I would like to go to some outdoor markets but am very confused at the differences between the classes of markets advertised on such sites as http://www.vide-geniers.org

The 3 main categories seem to be vide greniers, brocantes, and marches des puces.
I know these translate as garage sale, flea market and (confusingly) flea market. I'd be most grateful if someone could explain the difference with,  perhaps, examples of what to expect at each.

I'd normally ask my French neighbours but they have decamped to foreign parts for August...

Hi everybody
We are in need of a washing machine repair
man in the Montmorillon area. Ifanybody
knows of someone would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Rosie and Huw

We just wanted to introduce ourselves as we have just purchased a property about 15kms from Montmorillon only last week.  We are Annette and Andy from Leicestershire.  There is a large renovation project to get to grips with, so if anyone has any advice or comments, please do not hesitate to post them.  By the way, we have already discovered the wonderful tasting ice cream in Montmorillon!!

We are now hunting for a trailer tent or caravan to be used on site - if anyone has something that may do the job. 
Thanks for reading

(We have no association or financial interest with "pleasehelp.fr" we just found it a really useful service, & are happy to recommend it, as it has saved us a lot of grief. We are happy to answer any questions regarding our experience. This is an entirely unsolicited recommendation)

We have been using the services of "please help" now for over eight months. John Dislins has been invaluable & the fee paid for the please help services, has paid for itself many, many times over.
Often, being able to read the fine print and ask the right questions makes a massive difference but Johns breadth of knowledge on how the system works in France, & also having allready encountered most of the problems, new arrivals come across, before, he has been able to post us in the right direction and make substantial savings both in time and money.
John has been always readily contactable and has on many occasions, translated over the phone, when we found ourselves unable to understand or be understood!
Our situation was slightly different and more complicated with one of us being born in Australia so it was not easy to find examples of what to do.
While our grasp of french is improving, dealing with authorities in france, (as with most countries) particularly over the phone often requires a special skill set, a great deal of patience and subtleties of language & tactI, that am a long way off achieving (often my foreign accent is enough to cause difficulties, perhaps not encountered by locals).
John has also been able to negotiate with, government departments, service providers and trades on our behalf and got much better deals than we would otherwise achieve
Another important consideration has been that we haven’t always had to keep prevailing on friends to translate, particularly if the subject matter is too, time consuming, technical, concerned with finances or other situations where confidential professional assistance is more appropriate.
On many occasions John has come up with a completely different way to handle a situation that we just would not have thought of, he is a very good listener and very easy to communicate with.

All in all using please help has been an extremely good move and probably saved us from tearing our hair out on numerous occasions!

Hi we are new to this site so first of all hello to you all,we are due out for our annual vacation in August and thought of buying a fridge freezer does anyone know a web site of the electrical shop in eleclerc so I could get an idea of the price thank you.

Hi

We have a holiday home near Lathus and have not had a water bill for a while. On digging around, it appears SIGEP (our water providers) are no more and have been replaced by Siveer but we've had no correspondence.

Anyone else come across an issue like this - not too sure about who should be billing us!!

It's probably a case of popping into Siveer when we're next over, but thought we'd ask around...

Thanks in advance!!

Just doing some forum market research here and I was wondering,

What kind of shop/ business or market stall would you like to see in Montmorillon or the surrounding area?

Montmorillon square fantastic location shop to lease. Large and bright 80sq metres facing onto Montmorillon square, also great cellar space for extra storage. Could suit gallery, tapas wine bar, professional offices, available from mid August. Contact owners for more information
thanks Rosie and Huw
[email protected]

Our Montmorillon two bedroom two bathroom
townhouse is available for holiday lease or longer
term by negotiation.
We are located in Rue Solferino just two minutes
walk to the square and cited l'ecrit.
Big queensize bedrooms overlook the church walled
garden and the house is well fitted out with
all you need for a great holiday stay.
Two flat screen tv's with UK satellite and Wifi.
Plenty of space at the front of the house to
enjoy a glass of wine out in the sunshine!
Minimum one week rental
580 euros a week
Contact
Rosie and Huw
06 41 36 26 15

Our cottage Moulin des Vaux situated overlooking
Our weir and river Asse is available for holiday let's.
The cottage is renovated with three double bedrooms and
two living areas, beautiful outdoor patio overlooking
the river and weir. Located in Brigueil Le Chantre
just 20 minutes from Montmorillon and Le Dorat it's surrounded
by beautiful scenery fishing and walks.
Minimum one week rental 1050 euros per week.
Contact Huw and Rosie
06 41 36 26 15

Hi everybody
We have tried all sorts to get WiFi sorted for
the mill and need professional help any recommendation
would be greatly appreciated!
We need another pole and Mairee permission
for France telecom very expensive
Have Router and 3G modem but cannot
get signal unless we put SIM card in I pad.
We will have paying guests here so need reliable
Wifi.
Thanks for any advice
Rosie and Huw

Does anybody know of a storage facility in the area?

Or someone who has some space to rent?

What we have could be squished into a large van and the space would need to be dry, any ideas?

Does anybody know where you can buy curry sauce ( madras or vindaloo )?
I have seen some sauces on the English shelves at Leclerc but they are all very mild.
Thanks in advance.

That's an old motor of ours, not me - or at least not yet.

The question is this; just how do I go about scrapping an old car in France - legally?

I was going to put this  thread in Motoring - but as the old bird doesn't "motor" anymore I feel the subject has more to do with legalities.  We are in France after all.

Sooo.....anyone have any idea of the ins and outs of sending a car to the scrap heap?

Does the scrap yard cancel the carte grise for me so the motor doesn't officially exist anymore?  Do I get paperwork confirming I used to have a, now dead, car?  Do I cancel the insurance or does the scrap yard?

More importantly, where is one, a scrap yard that is, when you need it?  The car is un-driveable since you didn't ask so they would have to collect.

Also important.....do I get any money for this sudden and unexpected act of benevolence?

All answers gratefully received  because I sick to death of looking at the thing sitting outside.  Maybe I could just hide it in a barn....if I had one.

Don't the Montmorillon roundabouts look good, they always look nice and tidy.  



And I like the Watering Can.



Sorry did'nt get any more photo's maybe you can stop and post some, one of my favourites is the one where they put the giant pencils it's often changing theme. But the most disappointing one must be the one at Leclerc, they only seem to do anything with it at Xmas.

I feel like a roundabout nerd now.  

Does anyone know what the Giant Scarecrow is about that is situated just off the new ring road?

I've been meaning to take a picture for a long time, but keep forgetting my camera but I had it with me the other day.

(*Open the images in a new tab to see larger.)





Just wondered if anyone new what it was about?

What's the best ground cover for a weed free garden?

I've got fed up growing veg in the ground and spending most of my time weeding, I've tried beds before but the bits in between took me ages to go around with the strimmer. So this year I'm having a go at some container growing, I've put my containers on a Tarp for this year just to give it a try but I don't think it's the best solution.

So I'm thinking of getting the black breathable stuff we had in the pollytunnel, it worked fine in there but I'm trying to work out what is best to cover it with? The cheaper the better, I'm not to worried to much about looks but something that lasts and stops the weeds growing on top of the black stuff whilst also making it ok for walking on.

Suggestions ?