Celestine

Can I disgress for a moment please? Gemini_man, I see that you are registered as an Entretien parcs, jardins, piscines et maisons - what does this allow you to do please? My hubby registered as a gardener but this is proving to not be a wide enough heading - he is literally allowed to mow grass and cut trees. We will be changing his title soon if its not too much of a problem to do that - which leads to another question, has anyone changed their business and what does it entail? Would we have to go back to the chambre of commerce and re-register? Would there be charges for doing this? Any info really appreciated!

I have checked her ears but theres no tattoos. I will be taking her to the vets very shortly to check for a chip and get her jabbed if she staying with us. Thanks for the info!

Cotisations are only charged on your profit though arent they, not the whole amount youve earnt? So it would be 45% of your profit?

Hi there, Recently found a very emaciated dog wandering along a road and had to bring her home. Shes a Beagle type so possibly a chasse dog. Shes got a cataract in one eye so was possibly dumped. Anyway, will be taking ehr to the vets soon, along with my other dogs, for jabs as we are going on holiday in July and they will go in the kennels. We will have to go on the fact that shes never had any innoculations with the vets so will need to start at the beginning. Is there a course of jabs - I cant remember? Would she need a jab and then a follow up booster? Worried I wont have time before we go away and put her in kennels. Cheers Wendy

Hi all, If my hubby makes me a wooden porch at the front of my house, which faces onto our own private driveway, would we need planning permission or would it not be classed as a permanent structure? It wouldnt be very big, just enuf for boots to be taken off in. Cheers

Hi there, Does anyone have a cockerel either free or for a small charge please? Mine had to go to the hen-house in the sky recently and I would like to replace him. Am also after buying a few hens if possible. I live in Dept 85, near Fontenay-LeComte or Chantonnay. Will collect obviously. Cheers Wendy

In my wilder days I went on 18-30s holiday to Ibiza with a friend. We went out for the night on an excursion, there must have been about 300 of us and as we turned the corner there were 2 friends from our local back home! Recently on another forum (not France related) a new member started who had recently moved to France but had originally lived near to where I had lived in the UK. On asking it turned out he worked for the firm that my ex-boyfriend did just down the road and had heard all about me in the early days!!

It is a difficult position to be in and its down to personnal decision at the end of the day. There is another post on here about job prospects for our children once they leave school and that theres not many jobs out there. However, someone has posted a reply that wasnt life supposed to be simplier, nicer, more family orientated in France and even if they end up working in a basic job, the lifestyle and safety of France is the most important thing - isnt that why we all came here in the first place? I know here they think nothing of making a child re-take the previous year if they arent up to scratch and its not frowned upon as it would be in the UK. Eventually, I would presume, they will catch up. I understand there are concerns with teenagers not fitttng in etc, its a harder age but if I was in that position, versus living in atown were most teenagers are on smack, crack, vandalising everything, no respect for anyone or anything and not even attending school - I know which I would rather take the chance with.

My son is 6 so cant comment on the job front yet but I do know that where we lived in the UK was a very bad area for getting a job. There had been many large factories shut down in recent years, more and more foreigners were coming over and doing the less interesting jobs and the firms that were taking people on were only doing it thru agencies so they could hire and fire more easily. Job prospects were worse there and would have been just as much of a worry in later years if my son wanted to stay locally.

I have friends that came over with 3 children - 9, 12 & 14 - two are at collége and absolutely love it. They get extra help instead of English lessons and they have extra help in the evenings with a private tutor. I came over with a 3 year old which was probably easier as he didnt really know any different. We all love France, love the way of life, love the friendliness of the people and above all, we love the security of it for my son (now 6). Yes we have been fortunate that my hubby has found good employment within his gardening business. Its nothing like the wage he used to earn in the UK as an Oil and Gas Engineer but the lifestyle is far simplier and we spend more time together as a family doing things we didnt get the chance to do in the UK. I know you have to be practical about things and make sure u know what youre getting yourself into but I do think its a little like having a baby - if you sit and work out if you can afford it, you'll never do it. Moving abroad is like that - I would rather take the chance than regret it 10 years down the line that I didnt do it!

Well done! We too read and heard stories of how there was no work in France and yet my hubby got 2 different jobs thru agencies with only a little French language. I think the problem in a lot of cases is that people expect to have the same positions, jobs and wages that they had in France. 1 of the jobs my hubby had was in a warehouse, boxing up clothing - not the most rewarding of jobs but a job non the less -  it got us nicely into the health system and the pay enabled us to continue living a much better lifestyle than we had in the UK! There is work if people are prepared to take a step backwards sometimes.

Thanks for your reply Charles. My hubby registered late 2006 but we havent received anything yet. The tax office told us that forms will be issued in March - is this the same thing or just for tax purposes? Thanks again

Hi there, Wondered if someone could enlighten me with some info on cotisations please? Have you good people already had your bills in for 2008? Which forms do you fill in and to whom do they go with your figures on? Do they go on the tax forms that are returned? Our tax office told us that we wont receive these until March - has this changed due to RSI now issuing the payments instead of URSSAF? Thanks

Well done you!! Sounds like your French is probably better than mine and Ive been here 3 years! My milestone is that we have been invited to dinner at a French families house almong with another French family. Feel like we have been accepted by the locals, our hard work has paid off and we have cracked it now lol.

Judith, would love to meet for coffee! I have a son aged 6 and im sure he would like to meet your son too. We enjoying making new friends! Dont blame you for bragging, I brag as much as possible to my UK friends lol. Keep in touch about Aug! Wendy

Thanks very much!

Sylvia, have u found out anymore about rehoming battery hens from that link? I want soem more hens and would like to take some of those if possible but couldnt find out much from that site.

Hi Judith, Im not far from you near Bazoges En Pareds. Not wanting to rub it in and make u miss France even more but the weather the last few days has been absolutely glorious - frosty in the mornings but warm and sunny by mid-morning!

Hi there, Are u talking about the kennels called Portugal - where they have the huskies - on the road to Fontenay? If you are I am very surprised as we have always used them for our dogs and not had any problems at all. If youre not talking about them - I can recommend them lol.

Hi there, I had plans to open some kind of treatment centre but having heard the amounts of cotisations one has to pay (and this being regardless of whether you have earnt enough to pay them) I decided that rural France probably wasnt the place to try this. I have searched on various sites for other people that do these holistic treatments and they do seem to be busy in the larger areas but whether it is enough to cover the cotisations and still live on the leftovers is debatable here (85).

Hi all, New to the forum so looking forward to reading thru the posts. We, thats me, hubby and 6 year old son, live in little Hamlet 10 mins from Chantonnay, 25 mins from Fontenay in area 85. Have been here just over 3 years after moving from Norfolk and loving it! Anyone out there like to meet up for coffee and chat - Im always happy to make new friends?