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Just seen this article in today's Guardian about CQLP, a brand that charges a bit extra so that producers are properly remunerated: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/french-shoppers-rejecting-cut-price-capitalism-nicolas-chabanne. I haven't noticed these products on sale in the PO, but t...

Thanks Florence - yes, I did thinking of asking them but I thought I'd see if anyone else knew first. Immediate problem has been solved as the man who does odd garden jobs for me has taken it way, but there will no doubt be more (it's a big garden that has been neglected in recent years!)

I have quite a lot of garden waste to get rid of, which would involve several trips to the dechetterie. I have heard that burning rubbish in your garden is strictly "interdit" during the summer, for obvious reasons, but I wondered if anyone knew whether this applies all year round, or where I could ...

[quote="Richard and Sharon" post_id=125605 time=1568671156 user_id=3216] Negotiating on the foundation that we will not leave without a deal is like handing all the best cards to the EU negotiators. They don't want us to leave, so why would they give us a better deal?] I've always thought this is a ...

A belated thank you to everyone who replied to my initial query and the useful information. In the end we decided to go for the 4x4 to Cortalets option. The ride was indeed very bumpy, and probably not one we'd want to repeat, but it got us there and was well worth it to allow us to go to the summit...

Thanks for the comments, Sus. I don't think doing the walk over several days is an option for us, however, for various reasons. What bad things have you heard about the 4x4 rides ?

My brother and his partner are visiting me in the PO in August, and we are contemplating climbing the Canigou. From the research I have done so far, it seems the "easy" way to do it is to be driven to the Refuge des Cortalets in a 4x4 and walk the rest. The only company I have discovered so far is L...

I came to this thread late, so you may have already got something organised. If not, I can thoroughly recommend Vidal Menuiserie at Maureillas, near Céret. They have made and installed a number of wooden doors and windows in my house, and done a good job - not particularly cheap, but of course you g...

There doesn’t seem to have been any new activity on the forum for the past few days - unless posts haven’t been coming through for some reason?

I’ll try to reply to Graham without “flaming”. I’m genuinely interested to know why you think leaving the EU is a good thing, despite admitting that it would make life much more difficult for you. The arguments you come up with are (a) wanting to defend the UK and Europe from “a newly emergent empir...

Well, I don’t know where you heard about this “poll of polls” - pretty much all the recent polls show a majority for “remain” (https://whatukthinks.org/eu/questions/if-there-was-a-referendum-tomorrow-with-the-option-of-accepting-the-governments-brexit-agreement-or-leaving-the-eu-without-a-deal-which...

That’s a bit extreme, Kate: I haven’t heard about any bombs or deliberately-caused deaths. My partner and I encountered the Gilets Jaunes a few weeks ago on our way to Montpellier to fly back to Gatwick. They were very friendly, albeit not very receptive to our pleas to let us catch our flight (whic...

[/quote] The biggest problem IMHO is that many members are apathetic and don't bother to take part in the decision making processes. They then blame "The EU" for making decisions that they don't like[/quote] Quite. I’m struck by the absurdity of the British public voting for UKIP MEPS, with the resu...

[quote="Lanark Lass"]Rhys, The Lille interchange doesn't exist anymore,unfortunately. you have to go into Paris and taxi or metro between stations.[/quote] Actually you can still go via Lille, but have to change again at Montpellier or Valence to get to Perpignan. Also the connection in Paris is rea...

[quote="neil mitchell"] Even at that age I recognised the gross wealth and privilege which it represented [/quote] Quite. I’m sorry to disagree with Kate, but such gross inequality does actually cause all kinds of social harm, including mental and physical illness, social unrest, etc, etc. And int...

Thanks to the various people who’ve replied to my query. It doesn’t look as if the VPN I’ve tried (Overplay) is able to do the job. The TV is quite a new model - about 2 years old - and is listed on the iPlayer site, so that doesn’t seem to be the problem. The solutions that seem to work are...

[quote="Helen"]Steve, are you trying to access the iplayer via the app on your smart tv? If so, it may be the problem is the app/your TV, not your VPN. For example, there seems to be an issue for some Samsung sets: [url]https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/TV-Audio-Video/BBC-iPlayer-witholding-servic...

[quote="Webdoc"]Before you go forking out on a 2 metre dish perhaps we should do a survey of who, down here, gets the BBC faultlessly over the internet and what system they use. If people are reluctant to fess up in an open forum then they could PM SteveB.[/quote] Thanks - that’s the most helpful ...

Thanks for the various replies. The problem however seems to be specifically to do with iPlayer - as I said, with Overplay I can get the ITV and Channel 4 catch-up apps, as well as Netflix (which I could get previously anyway). IPlayer isn’t giving the message it used to about the content only bei...

Following advice from Allan on this forum, I’ve tried Overplay to gain access to British TV, and as I have a smart TV I could also get the UK-based apps with a bit of tweaking. Everything seems to work fine, including the ITV and Channel 4 catch-up apps and Netflix, apart from BBC iPlayer. It doesn’t come up with a message blocking content as it did before, but just behaves as if there’s a poor WiFi connection (in fact my connection is pretty good) - the on-screen information on programmes lacks pictures, and when I try to stream programmes I get a message “this content doesn’t appear to be workingâ€￾.

Has anyone else had this problem, and does anyone have any suggestion? Eg could this be a more subtle way that the BBC is using to block content?

Thanks Martin - useful to know that. My aim was to protect the chairs against spillages etc, as I’m planning to use the house for holiday let’s, but I may have to think about alternatives.

Steve

Thanks Martyn - funnily enough I went past the first of these places this morning but it was closed. I did have a look at the Pages Jaunes but thought I’d see if anyone had any particular recommendations before picking someone from there.

Can anyone recommend someone in the Céret area to make some washable loose covers for a couple of armchairs?

Thanks for any suggestions or recommendations

Steve

I don't know about the property market, but I gather that the Spanish Civil War led to a lot of people from Spanish Catalonia crossing the border into France, both during the war and after, as Catalonia was strongly Republican and was subsequently punished by Franco. Because of this there is a subst...

I always use Transferwise, having found that they offer better rates than anyone else even with their current charges.

I must admit I've never heard 'next up" being used in this way - normally it refers to the next item in a TV or radio programme, etc, and just means "next" - one of numerous Americanisms creeping into British English, using completely redundant words (cf ""meet up with" for "meet").

Well, in response to the various advice and warnings people have sent me, I have just checked my (UK) will. This states clearly that it only applies to property in the UK, and indeed I remember the solicitor at the time advising me this was the case, and suggesting for that reason that it I should g...

Just re-read my last message that was meant to clarify matters, and realised that "notaire" came out as "not sure" through predictive text. My point was that my English lawyer may have been right to point out that French property would not be covered by an English will, but wouldn't necessarily be f...

To clarify the matter, it was an English lawyer who initially suggested I should get a French will to cover my French property, as it wouldn't be governed by English law. However I think it's reasonable to assume that a French not sure would be more familiar with French law than an English solicitor...

Following advice on this thread, I saw a notaire today to discuss making a will and I thought it might be helpful for me to pass on what he told me. Basically there is no need to make a will to cover any property owned in France unless you want to depart from the default position, which is: 1. It is...