Gardian

Robert ........ I reckon that your assumption is correct, but best bet might be to go (sooner or later) to your local Hotel des Impots and tell them exactly where you are, in terms of the works. If there's a form to complete (which there will be), they'll give it to you. I suspect that whenever you say it's finished, that'll be good enough. They've probably got bigger fish to fry. In my experience, tax people are much-maligned, whether here or in the UK: as has been said here many times before, be open with them, and they'll actually help. p.s. I have never worked for the Inland Rev !!!!  

Jaydeez ........... As I understand the law, any pool has to be protected not just from 'outsiders', but also any child venturing in to danger from your own house. Unless I've misunderstood, what you describe would comply, provided that there are no doors in the gable ends and the gate is at least 1.24m high (and kept locked of course). I seem to recall someone saying that the gendarmerie have the invidious task of policing this law: maybe an invitation to them to drop by and confirm that they're happy?

Did you know that there is a fete des Grandmeres in france?  March the 5th. Can't wait ! (Sorry - mucked the 1st one up).  

[quote user="TWINKLE"][quote user="Ian Horn"] If I try to tell our two lads that its Fete de Meres at the end of May, having gone through the Mothers Day lark last month (or whenever it was), with cocked-up Interflora deliveries etc, they'll go mad ! Please spare us. Next thing, there'll be a KKK or Twinkle Day.   Grumpy of SE France [/quote] That'd be lovely!  Oh ,you're such a sweetie Ian.  Did you know that there is a fete des Grandmeres in france?  March the 5th. [/quote]

If I try to tell our two lads that its Fete de Meres at the end of May, having gone through the Mothers Day lark last month (or whenever it was), with cocked-up Interflora deliveries etc, they'll go mad ! Please spare us. Next thing, there'll be a KKK or Twinkle Day.   Grumpy of SE France

Forgive me, but isn't this quite straightforward? My needs (haircut-wise) are pretty simple. My wife's are more complicated, or so she says. Anyway, you try one place: not good. You try another: hopefully better. Eventually, you settle on somewhere that suits you & you stick with them. You can't tell until you try them. No different to the UK. One thing I always felt about haircuts is that it grows again pretty soon!  Female protests about to arrive in spades.

Chris & Tony - thanks for your advice. Just what we were looking for. After more than a few glasses of wine discussing your advice early evening, we've settled on Sept transplant into either bigger pots or (more likely) open ground with a good dose of ericaceous underneath them (it's a bit alkali around here). Tresco - have printed out all that stuff and have nearly run out of paper / ink. Will read 2moro in the cool light of day. Thanks. p,s, Where on earth do you find these websites?  

Lori ......... They're a reputable outfit, originating from the old Jersey European Airways. They start the Avignon schedule from end-May through to Sept-ish, 3 times wkly. Civilised timings and prices comparable with Ryanair for that time of the year.  You'll find them on www.flybe.com or something like that (but there's plenty of ads in the British press). I guess that they'll try it out for the Summer and see what load factors they get.

We've got a couple of really nice bronze Acers, one a standard, the other a bush, both in quite large pots and brought out from the UK. They're both getting on for 10yo and quite big - goodness knows how much they'd cost to replace, whether here or in the UK. Last Summer, we left them in the sun and they quickly got 'a bit sad' and the leaves went to green. On our neighbour's advice we put them in the shade. Despite that, premature leaf drop and frankly we thought that we'd lost them both.  About mid-March this year, they went in to leaf as usual (though a lot earlier than in the UK) and were as good as ever, though we've kept them shaded this year. Now however, the leaves are starting to 'green up', though the plants seem to be completely healthy. Any ideas anybody?  Re-potting?  Special feed?

Cliodhna ................ My wife has MS (it has affected her sight, rather than her motor skills) and was referred by our GP to the Hopital Gui de Chauliac at Montpellier. This is the Explorations Neurologiques et Epileptologie hospital within the vast complex there. She sees the senior Professor there, who speaks fluent English and couldn't have been more helpful. He has continued her UK-originated drug treatment and sees her 6-monthly. Happily, no deterioration in her condition. The staggering thing is that his fee for a 30 min consultation is c.€70 and this is refundable at 100% - we normally had to pay c.£85 in the UK, with no refund. We hand over the money and he puts it in to a little tin box! When I expressed incredulity at his tiddly fee, he said that when he attends international conferences, the British consultants all have a good laugh at how little he is able to charge. By the way, a chunk of that goes to the hospital and he gets taxed on the rest. Overall, excellent experiences, but this is just one faculty of many - it might well be different in others, depending on your medical problem. Just one other issue for your health going there though: traffic on the NW side of the city is a nightmare because they're ripping the place apart to build a new tramway system. Finding the right building is less than straightforward, so allow plenty of time to get there / find the right building: the complex covers c. 30 sq kms I reckon. Once you do find the right one though, at least you don't have to pay a fortune to park: it's free. If it's neurolgy and you'd like any more specific info, don't hesitate to email. 

I introduced myself to the local priest last week, in connection with our son's proposed wedding over here. He was extremely cordial and supportive over the whole thing, given that the Mairie has given the OK (see previous thread on the subject). Anyway, he has only been here a few months and I asked how many churches he has to cover. It's eight and he operates single-handed. He said that our local commune church only gets a Mass once every 3-4 weeks. My only observation would be that there seems to be little or no involvement by the Church in the local events (Fetes Votives etc) that I have witnessed since we came over here. The RC church in the large town that we came from in the UK was very active in promoting and supporting such things, to the extent of running a big 'May Fayre' which was always well-attended.  I wouldn't want to step on anyone's religious toes over this, but surely in the 21st century, the Church has to be pro-active in encouraging  new and lapsed attendees?  I don't see much of that over here.

Good. I must say that I'm a bit surprised that you don't normally require some form of payment in advance. For one or two nights, then maybe not, but any longer stay ........  It must leave you wide open to people 'doing a moonlight'.  

Albert ......... To be honest, I think that you've answered your own question. My only suggestion would be to be as sure as you ever can be that you can buy your taste in furniture over here.  French style isn't everybody's 'cup of tea' (e.g. the very heavyweight, dark stuff isn't ours!) and if you're looking for something a bit lighter and more contemporary (as we were), you can get it, but it can be very pricey. Alternatively IKEA, but they mightn't be on your doorstep, some of it is good / some ropey and could your blood pressure stand it? Remember too, that even if you minimise what you plan to take, there'll still be some items that you can't bear to part with and you may not be able to move those in your own vehicle. Thus you may still incur a major proportion of that £5k with a remover.       

Less enthusiasm from me.  Hope it doesn't mean that Nimes gets squeezed out (literally, between Montpellier and Marseille). Avignon's location is, indeed, excellent for many: it's relatively short runway may be the problem. Lori - presumably you know about the Flybe flights to there from Southampton? 

I'm not in the accommodation business, so others will probably have better ideas. However, my instinctive reaction would be to ask for each week's accommodation to be paid up front (in cash), with meals for the 1st week settled for with the 2nd week's accomm cost at the end of wk1. Then wk2's meals on departure. Anybody genuine will understand - after all, I would expect to pay for holiday accommodation in advance and similarly most large hotels 'corral' a lump sum off of your credit card when you check in, so not much different.

Sue - thanks, will keep trying.  It struck me that it might be that there's a problem because it's a bit 'military' around here.  FFL on the ground (tank manoeuvres etc 30kms away) and the French AF doing their low-flying bit - but only when the sky is clear, not weekends nor during lunch!

Did you submit a Permis de Construire back in 2000? If you did, there would have been a time limit for completion of the work. The Hotel des Impots automatically send out an 'H1 Impots Locaux' form for completion and that then generates any re-rating that may apply. If you didn't ................ then you may have a problem in terms of the necessary permission, but someone else will have a better understanding of the possible implications. It undoubtedly depends on what you've done, i.e. whether a long term 'doing up' job, or major re-building / extension work.  

Re the 'big brother' bit, and apologies for departing significantly from the thread, I was astonished to receive a letter from a UK solicitor a couple of months ago. It was with regard to a small sum that was residing in a pension fund with a firm that I left over 25 years ago. As such, it was eligible for being treated as a 'trivial fund' and returnable to me as a lump sum (I think under the new pension scheme rules). Anyway, since I had moved 3 times since that date, I was surprised that they were able to track me down to our address in France - must have cost them half of the amount involved to do the legwork). My point is that with all the Data Protection stuff that is constantly being quoted, it seems as though it's pretty easy to find somebody if you really want to. Or am I being naive? Returning to the thread, I can't seem to get the aerial photo to load. There is a vue aerienne icon, but nothing comes up. I'm on dial-up, but even after 10 mins, nothing. Should I be more patient? 

Peter ............. I wouldn't disagree, but it's an opinion nonetheless, from a local who has lived here all his life. What I would repeat is that it's a bleak future for any who stand still in any walk of life and there's no doubt that there are many vignerons who have done just that. It's just the same with bread, meat, etc. Those who strive for quality and try to diversify their offering, will prosper.  The website is interesting and that gentleman is clearly aiming for the above qualities, but as he would no doubt concur, it's a very competitive market. His place isn't far away, so perhaps I'll drop by and try some.

The small producers down here have been in decline for years: at least those who haven't been prepared to look forward and make some investment in quality. We bought some logs a few months ago from a guy who had been laid off by a local producer. "No money in wine now, so I thought I'd have a go at the wood". Economics will ultimately rule. As has been said, there's a declining French market and though UK consumption is increasing, British buyers have the choice of the world's produce. A local French friend is scathing. "They're all quite lazy: they prune during the Winter months, spray a bit in the Spring and then have a couple of weeks furious activity in September during the vendange. Not exactly hard work. They don't even vinify it themselves - it goes to the co-op."  A bit extreme maybe, but you can see his point. Anyway, around here the vine leaves are well and truly out, the fruit will set in a month or two and I continue to do my best to help by relieving them of some of their wares!  In the interests of the local economy, of course.

Chris ............. Lapeyre do a couple of types in wood in the height you're looking for. Max width is 3.5M though.  €899 & €930 respectively. If you're prepared to go white pvc or ali, they seem to do 4.0M ones. I've bought and fitted their gates (much cheaper version) & they're fine. There's a branch in Poitiers, though depending where you live in the departement, there might be a closer branch elsewhere.

Just looked at the receipt which was still lying around - €4.53 for a 12 sachet pack. That was in Cora, which I think are a bit few and far between in France.

Two have ours have been beaten up in the last couple of months and the suspicion was a fouine in the 1st instance, but most recently it was a neighbouring cat. The latter is domestic (we think), but the difference is that out here in the country, the cats are pretty close to being feral even if they're 'owned' by someone. Anyway, we impose a dusk curfew now. Re the Felix, we bought a new pack of pouches last week which we hadn't seen before: Effiles en Gelee, with the slogan on the pack 'Aussi bon que beau'. Just gave the 3 of them their 1st try of it and ......... completely clean bowls, which isn't always the case. A sort of shredded meat consistency. Must say it looked quite tasty!  Maybe that's the stuff? All that reminds me of a bloke who was in the local paper when we were back in the UK. He was the official pet food taster for one of the firms and described in graphic detail which flavours he liked best etc, etc. What do you put on your CV if you've done a job like that?     

Many thanks to all: even to a complete layman like me, that starts to make sense. We're in the NE of the Gard, with the Cevennes to the west / north west (though some 50kms away) and the Ardeche Gorge to the N / NW.  I think that I'll pass on trying to explain all that to my neighbour though!

Strange phenomenom around here. For most of the day, it can be quite still: no wind to speak of. Then, around 17.00, we'll get quite a breeze spring up for maybe an hour, always from the west.  Our neighbour remarked on it shortly after we moved in and we thought that it was just one of those 'old wives tales' - but of course, he was absolutely right. Other than when the Mistral is blowing (which is in truth, relatively rare and when it does, it supplants anything else), this occurs more or less daily. Has anybody got any idea how / why this should happen?