Teamedup

You are simply a second home owner in France and second home owners often pay more than residents anyway as certain allowances can be made for family circumstances in ones primary residence.   I don't even know if anyone with a say disability allowance which reduced their local taxes bill as a full time french resident would get an allowance on a second home?

Look on www.caf.fr and all benefits are there. Basic child benefit is only paid for two children or more. You will have to let the authorities in the UK know that you are moving to France.

Why don't people like me want to?  Well, why leave one's native shore voluntarily to live amoungst one's compatriots somewhere else?  If one is moving to France for France how much would a larger brit community affect the frenchness of where one lives. This article has shown how much it can affect a region. No way would I want to say show off where I lived if we were next to a cricket ground in La France Profonde, or had numerous 'english' shops in the vicinty and heard constant english around me. Now my visitors might find it reassuring and maybe nice, but I would feel, well I can't think of a better word than embarrassed. I sort of believe in some sort of herding mentality too, and that people who have a common language will be drawn to others they can talk to. Now I may be wrong about this, but I think that I could have done that. I had a choice, there are areas around here with quite a lot of brits and other english speakers, so we deliberately went in the other direction. I always say, when I want lots of english company, I know of a little island just en face de Calais, I go there.  

Well go to your doctors about it. Yes burning is a good description. The bit on my thigh feels sort of half numb and it hurts too, bit like when say my foot has gone to sleep and when the blood starts circulating again, hurts but still feels numbish. I can't say that I get any back pain with this problem, just which ever leg that hurts and the accupuncture always does the trick.

We wouldn't have built where we built unless we had liked it. We have over 2000 inhabitents now and it sounds rather like Cat's village. I wanted all those amenities when we were looking around and we have lots of associations in the village too. However, we are just far enough away from proper 'life' for it to now be a right pain in the backside when we go out. Taxi's are too expensive and for all we don't do badly at all for public transport, it stops quite early on an evening. In fact going out is expensive as just a drink is dear, never mind the meal we usually have when we go out, and ofcourse one of us has to drive. This village served us well for about 20 years, just time to move on now. we're in the Rhone Alps in an alpine valley. ps yet again, remember how much your cotisation costs will be if you are working from home in France. Does your employer know about this? Do you?

I get a bad pain in my shins too, it is a weird pain and is not one of those pains I have much success ignoring. Nothing to do with gout, but one of the nerves beneath the sciatic nerve (? well around there somewhere) that gets trapped. I have accupunture for this with great success. My pain can also have a burning on my front thigh too and sometimes it gets as far as my feet.

We do have a choices, national or international cards, with débit immédiat or débit différé. The prices of these cards at all the banks I have used have always been different. I am talking about debit cards now, not credit cards which are available be it rather rare to have on in France. I have no idea why this person's bank can't tell them what sort of card they have and it should be in the contract the bank issued with the card too. I know that there were in the past some national cards which had a specific logo on them and it was possible to withdraw cash from machines in other countries as my son used this when he was in Germany. He couldn't use it for purchases though and that was a few years ago and I would always check as to what a card I was issued with did. Not on here, but with my bank, as they are the only people who can give this information. Cash withdrawals on a debit card, even with debit différé are usually debited immediately whether they are done in France or abroad.

Either a pregnant bump or your knee is through your trousers. [;-)] Are you going to cut the bottoms off your trousers and make shorts?

Tristanspeed it was always on your tax form. It's one of the abattements or claiming against mileage etc. Income tax never was that expensive in France, generally the worst hit by it are single people. The taxes that make it all add up are on ALL other things and one way or another they come to a lot through out the year.

Yes I would think that as many as Tony mentioned would be classed as a lot by the 2000 odd inhabitants in our village. I was wondering how many lived in this village with 'so' many brits.

We both sign as soon as they come. We use our car in the UK and it would be inconvenient to have to remember for our first trip back as we both drive when we are in the UK.

And the boxes you write in are very very small and I write very very big, so my husband always complains that I haven't left room for him to sign if I do it first.

Good for you spg. [:D]

As your residency only starts from the day you arrive, you don't have to declare anything earned prior to your arrival.

And you expect me after 26 years not to be. [:)]  Truth is France is a very argumentative country.

Me I'd go and ask them why their siren goes every Saturday. I do things like that. That is how I end up with so much useless information. Our church bells seem to go on forever when there is a funeral, never noticed a specific way of ringing them. Did you know that hypnotherapy can help with tinnitus?

No they don't suninfrance. The gendarmes, what can one say about them. If the mood is on them to 'get' a person then they will. They do as they please and  in their own time, how many pages do you want of their pathetic behaviour, I could actually write pages and pages about their antics or lack of. I was out with my son a couple of weeks ago and I said that I hadn't seen so many gendarmes out and about and stopping people in ages. He laughed and said 'it's sunny'. Then we were both laughing. I can never remember seeing them out in the rain or when it is too cold or too hot. A couple of years ago they used to controle cars in our village, always from around 16h15 for about half an hour. My friend was stopped just like that, they did her for something banal too, they waived her son past, he had no seat belt on. In fact she and I only ever saw them stop women.  Donc, I am mefiante that they chose their time exprès, all those mamans on the school run. (hows that for franglais[:)]). In fact such is my mefiance that  I would go as far as to say that white males are probably the least likely people to be stopped really. I would love to see the statistiques.

Twinkle and Coco, just apply for a new one when yours expires. Mine expires this month and I'm applying from a new one. My husband has applied for a new one. As long as you qualify then they are obliged to issue new titre de sejours. I saw the news today and had been wondering if they meant people from EU member states too, but why not.

I don't think that they do test them other than the first Wednesday of every month. They went off here today. On  a weekend, we hear ours quite often, usually due to road accidents.

I've read the article now. And I might visit Eymet through morbid curiosity. It is an anathema to me that people move abroad to somewhere full of their compatriots. I realise that it isn't especially a british thing, most people's do it, I wouldn't and simply do not like the thought of it. Should I be saying well done to the dordognais for being so sympa and how sad sad sad that their region was in such a bad state.

As Clair said, at midi the first Wednesday of each month and they test the sirens. At other times the pompiers sirens are sounded. How many times it goes indicates as to what sort of accident/emergency they are being called out to.

Sounds like a curiosity to visit and if we are over that way, maybe we will. Dordogneshire, that's just about right isn't it. I wonder how the indiginous population feel about the invasion.

Well thankyou for being a smart alec gardian. I was just passing on another warning I had heard and I believe to be true. Obviously you don't understand how these things work in France.

You need a very detailed bill of exactly what the notaire charged you for and what the people who bought your house were charged for. You need to see if your notaire is holding this money and if they haven't paid it, maybe they were waiting for you to give them a copy of these bills? And if it were in the acte de vente that the purchasers pick up the bill for the part of the year from when they moved in, then they need billing, if they haven't already been billed. I don't know how much the fisc will do other than bill you anyway if this is still owed. When we own/live in the property on the 1st of Jan then we are responsible for these bills for the whole year. It is marked so, on the back of these bills. I imagine that the fisc don't care what other arrangements we come to via an acte de vente etc, they know who owes them and they bill that person accordingly. How the notaires sort this sort of thing out at the beginning of the year when the bill isn't due until the end of the year I don't know.

We have always signed ours, both of us sign them as soon as they arrive. If we let friends use the car they always have the documents with them and a letter signed by us stating that they can use the car.   EDIT Everyone always says that if they have decided to 'get' someone, then they will always find 'something'.