On the subject of gardening, as we have been. Has anyone brought their own grow bags or soil, in sealed sterile bags, over from the UK? Is it allowed?

The old phone box at the car park near the Mayors office has been turned into a book kiosk.

The idea is that you put your books in that you have finished with and take what you want to read. They are giving it a trial to see how it goes, so pop along and leave a book or take one for free.

Mrs Fred has left a couple of English books and hopes to find a couple she hasn't read at her next visit.

*I don't think they would be to happy to see it full of English books and No French ones, but it could do with a few more books to get it going.

I’m wanting to put some pots out in the garden, but as I won’t be there for most of the year, only visiting several times, I’m looking for something so hardy it would survive arid conditions in a pot. Anyone got any advice? The weeds are thriving btw 

I've just started the process of importing my motorbike.

The first step is to obtain a Quitus Fiscal, to prove that tax has been paid. I duly presented myself at the Trésor Publique in Monmtmorillon, where I was sent upstairs to Room 101.

I took this as a bad omen. A very, very bad omen...

However, the lady in there was very friendly. She looked at my passport, proof of residence (recent electricity bill), V5C and kept the photocopies I had provided. She returned the originals to me.
She then filled in some paperwork in quintuplicate, did something on her PC then tore off one of the forms: "C'est tout - finis." she said.

The whole process took less than 10 not-at-all stressful minutes.

However, I now have to perform the rest of the immatriculation online with the new ANTS system. Even the lady at the Trésor wished me good luck with that!

Still - a very promising start  

Brian

Hello from me & my husband Dave.

We are in the process of buying our holiday home in Montmorillon (hope to live full time in the next couple of years)
Glad to see this messageboard is still going to be around as I've had a little look about & it has some really helpful information.
Will no doubt be posting in a few weeks when we get the keys and have lots of things coming at us that we have no clue about

Hello all,

As many of you will know, Fred is retiring gracefully in a haze of cheese and Merlot and I am taking over day-to-day management and operation of Around Montmorillon.

As part of the changeover, we are moving the forum to a new server. It's a bit like moving house, and we all know how simple and stress-free that usually works out.

Part of the process is locking up the old house and unlocking the new one before moving the old furniture back in. We're planning to do this over the weekend of May 12th and 13th 2018. Some time on May 12th, if you try to visit the forum you'll see a 'Forum Closed' notice. On Monday morning, the forum will be open again and you will all be most welcome.

You don't need to do anything. Your user names and (encrypted) passwords will be automatically moved and you should be able to log in as usual. If you can't please send an email to brainwave.media.bh AT gmail.com (obviously, you'll need to replace the AT with a suitable symbol).

As with all house moves, you may find that some of the furniture is not exactly where you expect it to be after the move. If this is the case, please let me know and I'll try to put things right!

So if you'd like to say goodbye to our home of many years, now is a good time to do it. I'd just like to sign off by thanking Fred for his sterling efforts on Around Montmorillon for many years, and thanking him even more for his help and support in moving everything over to the new server - and trying to break it!

Bye for now,

Brian

A passing youth told me the other day that the Mairie in Montmorillon is closing in the near future.

He said it was going to the "Old Guildhall" if I understood him correctly.

As he had spots and one of those fuzzy attempts at growing a beard I wasn't sure if he had been on the Jamaican Woodbines   or I had got the wrong end of the stick.

Any truth in this folks?

And, if he proves to be correct, where is the Old Guildhall?  Or something like that.

Hi all, just wondering if everyone could list which local markets they tend to go to. Just checking to see if we’ve missed any, or if any have sprung up whilst our backs were turned. 
When we’re over we tend to go to Montmorillon on a Wednesday, Lussac Les eglise (correct spelling I hope) on a Thursday sometimes. Les Herolles on the 29th of the month. 
Any more we’re missing?

So the renovations continue......slowly.
Looking for info on where the best place around Monty would be to get a big piece of structural oak beam.
Needs to be 2.5-3m long and about 18" square. Green or seasoned.
Does the place by La Trimouille supply things like this? Ive never seen anybody working there!
Any recommendations for acquiring the above greatly appreciated.
Also acro props? Anywhere to hire locally or anyone got any going spare?
Again, all replies thankfully received.
Many thanks in advance forumeers.

Any reasonably priced places around selling large planters for outdoors? Am I best bringing them over from the UK, or has anyone found a not too extortionate garden centre or DIY place selling them?

From July of this year the speed limit on departmental roads wil drop from 90 km/h to 80 km/h.

No one seems sure at the moment if this is a trial run by the government to see how it works or if it becomes permanent from July.

Massive objection from our French chums with an opinion poll showing more than six out of ten people opposed to the change and 83% believing it another money-making exercise in raking in more speeding fines.

You have been warned.

Bonjour,

I am in need of a picture framer, hopefully located in the general area. There is a fellow who advertises in Etcetera but he is in 87 and I was hoping not to have to travel so far.

Anyone who is a framer or knows of one, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Milles merci,
Pastelpainter

Hello, I've been inputting my details for login but not sure it's going through. Still get the Login link at the top. Notably, I'm allowed onto the forum anyhow. 

Anyone else reporting this problem?  Or maybe it's just me having a bad tech day..Thanks.

Given the recent cold spell, I burned rather more wood than I planned and was in urgent need of some more. As you probably know, finding good wood this late in the burning season is difficult, but I phoned the chap who delivered our last load 18 months ago and he said he had some 2 year old wood he could deliver.

He is based in Sillars but delivers pretty much anywhere - we're in Adriers and that was no problem.

He turned up with 6 stere exactly when he said he would. The wood was 65 €/stere so not cheap but it is very good quality.

In case anyone is in need of a reliable supplier of quality firewood, give him a call. Jean-Marc Delaveau (dad) on 06 85 20 05 87 or Victor (son) on 06 87 30 32 50. They also have email - [email protected] and have always tried to me within a few hours.

I hope this is of use to someone.

Brian

We've been on a tour of Chateau Guillaume, in Lignac, about 2 years ago, but are there any more chateaus open to the public in the area?

I have the name of the place in Liglet, Le Sapin Vert, which does fish and chips etc, which I'm going to visit in May, but perhaps we could have an updated list of suggestions on here of everyone's favourite places to eat lunch or evening meals. I'm interested to hear of all areas, thanks.

Rather fed up with the UK weather at the moment, although we've been much luckier than most of the UK, as we didn't get much snow. I'm looking forward to coming back to La Trimouille in May and then again in the Summer. Has anyone got a list of brocantes, fetes, music festivals, or anything interesting at all happening in and around Montmorillon this year? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.

Be careful if you have stopped on the side of the road to use your mobile phone as you could get fined.

The court of appeal has said that a person who was fined for using his phone whilst stationary will still have to pay the fine. The court said that using a mobile phone ion a car that you are in control of is illegal even if you have stopped on the side of a road.

* The only exception is on private land, in a designated parking area or for vehicles that have broken down.

So be careful or you risk a fine of €135 and the loss of three points on your licence.

There are some big changes coming to the contrôle technique in May.

Instead of 124 checks there will be 400. So if your car is due it's contrôle technique soon it may be worth you booking it in early to avoid the extra checks.

It's still going to be every two years, but it will be harder to pass.

If you want to keep an eye on the flood risk in your area here's a handy government website:

https://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr/