Coming to a place near you 19 and 20 July you can see the future hopefuls of the Tour de France.

19 July (142 km) Mérigny / Nalliers / Saint-Savin / Nalliers / Mérigny / Ingrandes / Béthines / La Trimouille / Les Hérolles / Lignac / Nesmes / Chalais / Ciron / Douadic / Pouligny-Saint-Pierre / Le Blanc and final circuit of 11 km to do 3 times.

20 July (182 km) Montmorillon / Saulgé / Plaisance / Saint-Rémy-en-Montmorillon / Adriers / Mouterre-sur-Blourde / Millac / Availles-Limouzine / Le Vigeant / L'Isle-Jourdain / Moussac-sur-Vienne / Queaux / Persac / Lussac-les-Châteaux / Civaux / Valdivienne / Pouzioux / La Chapelle-Viviers / Pindray / Jouhet / Montmorillon and final circuit of 15.5 km to be done 3 times.

You will probably hear more about it from your local Mayor as you have to keep your vehicles off the road. If you have never experienced it, sit outside your house or on the side of the road early and you will get publicity gifts thrown at you.

Be warned when the bikes do come it's blink and you will miss it, so watch out if you want to get a photo.

*Oh and don't hold out a sign to your Gran and Grandad  

Bonjour! Just a few words about how we (my wife and I, a dog, and a cat) came to be living here. We were previously living on one of the Orkney Islands, I was working remotely with the office in Manchester. About four years ago, I took early retirement, we sold the house, bought a motorhome, and set off for France. We spent a few months travelling around France, and then with winter arriving, we moved on to Spain and Portugal.

We were enjoying our new life very much, but one day while on the south coast of Spain, we decided that it would be better if we had a bricks and mortar base somewhere. We had liked this area when we passed through - I think perhaps it reminds us a bit of Yorkshire, which is where we are both from originally. So we started looking at adverts for small, cheap houses, identified a few likely candidates, and then drove all the way up from the far south of Spain to here in a couple of days.

We soon found the right house, in a small village in the Lathus St Rémy area, and we've been here for just over three years now. We love it here, and everyone in the village is so friendly, both the French and the British. We still travel a lot in our motorhome, around France, and back to Spain and Portugal in the winter - apart from last winter, because of you-know-what. Hoping we can go again this winter.

Steve, Beth, Nell the dog, and Dusty the cat.

  After what feels like a long delay, I've finally arrived in Montmorillon - now sorting out jobs to do, officialdom to sort out, and generally finding our feet.   I'll be using this forum for helpful info but will try not to bombard with too many questions.

Hello,
I'm in La Trimouille and I need some recommendations. Actually, I don't even know where to start! Are there any roofers in the area? Thank you

does anyone know of a good insurance? until i get Carte Vitale health cover.
regards Peter

Going free due to flattening the garden lovely rich composted soil. Bring own sacks and shovel.

Hi! Newbie here!! Looking for input on the vets in montmorillon & whether or not they can speak English?!! 

I was pottering about the garden this afternoon when I heard some approaching aircraft. I looked up, and the Patrouille de France flew directly over my house at about 500m.

Beautifully tight formation. I think they were returning from their display at L'Isle Jourdain.

If you live in France and have been putting off registering for you Residence Permit you want to get a move on as you only have till the end of this month.

It really is simple to do and those that have lived here for more than 5 years don't have to give much information. All it takes is your personal details, proof of being resident for more than 5 years, and proof of living here in 2020. That's it apart from giving your finger prints and a photo.

For those not living here 5 years it's a bit more difficult but you can find all the information in English and French Here

There is another thread WARP Card where some of us have posted our experience,

You may remember that most single carriageway roads in France (outside of towns) had a speed limit of 90kph until mid 2018 - they were then reduced to 80kph. There have been ongoing mutterings about some departements returning to the 90kph limit at some time but I'd seen nothing about 86's intentions.

Yesterday, I drove south west out of Montmorillon on the D729 and was surprised to see new speed limit signs giving 90kph as the limit.

Does anyone know when this changed and if the news has been posted officially anywhere? And what other roads does it apply to?

Brian

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about an EU Covid Vaccination passport.

The basic idea is that an internationally recognised document will enable those who have received an appropriate course of Covid-19 vaccinations to travel abroad without having to produce tests or quarantine on arrival.

Many countries around the world are working on similar schemes (including the UK) and the EU is well advanced in its plans.

I find the Tous Anti Covid moblie phone app to be very useful. It gives up-to-date information about the pandemic and allows you to generate attestations etc easily and quickly. It can also store information about your vaccination status and is almost certain to be automatically linked to the Covid vaccination passport.

To store your vaccination status, you simply have to scan the document you were given at the vaccination within the app itself. Go to Form and Wallet, then select My wallet, then Scan QR Code).

But what if, like me, your form does not have a QR code? Ce n'est pas un problème!

Go to attestation-vaccin.ameli.fr, log on by selecting S'identifier avec France Connect, then choose which service to use to gain access - choosing the Ameli account is easiest here.

Click on Continuer sur Attestation Vaccin - Assurance Maladie
On the next page, click Mon attestation de vaccination to download it to your phone or computer.

Open the document. You can then print and scan the barcode, or (if you open it on a computer) just scan the barcode on screen.

Your Tous Anti Covid app will now show proof of your vaccination status.

I hope you find this helpful!
Brian

Hi all, just to let you know I have the name of a really good bloke who lives locally who did a fantastic job on our house for us. He removed all the rendering on the gable end and re pointed it revealing the original stone work. 
If anyone wants his details here they are. He is very reasonable and really good at what he does. Highly recommend him. 

https://www.facebook.com/GreenMachineCharente

I thought I would share this as I have been told I need three covid jabs because I take an Immunosuppressant treatment.

France have recently reviewed their covid jab strategy and have put patients receiving an Immunosuppressant on three jabs of covid vaccine.

Today Mrs Fred went for her first jab this morning and met our old retired GP, he told her that I should ask about the third jab. As it happened I also had an appointment with my new GP this afternoon and she confirmed that it is being rolled out that anyone taking an Immunosuppressant is to have three shots.

#1 First shot

#2 Second shot 6 - 8 weeks later

#3 Third shot 4 weeks after the second.

If any of you are taking an Immunosuppressant it may be worth you having a word with your prescribing doctor or your GP if you are going for the covid vaccine.

I went out in the garden just before the last full moon and thought I recognised a nightingale singing in the next field. The following night, one took up residence in my back garden - but I was ready for it. I'd set up a microphone and a very long lead connected it to my computer inside the house. You can hear the results here.
If any of you are into slow radio or AMSR type sounds, you may find it useful...

The bird returned and could be heard every night for the next week. All has now gone quiet which means it's probably found a mate

I recall a long while ago on here we had a bit of a competition to see if anyone could manage to get a photograph of the Oriole bird. We never succeeded and I'm taking it no one did on here. I was just reminded of this when I saw someone else, on a French Facebook group, also trying to get a pic of this bloomin bird, without success. I'm taking it no one on here had any joy then, so I just wanted to say that the competition is still on, although you have an advantage until we manage to get back to France. 
No googling photos either   as if you would 

Looking to replace toilet and sink could anyone recommend a good supplier and also looking for a plumber.
Any help gratefully received.

Do you want to help the Montmorillon council find out what is needed in regard to trade in the centre ?

They have set up a survey (in French but easy to follow) and you can give your opinion. Not personal details are needed but you can add them if you wish.

For me I think the biggest mistake was letting the ring road commercials get bigger, there is no need to go into town any more and it has ruined the centre. But they are trying and I have given my feedback, if you would like to add your opinion go here: https://sphinxdeclic.com/surveyserver/s/...ntmorillon

Mmmmm looks like the link won't work  

Brian can you work it out ?

Well I totally missed this month's supermoon but was delighted that Brian informed me via the newsletter that May's moon will be even more super!
I'm sure there was a post recently about star gazing but I can't find it.
There's a chap near Confolens who ran star gazing evenings type things. I guess that hasn't happened in the last year but has anyone ever been?

http://www.astrofarmfrance.com

I may have asked this a while back, but wanting some up to date information please on where you have found to be the most reasonable place to buy sofas. We are hoping to make the move permanently next year and thinking of buying the new sofa there rather than to take one from here. Thank you.

Yesterday I had my first experience of visiting a French hospital for an appointment.
It was at the Department of Ophtalmologie (odd how French has 'Opht...' and English has 'Opth...') at Limoges CHU.

I used the relevant link on the website to email for an appointment and wasn't unduly surprised when, 24 hours later, I had still received no reply. However, on emptying my postbox, I discovered a letter (printed on photocopied headed notepaper) giving me the time and date of my appointment - in 7 days time. Recent experience in the UK for a similar appointment yielded a waiting time of 8 months.

I know Limoges spreads its hospitals over a wide area, so I then went back to the hospital website to discover exactly where the eye clinic was located. There was no direct information, but by searching other sites I eventually tracked it down to somewhere in the main building. At least I now knew which of the many buildings to aim for!

My second experience was trying to find out where I could park. On the hospital website, the only info I could find related to arriving by public transport. Much googling later, I discovered a public car park a 3 minute walk away.

When I arrived, an hour before my appointed time, I asked at reception where the clinic was located and set off down several corridors, eventually finding the right place. Still 50 minutes early. Inevitably, a queue...

About 10 minutes later, I presented myself at the desk and had a very confused conversation with the receptionist. She was about a metre away, behind a perspex screen, wearing a facemask. And she had a quiet voice. It eventually dawned on me that I should have taken a booking-in ticket from a machine in reception and then "follow instructions". Feeling a bit dazed, I made my way back to reception where I eventually discovered the small ticket machine (like one of those at the deli counter in a UK suspermarket). It was attached to a small pillar in a 12m diameter walled-off waiting area in such a way as to be completely invisible to anyone entering the hospital. But I was still 30 minutes early.

After waiting for 50 minutes, my number came up on the single TV screen and I made my way to 'bureau A'. Confusingly, bureaux A to G were all in one room.
I had to hand over CV, ID (first official use of my CdS - hooray!) etc and then go through address, phone number, relatives, hamster's birth cerificate etc. But at last, I was given a sheet of sticky labels with my details on and I was free to attend my appointment.

Now 25 minutes late by the time I arrived back at the Ophtalmologie clinic, I queued again. When I arrived at the desk, they needed my sheet of labels (which they returned to me) before asking for and re-entering name, date of birth, address etc etc etc.

By now, I had missed my appointment time by about 30 minutes, so resigned myself to joining the back of the queue.

To my astonishment, I was taken for an initial inspection within 5 minutes and then had to wait a further 3 minutes (3 whole minutes!) to be seen by the specialist. By now I was quite relieved that he was keen to practice his English on me. The result was that my French eye biology vocabulary has improved dramatically! After a thorough inspection, he pronounced that all was well and I could go happily on my way

Now I know the system and I'm enrolled, I don't think I have to go through the 'ticket' process on subsequent visits.

However, the entire process was very much faster, and the department itself seemed much better equipped than the UK equivalent.

Are there any other French hospital stories out there?