Getting our vehicles re-registered in France had been a bit like wading through mud. First we needed to get the requisite documentation, then the tax clearance and now we were at the stage of actually submitting our application to import and re-register. All of this is quite time-constrained but the deadlines take no account of … Continue reading Making our cars legal in France – Getting ANTSy
Note: Since the end of the UK Brexit transition period on 31/12/2020, vehicles imported from the UK are no longer eligible for a Quitus Fiscal and need to be declared to Douanes instead. For much better information than I can give, I suggest you join the Facebook group "Registering Vehicles in France". There is comprehensive … Continue reading Making our cars legal in France – the Quitus Fiscal
During all the to-ing and fro-ing we have done between England and France over the years that we have had a home here, all I have had to think about is having European insurance and breakdown cover, using the sticky beam-benders on our headlights (to avoid dazzling approaching drivers after dark) and carrying the requisite … Continue reading Making our English cars legal in France
Now, those of you who live in France will know that the French protect their work-life balance quite jealously. Thus, if an organisation or business is open on a Saturday, not only will it almost definitely be shut on Sunday, but quite likely at least part of Monday will be taken as compensatory leisure time … Continue reading Operation Kitchen Collection 3 days away…and no van!
We’ve now been living in France for two months. When I say ‘living in France’ it’s in a loose kind of way, as we spent 10 days of it in England! After 6 weeks of hard graft on the house over the summer break we started back to work for the new term at the … Continue reading Music at the Mill
How do you get on with meeting new people and making friends? I’m quite a reserved person and find it quite difficult to get to know people. Our new village has about 1200 inhabitants – not enormous but not so tiny that everyone immediately meets everyone else. It has been quite a different experience here … Continue reading It’s all about the people
Given that it’s nearly five months since I last did an update on our renovation progress, you might be wondering what we’ve been up to in all this time? Although it’s been a long time since my post in March, we’ve actually only spent 3 weeks in France between then and our current visit. So … Continue reading Back to the building site
It’s quite some time since I last posted. It’s not that we haven’t been to France in the last 4 months (Goodness, it really is ages since I did a blog post!) rather that every time we have been out the weather has been marvellous, we’ve had friends and family to stay and we’ve been … Continue reading School’s out – for everr!!
Back in the spring of 2016, when we first saw our new house advertised, we were fascinated by the description of an ancient water mill with a working wheel that the present owner had adapted to run the central heating. When we first visited the mill in April the owner was ‘asleep in bed’ and … Continue reading OMG, we have heat!
If you have ever lived in France or know anyone that does, you will probably have heard many complaints of how the French just loooove their bureaucracy. I have friends, both French and English who constantly moan about the poor customer service and ‘jobs-worth’ attitude of most French officials. Everything has to be done in … Continue reading Fighting the system
Le Moulin de la Roche 