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I am in the process of filling out my annexes and have still not come across where I need to put the info about this being our principal residence. I think I will just write a note at the end in the box provided for further information and also send a message via my security message box. Or...is there a box somewhere that I have not yet come to that lets you declare?

I dunno, Wools. But, I can tell you this: a ghostly is ghostly and spectrally and an angel is er..angelic and possibly holy😂

Yes, and we need to know for what purposes you have to have this proof? For example, insurance purposes, tax declarations, and in which country? Without these sorts of essential information, it would not be possible to help you at all.

I'm not surprised that you "felt nothing" Lehaut. I didn't FEEL anything on the two occasions this had happened to me, it was a complete surprise, with no warning, and I only thought about it AFTER the "event". The only other time was in completely different circumstances, indeed in a different country. I was on holiday with my sister who lives just outside Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. She took me to a friend's house so that we could catch up on our news. I was sitting perfectly happily and comfortably in her friend's sitting-room and exchanging conversation and drinking nothing stronger than tea. Out of a back room, a lady dressed in a flowery ensemble (no time to see what style of clothing) appeared, smiled, bowed slightly and exited the room. After the visit and we got back to my sister's place, I asked her whether the lady WE (I thought we all saw her) was her friend's mother? I said "mother" because in those days out there in Malaysia, the middle classes still had domestic servants and I had no idea of the status in the household of the person I saw. No, my sister said, my friend lives alone, her mother died a few years ago. So who was the lady who came into the room? What lady? It was only at that point that I started wondering about what or who I had seen. The "lady" was plain as plain as the room was brightly lit and there was nothing "shadowy" about her. She had normal colouring and her clothes were bright and colourful; she was of medium build and there was nothing to suggest to me that she wasn't a real person. How does one explain this kind of phenomena? My common sense tells me ghosts can't really exist but I don't have any logical explanation to refute that, not even to myself. Neither "ghost" was known to me and I cannot think how I could have conjured them up. Then there was the angel I saw on the Compostelle but I don't know if you could count angels as ghosts so I will not tell that story here.

No, I didn't know the lady who killed herself so would not have been able to put a face to her. The 2 cars that normally leave the farm are a utility type vehicle or a small red Citroën. It was just so odd to see someone wrapped up like that except for the face in such warm weather. I looked back at the car but it was out of sight round a bend. I also noticed that it was driving slowly for the mad folk that drive "à toute allure" around these country roads and the car also seemed to weave a bit as though the driver was uncertain about the driving. Also, where were the dogs? There are 2 dogs that always bark, regardless of which side of the road I walk on. Looking at the farm, all was quiet, no other cars in the forecourt as per usual. Couldn't be a burglar in disguise as the last burglary round here was about 12 years ago during the weekend of our fête and the fair people were blamed.

Must establish first of all that I do not possess ESP or am even an ordinarily observant person. So, whenever this subject comes up, I used to be as sceptical as the next person, except today, I thought I saw one of these elusive individuals. Lovely warm day today, first in ages so I went for one of my customary walks which takes me out of the village, downhill to a geese farm (at least there were geese until the pandemic and the subsequent avian flu) and then uphill to a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and valleys. Nice walk, challenging but not shattering and I could do it in around 90 minutes. There was I, swinging my sticks and walking along teaching myself to be more observant of my surroundings. I passed the entrance to the geese farm and, occasionally, a car belonging to the farming family would pass and the occupant/s would wave and smile. About a year ago, I heard from a neighbour that the family there was not the trouble-free country folk from "Tales of Rural France". The mother apparently killed herself some years ago by loading her pockets with stones and drowning herself in the fishing lake on the other side of the road. I must admit that, as I looked at the "étang", no not for the poor drowned lady, but for the heron which sometimes sits there on the edge and at the lily pads and the buds about to open in all their glory. At the farm entrance, a large 4x4, greenish-grey in colour slowed momentarily in a gesture to allow me to cross safely. In fact, I had already stopped walking to allow it to come out of the entrance onto the road. I looked into the car windows to see if it was one of the sons and prepared to wave and mouth a "bonjour". I was immediately puzzled at the sight that met my eyes. In the driver's seat, the sole occupant was swathed completely in black, like a hooded cloak (on such a warm day and the sun bright in the sky!) The figure looked neither to left nor right. I looked once, I looked twice and, no, my eyes did not deceive me. The whole head was covered, except for the face which was white, as white as a clown's make-uo or a geisha's face, the mouth was a slash of black. Without being to say exactly why, I thought it was a woman. Someone off to a fancy dress party? But it's not halloween and it's not a normal hour for a party. Did I see a ghost? So what I want to ask is, has anyone else ever seen or thought they'd seen a ghost? I believe that this is the second "ghost" I have seen in my life and I am convinced I saw an angel once on the compostele road but I am not talking about those previous sightings today.

Sequel to my tale of woe to yesterday but don't worry, it's a happy ending. The maire and cantonnier came together. The debris has been cleared away. The maire said the meter has been installed too deeply in the ground and that should there be a leak, it would be difficult to repair wihtout us being deprived of water for hours. So he is going to contact Sogedo to come and get the installation done properly. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the door bell but he has left a message with my neighbour. Lehaut, I shall still be talking to the water people or the maire about a meter able to be read remotely.

Quite right, Wooly, though I thought he liked...er....dumb cats?

Thank you for your answers, DL and Lehaut; helpful as always🙂 We didn't have much choice. There was a massive upgrade to our once rural little lane. The whole road was dug up (indeed dug up multiple times by all the different services; yes, I know, I don't BELIEVE it!) We had new water and electricity supplies, internet fibre, all the lamp posts are now state of the art with LED lamps, a high bank opposite was completely dug up with a low wall installed and the whole bank was re-planted and landscaped with roses, herbs and lavander and an automatic watering system was put in place. Even our name was upgraded from an "allée" to a "rue" and we had a new number and someone from the mairie came to put up the plaque for us. Even if we had wanted to, we could not have refused the changes. OH even remarked that we should be renamed a "boulevard" as they have planted some small trees on our side of the road. Not only that, we had "trottoirs" (won't call them pavements because they are not paved but covered with chippings) and we had a good-looking wooden barrier installed on our side of the road as our house is half-way up a hill. Lehaut, that is a superb link to all those services that I didn't know about. Fortunately, OH is not yet in need of all those things. He still takes a daily walk round the village, can drive perfectly safely and goes to his table tennis club once a week. The time indeed will come when we will need some of that available help. For gardening, we use the chèque emploie scheme to have our hedges cut but I might ask for help with mowing the grass in a year or two. Lehaut I did think of your previous suggestion to move to a bigger town when I brought up the subject. But, TBH, our present place suits us very well and I can't in the end bear the thought of all the hassle that moving would involve. Most importantly, I didn't find a suitable house to buy in my preferred location. Thanks again, both of you, for your kindness and patience and I always feel I can depend on you for sensible and relevant answers. Finally, I WILL be asking about the remotely read meter though OH, having looked at the debris and mud covering our meter thinks that it might just be a one off problem and that it was originally caused by all the road improvements and might not happen again.

No reply yet.....and that surprises me hugely. Normally someone would know and, better still, someone would give me a link to some official governmental information. I was rather hoping that I'd get an answer so that I could go down to Sogedo with it. Oh well, too late today and no doubt tomorrow it will be early closing. Can someone please rack their brains? Mine seems to have gone AWOL!

meow!

The meter man came this morning to read our meter which is situated in the pavement outside our house. Used to be in our grounds but, since they upgraded the road and put in new services, all meters are now on the "public" side of our property. The man said the meter was not visible for reading as it is covered with debris, grit, mud, etc. He said I'd have to clean it as otherwise he couldn't read it. Let me explain: the meter is at least a meter below road level and has a lid which needs to be prised open. I explained that my husband was now 92 and, even if he managed to lift the lid and got down on his belly red-indian style (comme un cormanche), he'd not be able to get up again. As for me, being "trop petite", my arm could not reach the meter. The man said it was "my" meter and I had to keep it clean. MY meter? I argued that it surely belonged to the water company and it was moreover OUTSIDE of our plot and on a public road. Eventually, he said that I should ring the company. As I live in a small commune and it is customary to go to the mairie with all manner of problems, I went there to ask about my rights and whose responsibility the meter was. Unfortunately, the maire was not there, only the apparently hundred-year old adjoint who is smiling benevolence and little else. To cut a long story short, he asked the cantonnier to come and clean out the debris. When I tried to ask whether I should contact the water bods and make a complaint and to establish my positon on all this, both he and the secretary were noncomittal and said that nowadays there is "no service" from the utilities companies. Now I think, it's OK this time, but what if I have the same problem again? And what about all the other elderly people in the commune who might have the same problem. What are householders' rights in this? Does anyone have any knowledge or can find something written down somewhere that sets out areas of rights and responsibilites with water meters? If there is something official in writing, I will go down to the offices of Sogedo and make a vigorous and possibly exaggerated indignant complaint. Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks.

Wonderfully practical answer, Harnser😄 I would certainly be hugely sorry if the forum were to truly die the death whether slowly or rapidly. In the past, I posted frequently but I have been unable to gain access easily. Still having to "forget" the password and then go to my email and put in the exact same rejected password which then is said to be "very strong" and I eventually arrive here. Because of all that bother and fuss, I have limited my participation.

chateaubriant, you won't like my answer but I like to think I am being helpful!! In the UK, this type of property when part of your house is under the roof of the neighbours or vice versa, is called a flying freehold and there are laws and regulations governing access and responsibility and so forth. Here in France, the notaire will spell out in detail what is the respective responsibility and access of all parties concerned. And all the details will be shown on the final and legal document of sale. However, if someone is determined to ignore the regulations, it is unlikely that you could do anything about it. We had something similar with our first house. Shared access of the driveway and OH irresponsibly (in my opinion) and over generously offered to share the fosse on our land with the neighbours. When the neighbours sold and new people arrived, they took liberties and it got so stressful that we ourselves sold up. Mind you, the sale was far from straightforward as we had to resolve the difficulties. In the end, because I had friends in high places, I got a notice served on the neighbour and he had to build a new fosse on his own land. Sorry for such a long drawn out answer. But that's just an illustration that anything "shared" with neighbours is a definite no-no. DON'T buy the property however lovely and suitable.

Crabtree, I used to do that day you receive the money thing and, honestly, it would be easier watching the proverbial paint dry. OH had 3 different "pay days" per month and I had 2 different days, different for me and different from his days of receipt. Used to spend hours painstakingly noting exchange rate on the ECB historic rates site and added up columns of figures. And I can assure you that the end result was not so very different from just taking the "official rate" suggested by tax offices. It simply was not worth the hassle. Martin, you did live in a lovely part of Wales. I walked the Offa's **** (however many years ago that was!) and near Llangollen you could look down from the path onto the river where it curves around the town. Really lovely... BTW, I am not Welsh though Wooly, in those days when such terms of endearment were allowed, used to call me the Welsh Wench. Welsh Wench indeed, the thought and speech police would lock him up nowadays if he said such things😂

Phew! I was going to tell you to NOT use that first figure you supplied. You'd have been paying tax at the rate of President Macron himself😄 Too many beers? Are you, by any chance a Wrexham football supporter.....? Actually, the only time I went to Wrexham was for a job interview and had never been so glad not to have got the job. In those days, it was indescribably drab and the bus station was the very pits. Apologies to anyone from there. You can now correct my first and only impression if you like🙂

Thanks, Wools, could you please tell me where you got that rate from? I don't doubt you, dear old Wools, just so that I know the source and can name it with confidence if challenged.

Thank you, Martin, but that figure does not sound right at all! Could you please check your post? Anyone else any other input, svp?

Lehaut, wondering if the garden party was supposed to be somewhere in the south of England, Devon, cornwall, etc. Do palm trees grow elsewhere than in the south-west of England? As you see, I don't appear to know a great deal about English flora and fauna.....but I am NOT ashamed! Well, nothing wrong with an eagerness to learn, is there?

I thought I'd be the first this year to ask this question😄 At this rate, I might even get it all done before the last 24 hours!🤑

Hm, so the policy on both sides seems to be let's enjoy the sunshine while we can and let the rainy day can take care of itself?

So I was right to refuse to worry? Thank you Lehaut. Well, at the first blast of the signal, I shall rush outside and disintegrate toute suite.

Lehaut, do you think it is worth surviving? Wouldn't you simply surface from your parking block and see nothing but grey ash and bed dodies everywhere? I read recently that, after the historic volcano eruption at Pompeii, people's organs were turned to glass by the heat. Do you think a nuclear eruption would be hotter than a volcanic one? Yes, it's academic but I can only take all this stuff lightly because I don't know how else to approach this subject.

Macron's decision was always going to be declared legal. What do people expect? That's how the 5th republic was set up. De Gaulle also had trouble getting bills passed so it's the Pres who gets the last say eventually. Bins are a sore point here, Lehaut. We have these municipal bins now where you need a card to open them and put your rubbish in. For our household of 2, our rubbish "allowance" is 2 bags of 100 litres per fortnight. If that allowance is exceeded it is 5 euros a bag. Déchetterie is another matter. All your rubbish including your dechets verts are measured by the cubic metre and you pay 10 euros per cubic metre. When we had our hedge cut, all 150 m of mixed pines, laurels and ivy, I worried more about the déchetterie costs than the cost of having it cut. We are lucky in that we live on the border with Charente so we can always nip over and pop the odd bag or two there where they have sensible and normal bin policies. I can't see how charging people will encourage them to dispose of stuff carefully and not simply fly-tip them. Sorry, got a bit sidetracked by Lehaut's bins! Does anyone think there is a way of sorting out the retirement age by people's jobs? For example, I think bin collectors should be able to retire earlier than say the dragon lady who is the receptionist at the tax office?

I did so enjoy your clip, Wools. And it is strangely comforting😂 After all, "an incandescent glow" sounds like bonfire night intensified thousands of times doesn't it?