kwp5000

Hi I am posting this on behalf of my dad. He will be at his property in the Avranches area (50) this Friday and Sat (10th and 11th Oct)and is looking for a carpenter/ joiner who can meet him on site to quote for the construction of a timber and glass 'box' to encase a two storey exterior staircase, in order to incorporate the stair case into the building. There are various other things to be done too as part of the overall job. We are not time wasters and anyone that can turn up during those dates (apologies for short notice), offer a sensible price and complete the job in the time scale required, will be given the work. Please pm me, in the first instance. Thanks!

Sorry to be so smug (especially for those who have had nightmares trying to do this.........), but we have just registered our second land rover. We did the first one about a year ago and found the process pretty painless; it took about two and a half hours once we had got the paperwork. This morning we arrived in Agen at 9.30 to go to the hotel des impots and by 10.12 were in posession of a new carte grise!! OH fitting numberplates as I type, I will be impressed if anyone can beat this........!

Hi I have been trying to email you but it keeps being bounced back; could you perhaps call me on 0553970551 or 0672662368. Thanks Catharine

It's a tricky one and I shouldn't comment as I am not a gite owner and therefore do not need to balance the client satisfaction/ dog welfare equation. But, as a dog owner and mother of three, I wouldn't let my kids scream. Especially not in someone else's home.... I have seen kids screaming like banshees at very minor things and am permenently amazed that their parents let this happen. It doesn't take that much to distract/  reassure/ divert the fear or whatever else is causing it. Personally, i think its for the parents to deal with; if it wasn't your dog it would probably be something else. It always annoys me when people / places say "children not welcome" but to be honest , so many of them these days are so awful I can see why! Good luck!

I intend to install a terrace in my courtyard, the area of the courtyard is around 50 sq meters and I wish to install the terrace at first floor level of around 25 sq meters in decking material. Will I be required to complete a declaration de travaux or a permis de construire or indeed neither? Thanks in advance

My friend (ex TandG) is coming over from 25 July for about a week and is taking bookings for cut and colouring. We are in 47, near Nerac and you would need to come here. Get in touch if interested!  Catharine (about to be blonde and beautiful once more!)

Are there any horsey people in the 47 or surrounding depts who would be interested in forming a Riding Club? I thought it would be great to meet with like minded people a few times a year for clinics, social events and low level competition, just the usual riding club type of thing! All suggestions/ ideas/ welcome. If you are interested, please email me. Thanks Catharine

Hi, wonder if anyone can help.... We are looking for a replacement pony for our much loved family pet, about 13.2-14.2 ish, age, looks etc immaterial. However, it must be able to be hacked out by 9 yr old with mum so nothing too whizzy. We have very limited funds (read none!) but can offer an excellent permanent 5 star home (previous pony recommends!) Thanks Catharine

We are really stuck and hope that someone can give us some advice...! My partner and I are in the process of starting a business providing specialist holidays to UK visitors in France. As we live here and are fiscally resident (well I am and he will be as from next year), we intended to register the business in France. So far so good. I toddled off to the relais d'emploi to see what help was available in terms of deferred cotisations etc to be told that we couldn't (probably) operate as a Fr entity as neither of us has a Diplome du Tourisme.  The (very helpful) lady there is still looking into this but it seems unlikely.  First question, can we challenge this? It seems unfair as a French couple could do the same in the UK? I have looked at the Diplome and its not rocket science; I intend to take it but we will be up and running way before this happens. So, her suggestion was that we operate as a Uk company, at least to start with. The problem is that we will need to employ some part time staff from the outset. How do we go about this without resorting to doing it on the black (which we are not planning to do!) or being crippled by social charges? Can we subcontract and if so how would that work? Any help/ advice very gratefully received.

We make a good living from selling lucky heather, mind you we have had to pick our sites, there is a good one near to us, just next to lots of roads. This is great as the kids do a good sideline in windscreen washing when the lights change. They have been to school a couple of times but I think they learn so much more from being out at work. And when business is slack, they pop over the road to the McDonalds and beg in the McDrive queue. My husband tried the tree felling and tarmac but he now specialises in selling trailers especially Ifor Williams as there always seems to be a demand for cheap ones. I wouldnt bother about the regulations for importing your lurchers. We just gave ours a nice bit of steak with some "medicine" in it (if you get my drift) and popped them in the under sofa storage unit in the caravan and they slept the whole way here (and for the next two days). Bless them! 

Is there anyone out there who would like to see themselves and their home in a "UK glossy"? A journalist friend is searching for houses to feature in a range if UK magazines; she will be based with us near to Nerac (47) so the properties should ideally be within about an hour and a half of there. The usual requirements are at least the kitchen/living area and one bedroom/ bathroom to be done; a before photo is often good too. Obviously the higher the standard of the renovation and the more interesting/ quirky the building the better. There is no payment involved but it is nice to see your house in print and if you have a buisness/ gites/ chambre d'hotes, etc, it can be a useful way to publicise your business! If anyone is interested please send me a pm or call 0553970299. Many thanks catharine

We have set up a company providing off road adventure holidays at various sites in the SW of France, 47 and 32. We are looking for people to procur (ie shop for/ collect) basic provisions for our clients and deliver them to the sites. This may also include preparing evening meals on some nights. The position is fairly flexible and could be split; equally we are open to a tender for the whole so please email and we will call to discuss.

Thanks guys, will go down those avenues. They are trying to sell the horse themselves as well but asked for assistance as we all know that you can never get rid of a horse quickly at a decent price when you need to! Hope that satisfies your curiosity!

Help! Some friends have asked me to sell one of their horses and I have no idea how to go about this in France? Any help, suggestions, offers would be hugely appreciated! Thanks Catharine  

I git a similar reply unfortunately. ___________ Thank you for your email. Screwfix Direct does not deliver to overseas addresses.  Deliveries are normally made to UK postal addresses in order to keep its costs, and therefore its product prices, as low as possible. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us. Regards Tammi Heals Screwfix Direct Customer Services

Opas, we got new lights sent from our dealer in the UK, he actually send a whole load of gear over for the Land Rover, even so, postage was only 30 quid for a huge box. They about 12 pounds per unit I think,and I fitted them so it worked out well. Parts for Land Rovers are pretty cheap though. Lights going up at chez nous too!   

Well it cost us about £20 for new lights for our defender, ordered and sent from a uk dealer where we bought the vehicle, fitted ourselves and vehicle successfully re-registered in about 10 days! Tee hee! Mind you it had taken us a few months to get around to doing it...... Now, here's a nice little conundrum to get you all buzzing.... We also brought over an old banger, insured for 18 months now with french insurers, has ct, were going to do it all properly so exported the vehicule but (!) then found that the cost would be disproportionate (the defender cost us about 400e) and the said old banger is worth about 50 quid. SO... how do we scrap it as it's registration has been floating about over the channel for the last year?????!!!!!!

We bought our Land Rover over here and went through the importation process, it is RHD but we are happy with that. However, the company we bought it from would did have some LHD models, there wasn't one that suited us. They will build to any specification though, so you could get them do do you a LHD model and then go and get it, would still work out cheaper than trying to source one here I reckon.

I am sorry I would have to disgree that there is confusion. Does any one actually know how long "the first few months of grace" lasts?!!! I can't see that phrase being acceptable to either English or French authorities. Any factual answers on this one gratefully received?