Athene

[quote]Thanks for cheering me up! I bet your a wow at funerals![/quote] Yes, I don't want this kind of news either!!!! I have booked six crossing on these ferries as they were such a good price! Maybe to cover all eventualities,  I should invest in an inflatable lifeboat and start rowing lessons at the gym!

[quote]Or more then likely shot! It's still season and dress like that I would be a Hell of a trophy on Les Chasse mur.[/quote] Where in France are you? We are near Bordeaux and it is wise to know when the hunting days are as buckshot in the rear is a sign of an early spring!

[quote]"I would hold fire on the strapless, backle,ss evening gown for your place on the Captain's Table though" Wasted my time shaving my back and legs then?[/quote] No, style is never wasted! I can see you now - sashaying through the woods in France resplendent in your gold lame creation with many dogs all on gold leashes all sporting, little, designer boleros ! You will be the talk of your area!

[quote]Having to go to UK with one of the dogs in two weeks time. So booked with Speedferries for first time. Usually go tunnel but €400 is taking the "mick". What are they like and anything to watch out for...[/quote] We came this time with Hoverspeed's Sea cat and were very impressed with the swiftness of the embarking and disembarking. The ship was comfortable and I do not think it was anymore noisy below decks than an average ferry. We had a rough crossing so I think a smooth one would be even better. I would hold fire on the strapless, backle,ss evening gown for your place on the Captain's Table though!

[quote]Thankyou everybody for your invaluable advice once again, even if the house sells soon it would appear I am in for a long wait! I fear after that period I will not then be able to visit this site too ...[/quote] Hi Rogs, I am of the firm opinion that behind every cloud there is a silver lining and you have to stay positive and look for it, not hope that it will shine on you by chance. There are still things about the UK that are good and, at the end of the day, it is the people not places that make for happiness. Good luck with the move and I hope your pet passport come through easily!

[quote]And now ( maybe) you see my point just because information has been widely circulated doesn't mean its correct this information has been widely circulated by amongst others QUAFF only trouble is its ...[/quote] I guess you must breed dogs? What sort do you breed? We are going to buy a small dog soon and am curious.

[quote]Quote: we are a long time apart with the BF one I don't know if[/quote] Yes I always check on the cats with the steward but I still think that from 8.30 pm to 7.30am the following morning is an xxx long time for them to be on their own in their cage even though we do break it up with a visit before we turn in. With the Speed Cat they are only on their own for an hour. Yes the journey by car is longer but they do sleep most of the way, waking up for snacks at service stations when we need comfort breaks ourselves. It is interesting that on uneven English roads they mew and complain but get onto smooth autoroutes and we hear nothing from them! Have you found the same?  

[quote]We have a large transit van going to south-west, England in November with plenty of space on board, so if anyone has large items they wish to transport back to the Uk........contact us with details ...[/quote] How much would it be to transport a two oven Aga to Bordeaux area please?

[quote]We're planning a longish holiday next summer and will be going Speedferries because we want some flexibility in our return crossing and because we'll be taking our dog and S/F have just acquired their...[/quote] Hi Linda, another thing to consider is that they only take so many pets and once their allocation is filled, it does not matter whether they have human seats, you will not be allowed to get on. This happened to me! Hope it helps!

[quote]Teamedup; No I havn't got a new passport, my understanding is that it is perfectly ok to travel on the old one but on renewal the new ones kick in.[/quote] I have been told this too!

[quote]We have often taken the Sea Cat with Hoverspeed and had no problems with the dog at all. The good thing is that it is quick from Calais to Douvres. Our dog isn't nervous though, she is very relaxed.[/quote] Hi Fanatic! this time we came out to France on the Sea Cat from Dover to Calais in 3 metre seas! I think our cats were better sailors than a lot of the people aboard! We have a large cage for them and we give them food, drink and a litter tray. Normally we travel overnight on the Portsmouth to St Malo, Brittany Ferries crossing but I think they found the fast crossing better as we are a long time apart with the BF one. It cost us £30 return for each cat though which is more than BF!

[quote]Hi, I really feel for you as we were in the same position about 18 months ago (fortunately, we didn't have to go back to the UK in the end) and I had to research all the intricacies of taking our ani...[/quote] HI! we regularly travel backwards and forwards from France to the UK in the company of our two cats. We are always checked and the microchips are scanned and checked off against the paperwork. The vet's certificates for the tic and the worm treatment are always checked  - in fact the last time we went back to the UK, we arrived too early and had to be put on the later ferry as the treatment was not 24 hours old!  Most vets will issue appropriate documents and the cost of the tic and worm treatments are reasonable. I would hate to be without my cats and I find travelling with them an easy affair. Hope this helps!

[quote]" By the way in regards to someone saying that this is the case of expats being paranoid, many may find this statement very hurtful. For one, today there are many such as myself that are in second ma...[/quote] It is not the case that only Brits have CU! Our French neighbours have a CU too! They are second marriage and the husband has children with his first marriage but it is his understanding that their house with a CU will pass to his second wife with no tax to pay (he has no children in his second marriage) should he  die before her and when they are both dead, it will pass to his children.

[quote]The way I understand it (and I'm more than happy to be corrected) is that if you do nothing, when the first spouse dies (assuming you are married) the house will not automatically pass to the survivin...[/quote] Hi! your understanding of these matters accords with mine! In our area, there is a little , old lady of 82 years who, after her husband died, had her life made so awful by her son who wanted his cut of the house (he does not live there but has a 'pavilion' down the lane!) that she was unable to gainsay him anymore and she has had to go into a paid home with another family; in law she could have stayed but in reality she had no choice, she could not tough it out any longer! I jolly well hope this would never happen to my husband or myself!

[quote]Help! We have been let down by the removal firm we had planned to use - they seemed very flexible on the phone, but now that we have a date for completion they can't move our belongings for over a we...[/quote] Hi Alastair! we have used a guy called Alec Day with our removals, he is 100% trustworthy and I have no hesitation in recommending him. His mobile is 07831 121555 Cheers Athene

[quote]But you have a British "identity" that you can't dispose of without physically removing part of your brain. If you were born in Britain and spent, say, the first 20 years of your life there, that's w...[/quote] Well said Saligo! Friendship transcends race!

[quote]The subject of personal identity or how we see ourselves is interesting. We arrive in France as immigrants totally fixed on an identity which is formed from where ever we come from. We want to integra...[/quote] Hi! I am intrigued with the last letter that said they had a way of living privately that was English and a 'put on' way of going about things publically with French friends that was different! I would be interested if you could expand on this.  I have never found I have to be anything other than myself with our French friends. We laugh at the same jokes, comment together on world news and swap recipes, share tools and ways of doing things etc etc. This summer we had to lay a floating, concrete floor in the kitchen/living room, our French neighbour came to give us a hand and showed us a much better way to do it! Our neighbours had to attend a hospital for a consultant's appointment, so we looked after their aged mother. And so it goes on - taking the best from the two countries' realms of experience and sharing. I am sure other people must know what I mean?

[quote]I never aspired to becoming french. I did aspire to become part of my community, which I suppose is the whole group in this sense. Everyone knows I'm l'anglaise, it doesn't matter that I am. I do my b...[/quote] I think our mayor summed it up for us when he said to us that in our area there are some really dreadful Brits, the point and grunt brigade he calls them. They have no intention of learning the language, ignore their neighbours and when they are not understood in local shops, well they shout louder! Really useful! I have to say that these Brits are the ones who knock everything English and are escaping from their troubles over here but, 'sure as eggs is eggs', they will not get on in France either! It is all a question of time! Yes I agree, one cannot ever become French but I personally am proud of being English and would not want to change my nationality. I think our French friends understand this and respect me for it. After all, that is how they feel about being French! We live in the countryside and we get on really well with our French neighbours. We have a great time, everyone joins in together. Yes we are lucky, we do speak French fluently but I think it is more a matter of being out-going and generally caring and sharing.

Hi! I was the original person who used Alec and live in Essex as he does. He has a van and trailer and if you have lots of household belongings you should count on Alec doing more than one load for you. Even at 2 loads, he is still cheaper than other companies. You have to bear in mind too that if you are taking boxes of books these will weigh heavy. Also you would not believe the number of people who want to take myriads of garden planted pots! So think of the weight as well as the volume as his van and trailer will only take so much! Cheers Athene

[quote]Hi Athene I don't want to be a spanner in the works, but have you adopted each others children? This is how I understand it. If you have CU, even if it is just relating to the house, when one per...[/quote] Hi Jane, what you say is not what the notaire has said, so I am going to stick with her say so!  

[quote]Athene, did you get your children's permission to change your marriage regime?[/quote] Hi! no we didn't as we consider that a house we bought together when they had long since left home is our business not theirs. It is not necessary to get this permission for a CU contract. We are both on our second marriage and we have each two children from our first marriages. All the children know that apart from certain small family things that are to go to individuals, everything else in the way of houses and possesions will be split equally four ways! This contract is not cheap though and the notaire's fees are reflected in how much your house is worth on the open market. We now have it in place and with the very minimum of fuss, all the notaire needed to do it was the L'Acte part of the sale contact. I hope this has been helpful? Do not hesitate to ask me if you have any other problems and I will do my best to answer them. Best Wishes Athene

[quote]I would not buy without sorting the access strip. In the UK ransom strips are common and deliberately set up and there are formula for calculating their value if you get planning permision for the 'lo...[/quote] However, on a happier note, the land we want to purchase and has to have a permission to cross a strip belonging to someone else is now resolved as our notaire has the owners' written consent (as long as it will not cost them any money!) The present owner of our new land has sorted this out in conjuction with the notaire. So we are all happy! I would say here it really helps to have a conscientious, thoughtful notaire! It took us a while to find her bgut she is worth her weight in gold! The one we had to buy the house was less than helpful!

[quote]Hi all! I promised to reply - well here is what we are doing! We bought our house several years ago with a Tontine on it which would pass the house on to the surviving partner when one of us died but...[/quote] I omitted to say that the Tontine has to be wiped out first by the notaire before he/she puts in place the Universal Comunity agreement.

[quote]Hi, The way that I understand it, from our talks with solicitors and notaires, is that *only* our house is owned Universelle, and that this should be defined at the time of purchase, that is, it woul...[/quote] Hi all! I promised to reply - well here is what we are doing! We bought our house several years ago with a Tontine on it which would pass the house on to the surviving partner when one of us died but there would also be punitive tax to pay by the partner! So we are going for this universal community agreement which will pass the house onto the surviving partner without payment of any tax. The kids will have to pay the tax when they inherit after us but we will not be around to hear them moan! Well I sincerely hope not anyway! We got married in May in England and apparently it would have been better to have announced our intention to have this kind of agreement then but it is still possible to do it now! I hope this is helpful!

[quote]We could have bought two houses for 74000 Euros in Britanny, but absolutely no land around it apart from the strip between the two houses, I just could not decide then and there and another british c...[/quote] Yes I heard a tale about a couple on this site who bought a house that had very little land and when they moved in they needed to re-do their septic tank and the authourities told them it had to be 30 metres from the house and they did not have 30 metres! I never did hear the outcome!