Robert Le Macon

Thanks everyone who replied.

Hi, 7yrs,10 months & 3 weeks from retirement. We're in the process of getting our affairs in order in the UK ready for moving to our home in Brittany come the Glorious Day.[:D] I'll be 50 with a UK final salary pension, 2 kids at 20+yrs of age and a house in the uk to offload (or not) depending on aforementioned kids! A number of questions arise (inheritance tax etc), most of which we will adress in the UK. I've just started to wonder about where to have my pension payed, where to be domiciled (keep a small property in UK thus staying on property ladder/ home for kids?) Does any one have experience of such matters? I realise each case has to be judged on an individual basis and I fully intend to pay for proper advice. However, a pointer in the right direction/pitfalls/experiences would be interesting to read. I live in Sheffield and would be interested in any Solicitors that can be recommended reasonably close by.  Regards,[:)]

I don't live in france full time as yet so cat is abit of a non starter.Next door have a couple of cats who appear to catch a fair amount of mice outside but my problem is in the unrenovated bit of the house.

merci

Having just spent 3 weeks catching mice in the unrenovated bit of our house I'm looking for a better way than mouse traps.Has anyone got experience of sonic deterrents? Do they work? How many in a house (1 per room?)Any good makes/suppliers in UK? cheers. 

Can anyone recommend a payg sim card that i can use in france. I've got unlocked phones, call price not that important, good coverage in Brittany a must (and i don't want the damn thing to die if i don't use it for 3 or 4 months at a time.)Not many requirements then! Cheers,

Thanks for the replies. We go out late at night so I think I'll stand on deck until we've cleared all the harbour obstacles! Value for money (ie cheap) and location were our reasons for choosing Transmanche (same as most people I imagine) We're not too bothered about onboard facilities particularly. If we were we'd go on a cruise. Bon Vacances.[8-|] 

Thanks Will. Enlightem me about the safety record. Do we need take our own life boat?[+o(]

Good Morning, I used the above company in April this year and despite a ferry cancellation coming home (They re-routed us via Calais) I was a satisfied customer. Has anyone used them recently and is the new boat in service and making a difference?

Good  morning We're flying with Ryanair to Dinard from East Mids for Xmas with 2 boys (11 &13). Does anyone have any useful info about either airport or anything else related to our journey for that matter. We arrive Friday21st December. Are the shops likely to be open as usual on Saturday22nd?

Thanks for the reply. We obtained all the relevant permissions when we bought the house, submitting plans etc. We currently pay all the local taxes as required.I  made the assumption that I tell the tax people when i've finished so my tax d'habitation can be adjusted. I currently complete the annual tax form stating that the house is not finished.(Who decides what 'finished is? Electrics/plumbing stud walls complete. Flooring/doors/plastering & finishing bits still to do) This is a 'long term doing up job'as opposed to a re-build.  

Good morning all, A Query about local impots. I'm currently in the process of renovating a house in a small hamlet. This is an ongoing project, started in 2000 and not yet complete. When I eventually finish (this is subjective of course as there is always something else to do) do I have to notify the mairie etc so my taxe d'habitation can be readjusted and do I also get a large tax bill from the commune to celebrate the completion? I seem to remember reading on the forum somewhere that a 'completion tax' exists. I am in Brittany near to Combourg if this makes any difference. Regards,  

We have some 100 yr old beams that are currently being eaten by something.[+o(] Everytime we return to the house there are pile of dust in a couple of areas under/adjacent to the aforementioned beams.Does anyone know if the 'paint-on' preservatif/curatif stuff from Brico Depot is any good? (We are on the Britany/Normandy border so I doubt if we have termites)  On a slightly different subject we found somne little beetles, grey/brown in colour with a domed shape, wings, about 1/2cm long and a propensity for shaking thier rear ends and making a rythmic clicking noise.Not connected to scoffing the wood as they look too big. Any ideas what they might be. (And how to get rid of them)

We've just done the Newhaven/Dieppe crossing with TM for the first time. Very quiet so there was no queuing. Collected tickets as above and then parked by big gates to await boarding.The lady who gave us our tickets also appeared to be passport control and Head gate opener! Any way, once on board we got our cabin (£20) slept for 4 hours ang got off in Dieppe reasonably refreshed and happy. It was the old ship so a bit frayed around the edges but a saving of about £300 on our normal Portsmouth/Poole to Cherbourg or St Malo made everything alright.Even the extra hours drive wasn't a problem. (Dead of night, no traffic) Coming home was a different story. We arrived in good time at Dieppe(1030am for a 1230pm crossing) By chance I decided to go to the TM desk to discuss terms for a cabin. It was then that the lady informed me that the crossing had been cancelled and the chances of getting on the 9pm crossing were slim. After initial lack of communication and information TM gave me the option of driving to Calais and crossing with Sea France rather than risk missing out on a slot on the later crossing. I took them up on this and arrived in Dover 30 minutes later than I would have arrived in Newhaven. With an onward journy to Sheffield the change of arrival port was no problem. The main problem was a pompous British woman who berated the poor French staff and then demanded to be put on the 9pm crossing. They did thier best under trying circumstances and I saw the pompous woman later on the sea France ship  If the ship breaks and the skipper says it's not safe that's good enough for me. Shouting at a receptionist and anyone else who comes into range is pointless and rude and this type of attitude is the main reason we have nothing to do with brits once we arrive at our house.[:@] I'd like to apologise to TM on behalf of the woman although I doubt she could see anything wrong with her behaviour. I for one will travel with TM again. Thier prices are competitive, the old ship was adequate for the purpose and if its broke again in August I'll drive up to Calais and sail from there! Rant over, sorry but she made me seethe.  

Due to spiralling costs to sail into St Malo/Cherbourg/ Caen we are in the process of booking with Transmanche to do the Newhaven to Dieppe route. Much cheaper and only about 90 minutes extra driving. Does anyone have any tips for transitting either port and any experiences (good or bad) with this particular company?[:D]

Will, of course you're right, the tv licence bit is on my taxe d'habitation demand. When we originally bought the house 6 years ago it wasn't habitable at all and we informed the Hotel D'Impots of this as well as the Mairie. We kept having to tell them as they kept sending a demand.Because our French was rubbish and we were worried about falling foul of 'The System' we paid up. (It was only about £40.)I assume that this is where we went wrong as we can't all of a sudden go back on this. I've now re wired, re plumbed the house as well as fitted a couple of log burners and started erecting internal walls. We've fitted a kitchen of sorts and the bathroom is functional so I suppose on the scale of things the house is habitable now although you wouldn't want to live in it for more than a couple of weeks.(Is habitable subjective?) My French is OK now although not good enough to go to the local tax office for an argument so I suppose we'll have to keep paying up. Regards, Robert  

Thanks, we did get a form to fill out telling them we didn't have a TV but obviously that would be too easy.I'll write and see what happens.

Sorry about the naff user name, best I could do at short notice. I'm renovating a house and barn in Brittany in the Antrain/Combourg area and have quite happily been paying next to no tax fonciere and habitation for a few years as the buildings are not habitable. Imagine my surprise when this years Tax Fonciere demand arrived and it had more than doubled due to the addition of a TV licence element. Not only do I not have a French TV I don't even have a French living room to watch it in! My plan is to pay the Fonciere bit and put an explanatory letter in with the cheque to explain about the lack of TV. It's not a money thing as the figures are quite low (£80 TV Licence bit) it's the principle. I try my hardest to integrate and do things the French way so I assume with tax avoidance being almost a national sport there must be a way (legal) to not have to pay until I have a TV. Any ideas? Great site by the way.