Chrisb

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is the person that I think/hope it is!! I rehomed the other Husky from this forum before Christmas, and I am hoping that the other person who was interested in him has adopted Loup!! Chris

Hi Will I only caught the tail end of it, unfortunately, so can't comment on its content - I did read the article, which I thought was very light-weight and of no use to anyone thinking of moving abroad. Like others, I struggle with the notion of a farrier commuting daily through the tunnel! Fortunately all my husband's travel, accommodation and meal costs in the UK are picked up by his employers..........his job is 'field-based' as is that of others at his grade who may live in Scotland, Northern England etc and who regularly fly down to client meetings - his ferries costs are frequently cheaper than an internal UK flight plus hire car, even in the height of Summer, and travel to and from the office or to see his client is part of the working day so he doesn't lose annual leave entitlement. Lucky?- well yes, of course, but we did our homework and ensured that all this would remain before we moved over...............and there are certainly plenty of days when he could easily work from home, but he makes the journey to the UK for exactly the reasons you mention.

Well we chose it as our lifestyle nearly 4 years ago, and it works for us!! We were used to my OH being away a couple of nights during the week, anyway. He actually finds the commute less stressfull now - he always has a cabin on the ferry and works on his lap-top, or reads, dozes etc. Depending upon the time of year he has a 40 minute or an hours travel in France to the port, and then an hour the other side. Before it was 3 1/2 to 4 hours (sometimes upto 7 hours depending upon the traffic on the M25) of driving..........and he was stressed and gruumpy all the time. Now we see him either Thursday or Friday until Monday or Tuesday and he is much more pleasant to be around as he is less stressed!! I know that lots of you don't understand how families can live this sort of life, well we can, and we do...................and no, we wouldn't want to scramble around for every centime............we just want to live our lives our own way - we are all happy, consider ourselves to be as integrated as we want to be, and yes, we speak French !! Chris  

Congratulations on your house sale ..........................how about the Raff's, have they sold yet? Chris  

...................and on the Earning a Living in France page, this thread doesn't exist, but you can see Miki's post only, on the right of Earning a Living etc  title on the General index page..............weird!!

We use CurrenciesUK Ltd to transfer a regular monthly amount via a Standing order, the only charge to us is a 3.50€ fee from our CA account each month, and the exchange rate is pretty good. Regards Chris

Hi Mr Riff Don't worry, I'm sure no-one is upset!! I'm afraid one of the worst things you can do on a forum such as this is to post things like 'better quality of life for the children' 'the UK is going down hill' -,many people think that they shouldn't really be reasons for wanting to move to France and they usually get somebody's goat, although I must say, I think you have had some pretty decent replies, especially from Dick. Browse these forums, ask lots of questions (put on your flak jacket!), prepare yourself for all eventualities, try and have a contigency plan in place and enough money to get you going, then, if it's really what you want to do, just do it!! There will always be those who have had bad experiences in education, in business etc etc and, quite rightly, they will want to pass them on. Remember, the people who post on here are only a very small proportion of those who actually live and work in France................people do come over here and make a go of things, and there is no reason why you shouldn't do the same. Your children may, or may not get on well at school - I would say that they are all still of an age where they should manage pretty well. Good luck and keep posting those questions!! Regards Chris

Well we haven't had any in our part of Manche (Basse Normandie)- just loads of rain this morning, now slightly brighter, but cold, wet and miserable - I'd much rather have had some snow!! Chris  

There is another possibility which hasn't been mentioned.................. the weekly commute. It wouldn't suit everyone, but there are a fair few Brits who do it, either living up near the ports or taking the risk that the budget airlines will continue to fly into the airport closest to you. My husband has been commuting to the UK from Normandy, every week for the last 3 1/2 years, sometimes working from home on a Monday or Friday - for us it is the best of both worlds and we have adapted very well, and as Clarkkent said, we have the means to enjoy France - I can have my horses and other animals, we can eat out, the children enjoy school and are doing well. Another option to look at, perhaps? Regards Chris  

Oh, she is lovely, what a sweet face................I'm sure she won't have to wait long for a new home. Are the couple going to keep her until a new home can be found? Chris

Wonderful.........bought a lump to my throat! Chris

Well done, Maggi.........it is great that Trevor has settled in so quickly, I'm sure he will repay you a thousand fold for the wonderful new life you have given him, even if he doesn't forgive you for calling him Trevor!! (no offence to any Trevors out there!!!), mind you, I can't talk, one of our rescue dogs is called Frank!!! Chris

Come on, Wen, don't put Polly off - I think it's great that she is using her initiative and asking questions about things which are worrying her - there are a huge amount of adults on here whose spelling, grammar and punctuation are far worse than Polly's!! Actually, Polly, it is not strictly true about only being able to attend the College within your commune - if you go to a College Privé, it doesn't have to be within the 'catchment area', but you wouldn't want to be too far away, both for the sake of where your new friends might live, and the fact that the school day is already pretty long! I have 2 sons, aged 15 and 12, and they love it here, and are doing well - it is a bit of a slog at first, though, but if you are prepared for that, then you'll be fine. Good Luck! Chris

Hello Graham In our case, the E106 was valid for 5 years, and entitles us to join the French health care system, which re-imburses 66% of charges. We have a Mutuelle, or 'top-up' insurance to cover the majority of the rest. I presume that when the E106 expires, as long as our situation hasn't changed that we will be able to re-new it, but I won't know for sure until we try! As far as Child Benefit is concerned, you just need to contact the Child Benefit Dept and they will send you a form to fill in - as long as you are working in the UK and paying Tax and NI, there should be no problem. Regards Chris

It is quite simple...........it's exactly how it works for us. My husband commutes weekly to the UK, and my children and I have health care via an E106. He pays tax and NI contributions in the UK and we complete a French tax return, but do not pay any extra tax: this entitles us to tax credits on things such as wood-burning stoves etc, which are repaid in the form of a cheque. We are also still entitled to claim UK child benefit. Regards Chris  

Well, I adopted the Siberian Husky recently posted here (bit of a shaky start between him and the others, but slowly getting there now!), and, last June, a Husky/Podengo cross advertised on a Brittany Forum. Our donkey, Delboy also came from this forum 3 years ago! My husband has absolutely refused to let me have anymore (3 dogs, 2 horses, 1 donkey, 4 rescue goats from the local chevrerie and a bunch of hens!) - Oh, apart from my friends little pony, who is not terribly well looked after, but her husband won't let it go yet - if he ever agrees, that will definately be the last one! Chris

Our local restaurant does two fantastic Foie gras starters - one a 'chaud/froid' ie a cold slice and a lightly fried slice with an onion confit, and an absolutely delicious, I'm salivating as I write, apple crumble with a some warm foie gras in the middle. Fabulous!! Chris

Hi djemai Welcome to the forum...............No you've got me, how did you end up being 4th?!! Chris

Me neither.......................mind you, it's a big and sad decision to have to make, but I'm sure whoever you choose will give him a super home.[:)] Chris

Hi I have sent you an e-mail Chris

I recently re-registered a Jeep Cherokee which we had imported from Germany to the UK and then to France (there was a reason why we didn't import it straight to France!), and I had no problems at all - had Certificate de Conformité, Quittus Fiscal, form from the Prefecture, EDF bill,V5, and passport. You should be fine!! Chris

I was recently thinking about doing the same thing, but decided against it because of the cost of fees and charges......1% of total for the arrangement fee, and 3% of the total for the Notaire's fee. Depending on the amount you are talking about, you might well find that these costs outweigh the savings made by having a lower interest rate. Regards Chris

grand (never come in the lounge - saw your post in French language!!)

[quote user="Chris Head"]Yep that was her Chrisb! I think I'm starting to get on rocky ground here and should slip quietly away....by the way, does Tim still look like the back end of a Challenger tank?[:D][/quote] Yes, I'm afraid he looks frighteningly like Phil Mitchell these days.......................but we don't run a pub any more and he doesn't have an East London accent!! - he now works in the Pharmaceutical Industry in the UK and commutes weekly from Normandy. Sorry, everyone, I'm sure none of you are the least bit interested in all this...................it's just really weird to find someone on a French forum who knew your other half long before you did!! [:)] Chris

[quote user="Chris Head"]Ok, ask him about the girl (I've forgotten her name) who's father was the owner of the KitKat. She used to come down to the studio for a spot of 'table tennis' [;-)][/quote] Nah, I know about her, K** Br*** (in case she's reading!!) - a fair bit older than the pair of you, wasn't she?!!............................she went on to run a pub in the Fens with her girlfriend (was it something Tim and you did??!!) You'll have to do better than that!! He's out playing 'table tennis' at the moment, funnily enough - or so he told me! Meg and Mog: When Tim gets back, I'll see if I can find out anything juicy about him in his youth, but considering it will probably incriminate Tim as well, I may not get very far!!! Chris