MrCanary

Of course, life can be cruel sometimes and we all have to allow for that wherever we are. And wooly'sbrother - it is in Norwich at present because that is where I am right now!

Nickel - yes, I understand that - no problem. Lostinfrance - I travel to my house from Dieppe via Rouen, Alencon, Le Mans, Tours and Loches. Up until now (and including this time) the trips have invariably meant arriving at chez nous and working. But the work is just about finished on the house, both inside and out, so from our next trip, we are hoping to start enjoying ourselves a bit more and spread our wings. Whilst it might be apparent that I love our house and the village, I do yearn for the sea a bit, so I guess I will starting trundling west in a straight line and see which town I hit! PS - to Nickel - My wife loves the fact I am a supermarket addict and I do all the cooking as well...

Nickel - I actually communicate in French quite well and, in my late 50's, I still enjoy rooting around Sainsbury's... What I was trying to say is that even though I have been going back and forth to France for much of my life, with an increase in intensity since I bought my house five years ago, I still get just as excited as the first time. But then, for me, the glass has always been half-full - even when surrounded by catastrophe. And I think I like these rose coloured specs - they suit me!

Lisleoise - I was referring to the comment from the chap at the foot of the article in the Mail... "I cannot believe people have put themselves between a car and a brick wall rather than let it happen then claim on the insurance. Insanity."

Yes Sprogster, I guess have got rose tinted specs on this morning, but I honestly have always felt that way about France. I confess I had forgotten about the French fishermen - have you heard if Dieppe is one of their targets?

sweetie - it's great isn't it... We will be travelling in a hire van on this trip, bringing lots of nice stuff for our lovely French house, but I will still enjoy every inch of the journey and the regular stops for coffee and cakes... Can't wait... So old, yet so excited! 

For those of you who have made the permanent move, for those of us who have invested in property and long to make the move, and for those who just visit or dream about France, what is it we all love about the place? In recent times it has taken a few knocks with the property market slowing down and allegedly, ex-pats returning to the UK in their droves (I don't actually believe that). And the health changes have left so many people still up-in-the-air with folk like cooperlola continuing to work on the subject with such magnificent spirit and, I believe, showing no signs of giving up. So what is it that draws us to this wonderful country? Why, after travelling nowhere else in the world during the last five years, am I really looking forward to my next regular trip to France this coming Wednesday? For my wife and I, it is everything about the place! We love the people, the culture, the food, the wine, the old streets (especially in Loches) and I cannot wait to be rooting about in LeClerc for our goodies! We love the language, the French air we breathe and we absolutey adore our French neighbours who we cannot wait to hug as soon as we arrive. And summer in France has a special bonus for me as the delightful noise from the Frogs and Crickets is one of the few sounds that can actually drown out my tinnitus! I will try to sleep for a few hours on Tuesday evening, before setting out at about 1.00am Wednesday to drive to Newhaven for the early ferry. But I will fail, I will be too excited...  What does la belle France do for you? 

Hagar - Not sure if they will do it or not, but you really ought to try Norwich Union Direct (0800 015 9614). They came as a refreshing change after my afternoon of ringing a number of quite unhelpful and expensive other companies. Mel

Welcome back SD... Good to read that you and your good lady survived something that could have been absolutely horrendous. And what a lovely reaction from your French neighbours! Warms the heart... Mel

  Thanks Deb...

I posted this question because at the time, I was struggling to obtain travel insurance for my adult son who has epilepsy. For the last few years he had an annual policy with an insurance company linked to the charity Epilepsy Action (used to be the British Epilepsy Association). Then, for some unexplained reason, the policies were not renewed and the charity still currently has no partner insurance group. Epilepsy Action were able to supply me with contact details for a few companies that they thought would be sympathetic and I spent yesterday contacting them. They were actually very awkward to deal with and it was at this point that I posted my question above. Then, one of them offered me a policy for him at £108 per year which, although at last we had found cover, was a huge increase on last year's cost of £44 - which was perhaps being underwritten by the charity. Then, early evening, just as I was about to pull out the last few strands of my hair, I spoke to Norwich Union Direct. They asked me the identical medical questions about his epilepsy as the other companies and then came up with the quote for an annual policy of £51.17. Phew! What a relief!

  Probably no experts on this subject, but just in case, what is a virgin?

I would suggest you continue to be pleasant... One day you may get a response.

Awful... And sad that the printed story brought out comments from 'highly intelligent' people who are so wise in hindsight. There is a time to keep quiet about these things!

What are people's feelings/advice about having or not having travel insurance for travelling back and forth to a maison secondaire in France? With a European health card, is it really necessary?

Fabulous! Thanks for giving a dull Tuesday a bright start!!

Not sure if it is a problem in France, but in the UK there is a dramatic increase in cases of theft of diesel from cars & commercial vehicles.  The thieves are achieving it by many different means: Breaking into the locked caps and attempting to syphon (many new'ish cars have anti-syphoning devices fitted); cutting through pipes under the car and draining the fuel; and in at least one case, drilling holes in the bottom of the fuel tank to drain the diesel. Forewarned is forearmed - so think about where you leave your diesel vehicles - especially in the dear old UK!! 

Only just found this thread... It was good to see as I read through the posts that there has been some improvement in SD's condition. I too send him and his wife sincere good wishes for a speedy and full recovery. Sunday Driver is one of a small group of posters who regularly pop up on here with timely and helpful information about subjects under discussion. The forum is only as good as it is because of people like him... Get well and get back on here soon Dave - your 'countries' need you!  Mel

I have to say that B&Q is a very generous company and they certainly look after their staff... My youngest son works for them and as he still lives at home, we enjoy a 20% discount on everything. But added to that, they hold occasional 'friends and family' events. Each member of staff has four tickets to give out to family and/or friends. These tickets provide the holder with a 20% discount for the event, plus entry into a free draw. Last evening, I bought a huge blue glazed pot for chez nous. It started life at £16.99, but as there was a store promotion of 15% off all garden pots, it was down to £14.45. Then, using the event ticket, it brought it down to £11.56 - very generous! Yes, I accept this was only beneficial to friends and family of staff, but how many other companies do that kind of thing? AND - for everybody who is 60 or over, the company provides special cards that gives the holder a 10% discount on everything each and every Thursday!

Here we go then... This is a summer view from the back garden of chez nous... [IMG]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm142/Flovier/P7170066.jpg[/IMG]

cooperola - I love that roof extension over the porch... We have just finished a terrace at the back of ours andwe could really benefit from something like yours. (Sorry, I lost the instructions from Clair on how to post a picture!)

Thanks Gluestick...

I am sure I might have asked this question before, but I can't remember for sure... (senior moments on the increase!) I want to paint the corrugated roof of one of my outbuildings. It is solid enough, but has quite a lot of patches of surface rust colour. Can anybody recommend a good paint please? I am sure Hammerite would do the job, but it is so expensive and the roof is quite large. 

I'm making the opposite journey in a couple of weeks. UK/Dieppe/Le Mans/Tours, so I will be interested in the replies you get about the French side. As I am sure you are aware (but just in case you aren't) there are no shortages in the UK - just very high prices! There are some people in the world at this time who are getting very, very, rich courtesy of the rest of us and all these price hikes are based purely on rumours and double-dealing!

Can I take it from this thread that when I am back in France in a few weeks time, there is no longer any point in arriving with an ampty tank to save myself a few bob by buying French diesel? With the awful exchange rate, it sounds as though diesel is about the same price either side of the water. This week in Norwich, it is selling at £1.19 at Asda and Tesco, £1.22 at Shell and £1.26 at BP. (And I believe it is considerably dearer than that in the London/south coast areas)