful ones, they stand out.  

[quote]Llantony - c'etait moi qui a dit casse -tete. J'ai cherche au dictionnaire pour "puzzle" et c'est ce que j'ai trouve. J'aime le mot, comme crackhead. 'orreur! beaucoup des erreurs. Et merci pour les...[/quote] J'ai cherche 'riddle' et j'ai trouve 'devinette'. Pour moi, les accents ne marche pas!  Je croyais que c'etait quelque chose plus simple - e.g. alt + bracket or something!  (One of my work colleagues showed me but I forget.) Pourquoi pas avoir 'strictly French' + franglais if absolutely stumped?  The ordinary threads have lots of French words and phrases sprinkled around already! Maz

Thanks swissbarry, that really made me laugh! You need therapy, did you have a whistling potty when you were a toddler?  A French friend warned us it can be dangerous in the south west to nip into the woods for a pee.  You could be shot if a farmer mistakes you for a truffle rustler.  Judging by the prices in the truffle market we went to, I bet they do guard their truffles carefully (why does that sound smutty?). We women do suffer too.  When wearing trousers (as I usually do) having a p*e means exposing the b*m and it's impossible to pull them up without standing up and becoming even more conspicous.  Also can have a problem with wet feet and direction is difficult. I'm not being coy - I put the asterisks in because it's the 3rd time I've tried to post and thought perhaps there's a filter on (slighly) rude words. Llantony

[quote]Ah c'est vrai, mais est ce c'est une devinette,? je croyais que 'cassetete' est un 'jigsaw puzzle'. I can't do this in French, but there are supposed to be keyboard shortcuts for accents, I can't fin...[/quote] Pardon folks, Je viens de trouver quelqu'un d'autre a posted celui ci. (Franglais topic?)  Then when we don't know a word/phrase, someone could put us right and we'd learn something!

[quote]La réponse est RIEN - RIEN est plus puissant que Dieu. RIEN est plus méchant que le diable. Le pauvre a RIEN. Le riche a besoin de RIEN. Si vous mangez RIEN vous mourrez. ...[/quote] Ah c'est vrai, mais est ce c'est une devinette,? je croyais que 'cassetete' est un 'jigsaw puzzle'. I can't do this in French, but there are supposed to be keyboard shortcuts for accents, I can't find them.  If I'm writing a letter in Word, I just go to symbols and insert them the first time, then copy and paste wherever I need them. Llantony

[quote]Hey outcast you had me laughing there. Until I got to the end I thought you were saying you read the Telegraph, and the Sun to get the other view! I used to read the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Ind...[/quote] Not read the Sun since you were 17, i.e. since you grew up!  (It is a comic, albeit a vicious nasty one.) Reading the Sun obviously does nothing to improve outcast's spelling and grammar - though it did support Labour in the recent past - does that make Sun readers loony lefties?  

[quote]I got feed up seeing my taxes being spent on centres for one legged Albanian lesbians and other fringe groups and not making any inprovements to my quality of life.[/quote] Oh dear Richard!  Racism, homophobia and disability discrimination.  (Perhaps from reading the most bigoted of British newsapers and actually believing them.)  Just the sort of Brit I hate meeting in France.  Glad you aren't in my area. M

[quote]We don't have to have to take top up cover. It is a choice. We get so much back from the SS for our medical care and it is up to us to pay the rest or take out a top up. NB that is basically h...[/quote] Sorry, when I said 'what happens to people who can't pay?' I meant who can't pay the bills!  I realise not everyone chooses to buy insurance.  There must be people who haven't got the cash at all, as well those who haven't got enough to pay up and then get reimbersed.  Perhaps like prescriptions in the UK, people on benefits don't pay.  But we will be living on  modest retirement pension so presumably will be liable for 30% or whatever is demanded at the time? Maz

[quote]Tillac What Teamed Up says is correct But for a couple both aged 65 it should be relatively easy to find good comprehensive cover for between £100 and £150 per month. If you are willing to accept si...[/quote] Oh!  that's £1200-£1800 a year if my maths is correct.  That would be a large percentage of my other half's pension (I won't have one).  What happens to people who can't pay? Maz

We've never bothered with the big booze outlets near the ports, normally buy our wine etc in our local area (Tarn & Garonne) to bring home as we are not yet resident in France. In Asda this morning we bought a carton of bottles of real ale to share with a French friend and it occurred to me it might be cheaper in France! (Tho it was on special offer). Does anyone know of any of these big booze supermarkets near Boulogne? Are they any cheaper than LeClerc or whatever?  (and why don't French supermarkets sell dry Martini?     Maz  

[quote]I would have thought that all properties would have had to pay taxe d'hab in principale. It is the basic local tax bill. Where as the fonciere is owner's tax. I would be most concerned if I had not ...[/quote] I assumed we'd pay both taxes but although we bought in July 2003, have only had 1 bill.  French friends say 'if they don't ask for the money, don't ask why!'.  It is a 2nd home so is that why we haven't been asked to pay both taxes?

[quote]Sprogster said: " I think there is a danger of second homes being a fad. Driven by the media frenzy on this subject and helped by low interest rates and easy credit in the UK. The problem is that ...[/quote] See the post below:  "where is the best place to live in France...where are all the Brits?...   I was going to Spain but we have had second thoughts has we need to return frequently back to the UK so France would be an Ideal location" ! ! To be British and know nothing about France suggests this person has no interest in France.  I suggested staying in the UK!  Or perhaps Eire, then they won't have the bother of a foreign language (as most Irish speak English).  You'd think he'd at least buy a book and find something out about a country before considering buying a house there.  

I've seen it on TV and thought it would be interesting to go and see the new Tarn bridge - but can anyone tell me exactly where it is?  (Somewhere along the Tarn presumably, but it's a long river)

[quote]This might have been asked many times before but I would like to know where all the Brits are moving to in France & have the French accepted you!!

English or French! We need a night's B & B close to Boulogne on our way home from Easter in France. (Getting Speedferry at 10am) The journey from the south west is just a too far without a break. I've emailed a French B & B last week but no reply yet. Any ideas Maz

[quote]Its Official, BMI Baby have just published their summer routes and there are no Toulouse flights to E Midlands or Cardiff after March. It would appear the Toulouse route has been sacrificed for the ...[/quote] Yes I posted about this before Xmas, we phoned them and they confirmed no flights from Nottm. Flybe from Brum is really expensive, especially as we have to stick to school holidays. Have given up and booked Speedferries for Easter. Maz

[quote]This is my first post here so forgive me if it is not quite in the right place.My wife and I have been giving serious thought to moving to France. We currently live about 20 west of Cambridge/England ...[/quote] Nick was dead right in his reply. France is a fantastic place to retire to but not to work in as it is very hard even for French people to find work and wages are well down (have been informed that office workers in Toulouse get as little as £8,000 a year). We were lucky. We bought a house 2 years ago and could buy a small completely refurbed 800 year old house in a gorgeous village (Lauzerte)for the sort of price that you quoted, but since then prices in our region (Tarn and Garonne) have more than doubled. Plus you need to add on estate agents' fees and notaires' fees which are considerably higher than in England and the buyer pays them! Food is cheaper if you buy seasonal produce. Water is more expensive and is metered. Electricity is more expensive, but also the standing charges for all services bills tend to be much higher than England. So that, if like us, you are here only half the year you still pay a high cost even if the amount you use is small. Diesel is about half that of England. You could only learn French in a year if you are permanently paying someone to teach you on a daily basis and you are exceptionally talented linguistically. You cannot magically learn a language functionally without a lot of hard work. Even then you will be constantly thrown by local slang and dialect Ignore all those programmes in England claiming how easy it is to start a new life in France - they are fiction. Having said that, I so love this place that I wish that we had done it years ago. I would have taken the risk. All the best John

[quote]Hello allI've just been reading through the "Travelling to/from France" topics and am confused by all the shake-ups the budget airlines have made.Not only did Ryanair overlook Toulouse with their new ...[/quote] If you said BMI Baby shifted their Toulouse flights from Brum to Nottingham - wrong.  They were flying from Nottingham to Toulouse and will no longer do so after March.  We checked by phone and email and asked someone who works for them.  We are v disappointed as live near Nottm and have a house 55 miles from Toulouse - which is the nearest airport.

Oh I loved this!  We were just talking at work today about the OTT political correctness around Christmas.  The admin assistant was preparing a notice to put up on Christmas Eve to say 'XXX is now closed for Christmas and the New Year', then thought the boss would object to Christmas and gave up and put 'closed till 3rd Jan'. I have struggled to find Christmas cards with Merry or Happy Christmas to send to non English speaking French friends, most cards say 'Season's Greetings'.  Job centres aren't allowed to put up trees; some primary schools avoid nativity plays.  All in case it might offend other religions.  I love the Divali lights - and don't think they should be called 'Holiday lights' instead. Radio 4 this morning had an item from ROSPA about the danger of the office party:  avoid mistletoe - might encourage sexual harrassment;  remember not to dance on office tables, they aren't meant for people to stand on;  don't photocopy parts of the body, the glass could break and cause nasty splinters. Mari PS  I've been using this forum for 18 months, how come I'm still a junior member?

Thanks for replies. I think Easyjet summer timetables may not be out yet, so perhaps the info on cancelled routes is a bit premature.  We did phone BMI tho, who confirmed no flights except to C de G.  However, they stopped Toulouse flights this winter (again confirmed by phone) and then changed their minds.  So I don't want to choose an expensive option, only to find they do the same for summer!

Just phoned BMI who confirm the only flights Nottm - France next summer are to Charles de Gaulle.  Checked Flybe from Brum to Toulouse and its over £200 each for Spring Bank Holiday week.   Add cost of airport parking (don't need at Nottingham) and car hire, it makes an expensive holiday in our own French house.  EasyJet don't seem to have anything available yet. Skyscanner has nothing affordable.  Oh dear, it's a helluva drive for a week! Anyone know how expensive and complicated it would be to fly to Paris and train to Toulouse? Any suggestions?  (early retirement not an option yet!) Mari

[quote]Open fires are very inefficient. Some wood can throw out huge sparks and burning flakes. A woodburning stove is safer and warmer.[/quote] I've been thinking the same, we have a large old fireplace and the open fire looks great, but the smoke is too much sometimes.  What would we have to pay for a good stove?  What should one look out for - capacity etc?  I don't suppose 2nd hand ones appear v often.

[quote]It's me again Sorry I should have added in reply to the original post regarding flights to Bordeaux direct from Manchester - bmibaby are continuing 2/3 flights out to Bordeaux from Nottingham East Mi...[/quote] Stop press, BMI Baby were definitely not listing any Nottm-Toulouse flights a couple of months ago - I phoned them and they confirmed they were not flying in the winter. However.... I've just found they have changed their minds and yes they are - so we've booked for a week after Xmas.   Wed to Wed isn't ideal but we are stuck with school hols (and I don't get much leave). I never did write and complain - but perhaps other people did!  It's worth checking the Bordeaux route again too.

[quote]The BMI Baby Manchester to Bordeaux flights are only usually available between March and mid October - they don't operate this route in the winter months. Whenever I have used this service it has alw...[/quote] I don't know what BMI Baby is up to.  They have also stopped winter flights from Nottingham East Midands to Toulouse in the winter too.  Of course this winter that will include the Easter period as 'winter' is up to the end of March.  The Toulouse flights are always full.  Toulouse is the 4th largest city in France and there are lots of Brit workers there at Airbus, plus all their visitors, all the 2nd homers and their visitors and the rugby teams! Last year we got a good price going after Xmas and back after New Year, no flights at all this year!