suej

      Thank you AnOther, that does indeed explain it and tallies with what we were told. The man we saw did in fact spend some time clicking around the pages relative to us and checked on various things before telling us it made no difference to us. He didn't explain in much detail( probably because it was 10 to midi by then) but what you've posted clarifies it all. Thanks Sue

  [quote user="Pickles"]  From your comments, in your case the house would appear to be a second home: therefore you are not entitled to any reduction in TdH or TF. If your neighbours actually live in their house as their principal residence, then they will probably be in receipt of reductions that are not available to you. Regards Pickles [/quote]     I recently went to the Impots office to check that our house was registered as Residence Prinipale. The fellow I saw confirmed that it was and that this has an effect on the amount charged for Taxe d'Habitation but not on Taxe Foncière. I was a bit surprised because I previously had thought that the Secondaire/Principale status did affect both taxes. Can anyone clarify please?    

  [quote user="woolybanana"]avoir un bon assiette = have a good ar*e? anyone know svp?[/quote]    "Having a good seat" as in looking as if you know what you are doing in a saddle astride a horse, I think - but then I happen to be an elderly product of a girls' grammar school so the prim profs of the time weren't likely to give us any other more interesting translations were they? Be nice to learn it meant having a bit of a Monroe wiggle or a  raunchy rump- will have to ask one of my younger french friends...  

  Just a quick greeting for when the two brave ladies next manage to breeze in. I wonder where you are this morning and how it's going.... First real September morning here, early autumn mist disappearing as the sun starts to take over- wonder what you are seeing? Onward and onward girls! Best feet forward! Enjoy! Sue

[quote user="Richard51"]O2 have some good packages.  I have the 'simplicity' deal and pay £5 a month (it's PAYG so I don't have to pay the £5) for unlimited texts to UK mobiles / landlines.  I paid a one off £4.99 for cheap international rates and they just gave me 50mins calling time a month FOC for the next three months.   French mobile phone deals are lousy! Mrs R51 Edit: Tariffs are here: http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/Pay_and_Go    This sounds a great solution for me Mrs R51 -i.e I make no mobile calls but do loads of texting to UK mobiles.. Did you order/buy on line or when you were actually in UK? Would you mind explaining how you sussed the one-off payment for cheap international rates?  Any additional info would be much appreciated.  Thanks! Sue [/quote]

    Buen Camino to you both-   may your steps be many and your blisters few..  Enjoy! Sue

      Yes Sweet , I'm around again.. We've been  away  3-4 weeks  seeing family in UK, shopping for the odd jar of Marmite and Pukka tea and moaning in the NW branch- not much joy with the latter ofcourse , just the usual charming polite policy waffle. Ah well , it was good while it lasted and we personally have certainly never had cause to complain about them before. Buono camino to you soon! Sue

[quote user="5-element"] [quote user="AnOther"][quote user="sweet 17"]I have noticed that even though I have a £300 daily limit on my card, the most I have been able to withdraw recently is €340. [/quote]There is no reason for that from the NW side sweets and I've regularly been getting €350 from my local CA ATM which pays out in 50's which is to be expected with a rate above 1.2. Others I've noticed pay out in 20's, or sometimes a mixture, so could that be why ? Try €330 next time and see if it only lets you take €320. Notionally, with yesterdays closing ECB rate of 1.2151, you might even scrape €360 [;-)] [/quote]   I have experimented extensively with the maximum amount I can withdraw on a given day with my Nationwide debit card. I found that it depends entirely on the current exchange rate. There was a time when 320 euros was not even possible, then 330 was OK, then 340, and at the moment I can withdraw 350, even when the notes are all 20's....except for one which is, obviously, a tenner. [/quote]   I gather that the amount you are able to withdraw is based on the exchange rate. The limit for withdrawal in cash per day is £300 - sterling- hence, depending on the exchange rate, the equivalent value in euros fluctuates. I well remember the time when I regularly withdrew 400euros for my £300.... Ah woe!  Yesterday 360 euros ..any chance I could risk trying for 370 today??  

  Rose even if you do end up needing a thyroid operation please try not to worry too much! I didn't realise I had a problem until three years ago when a blood test showed that there was something amiss. My doctor sent me for an echography-thingy that afternoon and I was stunned when they told me my thyroid was enlarged,  had numerous nodules and I had a goitre which was not  visible on my neck because the darn thing was growing inwards and downwards and pressing on my windpipe and I would have to have an operation.  I was gobsmacked, and scared stiff. I then had a scan (and was given a file containing all the images of the thyroid etc to bring home- still too squeamish to look at it!) I very soon saw an endocrinologue who did some little 'ponction' biopsy things- funny sensation but does NOT hurt and he kept talking and reassuring the very nervous me.  Very  soon after I had a second appointment with him to say that no sign of malignant cells had shown up at that stage but that I would need to have the thyroid removed because of the size of the goitre.( I felt like the woman with the biggest aspidistra in the world...) I saw a surgeon who was kind, calm and reassuring and I was then asked to choose which date would suit me!! Rose I really am the biggest scaredy-baby in the world but honestly I was amazed at how easy everyone made it for me. I was in hospital four days where everything went well , no real pain to be felt because they put a little pain-killer drip thing in the back of my hand- I'm still amazed at how simple it all was and I had been so so anxious. I have to take Levothyrox every day but my doc seemed to find the correct dosage for me very quickly. I feel great, and very grateful to them all too. I have put on  a bit of weight since I've been taking the thyriod replacement tablets which niggles me- but maybe I'd have been putting weight on anyway- I like recipes and cooking and eating etc. I hope all this isn't too much information! But I know how worried I was and I really just want to put your mind at rest... Good positive info and support at forum of Vivre sans thyroîde.fr website, in french but also some English  cos the forum is well followed in Québec. Also Thyroid-Disease.org.uk worth a look. Personally I found forums less scary than just information sites...... Also bear in mind that most thyroid patients are so busy being well and getting on with life that we don't hear about them! Good luck.

                      Plum and Chilli  Chutney is a favourite here.............

  Frenchie said: ' it is not really a matter of national pride, but rather of respect and admiration for those who fought and often gave their lives for us to live in France today.'      'Chapeau' Frenchie.... I hear what you are saying  and appreciate your feelings.  I think you have expressed very simply and genuinely what a lot of  us, even those not born in this country, feel too. I can only try to imagine what it must have been like to live in a country that was occupied......... What pain and waste is war- for both sides.        

  We also wanted to have Freesat channels but at the same time keep our french channels.After a lot of help and advice here- thanks again Martin and others- we 've got a system that works very well for us  which we bought in France .  Although we could have probably got things cheaper in UK, as we weren't planning on going over for a while and as we  are technically incompetent duffers,it seemed best for us to shop here.   After some really helpful advice on this forum we were able to go off to the local tv shop and at least sound as if we did know what we were talking about.  We bought the whole caboodle from the local tv man ( I ought to say that we already had confidence in him having bought other electrical goods there in the past)We chose a Samsung tv with TNT Integré which, via our old aerial , provides 18 french channels. We have a Visiosat digi box and a 60cm sat dish which the fitter installed absolutely spot on first go and which provides  all the freesat channels . I know we  probably spent more doing it the way we did and we could probably have saved money shopping around in UK and /or the Bricosheds here but it really has seemed worth it. The after-sales has been superb- a query after 3days of awful gales here in the winter to check that all was still OK, and again after the change over to numerique in this region.. Having said all that I must stress that we wouldn't have had the confidence to deal with a local supplier ( especially since initially they all seem to assume you want Sky) without the info we'd had here.  

    Sorry folks,  WendyG, Pommier and I seem to be turning 'Weight Loss' into 'Weight Gain' - perhaps we should be moved somewhere else??   To the other two , I'm interested to read you feel there is some connection with the thyroid treatment. Do either of you know a forum called 'Vivre Sans Thyroide'? Will PM you both later this evening,  have got to wobble off to market now....

  Sweet 17,  I have Pm'd you- I think!

 WB well done, well done, well done!  and thanks, you may well have inspired me... Always been able to knock off a few pounds in the past when necessary but since having my thyroid out 2 yrs ago and taking Leverothyrox every day my weight has quietly and steadily kept creeping up...or is that just my excuse?  I'm so fed up with it.  Time for a more determined effort - thanks for rattling my cage WB.   Sweet 17 I've been keeping my eye open for news of your Camino walk.  Great, I wish you all success. We have friends who are doing a stint as hosts at one of the refuges this year and we did initially hope to do a stretch and meet up with them but for a variety of reasons we haven't got organised, nor trained up. The idea has been put on the back burner- maybe we'll see about next year- be a nice way for us to celebrate our 50 years side by side on the path, so  to speak, even if we didn't attempt the whole caboodle. Think we are too  OLD now?  Bonne route anyway! When are you off?  

       Thanks for such a speedy reply Sunday Driver!   I'll do as you say.  I've been following the FAQ guide but it confused me to see Gross there but 'Net' printed on my form. thanks again- once more unto the breach etc etc.

         Would somebody advise please, I'm in the process of doing form 2047. I need to fill in the bit declaring interest received from UK building society, UK tax has  already been deducted. I know it's 2047 section   2 B. I can see that column 1 is where I write in Uk and Column 5 the amount.  What I can't seem to fathom out is which amount I must enter in Column 5??  Do I enter the net amount of interest we received  after UK tax had been deducted ?( the column heading says  'montant net encaissé en euros') Or should I enter the gross amount of interest, ie the amount of interest before the tax was deducted? Also am I right in thinking that whichever figure I do enter I then transfer to 2042  2TS? I would appreciate some clarification, I just seem to have a  mental block!    

[quote user="cooperlola"] I too used to live in Malta and went back four years ago for a school reunion.    [/quote]                Hi,   Which school did you go to ? Wasn't Verdala by any chance was it? I taught there in the early sixties and have recently got in touch with another member of staff via the school site and realise there are sometimes reunions..  Small world, or small island! Sue

     We lived in Malta for nearly three years in the sixties when my husband  was in the the RN and loved it. We've not been back since but have the excuse of a big birthday to celebrate soon so we are off there in May- can't wait!   Knowing that package holidays to Malta can be pretty cheap from UK I  did look up some but when I added on the cost of us getting to the Uk and fitting in an overnight hotel etc I came to the conclusion that TGV from Angers direct to Paris CDG and then Air Malta flights was the better deal.  Booking in advance made a noticeable difference to price of plane and TGV tickets.. and there was  enough choice of TGV and flight times to make it seem a very civilised trip, none of those leave the house in the middle of the night routines. That's the theory anyway, proof of the pudding in the middle of May.   I've found lots of sites with information , hotels, pictures etc and so far had no probs making bookings or dealing direct with the hotel - I'd better not be too smug in case it all blows up in my face ! Seriously  I'm surprised how easy it's been - we are ,by choice , breed and  nature,  motor caravanners and holidays don't come much simpler then that so I was a bit anxious about dealing with all this sophisticated stuff- hopefully it'll go well..   Apart from info I've picked up on the net I've got Malta and Gozo Spiral Guide,   pub: AA World Travel Guides Top 10 Malta and Gozo ,  pub: DK both handbag-sized and practical and informative and seem to be good "basics" and ordered on line.   Feel free to pm or email me Swissie if you'd like me to pick up any specific info for you when I'm furtling around in the Tourist office when we are there.  Of course I've now got an excuse to try numerous restaurants, I'll tell my husband it's an exercise in market research...   

                  Bescherelle ' La Conjugaision pour tous'  is good too,   ISBN 978-2-218-92262-6    7.90 euros  Amazon.fr

  We are both 65+ year old pensioners whose French issued EHICS were due for renewal in January so last Monday  I went to the local CPAM with the old ones and asked if they could be renewed. The lady did what ever it is she does on the computer , kept the old ones and said we'd receive our new ones in about two weeks. When I got home that day I found the post had brought  letters for each of us from the UK with the 'new' UK EHIC forms to be completed which we duly  filled in and posted to UK.  I assumed that I'd had what would prove to be a wasted journey to the CPAM,and that I would receive a letter of refusal from some head office explaining that France would no longer supply the cards etc... Today,however, we have received from CPAM new French EHICs valid till 31.01.2011. As the UK info said that the new UK issued cards would not arrive till May we'll  hang on to the new French ones  meanwhile, especially since we shall be away from France in March. Definitely seems there are different things going on in different regions at the moment- all to do with updating their computer programs I suppose.    

     For books I also like The Book Depository Ltd ,  www. bookdepository.co.uk. Some times the price of the book may be just a little higher than the Amazon price but this is usually more than offset by their worldwide  free postage service. Pays to always compare the two...

                                            What a lovely thread and how I have enjoyed reading it-delectable in all ways...

[quote user="Théière"] They are even advertising a 2010 schedule. http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/public/seafrance.shtml [/quote]     Thanks for that and for the link- I'll pass that on to our friends

     Please would someone clarify the position re Sea France... Friends due to return to UK early Wednesday morning with Sea France are wondering if this thread means Sea france have stopped ferries. Is this the case? Anyone know? Their web site seems to be operating as usual..