Opalienne

I also once saw an entire French family cracking up over a UK-registered car with a plate that started CUL......

???? I thought verge was French for penis.......  So why would a woman have one?

Surely he rather than she would have a soft verge (at least in French)?  

If you live near the border you can buy in from the pumps at some German service stations

Can the surviving spouse sell 'en viager' under this new regime as well as let the house out?

On Christmas Day we had seven courses, aperitif and coffee/petit fours included, for €45 each.  The food was excellent and there was a free tombola where everyone won something, an organist, accordionist, and singer.   We had half a bottle of champagne and a bottle of Crozes Hermitages, and the whole lot came to €150.  Not bad!

If one is past retirement ages, presumably social charges are not payable?   I ask because I currently have a UK limited company, but am thinking about becoming self-employed in France once I am 60.   Thanks for any help and happy New Year

Petrole is not cheap, indeed, but at least you pay for it as you buy it, so no nasty shocks when bills come.   We have three petrole heaters going all day long in the winter (often at night when it is very cold), and by turning them down to 12C when we are out and at night we only use three 20 litre jerricans a week, so about €45.  We have the electronic kind so they use electricity as well, but much less of it than if we had fully electric heating.

Just to update anyone thinking of travelling in the Pas de Calais today, it is now really dangerous.   Motorways are closed to lorries and very slippery for cars.   There was heavy snow this morning followed by rain and it is around -2C outside, so cars are sliding all over the place.   We certainly don't intend to go out again until it warms up - predicted for tomorrow.

There's still quite a lot of snow just inland from Calais but the motorway is fine.   Snow is starting to melt but a hard frost is forecast for tonight so it will be quite dangerous tomorrow.

Where are you moving to?   Round where we live (between Calais and Boulogne) there is a real dearth of good boarding kennels for dogs.   We've found good ones for cats and horses, but all the dog places we looked at were really depressing.   We ended up advertising for a private individual and found someone excellent, but I am sure there would be a market for a kennel which looked a bit less like the SPA......

Bleu Nuit is a specialst bed shop with a good range.   There may be one near you?

You're absolutely right about the dangling Santas in the Pas de Calais.   There were quite a lot last year, but this year they are absolutely everywhere!   We toyed with the idea of hanging one from a noose on our roof, but decided that it wasn't really in the Christmas spirit.   I know there are lots of bad taste decorations round here, but I'd rather have them than nothing at all.   When we first arrived we were the only people in the village to decorate the house at Christmas, and people asking for 'la maison des anglais' would be treated to a lengthy discourse about how the house was lit up once a year.   I much prefer not being singled out like that!

Likewise with the restos.   Delayed until at least the Finance Council.  

I don't see how this can be true, given that it has to be agreed by the European Council, whose meeting doesn't start until tomorrow.

You can also make Christmas pudding without any sugar or fat if you use enough fruit.   One year I forgot to add sugar and it was so good that I have made it like that ever since.   No flour or breadcrumbs either - just fruit, nuts, eggs and brandy.   It's probably not the best thing for diabetics but a small helping wouldn't hurt.

No, we have no top up insurance.   We were going to take one out and discovered (luckily) that he was 100% covered before we did so

This is certainly what I had always understood, but my husband is definitely reimbursed 100% and he has no serious or long-term medical conditions.

I am not sure that the answer to question 1 is correct.   My husband is a UK pensioner and was rather surprised to find that he is covered 100% in the French system - apparently because he is in receipt of a pension.  He was told by the CPAM that the UK government pays a sum to the French government each month in order to pay for his medical treatment, whether he needs it or not.   I am not on his Carte Vitale, since I am not resident in France, so cannot answer question 2.

Not sure, but since French people don't send Christmas cards they are probably very little different from normal.  I am planning on sending presents to the UK on the Monday before Christmas and am fairly sure they will arrive before the 25th.

Decision has been postponed to the European Council meeting on 15/16 December.   It's the Germans who are blocking it.

I also like 'trous en formation'.  I think of it as a kind of training school for holes in the road, from which they graduate to become real car wreckers......

The market is in the Haute Ville, or old town.   It's the bit at the top surrounded by ramparts, where the basilica is.   Basically you go straight up the Grande Rue from the port and you'll see it on your right.  There is a big car park just outside the ramparts (it will be impossible to park inside). For restaurants, I like in Boulogne:   Brasserie Hamiot (big and busy, good value food); Chez Jules (small, but ditto); The Welsh Pub (excellent food despite the name).   In Calais, Au Cote d'Argent (see http://www.cotedargent.com/); Le Grand Bleu (very small, need to book); La Sole Meuniere; and La Pleiade.   Absolutely the best value in the region is the Restaurant de la Gare, at Les Attaques, outside Calais (not the Relais des Attaques, which isn't in the same league).   It's run by a butcher and the meat is superb.   Last week we had the cheapest lunch menu (9.15 euro) with a gratin of chicken and mushrooms; a pork chop in a wine sauce; and a chocolate pudding.   It was all first class.   Though the restaurant doesn't look much and you enter through a bar full of rowdy locals, so if you don't like that sort of thing it's not for you.    

I think it's Hotmail.   Yesterday I got three failed deloivery messages from hotmail accounts - 'timed out'.  

I have another complicated situation in the same vein.   I am resident in the UK but my husband is resident in France since May.   He has a small pension that he receives directly into his French bank account and I transfer money from the UK every month for everything else.   He will have to complete his first French income tax return next year.   What would be the most tax efficient way to do this?  Presumably he has to declare himself as married, even though we live apart most of the time (though we are not separated)?  And, if so, how does he declare the money I transfer, which will be already taxed in the UK?   And does it mean that I have to declare all my income to the French tax authorities?   I can see this getting very complicated.    I have asked French accountants but no-one seems to be able to give me a definitive answer.......    TIA for any help