Mark

[quote user="Will"]  and the loo is connected to a septic tank. [/quote] Will, good idea re the fosse.  Will add something.  The real challenge would be to make that bit sound gushy (flushy?) [+o(]. Otherwise, as others have suggested, I've ended up with something informative but not proscriptive, which hopefully strikes a welcoming chord. Thanks all [:)]

Sounds like you should be in or near a city then, or are you looking for rural tranquillity while being prepared to commute 100kms or so to a BMW place each day?  Do you and your wife speak French?

[quote user="George"] Well these are just the "normal" small brownish ones, but we have seen a few of the larger shy green ones around.  [/quote] ditto. We also had Slowy the Slow Worm (we are just soooooooo creative with these names) around in the spring but he hasn't been seen for a while.

Do lizards have any drawbacks?  Mice eat your food, loirs eat your cables, adders bite, slugs ooooh-don't-get-me-started-on-slugs, but lizzies just seem to lark about, fall off walls and do no harm to anything other than whatever it is they eat - presumably dirty old flies. Are there any down sides at all to having them around?  I hope not, as Stumpy, Semi-stumpy, Arnie, Baby and their many friends are seemingly becoming part of the family.      

Great, thanks both. [:)]

I'm resident and taxable in France under French tax laws, but I'll be temping in England in November and December.  Do I simply not pay tax and NI from my English earnings at all, and then surrender any tax due on my English income in France in the next tax year at French rates, or do I 'PAYE' in England at the time, and use my former NI number to do so?  And I guess if it's the latter, I then also declare the earnings when I'm back in France and go down the double taxation route to claim back the tax I paid in England?  Thanks. 

Hi, We're about to register with Gites de France.  We've sent them two cheques of 30 euros each to enable us to register a gite and a chambre d'hotes.  We're now about to send the Dossier de Candidature form for the chambre d'hotes, with which they've asked us to send another 30 euros.  Presumably this is the same fee, so we should just mention on the form that they've already received the money from us? Also, we think they're suggesting that for each proprietor's name you want added to your blurb, you pay a fee. If so, why does anyone list two people as proprietors rather than just one?   Have we misunderstood? Thanks Mark  

[quote user="Gluestick"]   All that said, it has to be realised that the Brits enjoy a lively and at times waspish sense of humour: for many hundreds of years they have denegrated each other and called them "Scots" "Jocks", "Micks", Taffys"   [/quote] Waaaaaaaah!!!  We can't call the Sweaties 'Scots' anymore???  What do we call them now? Some of my best friends are bigots. 

[quote user="Clair"]I think the DDE is responsible for signage on the roadside and they decide if a private concern warrants a roadsign or not... or you could do your own, but they might decide to remove it for 'safety' reason if anyone complains. [/quote] Thanks Clair.  It was a DIY one I was thinking of doing.  Think I may just informally approach the Mairie, and if they give the nod put one up and if it gets taken away again so be it. Was thinking of one of those huge inflatable things up and over the road like the flamme rouge the Tour uses to indicate 1km to go on a stage.  Impactful, oui? [:D]

[quote user="Alan Zoff"] About 10 years ago, I attended a presentation made by the Environment Agency to a few business people in Cheltenham. The speaker demonstrated quite graphically the effect of replacing soil in areas near to hills and rivers with concrete footings and roads in response to the increasing demand for houses. Extreme flooding. Good to know that planners and developers take notice of the Environment Agency. They have even named a new housing estate in Tewkesbury "The Watermeadows" (or something very similar). Now, doesn't that suggest a potential problem....?   [/quote] You really wouldn't want 'The Watermeadows, Tewkesbury' to be your address when phoning any home insurance company worth its salt would you?  The equivalent of a motor insurance quote for a 17 year old with a Ferrari. Sad to hear about Evesham, Sedgeberrow et al as we only left the area last year.  Our old village of Woolstone is on a little hill though, thankfully, so should be ok. [:(]  

Do I enquire to the Mairie about putting self-made signs down on the main road luring unsuspecting motorists up to our mountain retreat, or the sous-prefecture, or one and then the other?  Thanks! [:)]

Just about to write a few paragraphs to put in the front of the welcome pack we've put together to go in our guest room.  Do I make it: a/ flowery-lovely-gushy-mushy-mountains-air-peace-quiet b/ cold hard facts c/ combination Given that the guests will already be in the room by the time they get to read it, it doesn't need to be a gushy-mushy selling job, but the rest of the pack will be cold hard facts, so gushy-mushy may offer a little contrast, and provide a bit of warmth to the welcome. Thoughts welcome on this most tricky of conundrums. Thanks, as ever [:)]  

[quote user="val douest"]However, both these sites only list 'budget' airlines [/quote] Hi val douest Skyscanner came up with a BA option when I was looking for flights from Toulouse to Gatwick the other day.  Perhaps it previously only covered the budget carriers, but it now seems to have widened its coverage.

This is the one we use - checks all flights offered by all companies so that you get the cheapest deals, and it's so easy that even I don't get stuck. [8-)] http://www.skyscanner.net/  

This is the one we use - checks all flights offered by all companies so that you get the cheapest deals, and it's so easy that even I don't get stuck. [8-)] http://www.skyscanner.net/  

Does anyone know the legally allowed minimum distance between a cheminée as it goes up through the ceiling and surrounding beams?  I vaguely recall hearing a figure of 15cm, but that could be wrong. Thanks, Mark [:)]

Google 'Assurland'.  It's a website which searches for the best deal from lots and lots of French insurance companies.  Quick and convenient.  Even if you don't actually get your insurance via the site, you could print off the quotes it finds and show it to the companies you go to in person in an effort to get them to match the quotes.

Could someone tell me please how to calculate where I would appear on the French no claims bonus matrix thing - that system of percentages and decimals?  I've had 15-odd years without claiming, 14 of which were in England. The man at GAN calculated it for me last time, but this time I'm trying to get some Internet quotes, and I won't get an accurate quote if I don't understand how to calculate the no claims bonus. Thanks, Mark [:)]  

Thanks Ron, but I think I was leading with a confident post-4pm 'bonsoir', only to be responded to with a seemingly incongruous 'bonjour'.  Threw me completely.  Oh well, I'll muddle along as best I can with the basics whilst becoming a master of the complexities.  [:D][;-)]

I feel a bit thick asking this as I feel I've been here (ie France) long enough to know, BUT: Is there any etiquette on the bonjour/bonsoir thing?  For ages I felt comfortably safe in the 'knowledge' that at 4pm (at least round here in the Ariege Pyrenees) everyone swapped from one to the other in their greetings.  HOWEVER, for the last few days people have responded to my post-4pm bonsoirs with a bonjour as late as 6pm.  I have consequently been thrown into a state of high linguistic anxiety.  Is there a convention?  Does it change when the hot weather arrives?  Is everyone in the village being deliberately obtuse, playing a practical joke on the strange English person? [8-)]

Are there any rules, similar to the requirement for planning permission for building developments greater than 20m2, for hard landscaping type stuff in the garden?  I plan to put up a pergola or two, do some terracing and paths down to a river at the foot of the garden, and various things like that.  Nothing major, but it will change the look of the garden quite dramatically (hopefully for the better!). Thanks, Mark [:)]

[quote user="Steph1"]My son is looking to buy a Landrover Defender 90, preferably a TD5, in France but it appears they are like hen's teeth. Does anyone know of any for sale? Thanks.[/quote] Would he be interested in a 110TD5?  If so, I could be of help (PM me if you wish). [:)]  

[quote user="nicktrollope"] [quote user="stoddy"]Hi there, My husband and I have moved to the Limoges are of France, and are hoping to make a little money just to get by. We've had a few ideas but aren't sure exactly how to go about them. For example we have a large industrial Bouncy castle which we would be able to hire out, but what would we require to do this legally? Any advise on this is welcome.[/quote] Welcome along, but please do a search (the search function works just fine now), or at least read back in this section. [/quote] Nick, are you saying there's been a bouncy castle enquiry previously?  The comprehensiveness of this forum constantly amazes me, it really does. [:)]  

Mog, you only 'get away with' not registering if the activity you're not registering isn't your main source of income, if that makes sense!  If the mobile homes are to be your only source of income, you can either register or break the law. I think that's right anyway.  I'm in a similar situation to you at the moment, and I'll be registering next week.

[quote user="Forum Admin"]When you’re travelling in France this summer, where do you plan to break your journey? Share your secret stopovers...[/quote] I used to enjoy stopping overnight in wooded little aires, until I was told on this forum last year that in doing so I was in imminent danger of having sleeping gas pumped into my car by hordes of burgling Poles.  I haven't slept in one since [:(][;-)] Mountain B&Bs make for ideal journey breakers, I always think....[I]