Quillan

Just completed my online renewal for a third year. I mention this as when I first took it out they said you can only do it for 2 years so expected a letter telling me they couldn't do it any more. I got my renewal this morning in the post and did it online, no problems even though I have sold the house in the UK.

I think it's all a bit funny really. Now we will see the Tories say that this proves that Labour has no decent people fit to govern in their party, the pot calling the kettle black. To be honest I rather like the French approach to this sort of thing in as much as the French press don't really bother with their politions private life. The Frenmch are more concerned about the minister doing a good job which is what he is guaged on. Sorry to disagree with you Wendy but the majority of the British public did not vote Labour in, only the majority of those who bothered to vote did (around 48% if memory serves me right but willing to be corrected). Most of the young people can't be bothered with voting (neither can a certain percentage of older people either) because the two major political parties are to similar. None of them give what people really want. Again this is yet another side issue that detracts people away from issues that really need to be dealt with, health, education, immigration, law etc. As a side issue but more important in my view, did anybody see TB opening the new sports facility for schools to use the other day. Aparently kids only have 2hr of sport/PE every week now and these centes are for after school sport. The reporter went on to say that the reason for the 2hrs was because kids don't like playing sport anymore, they prefer computer games. This is why 500 odd aplications were made in 2004 to build on school playing fields. If this is the case then why spend 2.5 billion (around the country) on something for kids that they won't use? I expect they will sell them off to people like David Lloyd for a pittance after a few years due to low attendance. We used to do around 6 to 8hrs a week when I was at school, I didn't like sport much but we had to do it, no choice, but then we did not have computer games just a tennis ball to play footy with in the playground.

Come on John when any PM of any party says they back a MP who is involved in something a bit iffy it's like the kiss of death. As soon as TB said he backed him a couple of weeks back you must of guessed he was guilty of something and was on his way out.

I think the best way of 'putting your self about' is to get a baby or dog. The reason I say this is because I have always walked my dog round our village every day and it's the quickest way to meet people. I am always 'well mannered' and say "Bonjour" to every one and make sure I ask how they are and shake hands. As time passes you get to know who the gossips are which is very handy as you can use them to your advantage, it's no different to living in a village back in the UK except you can do it down the pub. When we want to 'test the water' we carfully work out exactly want we want to say then on our rounds mention it to our local gossip then sit back and wait a few days. Somebody, well normally a few actually, will mention something on my rounds and I ask them what they think. If I get a negative I then know where I stand, I will normally then say it was only a thought and I wouldn't like to upset anybody so I won't bother then theres no harm done. Sometimes I let drop something outragious and then 'change my mind' this is then seen as being a nice guy who does not want to upset people which then means I can get away with something else which is seen as a climb down, works every time. It's a bit like office politics I guess. So in the case of the guy and his fence I would have let it be known I was about to put a 2M brick wall round my property which I was allowed to do as my notaire had said so. When I am asked why I would explain that I was worried about my kids being run over by tractors but providing people respected this I would be happy to put a less noticable wire fence round and would allow access providing people knocked first so I could get my kids inside. After a while they will get fed up with knocking and probably not bother using that route. You could also mention to the village gossip what was happening and ask them for their thoughts on a possible solution or did they know of anyone who could help them but stressing that you don't want to upset people. Having said that I didn't see the program so I don't really know the exact facts so it's a bit difficult really and in this case it's probably a bit late now.

[quote]Many thanks for all your comments, could you tell me who the DDE is please.and who the best people to contact for side stepping the marie are. As a footnote to some of your comments, my wife does spe...[/quote] You know I have looked for their full name and can't find it short of driving up to my local one and writing it down but everyone seems to refer to them as DDE. They are the people who issue and approve the planning forms as well as looking after departmental roads, waste collection etc. If your mayor carries planning forms it is where he gets them from. They are normally located in a main town near you and their HQ is in our case in the same city (Carcassonne) as the Prefecture although iit's the local one you want, in our case Quillan. When we wanted planning permission we went straight to them, they sent a copy to our mayor. They will normally tell you verbally if they think there is a problem from their point of view straight away if you ask. Try the phone book or ask around.

This happened to somebody I know in a village of some 1000 odd people. This person got nowhere with the mayor who was not at all nice so he simply side stepped him completely and went to the DDE direct who said no problem unless the mayor had any objections. He then aranged a meeting with the DDE on site and invited the mayor. When the mayor arrived he was very unhappy because the guy had side stepped him. He then came up with some story about why it should not be allowed, the DDE said it was not a valid reason and the guy got his permission two weeks latter. The mayor does not speak to him anymore but he thinks it's a blessing. The neighbour can object via the DDE but if his reasons are not valid there is little he can do. If the field is yours ask the guy for a copy of the contract. If he has one take it to the notaire to be validated. If he can't produce one then don't pay him if he cuts the grass again and tell him so. If you don't want that hassle visit a agricultural shop and by a cheap electric fence generator, some wire and a few warning signs. Providing you stay within the law there is not a lot they can do. We had a problem with people fishing in our river using our garden. When we bought the property we asked on several occasions if the anglers had the right to enter the property to fish as in France there are rules about them having a 2M access along the river bank. We were told no by the agent and the notaire. Come our first April we had about 4 anglers in the garden. I asked them to leave and they refused so I wrote to the prefecture. I got a really nice letter back saying that there was no right of way, I owned half the river, I nor my direct family required licences to fish in our part of the river, I could extract sand (a local thing) but I was responcible for my share of the river. The next time I had unwanted visitors I showed them the letter and asked them to leave. They waved their arms about, swore at me, and then left but in doing so sh1t outside my garden gate. I put the stuff in a carrier bag and tied it to his wing mirror. A week latter I had the boss of the local angling club visit, he had heard about the letter. It turns out he was getting licence money from all the people along our stretch of the river who's garden bordered the river. I told him I would not tollerate anybody fishing from my garden as it was private, not only that but I informed him that I would ban his people from my side of the river and I would also post a copy of the letter on the village noticeboard. He got really upset and started shouting and whatever so I gave him a large single malt and said I wouldn't do anything providing he stoped anglers form entering my garden. He calmed down, we shook hands and I havn't seen him or a angler since. You really have to play these people at their own game, you do have rights and you should not be scared of the mayor or any other person especially if you have right on your side.

As nobody has answered I would say that there is no problem legally. I do know people who rent out flats which are part of their house as gites.

Have you considered short period leasing. Many of our clients who are traveling round Europe for more than 2 weeks go this route. You don't even have to return the car back to the same country.

I know from a first hand source that they (Formica) are removing the asbestos to make the site safe hence the heating plant running. They are also 'relocating' what production equipment they can. The question of the commune buying it for 1€ is a good one. I would think that the reason Formica have gone back on their verbal agreement is they realise the site is valuable and another company may buy it. If this is the case then won't that bring employment to the area and it won't cost the commune any money. This could actualy let the mayor of a financial hook as it were.

White Spirits 2cl for a single, 5cl for a large. Fortified wine (port, martini etc) 5cl.  

[quote]Hello Ron I am personally over the moon that you have not received your cheap cigs. Perhaps you will find it economically not viable to to harm yourself and others around you. By the way it is much c...[/quote] Well thats really helpful. Surely what he does, providing he does not break the law, is his affair and nothing to do with you. Must be a reformed smoker.

[quote]Quillan, I used to get my parts from independent LR dealers such as Paddocks, so the prices are a lot cheaper, I'll check the prices of the parts you mentioned and report back, but I have to say that ...[/quote] Re Limoux, I know of somebody who bought a MK1 Disco from them and to the best of my knowledge he had no problems with both the establishment and the car. My last service was the final one of the warranty, hence Passion Auto's but next time I am going to give that guy a try but it won't be till late next year. The bigest problem with the Disc 2.5TDI is the expensive oil (80€ a change) but then it lasts for 12,000 miles so it probably works out the same as a Defender with the same engine which I see from my handbook gets a oil change every 6,000 miles. We will see when the time comes. I did notice he has a couple of LR's in his yard.

[quote]Roofs fine mate, just sick of seeing wet washing hanging from every surface......bit too much like UK!! ps has the rain drowned your moles? Mrs O[/quote] The Aude is about 2M up and a lovely shade of brown. It's lapping nicely at the caravan park as you get in to Limoux. The moles have snorkles in their nuclear bomb shelters so I doubt if any have suffered.

Meal, our local Auberge is offering a seven course meal and all you can drink for 55€ a head. If any of the natives want to know further details then contact me by private message or email. Hope all your roofs are OK it has finally stopped raining after 6 days.

I know they are about to start work on pedestrianising the area from the square to Formica bridge which involves removing all the trees, why I don't know (removing the trees that is). I know that now Formica have gone the mayor sees tourism as the way forward but he has to get the people to think that way as well. We actually get loads of bookings outside the main holiday season but the difficulty is that at the end of the summer season everything closes till July the next year so unless there are things do to nobody will come. Although we are closed for renovation till the 8th Jan we could have had at least somebody in every week, I have had to turn them away. The Brits are taking a interest in the area, Fish and Chip shop near the Formica factory, only open for the summer and a English guy has maid a offer on the Canal Hotel and the same guy has expressed an interest in the Spa baths in Gennoles. Espina has the go ahead for the new fishing lake at long last and are also extending their holiday accommodation area. So we will wait and see. I know the tax's will go up in Quillan (sharply) as they have lost around 2M€ pa from Formica and somebody has to pay for all this. If you don't come directly under Quillan the tax rise will gradually fan out as places like Gennoles, Belvianes, Cavirac and a few others are only sub mayors of Quillan. Perhaps thats why the mayor has decided to 'consult' and hopes people will let him off the hook re some of his plans and then he won't have to put the tax's up so much. The other thing I was told buy one of the councillors (goes to the rugby each week - it's THE place to find out what is going on) is that Quillan is officially a 'Economic Disaster Area' after the Formica and Huntsman closures and the mayor has applied for grants from the EU. As I said we will wait and see, I never really believe anything until it happens.

Actually this is a good question. I have a heater that has gone bang and went to Leroy Merlin for some bits and looked at the electric heaters. They seem to vary in price for a 1500W unit from between 199€ and over 1000€. Could somebody please give an idea of what different types there are and why such a varience in price, rather like a fact sheet. We could perhaps then post it in to the FAQ's. With regards to the towel rail we have a vertical heater, looks like the others which are horizontal but it has a couple of 'arms' on it to hang towels on. I don't think a straight towel rail wil give off enough heat and we all know what it's like getting out of a hot shower in to a cold room.

Watching the Spanish bits of this series it seems that most of the problems revolve around subsidance and heavy rain. Not being normally interested in Spain could somebody tell us if there were especially heavy rains and floods within the last twelve months and thats what has caused the problems for so many? As somebody mentioned Boscastle the angle I was coming from was has the same happened in Spain and we never heard about it if you see what I mean or is it just badly designed and built houses?

Having watched quite a few now, they fit in with my typical Franch lunch break of two hours, I have been a bit taken aback by some of the big mistakes people appear to make. There seems to be a thing about subsidence in Spain with these new developments, most of the early programs on Spain seemed to show a lot of houses falling apart. It would be reasonable to think that anything built on the side of a slope needs serious thinking about and there seems to be a big question mark over the skill sets of Spainish buiders. Does Pedro translate to 'Jerry' I wonder when it comes to building in Spain. Some of the things are down to gross stupidity on behalf of the buyer, the lady who didn't 'get round' to insuring her house which burnt down after three or four days of her moving in through a forest fire. The family from Essex, I guess you could see what was coming when the first shots were of them fitting sun visors to their dogs and the fact they only had the pool for the dogs to swim in to keep them cool. Wonder what that smelt like after a few weeks? The couple with a French Gite and the Gray water. I can sort of see how they didn't know but then having bought their first home there surely they would have known that they did not stand a chance of getting their deposit back let alone get the money for the decorting they had already done. I did feel sympathy for a few, I never new about the reposession law in France and I have been here for two years. The couple in Spain who were loosing 38% of their ground to a 'urbanisation' and have to pay for the road to be tarmaced as well, bloody cheek. It only goes to show that you really do have to do as much 'homework' as possible before you make these moves ad you really have to have some basic language skills as well. There were a couple of cases of Brits being ripped off by Brits, I have seen this before, even down here. There are a few 'builders' and I use the word very loosly, who take a overnight ferry from the UK as it appears to give them longer to study the Readers Diagest Book of DIY to change from a car mechanic to a master builder if you know what I mean. They seem to be very good at 'ripping off' their fellow Brits. Fortunatly they are few and far between and there are some very good ex pat builders, legally registered, but when you are a novice how do you know how to spot them. Perhaps thats the good thing about forums such as ours where there is loads of information on ensuring you get a registered builder. I know that does not garantee he/she is going to be good but at least you can get help if it goes wrong.

[quote]Can a moderator tell me why my posts have been deleted from this thread and why I had to register again?[/quote] Hi Wendy, I don't know, there are some strange things happening at the moment in the forum. I have copied your question in to the moderators forum and perhaps we will find out on Monday. I can assure you that I have checked our part of the forum and there is nothing there about you so I don't understand. Also if you had been banned for any reason you would know anyway (one of us would have emailed you) and you would not have been able to open an account with the same name and email address. Once again sorry and I hope we can find out why on Monday.

[quote]>>Cancer nurses for me is a sad subject, even worse for my wife. This year we have had first hand experience of these people in the UK and I have to say that the standard of care recieved (if at all) ...[/quote] Probably a London thing, Pats mum was in St Barts till she died and although we were allocated one and even told her name we never saw her once and she never returned our calls. We did complain but never even recieved a reply to our letter which was sent registered post.

I think this is a cultural thing. The French, as I understand it, think differently to the English with regards to charity. They rely on the state to do everything with regards to running the country and this includes charity. Tax's are higher in France and the French government vet and then give to charities so your French person feels that charity is delt with by the state who uses their tax money. So organisations equivilent to say RSPCA recieve money from the state which does not happen in the UK. There is quite a good insight in to the French thinking in the book '60 Million Frenchmen can't be Wrong'. In two years plus of being here I have only once had junk mail regarding charities asking for money. They (the French) do seem to give a little to beggars on the streets, just a few cent's. On the English side, one of my clients was a very large international charitable organisation. Our job was to sort out their computer systems and network. The money wasted by this charity was horific and to be honest many of the people working there as contractors said they would never give money to that particular charity again after having seen where the bulk of it went. Cancer nurses for me is a sad subject, even worse for my wife. This year we have had first hand experience of these people in the UK and I have to say that the standard of care recieved (if at all) was very poor and totally disorganised, another charity I would not give to again. I think for many people these days the main concern is the money reaching the actual people, animals etc that it was intended for and what percentage of the original donation is given to them which seems to be getting less and less. I do believe in 'charity begins at home' but only in the sense of ones country not as an individual. Things like mobility equipment, electric scooters for old and infirm and alike, things that generally improve peoples quality of life. Then if there is anything left give it to other countries but not by subsidising them from your tax's via aid programs. My final thing is a question really, aimed at those people who strongly believe in charity. It's Christmas, go look around your local towns and cities, pick a homeless person, take them home, clean them, give them some of those old cloths you never wear anymore, make them feel like members of your family and give them a really nice christmas that they will remember. I doupt any of you have ever done this (go on suprise me), you would rather pay somebody else to do it for you but not in your own home.

[quote]Hi there Just got back from a week in sunny Spain. You need to have the jacket in case you break down. It is not an offence not to have it, but it is an offence to walk on motorway without it on. ...[/quote] Holiday, you must be joking. Room number 4 on the go with en-suite and hydromassage facilities, planting mature trees in the garden and have just finished building a 6 X 5M extension to the terrace with pagoda and landscaping. On top of that I'm off to hospital to have a trapped nerve sorted out in my groin on the...... wait for it........ 24th December and will need a week on my arse to recuperate. Oh what fun then we open on the 8th January for our first guests of 2005. Still living anywhere other than London is a holiday really I guess. Still I have quite a lot of wine tasting to get through for next years wine list, that should keep me busy for a while.

[quote]And don`t forget the 2 obligatory red triangles! It didn`t become a forcable law until the end of October, when It was in it`s trial period the man selling the `gear`on our local market had a newspap...[/quote] Acording to the RAC website it's two for a Spainish reg car but others only need one. But then if the AA website (no mention of yellow jacket) is anything to go by both may not be totally up to date.

I have cross posted this here as I know a lot of you guys visit Spain when your down here. I am told that driving laws have now changed in Spain. If you breakdown you should exit the car and wait at the side of the road for recovery (by whom I wonder) but you must also wear a yellow luminous waistcoat (as should all your passengers). Now I had a look on the AA ( www.theaa.co.uk ) site this morning and theres no mention of this there but then I visited the RAC website (http://www.rac.co.uk/travelservices/european_advisor/spain/) which mentions the jackets being compulsory but not when to wear them. The chap in Quillan market was selling them for €5 each. Perhaps somebody could clear up when you have to wear them. As a side issue I remember there was a debate on having a GB sticker on your car and I quote from the RAC website "UK registered vehicles displaying Euro-plates (circle of 12 stars above the national identifier on blue background) are no longer obliged to affix a GB sticker to the rear of the vehicle when driving in France. A GB sign is still required when travelling outside the European Union (Andorra for example)."

I am told that driving laws have now changed in Spain. If you breakdown you should exit the car and wait at the side of the road for recovery (by whom I wonder) but you must also wear a yellow luminous waistcoat (as should all your passengers). Now I had a look on the AA ( www.theaa.co.uk ) site this morning and theres no mention of this there but then I visited the RAC website (http://www.rac.co.uk/travelservices/european_advisor/spain/) which mentions the jackets being compulsory but not when to wear them. The chap in Quillan market was selling them for €5 each. Perhaps somebody could clear up when you have to wear them. As a side issue I remember there was a debate on having a GB sticker on your car and I quote from the RAC website "UK registered vehicles displaying Euro-plates (circle of 12 stars above the national identifier on blue background) are no longer obliged to affix a GB sticker to the rear of the vehicle when driving in France. A GB sign is still required when travelling outside the European Union (Andorra for example)."