Admin Silence is Golden « Le silence de l’administration vaut accord » In order to lighten the burden of French admin (which has a bit of a reputation for being over the top), a recent…
Bill was anxious to fence the land so that we could have animals. After all, this was one of the main reasons for us moving to France and buying a place with six acres. The vague wave of the arm and words of the previous owner, “it’s over there somewhere” had not really helped to clarify where the boundary actually was. And we were far too scared to ask the neighbours who had been watching our every move through binoculars.
As arranged, the workers from the Mairie turned up in not one but two lorries.
With a great deal of good humour they sorted the rubbish into different recyclable materials, loaded up their vehicles, swept the lawn and bid us goodbye. All that without asking for a penny (more humble pie for hubby).
Evelyne de Wangen is a very talented lady. She is an artist, potter, interior designer landscape gardener, builder, plumber, electrician, cute cushion creator, chic clothing designer, jewellery and furniture maker and restorer….in fact she is…
As Christmas approached the previous owner of our mas and his two daughters prepared to move out of The Other End. We were highly excited to see (for only the second time) the rest of the house that we had purchased. And not more than a little curious to see how they had been living all these months.
I met Shaun at my yoga class in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. A teacher of literacy at the local college, he had dreams of becoming a circus entertainer.
Several fraught phone calls later it seemed that our furniture was making slow progress through France in our direction. On the appointed day we received a phone call to say it was on its way up our hill. We ran outside to be confronted by two grumpy blokes sitting in a tiny van on the drive outside the house.
France has a reputation for serving great coffee – but you need to know what to ask for!
Join Marian Thornley every week as she shares the ups and downs of her move to, and life in Céret Settling in France We woke up for the first time in our new home, realised…
Faire la bise - a tongue in cheek look at kissing in France The French ‘bise’ can be slightly awkward for those who haven’t grown up with it Hold out your hand, pucker up your…