Assistance required - Do you know of a plumber / qualified tradesman with experience to deal with the following project.  We are starting a renovation in February 2016 on a 200 year old farm building a short distance from Montmorillon.  The end result should be 8 bedrooms with 7 or 8 bathrooms.  We intend to include air source heat pumps, solar panels and conventional boiler. 

Our French language skills are limited, so and English speaker would be brilliant. 

I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread for some photo's of the local area on the off chance that some of you have been somewhere and you want to share it with others.

Just start a new post in this thread and post your photo, preferably with a short description.

You will need to host your photo's somewhere before posting them. If you don't know how to do that you will need to find a host so do a google search for "Image Hosting" there are loads of free ones. I like to use https://imgur.com you don't need an account, but if you do have one it gives you more control over your images and it's free.

Upload your image to imgur and get the "BBCode (message boards & forums)" link. Put that in your post and you will see your image like this:



*If you click on the above image you will see it at full size.

I'll make a couple of posts to get you going.

When in Montmorillon last week we popped into a bar, just over the bridge, up the hill, and on the right. You probably all know it well on here, called La Caverne. Anyway just wanted to say what a nice friendly atmosphere there was in there. I'm not a drinker, but it was nice to sit in there and have a couple of cappuccinos, whilst husband and son had a beer and a bottle of wine between them. Run by really welcoming staff, so highly recommend the place to visit if in Montmorillon. 
Any more recommendation anybody?

Having read many threads on another forum (a rather whingy anglo-centric one) about how badly French companies deal with their customers when goods prove faulty, I've just had my first opportunity to put things to the test.

About 6 weeks ago, I bought a piece of woodworking equipment - a planer/thicknesser - from Leroy Merlin in Poitiers.
Last week, it started to misbehave, vibrating badly. I exchanged a few emails with the (German) manufacturer's (very helpful) technical support team, who decided it was faulty and it would be best if I took it back to the shop.

So this afternoon, I took it back to Leroy Merlin and would have been in and out of the store with a full refund in less than a minute - apart from the fact that the assistant (inevitably) had some paperwork to fill in. As a result, it took about 10 minutes.

They apologised that the machine had failed, and suggested I could either get another one from their store (they checked and had one in stock) or just have the refund.

I thought this was very good service. I'd have no hesitation buying from them again.
Brian

I have heard rumours about the possibility of a cookery school opening in Montmorillon, fronted by a world famous French chef. Does anybody know anything about this?

Back in the UK, I was a regular blood donor.
Now I am in France for much of the time, I wondered if anyone knew what would happen if I just turned up to a 'don du sang' session and offered my arm. Or whichever part they prefer to extract blood from in France.

Is it possible to be a blood donor here if you are not in possession of a carte vitale? I know I could just turn up to a session and ask but (a) I thought someone here may have an answer and (b) I don't want to waste their time if the answer will be 'non'.
Brian

Once again,i would like to pick the brains of our knowledgeable forum members.
We would dearly love to hire a piece of jungle busting machinery, whether it be a ride on mower or a brute of a push along.
Our overgrown field boundaries are getting wider and our grass taller year on year.
Our capable but small mower is starting to struggle,as are we.
Any suggestions in or around Monty would be much appreciated.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good, cheap, roofer and a good, cheap, renderer? Just wanting some numbers, and some ideas of prices. Won't be needed it done for a while yet, so if it's someone who has a lot of work on at the moment that's fine. 
The house we've got is in La Trimouille, so anyone around that area thank you.

Went for a meal last night in La Trimouille with a lovely couple from the village. They had called to see our house yesterday. We got chatting about taking wallpaper off, as you do. I was planning on bringing over our steam wallpaper stripper, but they said whatever you do, don't use a steam stripper, as it brings the plaster down with it. They said the plaster just crumbles, so it's best to just use a bit of water and get scraping. 
Just made me think if anyone else has any handy tips about anything? I probably would have made things worse if they hadn't have told me.

Just picking your brains on here again. I am interested, for the future, in just how much it costs, roughly, per month for health cover over there in France. I am talking for a couple in their early 50's, relatively healthy. I do take daily medication for a slightly underactive thyroid though, but that's it at the moment.

Just wondering how many of the Brits on this forum are working in France, and what they are doing, or are most people retired?

Do you all prefer the peace and tranquillity of living in France, or do you find you actually socialise more in France than perhaps you did when living in the UK? I have noticed so far from our visits to France that there is much more of a community spirit, in La Trimouille I can say this for sure. Most people seem to know each other and seem to help each other out, which is lovely. 
I do know that the Brits I have spoken to have all said that they would not return to living in the UK and much prefer living in France, warts and all.

Yes, it's me again, that annoying person with all the questions   Just wondering where would be the best place around the Montmorillon area, within maybe a radius of an hour's drive away, to purchase wardrobes in particular. I'm deliberating whether or not to bring them from the UK, but I am open to suggestions of the best places to shop in the area. 
I do quite like painting up old furniture, so not afraid to do that. Prefer the old stuff to brand new. Thank you.

I last visited the house we are buying in July/ August. There was a very sticky weed growing all over the front area of the house. It was sticking to shoes, us and the dog. I've had a quick Google to see what it could be and I've come up with Bindweed. It looked almost dead in August, very dry, due to the hot weather obviously. My husband came back over in September and it was green and thriving again then. Any keen gardeners on here who could tell me what is the best way to get rid of this? That's if it is bindweed of course. I'm thinking the usual weed killers we buy here in the UK, but I'm not sure how resilient this stuff is.

When we were over in July we were told, by some people who live in La Trimouille, that there is a fish and chip van, which comes every Friday, about 20 minutes drive away from La Trimouille. Anyway we couldn't find it and ended up having a pizza in Montmorillon. Does anyone know anything about this chippy van? We brought a group of sorely disappointed teenagers, who we look after,  with us in July, so I need to be aware of where it is for next time we bring them back.

Hi, We've visited Montmorillon quite a few times. Just in the process of buying a house in La Trimouille, so quite interested to know what goes on in the area etc. I shall be reading the threads for a catch up. 

Has anyone seen on their travels, supermarkets, casinos, nightclubs etc, what I call a change machine?

This strange beast is quite common sight in and around London but I can't find one out here for love nor money.

Before anyone asks, it's a tallish machine that you pour your accummulated copper coins into and they get transformed into something more handy and substantial.

I only ask because Madame Admiral has a pathological dislike of loose change, especially in small denominations, and has been hoarding the damn stuff in over-sized whisky bottles & etc.  Not that we touch the stuff.  Whisky that is...

HELP!!! I need a skip (or something similar).
Ive had a trawl around the internet and drawn a blank.
There must be something avail in the Monty area.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

We are hoping to start the renovation of our property in Feb/Mar 2016 - does anyone have a static caravan or large touring caravan that they are looking to sell 
thanks
Annette and Andy