Me0wp00

Once again thank you teamed up for your marscapone pastry recipe, dad hates mince pies but loves these ones. I spent yesterday snuggled in the kitchen while it snowed, carols playing on the radio and baby sleeping, making marscapone mince pies. Delivered them to dad in the afternoon, heand mum scoffed them and I offered to make more when I got home. I had mine fresh from the oven with a blob of cream..... Delish Everytime I make them I think of you. Bonne Noel !

four star here is Super 98 is the same as 98 back in UK 95 same as uk and GPL here is LPG in UK.....

Not much of a god for me ;o( Firstly, hubby works in Leeds and It would've been fairly handy except hes finishing his contract in March...Typical ! secondly, his family lives in Cheshire and so the invasion will be very regular ;o( mind you be handier for shopping I suppose, glad it helps you out though

Hi All Have any of you had your habitation bills for this year yet ??? I've had fonciers but no habitation. My aunt living 1km up the road *secondaire maison* but in same commune has had her habitation but I haven't. Mind you I haven't heard of any one else having theirs yet either. I'm sure last year it had to be paid by 15th dec. Knowing my luck i've tempted fate now and it'll arrive in the post tomorrow. Thanks Pippa

hmmm well St Benoit is pretty quiet at this time of the year, there is a xmas market, midnight mass on xmas eve etc etc. Haven't seen any posters up yet for xmas activities but if you want to email me nearer the time to remind me I'll have a look for you when I'm in St Benoit, usually once or twice a week at least. the tourist office imo is pretty c**p and is rarely open in peak season let alone off season. Best place to look is SuperU as all the events seem to get advertised there.

Dave I've just bought a bigger LHD from ebay UK to replace the clio and luckily it was a very good price especially with GPL kit but yes I agree alot are going for silly prices, hubby says to put it on ebay its just the hassle of taking it over to england though.

thanks will try them although think ebay seems less hassle. Yup Jacques is really big now, 12 weeks tomorrow, one of the reasons for selling the clio, cant get us all in with prams, car seats and shopping :o)

Hi I've got a clio to sell and apart from ebay have no idea where I can advertise it for sale in France. As LHD's are getting more popular in uk had thought about taking it there and selling it but it doesn't seem worth the effort. Anyone got any ideas ? Thanks Pippa

My hubby used our french insurance documentation on his return to the uk to tax a car, the post office said as long as they can see its the correct car and the dates are right they have to accept it.

I'm in a very similar situation except my son was born after jan 2004. I also am resident in france while hubby works and lives most of the time in the uk. I don't work and also dont pay french tax. However when my son was born 12 weeks ago, i received the PAJE payment of 800+E and also get *monthly payment* it's not classed as family allowance though I dont think as you only get it for the first 3 years of their life unless you have more children in the meantime. IT IS HOWEVER PAYABLE FOR ONE CHILD !!!! When I got pregnant though I wasn't sure i'd get anything from france and tried to get it paid via UK but was told when I phoned newcastle that it's only payable to children living in the uk. Not sure this will help you much but if the worse comes to the worse and there is no way france will pay you anything (it's means tested on worldwide income though so you won't definitely get it) can't you say you live in UK with hubby, get it paid in the uk and then transfer it over to the french authorities, I know people who have done this and they get the french family allowance then.

I'm taking my son, who'll be 10 weeks old by then and all the stuff that entails so hope I can get parking near enough to the airport

Hi I'm flying out of Poitiers in a week or so and would like to park my car there. Having only been there once I can't remember if theres a carpark like at Limoges. I'm only in the uk for 6 days and the car's not new so can't imagine anyone wanting to steal it anyway. Thanks Pippa

when I was looking and how to get the grant you had to use certain approved installer/suppliers, I found it much cheaper to go direct to the manufacturers in the UK and they even kindly gave me trade discount.

can I just ask why your rehoming and do they need any special food/housing etc etc I know my hubby would love some

contact your mairie or your CPAM and ask for the details of your local PMI. This is like a health centre type thing in the UK. I gave birth 5 weeks ago and got in contact with my PMI when I had problems with feeding. They have midwives and doctors that will advise and do all the check ups, vaccinations, etc etc all without any charge. They told me which formula to buy and have been very helpful even visiting me twice at home. HTH Pippa

electric underfloor heating will cost you an absolute fortune to run in a large area. Ideally it would be for a conservatory or bathroom and even then you sometimes find you need further heating. We have water fed underfloor heating, this is just pipework laid under the floor in which hot water is fed in a loop. it's cheaper to run as can be linked upto your gas/oil/electric or in our case solar and electric. Ours comfortably heats a 90m2 house. the negatives are that ideally you should have tiled or wooden floors and not carpets

we have solar panels and installed them ourselves but ours are for for generating hot water and underfloor heating not electricity

I also phoned up for one of the new cards but was told they weren't being issued yet and was sent a paper E111 valid until end of Dec

I've recently got mine. I had my 6 month check up and the nurses, doctors and the receptionists all told me to make sure I came for the 7th month one and help them fill in the paperwork. I'm sure it was to kick start the payment from the CAF. I went for the 7th month check up on something like the 28th of the month and had the money transferred into the bank by the 7th. You have to send them paperwork after the birth to maintain the monthly amounts. but the big PAJE payment I think was 808E, it was definitely over 800E. Very handy and has easily paid for my purchases, the nursery is now finished http://pipandphil.com/photo/index.cgi?album=Jacques_and_preparation_for_his_arrival&mode=view if you fancy a peek. You have to be earning under the specified limit but I'm sure you'd have filled in the declaration of resources by now. the website is quite helpful www.caf.fr HTH Pippa