Ewa

Happy Easter to all 27's and absolutely everyone else (don't want anyone miffed)!! Missing France but hope to be out later this week to give the builders hell.... and enjoy the locality too of course! Out of interest, does France shut down over Easter at all? Ewa 27 & Devon

We have a 4.5 year old retriever who came to us at 12 months old (re-homed). He is chipped but not in our name and we haven't re-registered him in the UK. Firstly, should we do this (he has a passport which we got a couple of years ago) and then when we move to France in a couple of years get him registered by our French vet? We don't have contact with the previous owners which is what stopped us re-registering him in the UK under our names as we presume that the chip database people will want proof that we didn't pinch him! Am I right in presuming this? Don't want to re-chip him as this would only confuse. Any guidance greatfully received. Ewa 27 & Devon

Or go the Fired Earth website (www.firedearth.com - sorry, can't recall how to make this an active link!) and click on Technical Guides, choosing the Floor Tiling guide which will give you installation (including sealing), maintenance and renovation info for all types of natural floor coverings (stone, slate, terracotta, etc). Ewa 27

Thanks for that Mikey - looks as if we may have our answer! Excellent! Ewa 27

Mikey Any disadvantages? Sounds too good to be true - or am I just jaundiced with this fosse issue?! Not got my French dictionary out yet to translate the site but looks very interesting - and a good alternative to the fosse septique problem. Ewa 27

Thank you both for your replies - certainly worth looking at these alternatives (get my dictionary out to translate the second site!). It does seem that the builder is pushing us down the route he wants to go (albeit backed up by the official report) so its good to have something else to show him. I think ultimately it's the fact that we've lost faith in the builder... but that's another matter! Thanks once again. Ewa 27

Prior to the purchase of our property we were led to believe a standard fosse septique, buried fully below ground level at an approximate quoted cost of 5800 Euros, would be how we would deal with our waste issues. Having had the ground survey by SERPA our builder has now informed us we have no option other than to have an above ground system requiring a raised surface 7m x 7m by 1m high at a minimum cost of 6800 Euros (plus taxes)! Yes we have the land, but we don't want this option - we gather from the builder that our soil has a high clay content. Is anybody aware of any alternatives - however bizarre - we find it difficult to accept that we are not given any choices. How would we deal with this if our garden area was too small? Please help! Ewa 27

Glad to hear that I was wrong and that we can use French fioul! Ewa

We were looking at buying an oil fired Aga in the UK to take out to France, but my contact at Aga tells me that the oil in France is too thick to be able to run an Aga (and as they are made by the same company, I presume Rayburns too). There is somebody testing new burners for a conversion kit but I gather this is still in testing mode and isn't available yet. So, if my contact is correct, your Rayburn won't work... sorry (but I'll be happy if somebody knows otherwise as its the cheapest form of running a range!). Ewa

If you're flying to Exeter with a connecting flight to Brest (or anywhere else) then the nearest Travelodge is about 8 miles away at junction 30 of the M5. There will be B&B's close by - I know cos we're 5 mins drive from the airport! If anyone needs more info, just ask. Ewa

Sorry to stray off the fosse issue....Happy New Year to all 27's! Reading all your posts is making me home sick for our newly adopted land... and we've not even moved in yet (maybe mainly due to only having half a roof, thanks to building work!!). We stayed in Le Petit Castel, visit before last and found it very comfortable - but didn't try the C-o-c-hon d'Or. Had a couple of meals in the bistro around the corner (can't remember what it's called) which was good (not gourmet, but will go there again). Looking forward to trying C-o-c-hon d'Or soon however - and will definately go to La Poste once they reopen. Has there been lots of snow in our area? If so, I suppose I'll have to resign myself to a longer re-roofing job! Ho Hum... Ewa PS OK, back to fosse issues...!

Happy New Year to all 27's! Reading all your posts is making me home sick for our newly adopted land... and we've not even moved in yet (maybe mainly due to only having half a roof, thanks to building work!!). We stayed in Le Petit Castel, visit before last and found it very comfortable - but didn't try the******hon d'Or. Had a couple of meals in the bistro around the corner (can't remember what it's called) which was good (not gourmet, but will go there again). Looking forward to trying******hon d'Or soon however - and will definately go to La Poste once they reopen. Has there been lots of snow in our area? If so, I suppose I'll have to resign myself to a longer re-roofing job! Ho Hum... Ewa

Don't worry Miki, it's not just a bloke thing - I absolutely hate shopping too... maybe not just a typical girlie (although I love my Amazon website... does this count?!?). Ewa

Congratulations - exciting time for you! We've just come back last month having signed and it was not a big deal. Our vendors had to travel back to Loire Atlantique so weren't stopping so we went to the local bar in Beuzeville with our agent and had a couple. I had the champers all ready in my handbag (yes, it also carries the kitchen sink!) but to no avail. Our new neighbour - bless him, he speaks no English and our French is minimal - celebrated our purchase with his newly pressed cider.... still recovering a month later!

Just got the BBC French Experience 1 ( to jog deep down memories as you say Diana!), and also 2 to prompt me to the nect level. Chose them because I noticed lots of evening classes use them (again, as mentioned) and also found the new editions at our local library - but I know you can get them via Amazon (which I'll get the supplementary workbooks from to keep me and OH going). Good Luck (to me I think!). Ewa

Wow, Belinda - you look fab! Such an inspiration... I have 6 or 7 st to lose and I can't seem to get a grip of anything to get started. I'd definately rather have a figure rather than a face (plastic surgery and all that!), I'll have to go back over the other posts and see if I can get inspired to actually start (tried the GI diet a couple of months ago but sabotaged myself within a couple of days.... boo hoo). Keep up the wonderful inspiration - all of you! Ewa

[quote]Le Petit Coq au Champs at Campigny near Pont Audemer is excellent as are the-Cochon D'or and La Poste in Beuzeville. The bar opposite La Poste is a lively venue for an early evening drink even if it i...[/quote] Alan, We had a couple of lovely meals last week in Honfleur (the Ascot - the chicken off their 22 euro menu is to die for - and a pizzeria in the lovely St Catherine quarter). No outside seating at present so couldn't enjoy this aspect yet but I can imagine with all the Christmas lights switched on (they were up, but not on, to my dismay) and wrapped up warm, outside meals would be delightful. Sue - we are based in Colaton Raleigh, between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton (God's waiting room!) in East Devon, although originally from London via Oxfordshire, we love it here and only France (and sometimes Italy) drags us away! When you think about it we are so very lucky really. Thank you all for these recommendations (especially as we've only tried a small handful of what has been mentioned) and will look forward to trying some (or all) out in the new year. We had a lovely meal in a small restaurant in Foulbec (thanks to our builder!!) it's on the corner opposite the church (but can't recall it's name). Fabulous 4 course lunch for 18 euros a head - yum! Cheers all - Ewa

I used to ride on the northern periphery of Heathrow (many many years ago) and we soon got used to Concorde taking off - in fact we knew it was 11am on a Tuesday or Thursday when it happened, so we checked our watches against it (whilst hanging on for dear life, I may add!!!). Ewa (still not recovered fully, and flinch at loud noises!!!)

Hi Epinay - welcome aboard! We've just come back from 27 having completed our purchase on Saturday. We saw the property (an old columbage barn with a CdeU in place) in late July for sale at just over 63k Euros. We offered 50k - were laughed at and then told by the immobiliare that the owner had an offer of 60k in place (which we doubt, but the scare tactic worked). We came back with an offer of 61k which was accepted - the agency fees were included but not the notaire, which was another 5k on top. Hope this helps - good luck! Ewa

Robin I know what you mean about not wanting to leave - even if it was colder in 27 than here in chilly Devon :-( We had a great (if stressful) time - the notaire had a great sense of humour and even saved us some money (the previous owners wanted us to pay for the geometre's services, but the notaire insisted this huge bill was split 3 ways as they were splitting their property into 3). We were so relieved once this was all over... Deauville beach is fab, as you say, lots of lovely piccies of Carter (our Golden Retriever) on his first visit abroad in August - looking at those makes me want to pack my bags right now... We prefer Trouville for meandering though (albeit in summer - not tried in winter). Seems less fake than it's snazzy neighbour - but I'm not complaining as we can enjoy both! All of our neighbouring towns here in Devon seem to be twinned with somewhere close to our new home in 27 and its really strange driving through say Pont L'Eveque with a road sign saying Ottery St Mary 357 miles (Ottery is about 5 miles from us here in Devon)...! Any other nice towns or villages anyone can recommend - or restaurants/bars? We're back in 27 in early Feb and I hope it's not as chilly then as earlier this week (am I living in false hope?). Ewa

Just come back from 27 this afternoon - house is now ours! Yippee! Well, shell with new roof being put on over Christmas is ours - home to be, hopefully habitable by summer. We've so far managed to 'find' Cormeilles (think its lovely) with a brief trip into Pont Audemer (which seems nice and looking forward to revisiting and investigating in the new year). Our favourite so far (slightly out of 27) is Honfleur and its only 10 mins from us. Lovely to hear of other people in 27 - maybe keep this thread going so we all get to know more about our 'home' area? Ewa (now very broke, but loving it!).

My goodness - somebody else in 27!!! I thought nobody else was in this area! We're going out tomorrow to sign the act authentique on Saturday and will be the proud owners of a columbage barn to renovate near Beuzeville - can't wait! I've found the site excellent as well - my nightly read through of useful and amusing info keeps me sane. Ewa 27 too!

Friends in the UK have recently had a spray form of insulation 'installed'. Is this sort of insulation not feasible? If companies in the UK give a 25yr guarantee it would indicate that this was a good alternative. Our friends were told by their mortgage company that they had to re-roof due to lack of insulation (could have been other things too, I'm not sure) but they did this and it was only something like a quarter of the price - they then used plasterboard to cover it up and carried on with usual plastering etc. Any thoughts??

Flybe have also just announced that they will be flying from Exeter to Paris CdeG from next March. Great for us as we're 5 miles from Exeter - but an hour and a half from CdeG :-) :-( Not sure of other destinations within the UK they're flying from to Paris.

[quote]My advice on those 24 H petrol pumps - don't use the ones that actually take the card inside the machine to read the card details - just use the ones where you can still pull your card out at any mome...[/quote] Good advice about munching machines - thank you! Couldn't face more beaurocracy...