WJT

Yes of course if there were clauses. I took it that they pulled out an hour ahead assuming that if this was a surprise the clauses were met.

[quote user="Mrs Trellis"]Ha ha! Make sure you make lots of noise at that party. But how can you be sure when he is going? A couple of friends have recently sold their houses, only to find the buyer dropped out at the last minute , well in one case an hour before the Acte de Vente.[/quote] Don't they lose their deposit in this case?

Well done. Glad you had a good journey and was able to avoid the farmers. :)

Sounds a bit of a nightmare Mint. Hopefully when all said and done you will be happy with your decision. I have heard wonderful things about induction hobs. Will be interested to hear how you get on with it and how you feel it compares with a gas hob. I find it amazing that you can lift a pot and clean a spill and then put it back to finish cooking. :)

I was in Perigueux today and when leaving Leclerc the farmers had all the roads blocked and I couldn't leave! I got lucky, I asked a couple of fellows standing outside on the road that as it turned out were working at KFC what was going on. They suggested I drive up behind the complex where there is a building on a hill up a dirt road, I did this and was able to exit in the end after moving some barriers. If I hadn't of spoken to them perhaps I would still be there! They will surely not get the public on their side with these sorts of antics. Feel really bad for those that ended up being stuck there. It does appear terrorism works in France!

[quote user="mint"]Speaking for myself, WJT, I'll just fix on a rate that I am happy with and then I'd change. For example, I bought a new kitchen. It was on the upper level of the sum I had in mind. So............the kitchen cost X euros and I set a realistic figure in pounds. I put the amount in pounds in the FX account and, as soon as the amount in euros was reached, I changed. If I'd waited, I'd be getting a few hundred euros more but, at the time a few weeks ago, when grexit was excitedly discussed, I could have got less than the amount I needed for the kitchen. You take a chance but you try and limit the downside to something approaching acceptable to you. [/quote] Thank you Mint, I think that is a good idea. :) Frederick, not sure I would want to see what would happen all around me but from a personal point of view 15% interest rates would be brilliant!!! :)

Thank you Mint for replying. I think you could be right at least you know what you are getting . We don't have the money yet (house sale) so not sure exactly how it works but imagine if we forward buy there would be quite a bit of cushion so to speak built in so chances are we would be getting quite a bit less than the actual rate. But if the Euro collapses perhaps a lot less if we waited. :/

Sadly I know no on has a crystal ball but if you needed to exchange euros in approximately four months time would you forward buy, exchange currency in four months, wait? :(

We had a LOT of painting a few years back and we had a French painter use the professional line of Recca which was ok but it did take a few coats. We later had a large and tall stairwell plastered and needed painting as well as another large room and an English painter did this using Renaulac which was mixed to a chosen colour of a light cream.. He said it was the best paint he had ever used including the paint in the UK. He added lots of water and it was very dense. It went a long way. Since the I have always used Renaulac such as the wood paint for shutters etc... But as I said I have not bought it since the repackaging so have no idea if the quality has changed. Perhaps Woolybanana your experience is more recent and perhaps it has gone down hill which is sad if that is the case because I have recommended it numerous times.

I like Brico Depot's Renaulac. I haven't used it for a large area for a few years so presuming it's the same since they changed the packaging, it was brilliant. In my opinion , much better than any in the UK. Coverage was excellent and was very dense and the mat very flat which I love. I have never used LIDL's so can't compare the two. Perhaps you used a can that was expired?

If you still want to carry on working some it may be an idea to consider setting up an an Auto Entrepreneur (AE). Things are changing I believe with this regime but at the moment it allows you to work for yourself and pay taxes on your income that is very simple and it a flat percentage. Your income could be very little but I believe you must make something within two years to carry on the AE. This allows you to enter the system and access healthcare for you and your husband. An AE is set up independently in other words you and your husband shouldn't set up one together, either one each and each work for yourself or only one and the other is a dependent healthcare wise. It is something perhaps worth looking into.

[quote user="lindal1000"]I'm currently going through all of this at the moment in relation to our own wills. As I have been advised we can leave all our assets to each other and the person who inherits can sell, spend all the money and in fact do as they wish with it. Inheritance tax however is not affected ..and hence in order to protect the other person from having to pay an enormous amount of tax, we have to either PACs or get married. Ascendant are not protected heirs under French law so even with a French will we would be okay. The only thing you need the UK will for is to disinherit any children.[/quote] Lindal1000 I am not understanding your comment in regards to the IK will. I thought for the new EU law in August that you would need a French will stating you want UK laws to apply. Are you saying this needs to be done in the UK?

The OP's photos look like ordinary bread rolls with added fruit or chocolate chips to me.

Call me sceptical but personally I believe this tiff between father and daughter is intentional and staged. It gives the appearance that Marine is not as radical as her father to help her win even more votes. I believe she is!

Sorry about the blockage, it must be so uncomfortable as you wait it out but REALLY excellent news about the clear lymph nodes! You and your wife must be so relieved. Best wishes to both of you from me too.

Aargh! Just saw your post, missed it. :(

But you could say the same thing about SOME British abroad. Perhaps Idun those you spent an afternoon with or came across would be lovely when visiting abroad. It is always the bad behaved ones that stand out. Like some on British high streets or abroad on a Friday night but luckily not all Brits behave this way. :)

Perhaps the real story is that some Americans not all have high expectations in regards to accommodation. ;) Americans from the south and Midwest in particular are some of the most polite people you will ever meet.

This is quite interesting. From what I understand the UK will be doing away with the paper part of the driving license. So what will those (like us) that have the photos on the photo card expired and live permanently in France do? How can we keep our UK license?

I have to update this because the forecast eventually came to fruition. :) It was cool and very cloudy all morning and when I wrote the previous post. It is very beautiful and sunny at the moment. Yea!

Yesterday was a glorious 70 f here but today it is cooler and very cloudy even though it has and is forecasting sun. Starting tomorrow it is going back to low 50s and high 40s and rain most days. So spring has finished for us for the time being. :( Last year we didn't have a spring at all, winter lasted until about June! Hope that isn't the case this year.

That is good news Grecian. Hopefully your wife will be OK for the week and you are able to focus on yourself getting better. As Théiére mentioned hope you will be able to update us after the op, if not will be thinking about you over the week.

Yes same here Grecian, keeping fingers crossed, good luck.

Me too. Delete!

[quote user="Daft Doctor"]Hi, all dwellings must have at least one smoke detector under the law, secondary residences included, and the new law takes effect from 8th March 2015. Battery operated is fine, but best to make sure it is either a 5 year or 10 year lithium battery for convenience. All detectors must conform to european standard EN 14604, but this is clearly written on the smoke alarm, packaging, and (as I found) on all online descriptions. The other key element of the new law is the siting of the alarm, which must be in a circulation area serving the main living and sleeping areas (corridor or hallway, etc). It can either be high up on a wall or on the ceiling, but it is advised to avoid siting it close to bath or shower rooms to avoid false alarms. On a practical level, the detectors I've just fitted in my house today were sent post-free to France from Screwfix and arrived in 3 days. I chose to get three radio-linked detectors because of the size of the house, but legally that wasn't necessary. What the instructions for the detectors did say however was that 'dead air' collects in the area within 10cm in either direction from a join between ceiling and wall, so to avoid siting them there. It is recommended to send a declaration to your insurers stating that you have fitted a detector in accordance with the law, templates are easy to find on Google. Hope that helps.[/quote] Daft Doctor, do you know if this means they can be sited on a wall if it is more than 10cm from the ceiling? We have ours just above the entrance of our stairs on a beam facing the stairs as you come down them just as you enter our living room. Would you or anyone else know if this is OK? They are so unsightly, didn't want to put one right in the middle of the ceiling as they recommend in the instructions.