Frogslegs

Well, our first summer renting the gites, our guests kept asking me "what bird is that"? even though we do enjoy birdwatching.....I had never heard this one! It sounded more like a an exotic caged bird, we presumed it had escaped! The following year the same bird song arrived in May, so with binoculars ready we investigated further, and delighted to see two yellow birds larger than a blackbird!

Yes they arrived last week, each year for 7 years they return and tend to nest in the same trees. Lovely sound along with the hoopoes.

OH just back from Le Mans 24 hour motorbike race and he is all ready looking forward to June for the 24 hour car race. Does anyone want a lift and share the cost of petrol. We live near Melle.

Just received a form No. 3310 K-A-NI the heading is TAZE SUR LA VALEUR AJOUTEE ET TAXES ASSIMILEES IMPREME A FOURNIR EN ANNEXE A LA DECLARATION CA3 OU ISOLEMENT EN CAS DE NON-ASSUJETTISSEMTNET A LA TVA we are a micro bic running two gites, have siret number. Can not find for the moment last years form to check...but does anyone understand this form? At the bottom it mentions if you have any t.v sets, which we do, and we pay all three of them on the tax habitation! I can not remember last year filling in any of the boxes. many thanks  

and this one... Hello,         I am girolamo,And i will like to know if this rental will be availble from the date listed bellow: Arrival:1st of April,2008 Departure:l 1st of May, 2008       Also i will like to know the cost for the rental per week,And i will like to know if there is a enough space for my auto bike as well,Ok.       I wait to read from you. Thanks.

Hi I wish there were an abundance of rivers and lakes here in the Deux Sevres but there is not. Vienne our neighbouring department has more. The reason for moving here was the lack of rain and due to the soil (full of stones and rocks) no, more like rocks and more rocks, we have no problems with drainage. Post edited by the moderators. Please do not advertise or post your personal details, products or services on the message boards. Any advertising without permission will be removed.

I would not bother advertising with them...signed up for two years...not one enquiry![:(]

Three I can think of....first......while walking around Brighton Lanes some years ago we bumped into an aussie guy who John had met while backpacking 5 years earlier! second.....a group of gite guests last year came from Cambridge so at the barbeque I said "my Mum and Dad come from villages near Cambridge, Linton and Sawston" they said...we live in Sawston and worked at Spicers...it transpired my Uncle (Rouse) is a very good friend of theirs. ...third........on checking friend's reunited I saw a name of a girl who was in the same hockey, rounders ect team at St. Marks in Harlow, not seen Pat for some 25 years....quick email to say I now lived in France near Melle....she emailed back to say they too were in France living near Rom just 30 mins away...tis a very very small world.

Showing tomorrow Monday 4th in Melle the film Atonement in English. 4.00 I think.

While staying at the Hotel St. Jaques in the Latin Quarter which I would recommend but probably not what you are looking for....we ambled across the river to near the Opera House and found a lovely hotel which I would stay in when visiting again....www.hotelchopin.fr Bonne Chance

Just go to angloinfo site and look under the for sale section. We are near Melle in the Deux Sevres and its on at 10.00 tomorrow.

[quote user="Nickel"]If as you say, you have a dentist then you should phone him/her up and ask if you could be seen as an emergency - they always keep time for such occurences - no point in being in a lot of pain for a "week or so "[/quote] You think so???  I have lived here for 7 years near Chef Boutonne...first time problem with an abcess...had to wait a week....second time, same problem had to wait 10 days! Asked to see another dentist in the same practise but was declined. First time they did not even bother to give me a prescription for the pain. Had to resort to painkillers and whisky......which still did not mask the pain.

[quote user="Frenchie"]Shall I bring the snails and frogs legs ?? [:D][;-)][/quote] I hope to be there but I think it may be the weekend of Le Mans which hubby is going to![:(]

Schoooosh!! If I tell you, everyone would want to live here![;-)]

Sunday...day of rest please!

Thank God for Amy Winehouse....bloody french music is driving me crazy!

Love it out of season. Great selection of restaurants.  Not the traffic or car crime though. The park towards the airport would be a safe bet for keeping family entertained. The drive towards Monaco a must.

This is our 7th year here near Melle in the Deux Sevres, originally Harlow, Essex....so may be in touch Mad Catty! then 7 years on the Isle of  Wight.

Take up yoga...chef boutonne on fridays at 11.00

Yes the gites are within our grounds and habitation has been paid on both. Filled the form in the same as the past 6 years....suppose I better check though! But this is the same tax office that repeatedly sent our tax form to our former address in U.K. for two years!

Now I have paid the bill and the form returned to me I can now clarify exactly the type of form, AVIS D'IMPOSITION.taxe profesionnelle, taxe our frais de chambres de commerce et d'industrie et taxe pour frais de chambres de metirers et de l'artisan. Perhaps because of the health issues more of us will receive such forms which we had not before!

Some confusion here! A micro-bic is a tax regime and if you are registered as a business, even a micro-bic you have a siret no. Taxe Professionelle is paid by every business to their commune. Well perhaps I should be grateful that for the past 6 years I have NOT paid taxe professionelle! (except for the one year) I presumed that once I had deregistered the siret would not be valid. I have not seen it quoted on any documents until this recent bill. thanks for everyone's input, and frogslegs is a she!  

I placed a post under finance explaining that I had recieved a taxe professional bill for 300 euros. I duly returned the form saying I no longer had a siret number as I was a mico bic.  To cut a long story short, arrived in 2001 registered as a micro bic till 2003 then registered as a business with a siret number, paying cotisation ect. 2004 deregistered when it became apparent that running a gite did not require to pay cotisations, pensions ect.  So apart from recieving in 2003 one bill for Taxe professionale have never received one till recently. We were then sent a  letter to visit the tax office this morning where (my french is not fluent) the lady informed us that our original siret number was still valid and taxe professional was due. So we paid up! Is the siret number still valid for a micro bic? Some posts mentioned that the tax is instead of tax d'habitation but our bill is for the three buildings. We have no other income! 

Thanks for the replies. We have paid the Taxe d'habitation and this year is the first in 6 that a T.P has been sent. The chambre de commerce have never informed us that our gite business was only to be run as a sideline and not to be our main source of income! I do find that hard to believe, but will take into consideration all comments. 

Received a bill  Taxe Professionale recently stating our old siret number. We deregistered as a business two years ago but still run gites as a micro bic. I sent the form back stating we no longer have a siret number. Now we have a letter to see the tax lady in Melle (if you have ever met her you will understand why I am aprehensive in meeting her again....think Anne Robinson on a bad day).[+o(] Would we be charged this tax? ( I think it was for 300 euros) if we are just a micro bic?[8-)]