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/

If like us you grow your own veg and struggle to find a decent seed potato at a reasonable price in France, I have some good news for you.

Last year we tried Quickcrop in Ireland and this year we have gone back to them again. They give excellent service and the quality is very good. No soft potatoes and they are of a decent size too. You can pay in Euros or use their UK site to pay in GBP, and they deliver to your door at a very reasonable price.

They also sell seeds, not a huge range but again they are good quality and much better price than here in France. We can highly recommend them, and keep an eye out for their offers.  

They still have some potatoes left but they are going quick so get in now if you want very good seed potatoes.

You can find them here: https://www.quickcrop.ie/

Hello,
    After years of searching various areas my wife and I finally settled on Montmorillon and bought a holiday home in the Brouard. We hope some day to spend much more time there. We have already made connections with some wonderful people in the town but were happy to discover this forum. Thank you for the helpful information that you selflessly offer and I hope to see you all about town.
 
Best Regards,
Ryan

I have a small load of furniture ( 2 chests drawers, Welsh dressers, books, table and chairs)
In ‘big yellow’ storage in west London, anybody doing a run to Montmorillon I’d be willing to share costs, anytime soon? 
Jan J

Our little old Coolpix camera has broken and I'm on the look out for a cheap one to replace it.

I don't need anything fancy, just a little camera I can carry around that is simple to use and can take an SD Card.

Thank you.

If anyone got a nice new shiny laptop for xmas and is thinking of throwing their dead one away would you mind throwing it my way please.

My old laptop recently gave up and instead of buying a new one I got my Mums old one that she got fed up with as it kept crashing and decided to see if I could fix it.  After a good clean out and a lot of fiddling around I managed to get it running as good as new and I'm now using it daily.

Since then I had a go at fixing my own old laptop, and I'm pleased to say I too managed to get that going and I'm now using it just for listening to music. But unfortunately it has a lot of bad sectors on the disk and keeps going wonky, and now looks like it's on it's last legs.

Anyway I enjoyed getting them both working again and it got me thinking how people just dump their laptops and buy new ones. So if you are one of those people and are willing to give your old laptop away I would be grateful as I can have a little tinker with it.

This is just a little hobby and I'm not going to be selling them, I just want to play around and see if I can get another one working for my music and one for Mrs Fred to use.

I don't want to pay for anything as I do have one working fine, but thought if by any chance someone out there is throwing their old laptop that has WIFI away I can probably make use of it.

Thank you.

Hello All,

Perhaps someone can advise on our current health insurance problem, as follows, which is driving us mad:

My husband has been an auto (now 'micro') entrepreneur for about one year. Our mutuelle created a 'professional' contract for him with coverage for myself on the same contract for 2017 (I am not employed.) Our renewal contract arrived this week for 2018 stating again coverage for both of us but attached was a note from the administrator stating that my being on the same contract as my husband was now an anomaly. (Then why were we sent a joint renewal?!) She provided a new contract for me to sign. However, there was no separate contract for my husband to sign (wouldn't he need one as well?) As you can see, we are very confused as to what to do. The renewal joint contract comes from Poitiers and my new separate contract comes from Limoges. We brought the problem to the attention of our local branch of a major bank (who administers our insurance) and were told that they have no one on sight who handles professional insurance; the Poitiers office deals with it. Calls (no English speaker available on the English line), emails for clarification are  in vain.

I have until 27 Dec for my signed contract to arrive at the bureau. 

Additionally (sorry about yet another chapter in this saga), we greatly fear the effect this will have on our joint RAM (Primary) insurance as we know it will be yet another horrible fall down the rabbit-hole of paperwork, lost paperwork, no answers, etc. as they unravel what my husband has so painstakenly set up.

If anyone has any advice/same or similar experience, I would be so grateful to hear from you. We simply do not know what to do at this point.

 Many thanks for even reading this tale of woe,
(a very colourless) PastelPainter

If you have or will be receiving RSA in November or December 2017 you will getting a Christmas Box (Prime de Noël) sometime after the 15th December.

The amount you will receive depends on your situation and the amount of people in your family.

To get the bonus you need to have claimed RSA in November or December.

1 Person: €152

Couples: €228

3 People: €274

4 People: €320 - €335

5 People: €381 - €396

6 People: €442 - €457

Per extra person: €60

*There is nothing you need to do and it will be paid into your bank account in time for Christmas.

Can someone enlighten me as to noise restrictions as regards building activity at weekends? We are currently renovating/converting two properties into one and, until today have received no complaints from our neighbours. We are employing French plumbers and a French electrician who work 9:00-12:00 & 14:00-18:00 Monday-Friday which seems to be the norm. However, our Moroccan builder can normally only work Saturdays, as he indeed did today. We have always tried to keep noise to a minimum (especially between 12:00-14:00) and today he was merely laying floor tiles in our new kitchen which is hardly an activity that creates environmental noise pollution! However when I was innocently on my way to the Boulanger way for the proverbial Baguette I was both physically and verbally abused by a French neighbour for having building work done on a Saturday plus a stream of invectives as regards Les Anglais in general. From what I have read noise restrictions as regards Saturdays are the same as Monday-Friday - am I correct in this?

If you are effected by Brexit and want to have a voice here is your chance to take part in a Lobby Campaign set up by Site: remaininfrance.org

*This isn't about stopping Brexit, there are other campaigns out there if your interested. But personally I don't want to stop Brexit, I just want to continue living my life in France as I do now and that is what this campaign is all about.

The campaign "Lobbying MEPs on citizens rights" can be found here: remaininfrance.org/mep-lobbying-campaign.html

A full explanation on how to take part, along with ready made templates is available and it's just a matter of sending an Email.

*You will need to copy the link as it doesn't conform to the security filters in place on AMF. But the site is safe.

I've just returned from a few weeks back in the UK to discover that one of our roof tiles has slipped causing an internal leak on the occasional days when it rains

Unfortunately I don't have a ladder high enough to reach the roof so fixing this is, literally, beyond me.

Can anyone recommend a local builder/roofer who could help? I'm based between Moulismes and Adriers.

Thanks,
Brian

If you are going to the CHU Hospital in Poitiers there are some parking changes in place as from now.

The changes effect the three main car parks nearest to the hospital I marked in Red on this map.



#1 In front of Jean-Bernard 526 places.
#2 Next to pôle régional de cancérologie 115 places.
#3 In front of centre cardio-vasculaire 123 places.

When you arrive at one of those car parks you will need to take a ticket. When you leave the hospital you will need to put your ticket in a machine near the main exit just outside where all the smokers stand That's for Jean-Bernard, I'm not sure where the other machines are located. When you leave the car park you will need your ticket to open the barrier.

Notes:

#1 If you have a consultation you will be given a card with one of your barcodes on that you always get when you visit. You put your car park ticket in the machine and then scan your barcode. The machine will keep your car park ticket and your barcode will now get you out of the care park Free of charge at the exit barrier. So if you have to go to the hospital for treatment, don't worry you will not have to pay for parking.

#2 If you are just visiting you will put your car park ticket in the machine and it will tell you how much you have to pay. After payment your ticket will get you out of the car park at the exit barrier. Those without an appointment will have access between 8am and 7pm, Monday to Friday. The rates applied will be those of Potiers Center, namely 0.40 € for the quarter of an hour during the first two hours, 0.20 € for the quarter of an hour for the next two hours, then 0.10 € for the quarter of an hour following. A fixed price of 0,50 € applies from 19h to 8h.

* Free Parking:

• Everyone, the first hour, Monday to Friday.
  
• All weekends and bank holidays.
  
• The patients who come in for a consultation.
  
• Patients who come in hospital for the day and for iterative treatments.
  
• Patients in traditional hospitalization (the day of their release).
  
• People with disabilities.
  
• Parents of a hospitalized child.
  
• Relatives of a patient hospitalized in intensive care.
  
• The companion of a mother in maternity.
  
• VSL, ambulance and taxis.
  
• Two wheels.
  

Selling a JCB pressure washer for 30 euros (we`ve a huge area to clean so have bought a more powerful one). It has an English plug (we just use an adapter). Collection only from Brigueil le Chantre 86290 or can meet in Montmorillon.

wall mounted tv stand with swivel arm , adjustable to 43 cm width X 22 cm depth max. Space underneath for satellite box etc .

20 euros.

Email me for pictures or any questions

2 TNT Astrell Decoders with cards for sale. Still in the box . Never used . Left behind by the previous owners of our house, unfortunately there are no remote controls. Maybe possible to use a one for all type of remote?Offers please.

High quality Mitsubishi dehumidifier. powerful, up to 16 litres per day, quiet operation. little used in a previous house and has been stored for the last 5 years. Perfect working condition, cost more than 350 euros .

Will accept 100 euros

Email me for pictures or any questions

Just came accross this site https://www.mesampoulesgratuites.fr

Depending on your financial circumstances determined from your tax fiscal no & reference de l'avis
on your tax returns you may be eligible for 5 free led light bulbs and/or 25 of choice at subsidised price.
I just ordered 25 for 1 euro delivered.  Up to 12 weeks for delivery.
Hope this is not a con , but does seem to be genuine.

If you are a low earner and have been benefiting from tarif de première nécessité (TPN) or tarif spécial de solidarité  (TSS) for Electricity or Gas discounts you will be switched over to Le chèque énergie on January 1st 2018. So instead of getting a monthly discount on your electricity or gas bill you will be getting a one off cheque in the Winter to help with your heating bills.

The cheque will be between 48€ and €227 and you need to pass it on to your Electric or Gas supplier before 31st of March 2018. The amount is based on your income and number of people living in the house.

The TPN was a maximum of €140 per year and the TSS was a maximum of €185 per year, which were spread over your monthly bills, so now instead of getting a discount spread over the year you will get it when you need it most, in the winter.

*If you do benefit from TPN or TSS you don't need to do anything and you will be changed over automatically.

https://chequeenergie.gouv.fr/