Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Relocating’ Category

Our move is starting to feel a whole lot like those telly ones.

Anyway, having arrived at the decision that we couldn’t go with the bank financing over the weekend we now find that there are “ways and means” in France. Net effect is that we think we are off though we’ll not know for sure `til tomorrow (Wednesday).

I will try never to complain about UK banks again! The French ones are unbelievably bad at administration which is how we ended up in the current mess.

Don’t let anybody claim my desk just yet though!

Arnold

21 days 2 months and 2 weeks, but who’s counting?

Anyway, slight update on the situation…

Seems that just about everything that can be signed for will be getting signed next Thursday morning. That means that I should be able to take over the hotel around 2 weeks after that (ie the 11th of March). However, due to the practicalities of moving over I’ll be shooting for the 18th instead.

Picked up another volunteer driver: TM As always, he’s gone into the project in extreme detail and has calculated that it’ll take 2 1/2 days driving each way in France so we’ll actually need about 11 days to do a round-trip.

Plan B (drive truck over next week full of furniture, then drive smaller truck over in a few weeks time) isn’t a runner: it’s getting on for £1000 for that option vs £200 for the plane + car option for next week. Seeing as it’s not much dearer to rent a slightly bigger truck and do the whole lot in one go, we’re planning on doing that.

However, there is the little problem of driving the truck back to NI after we’ve unloaded it in the south of France.

To get around this difficulty, I’d like to take along someone who could drive said truck (we’re not talking massive truck here: an ordinary driving license is more than enough) back after we’ve unloaded it. This would involve coming along with us on the ferry (probably Rosslare to Cherbourg, but possibly the Stranraer-Dover-Calais route), sharing driving down to the south of France, staying 2/3 days there and then driving back with an empty truck. In total, this would take around 8/9 days. This trip would probably take place in about 2 or 3 weeks time. To sweeten the pot, we’re throwing in a FREE weeks accommodation at Mas Camps at a time of your choosing (subject to availability, though, unlike most offers, we’ll get you fitted in if you give us enough notice).

Arnold

Friday last week, sense arrived at Credit Agricole and they decided that perhaps I wasn’t a money launderer after all and that they could after all give me the mortgage.

However, whilst they are up to date with the concept of money laundering, the invention of the postal system seems to have passed them by so I’ve to fly over to Estagel at the start of the week after next to sign assorted forms. High speed bank transfers don’t appear to have reached them either so it’ll be two or three weeks after that before I can sign for the hotel which is a bit of a pain but I suppose it gives us more time to organise the move.

Actually, I’m not sure that we can move in on the “signing day” or if there’ll be another week or two to go after that.

Anyway, we appear to be on our way and, if we don’t go off the rails again, should be there around St Patrick’s Day. So, that’ll be when you’ll all be able to claim the discount due on those cards which you should all have by now.

My last day in Rosepark will be Friday the 20th (unless we’re on strike, of course).

Arnold