dreamcatcher

Hi sdale,hi all,
Sunshine blazing here too.OOps about the bus lane,The sunshine will pick you up its a grand medcine.xx

sdale100

Sun's gone:curse:

Hell, I'm gonnna have a good evening watching the french get humiliated twice in a row.

jdr

They certainly got a stuffing lesson tonight. ;-))

onlyonebrenda

Well, I notice your today was yesterday but thought I'd like to contribute from the Dordogne. Yes the weather is lovely and sunny here too although last night was quite chill, but I have now got my grenier (the entire upstairs of my house) insulated, plasterboarded and double-glazed so I'm not so worried as I was approaching my last winter - next month I shall have been here a year.
Today my friend J came round in her car with a bundle of paperwork and we went to Perigueux -36km - to get her carte grise, equivalent to the English V5. This was a major adventure with nerves coming into play as to whether we would succeed.
We travelled down the old Roman road past the trees where I saw the walnut gatherers the other day with their traditional wooden trugs and past the rich brown Limousin cattle. (We are near the national park called Le Parc du mille vaches - the park of the thousand cows - sounds much better in French)Then onto the RN21, still very beautiful, past places whose names raise a wry smile like the Chateau de Bories.
On the outskirts of Perigueux we go through Trelissac which is an out of town shopping centre. Here BricoMarché is to be found, every housebuyer's first port of call. Think B & Q. Around here we start to notice more than two cars on the road but still no major traffic as we come into Px itself.
Finding the Hotel des Impôts (Tax Office - only the French could get away with calling a tax office a hotel) in order to get the Quittus fiscale is not very easy. (J only lives five km away from me but I had to get my QF in Nontron whereas hers is Perigueux. No-one tells you until you go to the wrong place of course.) We dutifully wait our turn at to Accueil/ Reception desk only to be told we needn't have waited but could have gone straight to the Caisse. There is a slight glitch when J mentions that the car came into the country in 2001 although it has been off road since then, as cars are supposed to be registered within three months. The young man helpfully and tactfully puts down October 1st.
Buoyed by this success we head off to the Prefecture. Here we take a ticket, like at Tesco's meat counter, and wait our turn. There is a nasty moment when the woman doesn't recognise the old-fashioned log book - it is a very old car and she has never seen the old style, then we wait at the caisse for J to pay, which here means what it should do, the place where you pay. After weeks of document sorting, seeking and enquiries J finally joins me as a proud owner of a Carte Gris. Over the road an enterprising Belgian has set up a company providing and fitting French number plates for approx 30 euros. We chat and like us he enjoys the lifestyle here, the sunshine and the lack of stress.
Getting the Carte Grise is almost like a rite of passage. It seems like a big commitment to our life here and a big parting from our former lives in Britain.
J and I park the car (free) and head off down a narrow lane to find somewhere for lunch, and, in my case to try out a jacuzzi and massage in a holistic place, the only one I've found so far. Lunch is in a traditional square out in the sunshine, almost a cartoon of the French café life with dogs and a cat walking round in the sunshine, Plane trees and an attentive French waiter. The 'Formule' for 10,50€ is warm goat's cheese starter, salmon and 'Ile Flottante' to finish. Don't ask what that is, it's just delicious, very French and very, very sinful!
The jacuzzi and massage were excellent with the massage couch being centrally heated! Grelots turned out to be heated pebble place strategically on my back, very pleasant. I do healing work so it's important for me to keep a balance and to receive sometimes.
We went onto Marsac, the other big out of town shopping area on the Far side of Px. I'm about to have my bathroom done. My present one is seriously vile with peeling pink painted walls. The only thing that can be said for it is it functions, just about. I had spotted a special bath on an earlier visit but wanted to check details with the plumber. Turns out I couldn't just phone up and put a deposit on it, so that meant a second trail over there this week. This was now my third visit as I tried to arrange to have other purchases delivered at the same time, as the delivery charge was 110€, about £75,however when I came to sort it they realised that I did not have a company card which would save me 5% so I have to go over again next week to get that sorted. Ho hum.
J & I were rather exhausted by now so decided to stop by the Auberge and have a meal. Two meals out in one day - extravagance. We met up with an English couple who had brought their three grandchildren over for a week and another English man who was finally moving into his his French home permanently tonight. Several French friends were in the bar section ready for the rugby and H & H were their usual Dutch selves. The atmosphere became steadily gloomier as the Argentinians took the lead. Everywhere will be very subdued tomorrow. A French friend was rash enough to bet me a bottle of champagne that France would win in the France/ England game. I'm seeing him tomorrow. He'll be like a bear with a sore head.
So, after a long and sometimes frustrating day I'm back home, closing the shutters ready for night, and just unwinding on the computer. Yes I suppose it was a rather hedonistic day but I have been working hard all week so a change was as good as a rest and life hasn't always been so pleasant.
All the best to you wherever you are.

sdale100

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for that, it was really great reading, sounds like you're living in a nice nack of the woods, but I can't helping wondering if you're not actually Peter Mayle in disguise

onlyonebrenda

Sorry wrong sex. The mind boggles - Peter Mayle in drag! I haven't shared some of the things that have happened out here - you really wouldn't believe those. In fact my friend is chuckling over my shoulder at the thought as I write. I'm using her computer as mine is on the blink yet again.

sdale100

I think if we all delved deep into our experience of setting-up in France, the bookshelves would be inundated with hybrid Mayles.

onlyonebrenda

Ooer! Very punny. If I was paid the way he must have been for his writing......

millsi

Although it's only 11:30 I'm ready for bed! This morning I spent 10 mins sticking spots on my daughter - it's non-uniform day for Children in Need - and another 10 mins finding and then wrapping the children up in hats, scarfs and gloves for the walk to school. The last few days has seen the first few frosts of the season for the South of England, in fact I'm told the temperature went below zero over night.

Back from the school run, my son and I spent another 10 mins de-icing the car so I could get him to gymtots. We're now back from gymtots and are making use of the 30 mins break we have before I need to go and collect my daughter from school. Only 2 more weeks before she's in school fulltime and my Fridays won't feel like I am running from pillar to post and back again!

That all said I love my Friday's (I work Mon to Thurs) it's the start of my weekend and I selfishly get to spend it with my kids.

Hope everyone else is well. How's autumn across the channel?

treskillard

Wow that sounds so busy. Tell you it's quieter here. No activities available to take the children to even if we wanted to! Oh, yes, there is a counting the vine prunings club of course I forgot that . It's freezing down here - we're not that far from Carcassonne and it went minus 2 last night and is bitterly cold at the moment. I went to the market with the baby this morning and had to give up because it was too chilly! Anyhow not a complaint just a reply

val50

Hi there
how is the move going? Any more plans?
It's cooled down here as well, but dry and clear again today. Have just got back from a walk on Utah Beach. Was lovely, had the place to myself again, which is actually sad as it's so pretty there and warm in the sun if you walk up by the dunes. The view both ways was amazing, could see Tatihou cleary as well as Pont d'Hoc in the opposite direction. Quite mild for mid November really - long may it last!

millsi

Tres - being near carcasonne are you in the pyrenees? if so I'm not surprised it's cooling there too. How old's the baby?

The Normandy beaches are lovely Val. As the sun has now come out you've made me think how nice it would be to walk along our local beach - should be a great view of the Isle of Wight in this wintry sunshine. And the added bonus is the play park on the sea front - to give the kids a run around - which is next to the cafe - nice cuppa or even 'chocolat chaud' when we're done...

As for the move, we're doing lots of planning in our heads, and are still waiting on what my husband's firm are going to offer as a relocation package. We're really quite excited about the prospect of an adventure in the new year. Our main concern is whether the package they offer will cover costs so that we can keep (but rent out) our home here and pay for a family home in France. We expect to hear in the next few weeks, hopefully whichever way it goes this will mean we can relax over Christmas. The New Year is a new year after all!

Ka Ora!

Here in Ariege its damm cold well it feels it woke up and it was minus 6 its no warmed up a bit well minus 3 so going to be cold for a while, snow hasnt turned up yet but its on its way.....Now im glad the central heatings been fitted and is working its our first winter in france with central heating feel like a pig in mud.

treskillard

Yes, just on the edge really, at 1000 feet up that's all! Ka Ora is higher up where it's really mountainous - here vines up there pines! The baby is 11 months old. Every time I go out with him women keep coming up to me and saying, put his hat on or gloves on or something like that. I don't mind when it is really cold but they do it if it's hot too! I remember getting really irritated a month or so ago on a pleasant autumn day "Listen, you know nothing about it. You think it's cold you should come home to England" - well now it's cold. Still got on my nerves when a lady on the market said 'put his gloves on' though!

Brrrr. Bitter. don't you always wear furs up there?

Ka Ora!

yes all the furry stuff is out.