minnie

Thanks Gardian. I'll see how I go as our information remains, more or less, the same each year. If I do get stuck I'll refer to it. What I find frustrating is that you have to do things in a set order i.e. supplementary forms first. I found this some years ago when I was not allowed to proceed in the main form as the supplementary info hadn't been input....

Eurotrash - You have understood what I was saying and summarised it perfectly. Thank you.

All I want from a car is comfort and reliability whatever its age. I know all about technological advances as we hire cars annually when we go to New Zealand. Why waste money on newer cars when I find ours perfectly acceptable. Have no desire whatsoever to keep up with others by spending money unnecessarily. It's all a case of priorities.

Eurotrash made some very valid points. Our car is a 17 year old Citroen C5 estate, regularly serviced and maintained by the local Citroen dealer. It is comfortable and runs very well and we have no reason to change it. However in 2 years time we might have to as there are some minor issues which currently pass the CT but would not under the revised rules. Still we're happy if we can have 2 years by which time it will be 19 years old and owes us nothing!

I'm going by what I was told at the CT station and my French is good enough to understand that perfectly. All that it means is that if you need a CT soon and you want it before the rules toughen up then all the work must be completed and retested before 18 May. Otherwise you'll need a new test under the new rules. Simples

When we went to have our CT the other day we were told at the very start that ANY work required would have to be done and submitted for re-test by 19th May. I'm only going by what the station told us. Previously they'd put a 2 month sticker in the windscreen. This does not apply at present because we don't have 2 months! The only work we required were a couple of tyres and a shock absorber - nothing requiring the vehicle to be off the road immediately.

The current 2 months has been ABANDONED. Any tests which are not completely passed before 19 May have to take the complete new style test.

I don't know if I'm on the right lines but my book (for this year's tax return) indicates that if your child does not live with you "real" expenses up to 5795 euros can be claimed provided you can supply receipts. There is a mention of a smaller fixed amount of 3445 but they do say if the child does not live with you then the real expenses formula should be used. I'm a bit weak on this topic but it's what I've read. Maybe someone else has another view.

Most car owners will know that a new and tougher CT comes into force on May 19th (I actually thought that it was 1 May). What I didn't know was that the normal 2 months for getting jobs done as required for a valid CT has been abandoned. We took the car for its CT today and require a few minor jobs to be done. However, we were told that any work required had to be submitted for re-test before 19th May or else the new rules would apply. For us it's not a problem as we are having the work finalised within the week. Many people, however, may thin that they can take the car on 18th May and still have 2 months to comply with the requirements. This is not so. Just a point of information.

Mint - It will be very interesting to hear how your homeopathy visit went. Having a hiatus hernia with acid reflux I have, for a number of years, taken a daily dose of Apple Cider Vinegar. You may say ACV for acid reflux is wrong but I take daily med which counters the acid reflux and make things too alkiline. One needs a balance of acid. I've just been reading about the benefits of powdered slippery elm bark for general health issues and am about to see how that works. By the way Mint how are your Vitamin D levels?. If low this can make insomnia and anxiety, which you understandably suffer, worse. Bon courage Mint and positive thoughts too...

You can get the TGV from Bordeaux to Lille I believe. That takes just under 5 hours. Added to that the (approx) 1.5 hours fom Agen to Bordeaux St Jean. When you're in Lille you're nearly where you want to be. That would probably be a less stressful journey than travelling to Toulouse. Don't know where you're living but I believe that there are flights from Bergerac to Brussels.

I think that there is a huge difference between expats who came to France about 20 years or more ago and those who have come in more recent years. It's so much easier now with the internet and social media. One can retain links with UK in terms of online banking and purchases etc. Advice may be obtained from any number of forum sites, help lines etc and in English. I reckon that it was so much tougher in the pre-internet days. Just a thought....

Bon courage, mint. Positive thoughts winging their way. Hopefully you will make your target and be sufficiently recouperated to make your weekend of activity 17 March. As I get older the list of people of whom I am thinking gets longer....but that is a sign of getting older! Meanwhile I hope Christmas is good to/for you.

You're quite right to be renting a gite in Jan/Feb. This should enable you to make a sensible decision. Personally I wouldn't want to be that isolated or in such extreme weather conditions. We find that Lot et Garonne satisfies all our needs. Extended summers and shorter winters which don't get too cold for long. It's laid back but not isolated. We don't live near any British enclaves and all our neighbours are French. Plenty of shops and supermarkets within 10 mins. Hospitals and other services are all available within 30 mins. Do remember that though your husband may be from NZ, unless you live deep down in South Island the temperatures are rarely extreme. You get the Desert Rd on North Island which closes occasionally due to bad weather and some snow but other than that not bad, Good luck with your search but be sure of what you want because reselling afterwards can be a nightmare!

We use our latest prescriptions and order from glassesUK.com. Both oh and I have varifocals and have been ordering them successfully every 2 years for the last 10 years. A pair of varifocals with extra thin lenses and reactolite cost about £100 a time.

I quite agree with you Mint. Whilst I used to dye my hair in my 20s and 30s it became far too costly to keep up with looking natural. Now in my 60s I'm growing old gracefully and am quite grey. However it looks bleached anyway in the summer and the blonde bits come through. OH and I go to a local (French) hairdresser who operates from the front room of her house. I think that we are her only British clients because we're always referred to as "les anglais" - despite me being Welsh and we too go about every 3 months...

That's very interesting - worth bearing in mind. Thanks. We go each year as our daughter lives there.

Thanks a lot - got it now. Problem was that sous prefecture at Marmande had the wrong website on its literature.....

Has anyone applied for one of these recently. Ours are due for renewal (forthcoming trip to NZ). As usual we went to the sous prefecture to be told that we need to apply to Nantes now. I can't seem to find the form that we now need to use. I know exactly what we have to attach to the form but cannot seem to find the form itself. Can anyone help please?

Surely you don't have to renew online but can use a postal service with a passport photo from an approved booth. What happens to people who have no internet....I shall be looking at this next year and so am interested in other people's thoughts

Has anyone any experience of the Europe Assistance breakdown service quoted by Chancer? It must be relatively new. The charges don't look much more expensive than the AA in UK. We live in France and have a french registered RHD car.

Why don't you just talk to your neighbours...this is what we did. We then had the macon locally and he sorted out his team. All macons have preferred plumbers, decorators etc and they can deal with it. The French locals like being asked for recommendations. If you wish you can then ask the macon if he could let you see an example of some work done. Simples.

At last renewal our combined mutuelle was about 1880 euros per annum. I must admit that we don't pay for private room automatically. Each time either of us has been in hospital for a few days I pay the extra for a private room but other half prefers the company so goes for shared room.

Thank you Gardian for alerting us to this, especially as you're obviously under pressure yourself. Wishing Mrs G well and hoping that she makes a good recovery. I've come to the conclusion that as one gets older we must savour each and every day as nobody knows what's around the corner. Look after yourself too.....

We use the old fashioned fly papers - seem to work well. Obviously keep these away from food prep or eating areas but otherwise fine.