Happy Expat

Good luck - let's know how you get on Bob & Jane (47)

Have you tried Castorama in Agen near to the Parc des Expositions. There was a good selection there a month or so ago including timber garages and stables! Bob & Jane (47)

Reckon the ultimate mickey-take is the LDV van seen at Bergerac airport on UK plates with a local French telephone number on it. Not a UK one in sight ... Bob & Jane (47)

Gives excellent results with pastry too, roast meat is superb! Jane does not use the water for pastry but keeps the large enamel tray at the bottom even for this. Good luck Cathy Bob & Jane (47)

Thanx to everyone that has contributed in our efort to find a solution. We now have one that works: Place what appears to be the top of the oven (a large black enamel tray) on the lowest shelf. Place a dish of water on this tray, do not let it go dry when using the oven Hey presto - no more burnt offerings. Thanx again folks! Bob & Jane (47)

Intermarche at Villereal (47) have an excellent 'Mature Cheddar' - firm, plenty of bite and a delicious afterglow in the mouth too! Perhaps others in the chain may also stock it ... Bob & Jane

Three year old Kangoo Multispace, 1.9 Tdi, full comp - 370 euros, Dept 47

We have several pine martens (north 47) but none have yet taken up residence. We see them occasionally as if we sit quietly on the balcony they will walk around the top of the wall! Bob & Jane

Not too economic? 35mpg overall ain't bad for a 2.2 injected - the Yanks reckon sub 30 for this particular vehicle.

So motoring in France ain't cheap eh? We run a Renault Kangoo 1.9 diesel and consistently return 20k per litre. Our previous (UK reg car, Honda Aerodeck) was 12k per litre. Plus diesel is cheaper here as well as insurance and that includes roadside assistance etc. So our motoring is costing us about half of what it was in UK. We're happy with that, apart form the empty roads as well .... Bob & Jane (47)

Maybe not much help Jez but the locals in 47 call them gendarmes - cannot find out why! We've nicknamed them 'lovebugs' as invariably they are in pairs and as you say clonging to each other. Bob & Jane (47)

I'm awaiting a catarct operation in UK and look to have a date within the next few weeks, hopefully. Have been waiting four months for E121 (my husband is described by Newcastle as 'Urgent'). Should I return to UK to have this done or have the procedure carried out in France? We are registered with a local doctor who thankfully speaks English (my French is up to most things but not matters medical). Will it cost to have have this done in France, any idea what sort of scale if so - would any/all of the cost be borne by UK NHS although I do not have E121 in my hot little hands. I am over retirement age by the way. Any help or advice is most welcome Jane (47)

Not total gibberish to us and we've only been Forum members about 6 months or so. The first post about three days ago said it all, Having read just the next couple any posts from that source are ignored. Perhaps there should be a new section on the Forum - 'Troll Here' Bob & Jane (47)

Happens here too in north 47 - and as for thunderstorms

PS !! Local diesel price is 0.96 euros per litre ...

Love the 'advice' given by a previous poster! We found that the answer is to forget what someone else in another post called 'Brit thinking' and look at what local people drive. The most popular choice seems a Renault Kango or the Citroen/Peugeot variants. So, we bought a three year old Kangoo 1.9 Tdi it's economical (55 mpg average), roomy (especially with the back deats down for carrying the odd large item), does not strain our eardrums, has an acceptable performance and is reliable and inexpensive on parts when nneded. What more could you want :-) Bob & Jane (47)

Love the 'advice' given by a previous poster! We found that the answer is to forget what someone else in another post called 'Brit thinking' and look at what local people drive. The most popular choice seems a Renault Kango or the Citroen/Peugeot variants. So, we bought a three year old Kangoo 1.9 Tdi it's economical (55 mpg average), roomy (especially with the back deats down for carrying the odd large item), does not strain our eardrums, has an acceptable performance and is reliable and inexpensive on parts when nneded. What more could you want :-) Bob & Jane (47)

Thanx for your help folks! We can certainly sympathise with Hereford as we were thinking of electric until a few minutes ago. Jane has just baked a cherry crumble which has turned out perfectly. Someone suggested putting the large tray that comes in the oven at the bottom and placing a dish of water on it - that has done the trick and saved us the expense of buying another cooker :-)) Bob & Jane (47)

Thanx folks for the replies, just what I wanted to know :-) Bob & Jane (47)

We have just bought a three year old Kangoo 1.9 Tdi and are totally delighted with it - suits our needs perfectly. There was no handbook with the vehicle and we are stuck for some info. The main query is the size of the diesel tank - can anyone help please? Thanx Bob & Jane

Our cooker is a Sauter Catalyse running on bottled gas. The burner in the oven is circular and below the floor of the oven. No matter what Regulo setting is used anything cooked in there will burn on the bottom and be undercooked on the top. Using different shelf levels seems to make little difference. My poor wife is tearing her hair out as she enjoyed cooking before moving and now cannot bake anything at all. Any help/advise is most welcome. Bob & Jane (47)

Great - Uk government generously pays your state pension to you in France. But, there had to be one did there not, Pension Credit Guarantee is not payable for those resident abroad. Another con ....   My wife is nine years older than me and has only ever paid Married Woman's NI contributions as have many others of her generation - no information was given as to the implications of this by the authorities at all. Now we find that she cannot draw a State Pension until I am 65 and is entitled to 52p per week in her own right. Politicians? Bah - humbug .... Bob & Jane

Thanks for your replies so far, much appreciated. Meo - you say they won't let you have a chequebook, surely that almost negates the whole concept of a bank current account? Has anyone else had this problem or is Meo just one of the victims of the 'system' ....   Bob & Jane  

How easy (and how long) is it to open an account in France having moved there? Any suggestions as to helpful banks and possible cautions of unhelpful ones.   Bob & Jane

Thanks folks for enlightening us, has had us puzzled for ages!   Punch - in agents descriptions of a property all sorts of features are listed, e.g., sdb, sde etc and some have NC against them as opposed to yes or no. Thanks again all   Bob & Jane