robkat

We have a 200 year old house is the Charente Maritime which is beautiful but rather like the Forth Road Bridge! Thinking of moving & are tempted by something a bit newer - i.e. no leaks, less maintenance but still some character, by the sea in a lively village with good weather, lovely French neighbours, not too many Brits - does this sort of place exist for around 150,000 euros?!?  Old means continual work but is it worth it?

Thanks so much for your speedy replies - will investigate when we arrive.  Let's hope it is worth staying up to watch but have my doubts if our Jens can do anything, maybe we should put our money on Lewis!!! Kathy

Hubby and I are Formula 1 fans & will be at our house in 17 when the new season starts on March 18th with the Australian GP.  Wonder if anyone knows if it will be shown on French terrestrial telly (we are too mean to have sky), bearing in mind that kick off is at some ungodly hour! Suppose otherwise we will have to wait till we return to UK on 29th & watched the recorded version. Here's hoping... Kathy

  Thanks guys for your time to reply - guess it's just a case of suck it and see!!!  First thing is to sell the 17 house....There is very little English spoken around here & we welcome the challenge of a new lingo.  As regards the weather we feel that as long as it's bit better than Brighton I think we will be happy (in our courtyard in the Charente in the summer it reached 48 regularly!)  We are taking the Portsmouth/St Malo on 14th feb so here's hoping for a calm crossing, lots of buyers & lots of choice in Brittany Kathy                          

Thinking of moving from 17 (Charente Maritime) to Brittany as 17 is too hot in the summer but do want nice weather so can be out of doors as much as possible. Have two worries - where is best for good weather, & we hear there is anti Brit feeling in Brittany. Is this true & where?  We are quite keen on Pontivy, Loudeac Fougeres sort of area. We  propose to retire there in 2008. Thanks in advance for your comments

We may not be able to tie up our sale and purchase so may have to put our belongings in store for a while. Does anyone know of  any "big yellow box" type storage companies in 17 - or even Brittany? Thanks Kathy    

We have a house in 17 which we have owned since September 2001, with a view to retiring there in a couple of years.  For family reasons we may have to sell & move further north. If we cannot tie up a sale & purchase together are we liable for CGT? Does this apply if we sell & then purchase sometime later (say 6 months)?  Thanks for any info Kathy (Brighton pro tem)

Hi there, only just discovered this part of the forum! We have  house in 17, Villeneuve la Comtesse near Surgeres.  Hope to retire there in 3/4 years time (when the old chap is too old to work), meanwhile it's lots of diy holidays! Robkat

Hi Dave Please also send details of prices. Looks like your future is being sorted for you! Thanks Robin Smith

Thanks for your reply David - yes it is a new TV (a cheapie from E Leclerq)!   Kathy

We have just installed a French TV set in our holiday home in 17.  Do any of you wise people know if an English VCR (& or DVD) player will work with the french set?  We are thinking of buying a VCR from Asda for the princely sum of £39.97 to take down with us when we go in November & I want to record my fav progs (eg Corrie etc) to watch while I am there!  Sorry if this has been a topic before but I have just plucked up the courage to join the forum, having been a keen reader for some time! Thanks Kathy

We live just north of St JeanD'Angely so it is not too far for us.  Do we need any more specific instructions to find it, presumably it is closed on Sundays?  Thanks for info - just what we are looking for Robkat