Mikep

I suggest you have a look at Evian or Thonon, on Lake Geneva. Evian is about your size, nearby Thonon bigger and busier. Both are less than an hour from Geneva airport (Easyjet plus others), you have beautiful lakeside scenery and with the Alps just 20 minutes away. Both have railway stations and a ferry across to Lausanne for the Swiss rail network.Both are old spa towns with interesting architecture and polite, pleasant inhabitants. We live in the mountains half an hour away.

If you're trying to equate km to calories, some stats from my marathon-running days (before I moved to the Alps, thankfully): Walking or running one mile burns 100 calories. One ounce of fat equates to 3,500 calories. So, walk 35 miles and you'll lose a whole ounce of blubber. At least if you're walking or running, it will take you away from the fridge. Just do it because you enjoy it!

For payments over the card limit, why not just use a cheque? I discovered the hard way that there is a general limit on card expenditure - I think 3000 euros a month total spend. When I asked them to re-activate the card (the account was well in credit), I was told to wait for the end of the month. Alternatively, I could apply for a platinum card (or something like that), which provided a higher monthly limit but at a substantial higher annual fee. I didn't.

I've had similar problems trying to notify a Power of Attorney on my mother's accounts - she's resident in England, I'm resident in France. The money laundering regulations apply to Powers of Attorney too. I found Lloyds TSB (as it then was) excellent and very helpful, Halifax mediocre, and Alliance and Leicester an absolute bloody nightmare. Why not just use the bank's Channel Islands subsidiary? You still have to pass money laundering checks, but they are much more used to international operations, and there are few blocks on operating an account. I did have problems with HSBC who wanted to raise heavy charges if we didn't keep £15,000 in our account, so we moved to Bank of Scotland in Jersey - excellent service, no problems, and no charges. Interest is paid gross, and declared and taxed in France. Naturally I have no connection with any of these apart from as a customer.

Can you not simply post the application form and photo to a suitable signatory in the UK? That's what we did last time, to our former solicitors.

I think you may be overcomplicating it. The Acompte Provisionnel 2009 relates to payments expected to be due in 2009, for revenues received during 2008. There is no duplication or overlap.

Another little CA wrinkle to watch out for - my branch (CA des Savoie) stopped my card because I once tried to spend more than 3,000 euros in a month, buying some furniture on top of normal expenditure. Quite a useful security step, but when I asked the branch to re-activate the card, I was told I would have to take a more expensive (platinum) card at €80 a year. They're both immediate debit cards, anyway, and there were funds in the account to cover the spend. I told them to get stuffed, and used my chequebook until the end of that calendar month, when the card re-activated itself. As far as I know, the limit's still on there. One to watch out for, though - consider paying for any large items by cheque rather than card.

Just topped up my contributions to the maximum. Doing the sums, it provides a 40% return on investment, with a degree of inflation proofing. Provided you trust the government (!), it's a deal you can't match elsewhere.

Amidst all the doom and disaster, one little nugget: The CEO of Lehman Bros awarded himself a bonus of 40 million (dollars) last year. (boooo!) Sadly, he took it all in Lehman shares - now worth precisely f*** all! (hurrah!!)

Hold on a moment! I read the link, and it refers to an income ceiling that you have to be below to avoid Taxe d'Habitation. For a couple this is 14,666 euros. You're not out of the woods yet!

Thanks for the responses. I tried the bank, who were not helpful. I've now written to the tax office with the contract notes. The funds reached my current account on 27th December. I'll post any updates as they come in - just wanted to alert other readers.

I just received my "Declaration des Revenus Mobiliers" from my bank (Credit Agricole) for 2007 and was surprised to find that they had included a share sale from December 2006 (27th). This took me just over the "Seuil de Cessions" (sales value ceiling) and will cost me several hundred euros in capital gains tax, which would otherwise not have been payable. Has anyone else come across this? Does anyone know where the financial year dates are defined, if not the normal calendar year as I had assumed?

Thanks for the input - could I ask what sort of fees you pay on your QROPS? I moved my SIPP to Alliance Trust in Dundee a couple of years ago because they charge a low flat fee, rather than a percentage of fund value. I wouldn't want to move back to (say) 1% per year or more.

QROPS sound interesting as a means of passing pension funds on to children - but have any french residents any experience of them? It appears that it might be less expensive to retain a low-cost UK-based SIPP for the time being, and transfer to a QROPS at age 75. Anyone see any snags with this (apart from dying too soon!)?

The good news is that you'll probably end up paying less - my TOP rate is 14%, and there are no socialist charges on top for pension income.

I've just come across a document "French Tax Bulletin - November 2007" on the website of PKF Guernsey - free and full off useful stuff. One point in particular that surprised me was a comment that "French Legislators are said to be considering the issue of a law which will allow the French authorities to tax foreign pensions' lump sums received by French resident taxpayers" . .and . . "anyone expecting lump sum payments would be well advised to obtain payment before the end of the year or before a permanent move to France." (No doubt copyright them - hope it's OK to mention, guys!) This was news to me, but very useful to know - could save me tens of thousands in tax if it's true. Just thought that there might be others out there who would like to know in good time.Of course, the new law may never be passed . . .