Ron Avery

"Should I contact CPAM/URSSAF to arrange for my quarterly cotisations to be stopped and then rejoin CMU when I no longer have work? "   In a word, Yes.  You should sort this out quickly as if you are in the CMU Base there is a payment due to URSSAF at the end of this month.

No idea about orange lights on crossings, never seen any down here, the only ones I can think of are the traffic lights at some junctions that have a flashing orange arrow and are all turned to flashing orange (proceed with caution) in the evening when the roads are quiet.  The problem a lot of French from the big towns have in the country is that they are not used to roundabouts that are not priorité à droite. In addition a lot of the things we do in the UK on the roads are not the way the French drive or are taught so its not always them in the wrong, its just that you are applying UK rules to French roads.

It is probably just because you have changed status.  Normally under an E 106 or CMU base the man is the "account" holder and the wife the dependent.  If the wife gets an E 121 first then she becomes the account holder and the husband the dependent. This has all just been explained to me at our local CPAM.  Both our SS numbers have been changed without any written notification and opur existing attestaions cancelled. It was explained that its all because the O/H has got an E121 and has now a new SS number beginning with 2 and I am piggy backing on her card now, I was given a new Attestation this morning.  Hope that makes sense

Can anyone explain this? Yes, you got an E121 and so he piggybacked on to it as a member of your family " a dependent",  so you are the "account" holder.  Although if the SS number you quoted is as on your Attestaion I cannot see why it should not have been accepted, although as Clair says men's CVs normally start with a 1 so maybe they thought it was an error. And another question, he has his 65th birthday soon - will he get an E121 in his own right?   Yes, you can change the situation so that he no longer piggybacks on you or you can reverse it.  Not having done this yet I cannot see any immediate advantages to changing it but there might be some advantages if one of you is thing of " checking out" before the other.[:D].

Richard, long time since I saw them but have you had chicken pox?

Its hard to generalise but I pay my GP normally in cash.  He takes my CV puts it in the machine and gives me a receipt for the 22€.  If I pay by CB which is not often, it goes in another machine and I input my code, I get another receipt for the CB transaction of 22€.  So I think you should have two receipts both saying 26€.  Maybe other doctors do things differently, does anyone else pay their doctor by CB? 

Sorry if this seems like teaching you to suck eggs, but before you go to the bank or specialist double check that the debit of 50€ was paid to the specialist, often the name on the statement is not easily recognisable where you are paying a franchise or practice for example.  If you are sure its a mistake then this is what would have happened. You paid by Carte Bancaire, the specialist put your card in the machine and entered the amount, he passed you the machine for your code. The amount he had keyed in was on the screen for you to check before you enter your code.  You entered your code and validated the transaction and he gave you a receipt with the amount charged. If you have a carte vitale,  that is also entered into a machine and the amount paid is also entered and you get a receipt with the name of the specialist on it and the amount paid.  In your case the amount that you paid, 26 € should be the same on both receipts. If the bank had debited 50€ for that transaction unless there is something really amiss it can only be the fault of the specialist in keying in the wrong amount for the CB transaction and maybe you didn't notice it.  If you have  bank and CPAM receipts both for 26€ and a debit on your statement to the specialist of 50€ then I would start with the specialist not the bank.

Apologies Pegleg I could  have sworn there was an FAQ about what to do with brown forms, apyments and how CVs work, maybe it just used to be asked frequently[:$]  There is a website for CPAM queries and viewing your CPAM account called Ameli.fr but when I tried to access it in the early days it was playing  up and I never bothered after that.  You do need to apply for a confidential code though it seems. Have a look here. Edit sorry posted wrong link,  it should be: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1400891/ShowPost.aspx

Cheminot From the previous threads on this topic, it was possible to pay in cheques but with additional charges and a time delay but quite often refused and told to post to the "home" branch.  If your cheques have been accepted and processed without delay you appear to have been lucky.[:D] See here where other recount their experiences http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1299140/ShowPost.aspx

Absolutely agree Clair, with some people reasoned argument and facts only get met by abuse.[:P]

Sorry,  to make it clear, yes of course you can pay cheques from another French bank into your account at any bank in your own region of CA, but you cannot pay cheques or money into your account at a CA in Provence if your account is with CA Calvados, you have to send these payments to your branch. There have been a number of threads on this.  Just to add to the praises of CA NMP, I managed to get a direct debit that had been in error yesterday re-credited with to my account after just a five minute meeting at the local bank.  Better than phoning Calcutta as I have to do with HSBC and getting somebody who cannot make a decision without "talking to their supervisor".[geek]

Don't entirely agree  wth your assessment of why Sein Fein went to the negotiating table, but the fact remains that they did.  There was of course a lot a lot of work done prior to 1997 to allow the Agreement to be signed in 1998 behind closed doors and invoving all sorts of mediation that we will know nothing about for manty yreras to come.  The actual peace agreement and devolved power was achieved through the work of many people including Major, Blair, Mo Mowlam, Mitchell and Bill Clinton, not to mention a lot of soul searching and bravery by the Unionists like David Trimble and Sein Fein's leadership, all of whom were seen to be traitors by many in their respective comminities. What matters now is that there is a fragile peace and a return to some kind of normality in many parts of Northern Ireland, nobody will believe that all the hatred and hurt of the last 30 years and before will be forgotten in a few years by those who were affected, or that the desire for a united Ireland has vanished.  However the Irish people both sides of the border are not stupid enough to be led into a return to daily bombings and murders just because of the acts of a handful of murdering lunatics.  It really angers me to read and hear so called intelligent people predicting these shootings are the start of the "Troubles" all over again. 

[quote user="PeterG"] Ron wrote: Why not post a sensible answer, people will appreciate it more. (the words practice and preach come to mind) [/quote] Deleted As 16 kids and teachers have been killed in Germany today continuing this drivel does not seem very important in the grand scheme of things.[:(]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Ron Avery"] Get involved with things that affect your life in France for a change.  [/quote] Ha, ha, ha........................you really do know nothing sunshine................. Same old misinformed drivel...................... do please try and get you're facts right before spouting this cr@p. [/quote]  Reply deleted As 16 kids and teachers have been killed in Germany today continuing this drivel does not seem very important in the grand scheme of things

[quote user="just john "] Calm down Ronnie, Its just a Jon Stewart Comedy Show, just a bit of fun Ron, before that apoplexy does you a mischief, let me know when GB was elected PM? Incidently I have taken boom and bust several times, but borrow and disaster, then borrow our kids future is a bit more of a swallow, take me back to 15% interest right now![8-|] [/quote] You must tell when John Major was elected as PM[:P]  Whether we like it or not, under the rules of all major parties in the UK the leader elected by the members of the party normally becomes the Prime Minister.[blink]  Maybe the Tories forgot that in 2008 and just wanted to try and force an election because they were ahead in the polls at the time??[:P], OK John I agree it was satire but I have just had 250€ taken from my bank account on a closed D/D so not in the best frame of mind, I must get out more................ join Gary on a bike ride, off to pump my tyres up now and oil the chain[:D] And yes I remember the mortgage rate going from 9% to 15% in a short time and grown men with endowment mortgages that they could not extend sitting in the office with the notification letters and a grim and shocked look on their faces, not happy times, but heh we got through it by hard work and determination well some of us did[6].

[quote user="Framboise"] Poacher-turned-gamekeeper, but  I doubt he can keep a lid on this escalating out of control for all his empty words, and will Bliar return all his accolades for bringing "Peace" to NI.   Also doubtful.  [/quote] Does it really stick in your throat that peace was achieved in N, Ireland through the efforts of a labour government and others from the US , that you have to predict a return to the troubles to belittle those efforts??  Lets hope the gunmen don't read your incisive summary of the situation eh???[:@]

Check out the middle bit of this clip. Why?  Just because you have nothing to do all day but post links to items that feed your obsession against the elected government of the UK?  A country incidentally that you profess to have no intention of returning to now you live in France.[:-))] Why not join a French political party? I did in 2006 and I helped in their election campaign in 2007, and it wasn't the PS either.  Get involved with things that affect your life in France for a change.  We are currently, thanks to the greed of a few ex-UK civil servants and teachers campaigning for a change in the law to prevent people with pensions taxed in other countries from taking money that is intended for the poor people of this country.  I'm sure you will support this as you are so against others with their snouts in troughs[kiss]. For those who don't know what this is about, its where those former upright citizens of the UK like  police, teachers and civil servants etc who have their pensions taxed in the UK have found there is a loophole in the rules that allow people with thousands in the UK banks and £50,000 pa pensions paid and taxed in the UK to claim an allowance for winter fuel as their tax return in France shows that they pay no tax in France and so meet the criteria, but obviously not the spirit of the rules[:@].

 I suggest the OP has a good read of the FAQs in the health section about payments from CPAM and Mutuelles.  Even if he had not given details of his bank account and I cannot see how he could have got a CV without having done this, you don't get 21€ back from CPAM anyway, you get 14,40€ back and the rest is refunded only if you have Mutuelle. The only way to sort this is a visit to the local CPAM. 

[quote user="Nell"] Phone Britline (Credit Agricole Normandie) English speaking bank and you don't have to live in Normandy [:D] All my banking is done by internet or telephone. If I have any questions I ring and ask. If I need advice I ring and ask. If I wanted a loan I'd ring and ask... All the staff there are fantastic. I can't think of a single bank in the UK that I would say that about. Now if you want me to rant about banks, just mention Halifax or LloydsTsb Grrrr. (oops that's one bank now, not two [6] ) [/quote] I'm with CA Nord Midi Pyrenee and have no trouble whatsoever with them.  We have small branch in the village open in the mornings with one till and you take pot luck, sometimes in and out, sometimes half an hour sat chaatting in the queue, after all I've got all day[Www]. There is also the main branch in town.  Some English is spoken if people have difficulties but after all this is France............ Belonging to CA Britline or ringing the English speaking helpline of CA Britline is totally pointless if you live in another area,  as the OP says its a totally different bank as you cannot even pay cheques into your account at your local CA if you don't live in Brittany or wherever it is. Seems to me that if the OPs are going to get easily frustrated by French ways and a wait of just 15 minutes to be seen, they are going to have a very stressful time in France[geek].

Maybe too many people have commented already.  Some of the comments and opinions, mostly from the 24 hour news media seem to me to be trying to make sure that these murdering  scum achieve their objectives in the name of a "story".  These scum want to destroy the fragile peace between the communities and stir up religeous hatred which in turn they hope will bring down the power sharing government. Makes you wonder just who has anything to gain by these actions as it has appeared to cement the resolve to continue the peace and prosperity of NI, at least within the NI government.  McGuiness has the balls to stand up and condemn these murderers because he happens to be the elected deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and his stance should be welcomed not condemned.[:@]

You can say that again, the old poisoned dead ones and nests that  I have dug out of the walls is nobody's business, I wondered where the insulation on my water pipes had gone!!  I feel bad sealing up the holes that the little lizards use though[:(]

Teapot  I'm sure that what you have writen is totally accurate and relevant to old stone houses and castles in the United Kingdom, which have the climate and conditions contained in the quoted items, like kitchen and open fires to aid the drying out of the walls. My barn walls had sand, glass, broken pottery and earth in the centre and they had sagged badly outwards due to the weight of the roof and  I have no intention of replicating that mix for historical accuracy!!  50-50 lime/cement with sand mortar has been used extensively in the rebuild giving strength and flexibility and the joints filled with a lime/sand mortar.  I am sure that Cement may have been invented in 1824 in the UK but its availability in rural France to the peasant farmer was somewhat later I think.

[quote user="teapot"][quote user="P2"] All they have to do now is by-pass some of the villages and the Rouen Chartres route will be even better. Paul [/quote] Thanks for the update, and they have, its called the A28 [:D] [/quote] Really?  Michelin still think the Rouen - Chartres road is the N154.  The A28 doesn't go to Chartres although if you are heading south and are using Calais/Rouen as an alternative to the A1/ A10 through Paris, and want the A71, 20 or 75 you can use the A28 to Tours  and pick up the A 85 to Vierzon and the A71, seems a long way round though, but until N154 is dual carriageway could be quicker.

Funny you should say that Martin, since I upgraded to AVG 8 my PC seems to open every internet page "twice" in succession,  it seems it gets scanned and then re-opened,  My PC is not as slow as with Norton that really slowed it down but I have taken off the E mail notifier in the task bar as it was just a bloody nuisance. However, I now only have to open Word and the memory tells me its out!  I suppose that all virus protectors have to do a job, but one less intrusive would be good to find.

Because there are modern materials now readily available that are far more efficient in doing the same job and unless the interior walls are left bare do not detract from the original look of rough old crepi or plaster!!.  I think there is a difference between a renovation and a historically accurate restoration.