Washy

I bought a copy of 'Jardinez avec la Lune' - Celeste by Rustica Editions - you can order this on www.amazon.fr or you can find them in garden centres.Blue and yellow cover, I have one every year as they function as a diary and tell you what to plant daily.  At the back there is also a day by day diary to fill in with records of temperatures, rain, wind etc.  I really find it good to look back on previous years.  They are produced by the same company as mentioned in the previous posting which has a weekly magazine to subscribe to, this diary is a cheaper alternative. Mainly though I tend to plant what and when my neighbours plant as they have been doing it for years and know the weather and the conditions.  I always walk around the allotments that I cannot see from the road in the local villages. My bathroom is full of plants at the moment....very tropical...a necessity due to this late cold weather.

I intend to spend the rest of my life in France, but what happens when I die?  Do I have a right to be buried in the local cemetary? Two years ago a german friend of mine died here in France. She had lived here for 15 years, was well respected, and had worked locally looking after old people in the village.  When she died special permission was needed for her to have a non religious ceremony and to be buried in the local cemetary which is running out of space. Does anyone know what rights, if any, people have to be buried where they like in France?  

I would love to say 'I was that woman' Esperaza, but sadly not, he probably deserved it....everyone knows him, so I guess he must pray on tourists and newcomers to the area. I love Esperaza market, sometimes expensive but so entertaining....

Well MeowPoo I think I am losing the will to live let alone fight this man.  We went to the GPL authorised garage today, the one the man from DRIRE telephoned (?).  He actually did not have a kind word to say about the man who he agreed awful and very fussy.  He gave us an estimate for the work, i.e. changing the LPG tank, as just adapting the existing would not be acceotable to DRIRE, cost £1500, which is about what DRIRE had estimated.  Then the garagiste asked what DIRE had said about the petrol tank ?  I had no idea as he had not mentioned it.  According to the garage owner the petrol tank had been removed to put in the gpl tank, as the tank was not homologated and not French this would not be acceptable to DRIRE.  So the garage rang the man at DRIRE and had the phone on speaker phone.  He pointed out the non conforming petrol tank and he admitted he had not noticed it and agreed that it would not be acceptable.  He had no idea I was there and said he would tell me when I rang him.  So the estimate went zooming up to 2500 euros to change the two tanks and provide a protective 'ski' to the underside of the tank which he said was also compulsory for 4 x 4 cars. While we were there the garage owner who has previously done our GPL services went all over the car to check that DRIRE could have no other surprises in store for us.  It seems that as long as everything has an E number other than the British E number(!) which is E2 then it is OK...so I blame Tony Blair for all this...... Seat belts were E4 - Italy, but the headlights were E11 - had had no idea which coutry this was....but at least it was not E2..... So I think we are giving up.  I hate to do it because I really wanted to get this car through this test but 2500 euros to spend on an old 1992 Range Rover is too much, we are not rich and only have it because it was comfortable for the long journeys to and from France when we were just visiting our property.  As I speak my husband is looking through Land magazine for a french Land Rover so that we can tow our beloved Range Rover back to the UK to sell, pity but nevermind.

Thanks MeOwPooo, I am in less of a rage now.  I have received a copy of the original certificate from the LPG fitters in the UK, it is a european compliant unit. Great information about the Carte Grise, I also knew nothing about the 'Pastille Verte', for GPL cars.  I read in another posting that it is essential if you are going to drive your GPL car in some towns. I was summoned to DRIRE after my paperwork went to the Prefecture.  I already had the controle and the partial certificate and I included all this paperwork.  Now I am faced with this horrible man, who seems to make life difficult for anyone who does not have a french car, has an LPG car, is a woman and is disabled. Anyway I will not give up. I am supposed to ring him tomorrow.  I have met so many people now around here who are in fear of him and who he has upset.   Washy  

Beware the man who hitches lifts between Quillan and Carcassonne in either direction.  He gets in your car and you cannot get rid of him, he hassles money from you. He is often at the main junction from Esperaza onto the main D118.

A totally different subject for me. I read about this star explosion in the Milky Way on www.BBCnews.com science pages, link below. Apparently a massive explosion occured in space lighting up the moon and with much more power than our own sun.  Scientists say that if it had been nearer it could have caused some form of extinction......?  Was not the tsunami some kind of extinction?  It was one day earlier, and the star explosion had been travelling for some 50,000 light years.  A coincidence?  Any science buffs out there? I do not remember hearing much about it on the news in UK or France. Here is a link  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4278005.stm Otherwise you could find it through the bbc science pages.

Well my string was pulled until it snapped at DRIRE this week, see the update under DRIRE failure. Washy

Hi Albi, thanks for these comments which I will take action on as soon as I get a definite answer from him. I have had today to sit and gather information on this matter.  First of all he is famous for this attitude, mainly towards foreigners, although he has upset a french woman in our village. I have heard similar tales from three people I know locally, all women as it happens. I will ask for reasons in writing, as I am ringing him tomorrow.  We had the Certificate of Conformity back from Land Rover France with only two things marked on it as not conforming, emmissions and headlights, both verified now to meet EU standards.  So we were not prepared for the complete onslaught on other things, most of which he refused to disclose??? I have been in contact with the company that fitted the LPG system and they are sending me a letter stating that the items and work were to EU standard R67 which the DRIRE man quoted to me.  This was superceded by R67/1 in 2001 as a standard, a small red plastic cap being fitted to the relief valve.  No cars were recalled because of this small change, so I do not see how he can insist of R67/1?  He said he could not see any numbers on the unit - my husband found them today not hidden at all. He also denied seeing an engine number we have photographed this and noted it down, all clearly in view.  Another potential problem I am trying to avoid is that the VIN number is in the american position of on the door - I am contacting Land Rover Paris, who have been fantastic, to ask if they would send me an e-mail or letter stating that this is acceptable in France. My next contact with him is by phone at his request, to tell him I have found all the paperwork for the GLP system, so I will ask for the reasons for failure in writing.  He didn't actually say the car had failed as he would not go any further after he looked at the GPL system, so I think he is playing games with me.  I will not go in there alone next time, I will take a french friend with me, or how do I get hold of a 'hussier' please? When I have completed our two cars I will make a formal complaint, however one does that? Thanks again for your comments. I feel much better today aothough I am annoyedI lost a night's sleep last night.

Long message,same as posted on Total France,with a couple of obvious corrections: re Carcassonne DRIRE and the man's unacceptable attitude.  Well it was with great hope that we set the alarm for 7am to get down to the DRIRE at Carcassonne, we had long drive down snowy mountain roads, but maybe today we would come back with our French number plates. Gathering the information had taken a few weeks. We arrived early, at 9.45, I saw a man with German king cab truck outside with a folder and a line of several trucks and coaches behind the building. I asked the german man if there was a queue, he thought not as the man seemed to be taking people at random…..as another british car arrived I decided to make my presence known in the office. In fact I went in and sat down as I am partially disabled and cannot stand for too long. The Job’s Worth inside was lecturing a couple about the length of their vehicle, the german man came in as well, probably thought I was queue-jumping. The DRIRE official dealt with another truck driver then the german. The german man also had a lecture,something about the weight and length and after many calculations he tore up his cheque and left…..I was still sitting there after over an hour when it became obvious people who had arrived after me were being dealt with. When the English man who arrived after me was dealt with I intervened and asked why I had had to wait over an hour. The official’s answer was that he knew my problem was going to take an hour or more and he wanted to deal with all the people who would only take two minutes!!!! Well of course I argued back that if he had dealt with me an hour ago…etc.etc….all to no avail. I was in great pain by this time and could no longer sit down, nor could I walk easily with my crutches, inevitably I cried, by this time the tiny office was full of people including another English woman who was also dealt with very quickly. Then someone from the mairie of Limoux arrived with a brand new snowplough and of course he was put in front of everyone else. I could see the time creeping up to the dreaded 12 noon and I was really upset. I was in tears so had to go out to join my husband outside. The officious man came over and said he would deal with us next. He kept calling over people to translate for him, but I am a fluent French speaker and felt really insulted by this. He liked an audience. He opened the back doors without asking and fiddled with the seat belts muttering something. Eventually he asked us to open the bonnet, 2 seconds later he said “Stop…non non non GPL…non non non ….impossible en France….” I explained that I had ticked the ‘essence’ and ‘LPG’ boxes on the form supplied, he said that an LPG unit not fitted in France was unacceptable. He said we had to take out the complete system, disabling it was not enough it had to be taken out, out, out, completely, no iffs or buts. I said that it was to a European standard, he quoted a number to me I had no idea what this was. The tears flowed again as this was the last straw. He refused to go on with the inspection and went inside and started with another client. I went in to tell him I had all the paperwork for the LPG conversion and it had already had two services in France, and no one had commented on it, they even had replacement parts on the shelf, he changed his attitude then. He telephoned the owner of the LPG service centre in Narbonne who he seemed to know. When he came off the phone he said that we could have the unit modified there for about 1400euros, then he could go on with the test. I said that we did not want to pay that money for the conversion if he would then fail the car on something else. He still refused to tell us if there was anything else he might find wrong, I said he probably had several things to look at as he had originally said he would need an hour to do my inspection. He refused to speak to me at first then he started to lecture me about how dangerous my car was and that English norms were substandard and that I was lucky that he was not immediately impounding my car or giving me a time limit to fix it, he told me to go away (!) as he wanted to finish the ….yes you have guessed it the last couple before lunch…..I was tearful again and then the other couple started shouting at me for being aggressive (?) which I certainly was not, told ME I had to be patient, (i had been there for nearly three hours!), and started condemning me for driving an ‘illegal’ car. I was just distraught. Then of course the inevitable questions from both, ‘Why do I want to change the number plate anyway?’…I explained I lived in France….he then said have the car registered to my UK address…so I had to repeat that I lived in France and had retired there…this was received with a long intake of breath from him and a longer remark from the other couple, then of course ‘Why do all you English want to come and live here we have enough problems”. He then started talking in patois with his audience of French who all took his side and started laughing at me.  I could not cope with this any more and sat outside.  During all this he took my original V5 'in case he had to condem my car'?????I have written this down as I do intend to complain about his attitude when I have decided whether I am going to put myself through this again or sell our two cars, even though we bought LHD to avoid some of this trouble. Without opening up a complete can of worms on this topic I would add that his attitude towards an arab man was even more appalling. I bought a load of choclate and came home, I have been looking for the paperwork for the LPG ever since, but I gave the UK company a ring anyway. They were fantastic and said that everything they did was fitted with a ‘European norm unit’, they told me where to look for the number etc. and also told me that the change to the norm R67 was to R67/01 and that was just a small red plastic covering on the release valve to show if it had ever blown and then it could be dangerous.(I feel I may have been being 'stitched up when he rang the GPL service centre and quoted me 1400 euros???)  He told me to prepare to say to this horrible man when I saw him that although the norm had changed, and no one was being asked to bring their cars back to be changed if they had been fitted prior to the change. I feel a bit happier now but I still think the DRIRE man was playing games with me. I am sure there are other people out there who have had the misfortune to meet this man from DRIRE in Carcassonne. If anyone has any advice about the LPG situation I would appreciate hearing from them.

Before bringing the UK mobile phone to France you must have it 'unblocked' otherwise it will not work in France.  Ask you UK provider about this, there are places everywhere that do this for various prices.  My son reently paid £15 to have a relatively new one done for me.

Hi there Will and thanks, I knew I was not hitting my head against a brick wall.  I have just been on the site you mention where there is a wealth of information.  This site seems really helpful, whereas other people I have contacted just want to sell their own new or recon models. I now know that some Rayburns will work on fioul which is 35 second or on Mazout which is 32 second.  I am contacting a friend in the UK to ask them to get in touch with DON Heating Products lTd, Somerset, tele: +44 (0) 1823 663181.  These people supply conversion items.  Rumor has it that due to new EU rule Kerosene will not be available in the UK for much longer so these conversion kits should become more readily available. My firend in the UK by the way runs his car on recon chip fat so he is a pretty resourceful chap, he has already fitted us with a complete hot water system run on sun power (summer) and a back boiler that does not use a pump. So I think we are in safe and economical hands.

Has anyone successfully installed an oil burning Rayburn in France?  I have been given one that runs on Kerosene.  Having read the website Rayburns in France I find that Kerosene (28 second) in almost impossible to come by in France. Does anyone have experience of this or are converters available for them to run on say domestic heating 'fioul' ?   Thanks Washy

I notice there has been some interest in this update, which I can further update.  I did take everything to the Mairie and the secretary checked it all, took my passport details and dated and stamped the application form.  I included a stammped addressed envelope and one for the Maire to send it all to the Prefecture out of courtesy.  So now it is time for fingers crossed for as long as it takes them to reply.

Maybe they are so happy with their new surroundings they are 'guarding' their new grazing????   I know llamas are more hardened to cold weather but sometimes when we take the dog for a final walk and like tonight it is minus 3 or lower we see them each sitting on the top of their mounds chewing away and glistening with frost on their backs...the goats of course are well hidden and wouldn't dream of showing their faces in such cold. Two years ago when we had quite thick snow one of our llamas was sitting in the field on the snow and when we arrived with some carrots he had difficulty standing up as he had melted some of the snow around him and his fleece has welded itself into the melted snow and had refrozen......he left a half cirlce of brown wool in the snow. I am sure your donkeys will be really happy after they get over the shock of having so much loely grass and people to care for them.

Yes we have lots of the lovely white stuff up here in the Corbieres.  I can say that because I am tucked up, snug and warm covered in cats as I try and write this.  Of course it had to come yesterday, I have not been out for days and last night there was a meeting in the village which I had agreed to go to, by that time we had a blizzard, so Mr Washy had to drive us all there and ferry us home, and by 10pm there was about 15cm of crunchy, powdery snow. My washing machine also blew up after a surge in power, anyone know of a repair man up here in the hills?? I am off to make some vin chaude just to recreate the ski resort atmosphere completely.

I promised to update on how I was progressing with the re-registering of the Range Rover....I tried to find the original thread but it must be miles back so here goes: Today I received an Attenstation de Conformite Partielle for our LHD American market Range Rover.   This states that it conforms in all but the following:   The motor was designed for the American standards of noise and pollution levels The lighting was designed for the American standards   We took this to our local garage and he said that when we send this off to the Prefecture we should state on the letter that the lighting has all already been changed to French standards.  Regarding the noise and pollution he was not sure but reminded us that it has passed a French MOT.  The original engine has also been adapted for LPG since it arrived in Europe.   So with all this in mind I am going to gather together all the required paperwork and take it into the Mairie tomorrow morning, hoping to be able to avoid an initial 60Km trip to the Prefecture, as the secretary is convinced she can do everything from the village.  I am sure I will end up on a visit down to DRIRE but if the Mairie can save me several round trips then I will be very grateful.   Has anyone else been in this situation with a Range Rover?  Any advice?  

HI jorja...   On Friday I actually posted the request to Land Rover France for a certificat de conformite for our beloved Range Rover. (About time too....I can hear regular readers muttering....)  It is left hand drive which is a start, but it is North American registered so I can smell problems.  120 euros down already for one vehicle, am waiting for the reply.  It is also LPG/petrol automatic, just to compound things, but it is my husband that will not part with it, I think it is a tank and cannot stand driving it around these narrow roads.  We also have a Land Rover which although right hand drive is probably going to be an easier vehicle to change to french number plates.  I am just waiting for it to rain to soak some of the mud off to collect all the ncessary numbers for the form for Land Rover France. I will post here the results of the application for the cert of conf....if I forget...someone send me a private mail please!! Washy

Well that was a great long list of suggestions from Peter but some of the Brussells/Carcassonne connections are on different days - I have looked into all this to get friends and family from the NW down to us at either Perpignan or Carcassonne. Toulouse, Montpellier and Nimes are hours (4 hour round trip) away from us in the Haute Corbieres, although I agree the driving is probably easier in France.  It is difficult trying to persuade older people to get on coaches or trains to Gatwick or Stanstead before they even get on a flight out to France. Warrington/Birmingham was OK, the trains connected well and went right in to the terminal. www.Flybe.com had flights last year to Perpignan and also started to use Bristol, now thwy do not know if they will fly to Perpignan at all next year.  If people need these routes then please e-mail Customer Services to express an interest.  

I scanned the new Flybe schedules for 2005 to find that Perpignan has been dropped.  I emailed them and they said they had not decided yet on that destination because of lack of demand. Anyone else interested in this NW route or any NW route to Carcassonne please e-mail Customer relations at the airlines to express interest.

Agree with the builders sand, I have been pinching the sand from my husbands building pile for years now for the garden.  I wash it but I know it has stood in the rain for some time, I just do this as the cats have probably discovered it as well.  Have had difficulty finding seed compost but now tend to make my own mix with the finest compost I can find and sand topped off with vermiculite.  Finding compost that does not contain fertilizers I find very hard so fanatically I also wash the compost!!

I recently ordered some seeds from Thompson and Morgan UK Ltd, which has a set up in Paris as well and noticed in their catalogue that they sell Vermiculite but it is quite expensive.  I had some shipped out here last year, my friends were only to please to bring it for me as it was light and they used it to pack around some china they were also transporting.   I like the sound of the stuff mentioned in the previous reply, and will look for this, can you be sure there are no adverse chemicals in it though that could affect plant growth?

Hi there Dinks, do you know I have a mobile and I am not sure what they call pay as you go!!  Mobicarte I think.  I know it was dead easy to sort out.  I went into an electrical/household shop in Quillan which displayed an Orange sign and showed them my old UK mobile phone a Nokia 3310.  I explained I wanted a new French SIM card for it and she asked if it was unblocked?  It was as I had used it before in France when on holiday.  The assistant then fitted a new SIM card for me and set me up with a new Mobicarte, she also installed this for me and activated the phone by making a quicky call to her mate at the other end of the shop.  Cost was about 30 euros for the new SIM card, then whatever you want to pay for the Mobicarte, I put on 30 euros which seems to have lasted ages.  All works well and of course I still have my old mobile phone which I understand and can use quickly.  Top up cards are available everywhere and the notices are self explanatory, with just the usual scratch off number on the back to enter when you have rung the service centre number. Easy peasy....... Oh and the handbook I received with the Orange SIM card has a section in english as well if you are not sure of your french instructions. If you are sdtill in the UK with the mobile you propose to bring out to use get it unblocked before you leave, there is a charge for this, about £10.

I ech Nick's reply and advice.  We are experiencing problems with EDF at the moment.  We have a pylon about 6 metres from our barn but they will not connect us as the system has not been wired by a french artisan and the building is not complete????    We are questionning the fact that they will not connect as the building is not complete as it might be ten years before the whole building is complete.  We asked about a connection for a 'chantier', building site, and they said they could do this for six months only and it would cost about 600 euros for the special connection box and another 300 euros to make the connection, then they would only renew this once. The box would have to be discarded when we had a permanent connection and the connection would be charged for again as well as another box.  I had to pay 800 euros to EDF before they would even come out to tell me they could not do anything!!  The man who came was really rude and a french neighbour who just happened to be visiting us at the time was appalled at the way he spoke to us and in fact got involved in an argument with him, which probably didn't help!  Anyway we are looking for a french artisan locally now. If you search on this forum you will find some other postings about my never ending electricity saga.......The farmer who pumps water out of the river next to us has just had a connection made direct to the pump from the pylon - no charge??? (his comment). We manage very well with a 12 volt system/sun panels and back-up generator, we only really need the power for easier use of power tools and a freezer on constantly. Good luck in your hunt, there is plenty of information on here about electricity regulations to help you.

Hi there Mayrac, We are a little further from you, in the Haute Corbieres, but Couiza, Quillan and Limoux are our nearest shops, civilisation etc.  Get in touch if you are exploring the Corbieres anytime, come and visit the llamas!!  We are renovating a very old watermill slowly but surely. Kira, I saw your message, how's the kitten, Caramel????  Also do you know of a registered electrician near us?  We drew a blank with EDF as they want the system to be completed by a french artisan and passed by CONSUEL before they will connect.  Sorry to hijack this post Mayrac!!  Good luck in your new venture.