Confusing Much!

It appears that there are many spanners to put into our works! Works being our timeline to ship our household goods to France.

If it hadn't been for a shipping agent enquiry and answer, we might never have known, and would potentially be hit with tens of thousands of dollars in Duties and Taxes...VAT when our goods arrive in France.

It appears now that we are changing our place of permanent residence, and as such, we are required to apply for a Certificate of Change of Residency, through the French Embassy in the USA.

In order for our household goods to enter France tax free, this certificate is imperative. Not only do we have to have owned the various goods for more than 6 months prior to shipping them, we also have to inventory everything, translate to French and estimate the value in Euros...two copies, of course. This is accompanied by other documents as requested.
One of the documents is a Carte de Sejour, which is a long stay visa, which we were hoping to get at the beginning of 2019, rather than this year.

Having organized travel to get all our possessions ready for shipping, both in the US and NZ, this is unwelcome news.
We have quotes for shipping from both countries which are acceptable and are working with the agents to find the correct information on the requirements.
Finding definitive info is proving challenging, as some of our correspondents are in France and not fully understanding our questions, we feel. This is obviously because we are not asking them in a manner that is easily understood, perhaps?

It appears also, that we need to send both shipments, from the two countries, on a double consignment, with the first to arrive in France to have the documentation for both shipments. Hmm...

I think we will stick with our travel schedule, and if necessary will have the shipping companies store the goods until we have all necessary documentation in hand and can then get them to forward our goods  and have them arrive tax/duty free. We also have to attest that we will not sell any of our household goods within the first twelve months of their arrival in France. That is easy, we want to use everything.

So, we are coming to appreciate that this whole moving lark is a whole lot more complex than anything we could ever have dreamed up! Seriously!
We aren't naïve and we have done plenty of homework, but it is actually difficult to find the information we require. It is taking much ferreting out, and we are grateful for the help we are receiving from many quarters.
Im sure we will get everything sorted in time, it just feels pretty overwhelming to be honest.

We had our first mail from the French bank, today, and needed to go pick it up from our friends who are holding it for us. All it told us is that we have money in the bank, lol...woohoo! We knew this already. What we still dont know is if we can have access to it any time soon. We are still waiting for complete verification from the powers that be. Patience!!

We now have to visit the banker tomorrow to get some bills paid and make sure we are all paid up where we need to be. Many people are waiting for us to complete processes...ha! us too!

As I have said previously, Patience is a virtue throughout this process.

Shoulder injury update:
Well, I should call it Bicep injury update. The blue on the arm has crept all the way down the bicep. Much heavy internal bleeding, and as a result of this fall.I have no ability to use the bicep, currently. It doesn't want to hold my arm up. Trauma to the muscle is obvious, and time will heal it. I dont need to be straining it further, so Im taking good care of it. The sling is fabulous, especially when walking or in the car.
Relying on others to do my bidding is getting old fast, but I still need Waz for some things...anything I cant reasonably do, actually....like doing up the button on my jeans which I am pretty good at wriggly up and over my bum!:)

We have spent a few days working on the shipping of household goods, and this is challenging due to time changes in both NZ and USA. Weekends are also a bummer, but enforced rest.
Not leaving the house except for walks to dispose of our trash and go a bit beyond, but enjoying the warmer weather and the utter peace and quiet we have out here. The birds are singing their heads off, the fruit trees are starting to blossom and they are gorgeous! Watching the Cranes circle, climbing ever higher on the thermals is a quiet experience and speaks of circles of life.

I dont have anywhere to put my camera, so no photos right now.
We did stop for lunch today at Le Calice, the British owned pub in Verteillac, and enjoyed their Porc Stroganoff and chou croute with pommes de terre grille. Roast potatoes and buttered and peppered cabbage. The stroganoff was lovely and creamy, but a huge meal. We consequently had al fresco dinner with half a baguette cereal between us. Bib lettuce, cocktail tomatoes, cucumber slices, some egg salad and cheese for Waz. yum!
We are watching a crazy movie about a killer tornado...sheesh! Time for a shower.

Will take some more photos tomorrow, hopefully. We need to go and sign for our new car.

A bientot.

Tuesday morning.

last night after I signed off here, I had further dialogue with our shipping agents. They have referred me directly to their France counterparts, so we await ther correspondence today.

2.30pm. No sign of any correspondence, but we have been busy all day...out and about.

Having sorted all the papers for the bank, we headed in their direction. I have broken every rule in the French etiquette book and informed the banker this morning that we would be coming to visit her...sans appointment (rendez-vous, en francais) and we would be bringing her all our payee numbers to pay for us.
Her comment upon seeing us was something in the vicinity of the fact that she had just received my e-mail but we should really have waited for her response and to make an appointment. Sorry...desole!! (day so lay), but we dont have time to make appointments three or four days out, coz its the weekend again...and ....and...they all take two hour lunch hours, so we only have a three hour window in the morning and another 3 hr window apres dejeuner (after lunch)  to get our business done. Usually we can take up a good hour of their time, if not more, as we are not only NOT verified yet, but our banking habits have not been seen in this branch before, so it is a learning experience all around. This will change.
When we opened the account with the Manager, we promised him we would refer other English speaking friends to his bank to open accounts...he pleaded with us not to! One is enough, he said! ha!

So, a half hour non-appointment at the bank with our not even semi-English speaking banker (she brought in the fella who speaks better English, at the last minute), making sure everyone was ok with who we were paying (with OUR money) and what was going where. Im sure they make this far more complicated that is necessary, and you may well hear me say that again...and again...in terms of French bureaucracy...tis but another SMALL thing to bear in our quest to integrate. We have the time, and the willingness to learn...they both go a long way in the scheme of things.

Having put our banking numbers in the right hands we left for the Garagiste (Car Dealer) who is selling us the car. He had asked us to come to the garage and sign the Facture or receipt of sale, so that they can get the number plates and record all the details. He now has the part to install the tow bar on the back (for us to pull a trailer) and is getting the drivers seat re-stitched, as far as we know.
At least that is what he was asked to do before we took possession. He says he will e-mail us to let us know when we can pick up the car. Lets hope it is end of this week. We need to have the rental vehicle back by the 17th if we are to avoid paying for another month's rental.

As I write, there are French Air Force jets doing circuits and bumps very noisily overhead.  There goes another one! Dont ask me what they are, I cant see them!

I advertised our US vehicle for sale on Facebook last night, and this morning rose to find that we have a sale! yippee!! Our kiwi friends who visit their family in Michigan each year for 6 months have just sold their other vehicle there, and are returning to the USA for the summer months and need another more spacious vehicle for their 'things' and their grandkids as well. Glad they will have her. Hard to let this one go, she has been an excellent vehicle for us. We just dont want her sitting around in a parking lot for three months at a time, while we are in France and away from the boat, until that sells. We can buy a lot of rental car days with what it costs to insure our vehicle, so we are happy to have found good careful buyers for her.

Progress on all fronts! They will pick her up some time around the time we leave Florida for our NZ trip to ship everything to France.

I am still none the wiser as to the requirements for shipping, but I have an idea that we can visit the Customs folks in Angouleme...actually rock up and hope like hell someone speaks enough  English for us to unravel this problem and make it all a GO!!
Tough not being able to book and get that rolling. Thank goodness we have some time up our sleeves, although Im amazed at how fast time is flying.

We were told yesterday that we should have access to the new house from the 12th March! We will see. Not really in a hurry to take possession, strangely. Perhaps because my physical condition means I cant DO anything. Waz would like to get the heaters on and perhaps open some windows to let the small out and blow the moths (hopefully not the real things) out also. The seller has made an inventory for us which is a blessing at this stage, so that we have a pretty good idea of what is in the house and what we might need in the short terms when we return from NZ.

I have been sleeping on the sofa for over a week now...forced, I assure you. It is only because I cant lie flat and somehow having the side of the sofa to wedge myself into means I can sleep like a drugged log for about 3 hrs at a time, there. Waz and I miss each other, but this is a short term solution, so we suck it up! We have to have extra hugs during the day to make up for what we lose at night.

 I LOVE my new roll pillow. If only I could find a pillow case or 'envelope' for it! We searched for one today, but not sure what to call it, and nobody around to ask.

We have been discussing our vehicular needs for about the next twelve months...Trailer or work van?? I had a giggle when Waz sent me this photo...Might just do the trick! Cherry picker et al.

We have a chimney pot that needs to be recovered, and we've been discussing how we were going to tackle that, being more than three stories up. Waz is NOT allowed up ladders that tall! You read that here!!!!

After signing the other half of our lives away at the Garagiste's, we returned to the bank to show them the total we had agreed to pay for the vehicle, because they would be paying the bill for us.  Our funds, but only THEY can use them....something wrong with this picture, as I have already said, but when in....

While there, we decided to visit the café at the Carrefour mall, just back up the road on the way home. We like this place, having been there several times before, more latterly with Paul and Jen. Waz ordered the Americain...a hot steak hache (hamburger) with Frites in it...yes, basically half a baguette with hamburger meat and fried inside. Dont ask my opinion! I ordered the quiche Lorraine and two grand crème...for now, not later! Well, that was a silly thing to do, because our hot food was sitting on the tray getting cold while she made the grande crème. We had hot coffees but not so hot food. Sigh!
I wont tell you waz's observation of this, but those of you who appreciate his dry sense of humor might guess! lol.

Yes, fed and watered (it came with the Americaine) we went in search of the elusive rolled pillow case. On the way we went up and down the aisles in this huge super store. So much to see, and price, should we have to replace some of our American appliances! We are still debating what to bring and how much to spend on adaptors. Our NZ appliances will be fine however.

Waz remarked that there is 3 x phase power supplied to the house. Hmm...this is good from many points of view, but might mean paying an electrician to convert the whole house. We will see how far down the priority list that comes.

We had also, post 2nd bank visit, visited a kitchen design store...Waz usually never lets me into these places...at least not without him in tow:) There is good reason for this! It is always interesting to see what products are available, what finishes and most of all, how much it will cost. We or at least I am thinking our new kitchen will need a complete overhaul...again, priorities, because we an absolutely use it as it is...for now! Watch this space:)

I was delighted to find so many spring trees and plants for sale in Carrefour. The yellow forsythia shrub is a memory out of my very happy childhood. We had a huge bush of it on our original childhood property, and of course bright yellow is my favorite color. I WILL have one in our new property, because it is cold enough to grow them here. Did I mention the waves of peonies I am also going to have???:)

Waz rolls his eyes about now, when I go on one of my...Im going to plant this...and this...and oh, wouldn't THAT be lovely...kind of fanciful journeys. Dont be fooled! He loves them as much as I do, but he thinks he can get a 'rise' out of me if he behaves in this dismissive way:) Bah!

Look at that glorious shrub! Forsythia!! I am now seeing all the blossoms appearing in local gardens and some town ones too. Isn't it such a joyful color!

 Fruit trees. The plums and cherries in particular, caught our eye. I think we will take out one of the garden snatching hedges that border the whole property and espalier our fruits trees along the sunny side. Apricots, pears, plums, cherries...anything else?

 The citrus look fab too, but I dont think I want anything other than a patio lemon and perhaps a mandarin. We are so enjoying those right now. Too many lemons in season is overwhelming, and there is only so much marmalade you can make with 6lbs of sugar and half a dozen fruit. What do you do with the rest?? juice?? maybe! I can see me making lemon curd by the gallon!

Further on, in our journey of discovery in Carrefour, we found these very fresh trout at the Poissonerie counter. Their eyes are super clear and flesh is gorgeous! Too big for two of us, but I will remember they have them, and what a great price for a whole fish!10.90 euros p kg.

You can catch your own trout in NZ, but you cannot sell it commercially. This is a real treat. I buy trout here in preference to Salmon some times. Flesh is finer and such a sweet taste. They are wild caught north Atlantic trout and salmon!

The Wazter is exhausted after driving all over the place today. I sit in the back right seat and back seat drive. I dont think he realizes how much he back seat drives with me, also, lol. One as bad as the other??? he will tell you that I am impossible! lol. Cant wait to have the right gear change arm back to business!! Although, I do need to let him drive more often, he has become 'rusty'!

Enough of this...he will argue all of the above:)

Ciao for now, I need to go walking while the sun is out and before the next shower.