(Fri-13-06-2014, 10:44 AM)Admiral Wrote: Ever wondered how to hire a car in Montmorillon? No, neither have I until our banger was taken off the road for remedial repairs etc.

Walk into LeClerc. Go into the travel agency bit and ask for a car/tipper truck/van or whatever it is you need.

This is our first time in France for 14 July, is there anywhere that would be good to go?

Ever wondered how to hire a car in Montmorillon? No, neither have I until our banger was taken off the road for remedial repairs etc.

Any road up....it's surprisingly simple.

Walk into LeClerc. Go into the travel agency bit and ask for a car/tipper truck/van or whatever it is you need.

You will need to have with you:

A couple of utlity bills with your name and address.

Your driving licence. Before you ask, they are quite happy to accept a UK licence.

Cheque book/credit card.

Once you've sorted out your vehicle of choice, they will take a whacking great deposit - anything between €800 and €1,000. This deposit is "unreal" in the sense that they don't cash the cheque or actually activate the credit car for payment.

Next, you take all your paperwork - and there's plenty of it - to the overworked girl in the petrol station kiosk. In the 15 minutes it'll take before she gets around to you, have a good look around the car for lumps, bumps, scrapes and anything else Le Clerc may not have noted on the form. You already have the form in your paperwork, in case you wondered.

She'll then take a cursory look round the car, you both agree on the mileage reading and off you go.

Our Davia Sandero cost €5 a day plus 12 centimes per kilometre. Nice car but with a nasty, sloppy Renault gearbox but that's a rant for somewhere else.

TIP: Don't go into LeClerc and ask for a car for that same day. The answer was a resounding: "Non." We are in France after all....

This is the latest info written in the Connextion newspaper last week.

Claim power bill cashback, urge lawyers.
€300 possible as EU rules green subsidy illegal.

Lawyers are urging all electricity users in France - private or business - to claim bill repayments for the last two years. This amounts to several hundred euros for many families.
It comes after the CSPE tax, which forms up to 10% of the average power bill, was rules illegal under EU law by the European Court of Justice (ECI) in December 2013. The tax - Contribution au Service Public d'Electricité - is levied by electricity providers to compensate for the costs of investing in greener power production. This is then paid to the state bank the Caisse des Dépots which then pays much of it back to the power suppliers to invest in alternative energy projects.
ECJ judges rules that this constituted state aid which might unfairly advantage firms in France and was thus against the fair competition rules of the EU marketplace. France should have asked permission from the European Commission before bringing it in.
The ruling was sought by the French Conseil d'Etat (the top administrative court and an official government advisory body) in connection with legal action by the anti-wind turbine pressure group Vent de Colére.
Lawyers told Connextion it means all electricity users have a strong case for reclaiming the tax. They advise people do so quickly before back dated claims are potentially ruled out.
The ECJ rejected France's request that the effect of its ruling should not be retroactive, but Lawyers say the Conseil d'Etat, which has not yet ruled on the matter, may seek to oppose back dated claims so lodging a claim before it rules is advisable.
Claims can be backdated for two years. Lawyer Sandrine Martinet-Beunier, from Clermont-Ferrand, says France is also thought to be trying to present its tax to the European Commission so it can now be seen to have declared it.
Ms Martinet-Beunier told Connextion: "As there has been no decision by the Conseil d'Etat yet, the best thing to do is to ask for a reimbursement of CSPE pais over the last 24 months starting from when you make the request, to the body charged with managing the tax." (see later story)
Business lawyers Lamy-Lexel, based in Paris and Lyon, also advise this, stating that the Conseil d'Etat is bound to follow EU principles in matter of state aid and that "in principle, these rules provide that any non-notified state aid is illegal".
The say that people should put in claims "without waiting for a Conseil d'Etat decision....so as to safeguard their rights.".
Avocat Christian Guichard of Lamy-Lexel said it appears so far this information has been mostly communicated among large (business) users of electricity rather than to the public. No refunds are as yet known to have been made.
The amount of CSPE is itemised on bills so you can check this by consulting your old bills - often these ae stored online at your personal space on the energy suppliers website if you no longer have a paper copy.

How to Claim:To

Lamy-Lexel say claims should be made to :
M. le President.
The Comité de Régulations de L'Energie (CRE),
15 Rue Pasquier,
75379,
Paris.

Your letter should be sent by recorded delivery - lettre recommandée avec accusé de reception (LRAR), with copies of the relevant bills as proof of having paid the tax. It is advisable to keep a copy of documents sent.
Connextion asked EDF to comment on how it intends to deal with requests but it had not replied as we went to press.
This comes as new Energy Minister Ségoléne Royal vetoed the prospect of households having to pay top-up electricity bills of €30-50 after the Conseil d'Etat ruled a price-rise limit set by the Ayrault government in 2012 had not allowed EDF to cover its costs. However, bills will still rise 5% from August as had been planned.
To help readers make a CSPE claim we have placed a sample letter in French at http://www.connexionfrance.com"thumb"

My husband and I have just moved from Saulge to Montmorillon town.We are renting a lovely house .We are both retired.

Hi all, I would like to get a French mobile phone but not sure how to top it up can anyone advise please. I want a pay as you go not a contract as I only want to use it for emergencies.

Is anyone able to recommend some reliable, local trades people?

We need,

- an architect
- a builder - for structural work involving beams, laying a new floor
- a carpenter - for the creation/installation of new windows and doors
- a chimney sweep - and for installation of a wood burning stove (think I may have seen a post on this somewhere, I will check...I checked and will try Beauchesne in Montmorillon - Thanks!)
- a plasterer - external rendering and internal lime render

Any comments will be greatly appreciated

Just wanted to share a bad experience from Chronopost's agent in Montmorillon "Le Temps Des Livres".

Thursday received a text from Chronopst you parcel is at Le Temps Des Livres awaiting your collection. I don't know why it went there, but apparently the book shop acts as an agent and takes parcels if the Post Office is closed. I don't know why it went to Montmorillon either but that's another story of Chronopost being to lazy to deliver to the address on the parcel.

Anyway the text also gave a tracking number and said I should check on Chronopost's website, on checking it said go to Le Temps Des Livres with your tracking number and proof of ID to retrieve your parcel.

Mrs Fred arrived at the book shop with the tracking number her ID and mine as the parcel was addressed to me, and asked the lady for the parcel. She told her the parcel was not there and they had no record of it, she said can you check the tracking as Chronopost say it is here. Non was the reply and she refused to say any more.

Mrs Fred phoned me and asked me to check it out, so I phoned Chronopost and after the usual wait finally got told your parcel IS at Le Temps Des Livres and they sent me an Email to prove it. They also said ask the book shop to go on Chronopost's website and put in the tracking number and they will see it is in their shop.

Phoned Mrs Fred, she went back into the shop and this time there was a man behind the counter. So she asked him for the parcel he was the same as the woman and said No it's not here very bluntly, Mrs Fred then asked him if he would go on Chronopost's website and enter the tracking number. He refused point blank to do so and started serving another customer.

By now Mrs Fred was getting a bit upset with the way she had been treated, and phoned me again. I said go back in the shop and let me talk to him. As she walked in the shop he came up to her and said are you talking to Chronopost? I heard him and said tell him Yes.

Suddenly it went quiet for a while and Mrs Fred said "I have it" The man decided after thinking she was complaining to Chronopost that he did have the parcel after all.

So all in all very poor service from Le Temps Des Livres Montmorillon and I won't be shopping with them, and I recommend if anyone has a parcel waiting for them at the book shop to insist they check the internet or make out you are phoning Chronopost.

I wasn't there myself but Mrs Fred isn't prone to lying, and if the owner of the shop is reading this please feel free to comment.

Fred gets off his soap box.

I also give good revues of local businesses:
Puncture repair in Montmorillon
Banque Postale Montmorillon

For Sale, Ride on Mower, hardly used, less than a year old. Original price ticket on mower, and date of purchase on receipt. 550.00 euros.
Mig mate pro 170 welder 65.00 euros
Domestic scaffold tower, approx 5 mtrs high, 100.00 euros
Tel 0549830424 or PM for more information, photos available.

French electricity suppliers have been officially labelled naughty boys and girls by a European court in Brussels.

If you live permanently or have a holiday home in France, this may be for you. The ECJ have decided that one of France's electricity taxes is illegal - the CSPE (contribution au service public de l'électricité), a substantial tax that appears in the breakdown of your bill. You're entitled to claim this tax back for the last 2 years, by recorded delivery letter (LRAR) - so find your bills, do the math and CLAIM A REFUND!



The following blog, is where all this information originated, all completely legal and verifiable.
https://blogs.juridique.wengo.fr/node/56336

And this is the format your letter should take with the usual best wishes to M. Faceless Bureaucrat and his family, hoping he has many grandchildren etc etc included.....


https://www.france-info.co.uk/PDFS/Elect...202014.pdf

Before you shower me with money, gifts and crates of St Emilion Grand Cru, my heartfelt thanks to Willow17 for cracking the case in the first place and La Brasserie.

My registered letter is now on its merry way to Poitiers.

I now look forward to many a happy month thrashing around in a bureaucratic tumble dryer. BUT.... if you don't ask, you don't get.

Bonne chance.

Just wondering if anyone has visited this site at Angles-sur L'Anglin?

What did you think?

I am considering reserving an English guided tour there this summer - although 'les nuits' visits look really good but I don't imagine they'll be up for translating on these nights...'places limitees'

Also, has anyone visited Le Musee de Prehistorie at Lussac -les -Chateaux?

Yes, I'm all lined up for some Prehistory!

We are in Montmorillon and have been to many
Brocante sheds looking for a second hand
Leather sofa, more old style to fit in with
house furnished with older furniture.
Hoping for darker colour. Happy to collect
and pay depending on condition.
Thanks Rosie and Huw

I am selling a massive collection of card making/scrap booking supplies.

There is a huge stack of good quality card and paper stock, patterned and plain - loads of stickers, toppers, brads, punches, a hammer and pad, felt and metal embellishments, cut outs, Disney products, all sorts of stuff.

€65 - collection from Bellac.

Masses of photos available - let me know if you'd like to see them (I don't seem to be able to post them here).

I found this odd wooden thing yesterday tucked in the back of an old cupboard. It looks very old and well used it's made of hardwood and has a hole in the bottom about the diameter of your small finger, the handle on the top has what looks like a broken spring attached to a piece of dowel which goes up and down.

As above you will see we had bathroom
Fittings. Vanity toilet bath etc to give free
to a new home. For anybody thinking of using
this site to sell or give items away we can say
it's been a very easy and rewarding experience
for us!
Not only did we make space and pass all our
old bathroom fittings to a new home we
also enjoyed meeting Fred and his wife
and swapping some stories!
All went like clockwork thanks Around Montmorillon!
best wishes
Rosie and Huw

We are in Montmorillon and have a transparent
Green glass bowl for use on bathroom vanity,
Size 42cm diameter. It's still in the box we couldn't
use it as needed to purchase smaller one.
Builder had opened box so we are unable to
return. We paid 49 euros last week so
Make us an offer if you can use it. Anything
considered.
Cheers Rosie and Huw

Noticed tyre on my 4x4 was looking a bit low the other day and pumped it up, unfortunately whilst in Montmorillon yesterday it had gone down again. So I headed up to Norauto and asked if the could have a look, I had used them last year to fit my tyres I purchased on-line and they were very helpful then. Car Tyres In France

No problem he said and took it straight in, and said it could be repaired for €26.90. Within 15 minutes he handed me the offending item (a piece of rusty old wire fence) and I was back on the road.

Another vote from me for Norautos service.

Hi All,

My last visit to the forum was rather rushed, so I apologise for not being back since. I now have a bit of time around working to provide you with some more information about the association Les Dames de FER. I am the group coordinator for the Montmorillon area and we are looking for any women who are in business who are looking for some support, or who would like to learn new skills, or have skills which could benefit our members.

Here is the blurb from the website:

Our association aims to create a social network, training and coaching for self employed women or in process of setting up a business, in a rural environment in France. To encourage women to set up their own business, to help existing businesses to develop, to network with other women and to improve language skills.

Les Dames de F.E.R. anticipates having several meetings each year, which will include business workshops, guest speakers, social and networking events.

We are holding our next event on Tuesday 13th May in the morning (venue TBC), and hopefully there will be an option to stay for lunch afterwards. This is open to members and non-members and will be a chance to network and tell everyone about your business, and for you to learn about other businesses in the area. Of course the meeting is only open to women.

If you or you know of anyone who would be interested, please do get in touch with me by email (or PM on here) so I can add you to the mailing list for future events, and if you'd like any further information. My email is [email protected]

Thanks