tinabee

have PM'd you  

why not try house sitting, it can allow you to try out different areas at a very low cost, and some offer a small salary as well as accommodation, there are websites that advertise for house sitters there are also other forums that allow you to advertise your services for free, where you can specify that you want to work under CESU 

hi not sure what you are asking, do you want suggestions for finding work? or starting a business? 

how many post titles can you turn into an "I say, I say, I say" joke. Sorry, having a silly moment, I just saw the post "what's the easiest way to fly to Crete?" and I was sooooo tempted to reply - "in an aeroplane" . . .  boom, boom [:D] but I didn't is it just me?    

being in a similar situation, this is my understanding: You will be covered on hubby's E121 ( and you are right about the 70% cover) If he dies, you will get a period of continued cover (not sure how long) After that you are on your own, but you may be able to join the CMU depending on a number of circumstances (years of residency etc.) I am sure someone with more expertise will reply soon to clarify

Another way to recycle your pre-read books is at www.Bookmooch.com  It is a great website that works on a points basis - no money changes hands. You just send on your books to people who want them for the cost of postage. And then you can use your points to get books from other people.  [:)] I was getting desperate for books to read but needed to clear space to get them. This solved both problems. There is a special tarif for sending books abroad which makes this so attractive.

[quote user="lorna"]So this good rate is given for both debit and credit cards? Unfortunately we don't have a Nationwide account but I could advise visiting family and friends to get one. Also we have relations who will be moving to Spain presumably the same applies there? I will suggest they open a Nationwide account if they don't already have one.[/quote]   The exchange rate on a Nationwide (visa) credit card is also very good, and no commission or charges. 

There is an ant product that is in a spray can with a very thin tube (not sure of the make but possibly Baygon). You can make a very small hole to squirt the product into. We had the same problem last year and it has worked great.

[quote user="woody234"] i am selling my barn which is 10 metres from my house separated by a garden, there is a line on the map  which separates the garden from the barn and plot number for barn (70) and plot number for garden (180) but theres no mesurments of actual plots and now  the notares have told me the man has done the asbestos report on the barn but says he noticed the map of the plots of land on the paper he look at is different than the reality, how much and who  to get it official with mesurments        [/quote] It might be worth having a look here at your plots of land, before handing any money to anyone, the size of each plot is specified, and there is a tool which allows you to measure distance (it is available in English - just click on the flag) http://www.cadastre.gouv.fr/scpc/changeLangue.do?lang=en&cty=EN

[quote user="Sprogster"] Not sure if the price comparison some posters have made asserting fuel prices are appreciably lower in France is still correct with the much weaker £ to euro rate.   [/quote] You are right Sprogster - just checked out our local (French) prices and compared them with where we used to live in UK. Petrol: a few cents MORE expensive here, diesel: about 15-20 cents cheaper.

[quote user="Llantony"] After owning a small French house for 5 years, we have staggered on to retirement (age 60 and 61 soon) with the intention of moving there permanently.  We have made lots of friends and love going there.  We still have small UK house which we plan to rent to our son (no room for us to live there too, except for very brief visits).  I am beginning to wonder if it would be better to spend a lot more time in France but still be UK residents officially.  Reasons:  Health care costs (I'm so far very healthy but OH is on cholesterol reducing medication permanently), the euro being so strong against the pound, the hassle of reregistering the car and insuring it in France, having to do French tax returns -tho our main income will be a teacher's pension & taxed before we get it.  Also our house is rather dark and only has a view from the garden above it, which is fine in the summer but could get depressing. Any thoughts?  I have heard of people spending the summer in France and winter in the UK but no-one has ever explained how they sort out things like healthcare and car insurance!  I thought officially we should re-register our car and be officially resident after 3 months.   [/quote] Going back to the OP's question - is it worth moving to France? Option 1: Move to France Pros: additional rental income from UK house, no council tax, no road tax, cheaper petrol/diesel, lower heating bills (and you can still get UK winter fuel allowance if you move at the right time),  winter in south of France [:D],  . . . Cons: some admin for car, tax, top-up health insurance costs, exchange rate impact all year, dark house,  . . . Option 2: summers in France, winters in UK Pros: no health, tax, car admin, exchange rate impact for only 6 months, . . .  Cons: council tax/property taxes in both countries, road tax, more expensive petrol/diesel, may need French top-up insurance for 6 months (or travel insurance), car insurance may be more expensive, winter in Nottingham [+o(] Feel free to add/amend your own pros and cons [:-))]

I believe that if you are unmarried you have to each complete a tax return separately. If you have a PACS then you are taxed as a household, as if you were married. There is a good introductory guide here

[quote user="Llantony"] After owning a small French house for 5 years, we have staggered on to retirement (age 60 and 61 soon) with the intention of moving there permanently.  We have made lots of friends and love going there.   . . .  . . .  Reasons:  Health care costs (I'm so far very healthy but OH is on cholesterol reducing medication permanently),  . . . the hassle of reregistering the car and insuring it in France, having to do French tax returns -tho our main income will be a teacher's pension & taxed before we get it.  [/quote] If either of you is receiving a state pension (i.e. woman age 60) then she will be able to get an E121 which will cover you both to join the French healthcare system. You will then need a top-up insurance. Most cholesterol medication is now generic which is covered 100% if you have top-up. Yes, re-registering a car can be a hassle but you only need to do it once. If you only have pensions and savings income then the French tax form is easy to do - and you may find you pay LESS tax in France. For obtaining healthcare, re-registering car and doing tax returns, you can find out exactly how to do all these things on a forum like this. For Pound against Euro - [:(] not much any of us can do except shop for bargains [:)] As the other posters have said, why not give it a try over the winter and see if you like it.

I only just had my letter saying they would be sending out card readers.

[quote user="Ysatis "] What would happen if the OP or someone in a similar situation were to marry in the future? [/quote] Surviving spouse could inherit all provided there are no surviving parents, however the spouse CAN inherit all if a gift, will or appropriate marriage contract is in place.

There is a good basic guide here that details who would get what and what tax they would have to pay: Inheritance Guide I am likely to be in the same position as you one day and I think I might consider selling "en viager" and living to a ripe old age on the proceeds [:D]

Have you checked the plan cadastrale? It is available on-line here http://www.cadastre.gouv.fr/scpc/changeLangue.do?lang=en&cty=EN Our house is on 3 separate plots that have different names - but that might just be because the fields in our village are so small [:)]

Is the LF magazine article available on-line?  It sounds a bit odd and it would be good to see the original text which caused you the worry. There is a good explanation of tontine here: http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/finance-taxation/inheritance/tontine/ I can't see any problems with this in your situation since your children will ultimately inherit from the surviving spouse, except tha the children could end up paying more inheritance tax. However, it would certainly be advisable to consult a notaire once you are resident in France to determine the best approach to inheritance planning for your particular situation.

Early conversations with our neighbours: What we wanted to say - do you like to eat andouille? What we thought we said: "voulez-vous aimer manger andouille?" What they heard: "voulez-vous aimer manger enduit?" What we wanted to say - we like to cook spicy food. What we thought we said - "Nous aimons cuire avec l'épice" What they heard: "Nous aimons cuire avec le p*ss"  

This is how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.  As I walk towards the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the rubbish bin, and notice that the bin is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the Rubbish first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the rubbish anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.  I take my cheque book from the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Cola that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the Cola aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Cola is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Cola, a vase of flowers on the work-top catches my eye....they need to be watered.  I put the Cola down on the work-top, and I discover my reading Glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I'd better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I put the glasses back down on the work-top, fill the watering-can and suddenly I spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the Kitchen table. I realise that tonight when we want to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the living room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the vase, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor, so I put the remote control back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the water. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the car hasn't been washed, the bills haven't been paid, there is a warm can of Cola sitting on the work-top, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only one cheque in my cheque book, I can't find the remote control, I can't find my glasses, and I can't remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why I didn't get anything done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.  I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!! GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC  

You will eventually get your Avis d'Impot some time around August, or September, or October . . .   

There are quite a few seasonal live-in jobs on this website http://www.hotrecruit.com/?CMP=KNC-hotrecruitBrandedTerms&HBX_PK=hot+recruit&HBX_ou=50 There are quite a few places in France that offer educational holidays that might be appropriate.  

If you make the effort to speak French, people do appreciate it and you will improve the more you try. There is lots to do - I suppose it just depends what you are interested in. Here is a list of the associations in our local town: http://www.vire.com/vie_en_ville/asso/ There is even one specifically for newcomers to the town. In the villages, the locals may take some time to get to know and you will probably always be classed as outsiders. This applies to anyone whose grandparents were not born in the village, including the French. Our village has an annual meeting hosted by the Maire which, if you find something similar, is a great place to start. A lot of the get-togethers may seem a bit old-fashioned or parochial in comparison with the UK, but they are normally very friendly and convivial. Our last local event was the election of the May Queen followed by aperitifs :o)  

The E106 says " The above mentioned worker and the members of his family residing with him" so I hope this means he will be covered. I am about to ring Newcastle to check. EDIT Just confirmed by Newcastle that you can get cover for spouse and dependants on the same application form.

I have an E106 and it covers both me and my husband here in France. I now need to get EHICs for us from the UK, but I would like to know if the UK will provide my husband with an EHIC based on my E106, since he cannot get his own E106. Is anyone else in this situation who has sorted it out?