Gastines

The Queen asks Gordon to form a Government so can she ask him to dissolve it, or are the Royals totally irrelevant apart from accepting the Purse.? Apparently even She was a bit miffed at losing some cash due to her Government not foreseeing the financial meltdown. I wonder if Her pension is in line for the £4 something the rest of us are getting in April,hopefully getting that is. Regards.  

Any forum members in our neck of the woods can usually pick up a dozen clean and smoke free paperbacks if you PM direct. Regards

Each trip back to Uk, I go to one paricular charity shop that has NEW paperbacks at 3 for £1. I don't know where they get them from .I usually buy £20 at a time and usually find a good choice each visit. After reading I pass them on and as we now have a Franco=Brittanique Society locally,they also get a pile. I note most " Charity" shops in Uk are now more like any other shop and most secondhand books are £2-£3 a time, Regards.

Can anyone remember anything that Lords Kinnock and Mandleson achieved for the benefit of UK,or anyone else, whilst MEP's? Regards.

It seems it's normal policy to remove the Kitchen units.Several French viewers we've had have all asked if the kitchen is staying or being removed.I presume they don't mean the tiles as well. Things are obviously moving a bit as on a visit to the agent on Saturday .two families were signing on seperate sales. Regards.

Has anybody ever thought any differently about M.P's and the Aristo's. Makes a change from them being caught with their trousers down I suppose. As they make the rules I doubt if anything will change,another enquiry, more money for a few of them for a year or so and then what? Regards.

Wooly. That should create a few replies. I have always thought that the only reason the Crown kept hanging on to it was because half the Georgian Aristo's owned anything profitablewhilst keeping the population in poverty. Still want to retain their bits of land etc but at what cost to the Treasury and inhabitants. I'm waiting to see how the Duke of Westminster deals with his Squatters? Regards.

First thing to dismantle and sell off thousands of assetsThe National Trust quickly followed by a few under used castles/estates and church properties. That should liven up Sunday. Regards.

I see Iceland have managed to get rid of their hopeless government,perhaps there is hope the UK will follow?I.m just amazed at all the new schemes GB esq keeps coming up with. Regards  

Having had a substantial sum inherited from UK last year,we visited the local Impots just to put our minds at rest. Didn't want to know about it at all. Been here as resident Taxpayers for 6 yrs+ Regards.

Having a joint account with CA, we both have CA Mastercards but had a shock today when I had a form from the bank informing me of the charge deducted from our account. 34 euros EACH CARD. We were not informed of this at the time,anyone else aware of this. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Regards.

Well put together Gluestick. I contacted Monetcorp today to move a few bob over and although I presume the chap relies on Commission, he actually advised that he expects the exchange rate to improve over the next few weeks and suggested I  leave it for the moment and contact him every few days? Regards.  Perhaps I should sign off as " Confused, Tunbridge Wells".

The most worrying thing is that the UK might devalue the pound, radically effecting the value of UK based savings. I did a trawl of UK banks when in UK over Christmas and only HSBC offered an account with no UK address. They seemed to be a safe bet but I see the shares are dropping like a stone,  like all the other banks. Capital only on cash deposit at the moment ,thank goodness not in shares.  Amazing how one bank can offer an account and other banks can't. As for advice,I don't think I saw any staff over 21years old. Regards.

I see Soros says take any money out of sterling as UK is finished for investors. Quite worrying,I don't know whether it's safer over here or what the H-LL to do at the moment.Interest is the least of our worries ,the main thing is trying to ensure capital is safe. Any ideas.?I have left capital in UK to try and protect the family from the problems with French inheritance laws but I now have to think in the short term.As I don't intend to kick the bucket in the next year or two I 'm open to any advice. I'm a workman not a financial genius and am finding even the basics of these problems impossible to follow. With all the money injected into the system and the billions supposedly LOST, where is it all going? Regards.

I was thinking of applying for a job in the Royal Mint cleaning team.I remember watching the TV show ,I believe it was called, "Dirty Money". I wonder what extra security procedures were put in place after the showing or knowing UK, perhaps the Committee is still discussing?  Does DLA print Mugabe's money,if so have they run out of "0's" yet and who is paying them? Regards.

Knowing how Gordon Brown.P.M. seems to deal with financial problems,ours not his, I should have known that the best investment was shares in De la Rue. They went up 32p today,obvious that they were going to be busy , probably the only business in the UK that is ,as they PRINT money. Regards.

In response to Lachouette 's posting. We had to register with the Mairie 6 years ago and got the Tax de sejour book with the required slips for the payments and were told then that it was a legal requirement to register with the CdC. The Impot actually took the trouble to send us a copy of the details from Paris. I think that with the downturn in trade for many hotels and registered B&B's, a general tightening up of anything unofficial is taking place. I would like to add that we found it worth while going down the registration route,apart from simplifying the tax return,we found out quite a few things to our advantage. However...The point that you can register and de-register so easily and the difference it can make to your social payments was NOT advised by CdC or Impot  but the again,why should they? Regards.

Where do local airports connect too? Might be worth advertising at that end pointing out the direct fly route and any offers. Regards.

I do wonder how far UK Chembers of Commerce and Trade look to find extra business. Having lived in Bournemouth /Poole most of my working life I still read the local paper on the computer each day. On the same day as an article about the Council creating a new post at£110.000 to  seek new business and promote the area, there was an article pointing out the decline in shoppers to most stores and shops BUT also a nice big advert from Brittany Ferries with special price day trips etc to France for shopping etc. With B.F. and Condor ferries going to Cherbourg and St.Malo I wondered how long it would take someone to realise that with the present exchange rate it might pay to offer the same discounted fares to shoppers FROM France.Most household furnishings are much cheaper in UK at the moment.Perhaps a little earner for a coach and delivery firm to get thier act together? I remember in the last financial meltdown I was working in London and there was always one nationality that seemed to have vast amounts of cash at any one time. Regards.

In reply to Sunday Driver. We never had any problems with cover at all.Now on E121 but initially on E106. We pay for 100% top up with Radiance all year but the other payments stop with de-registering. Also we have nearly always received a rebate. The staff at the CdC have been very helpful. I might add that we had alternative quotes for our top up including our bank.CA. where our house and car insurance is placed and no-one could come anywhere near the quote from Radiance. A Hospital stay,3 days,op etc cost me the grand some of 50 euros.Any reimbursements are back in the bank within a few days. No problems in 6 years. Regards.

Rules change all the time BUT... If you go to the Chambre de Commerce they will register your business and contact all the relevant departments ,for a small fee. Well worth the fee,about 50 euros,as it's all dealt with promptly. Also worth noting as pointed out by MIKI and of definite benefit to us, if you only intend to open say from April 1st to Sept 30th you only need register for that time,Register just before April,de-register just before Sept 30th. We did this for 5years,not knowing about this the first year and it saved us a considerable amount on outgoings to URSAAF etc. Might be worth your while checking.By de-rgistering and getting the CdC to deal with that also,we found any refunds due were very quickly put in our bank. Bonne Chance. Regards.

For the last 6 years we have seen them in exactly the same field,by the side of N137, used to be in the hundreds but this year only about60-70 and the odd one in adjacent fields. Quite spectacular close up. Regards

Now retired,sorry, after all the adds I keep reading for carpet fitters I think I may have to get the tool kit and knee kicker out again.most fitters here and virtually everywhere but UK seem to prefer stuck down,must be something to do with the bugs.Correze is a bit far but I have managed Iraq/Saudi/Qatar/Brittany and a few thousand in UK. Bonne Chance. Regards.

Your missing the point of all these measures.Just think how many Civil Servants are going to be employed in administrating his ideas. It's all about jobs for the boys and no-one seems to notice. Instead of scrapping his 10% tax fiasco they now employ another lot to adminster the giveaways. I hate to think how many "Extras" G.B. P.M. has actually employed during his term.All producing nothing but paperwork. Regards.

Haven't visited the alternative site yet but it sounds like MIKI the serial offender might have migrated to the other side. Should liven things up a bit!! Regards.