PGTV

Only saw this message today. Interesting that Germany are doing the same from September too - that you have to pay for a test (Euro 30 I believe). As the german government says “you cannot expect the tax payer to carry this burden”. so we are expected to believe that we are in a pandemic that could kills thousands a day, which most people do not know they have/carry this virus- most people get mild symptoms at best, but many have no symptoms at all. They expect a person to pay quite a lot of money for this test that costs pennies to produce, self isolate for 7-10days if positive, without claiming sick pay. Take a vaccine that has not been fully tested as yet - a vaccine that does not prevent you from picking up or spreading this virus. im the last person to believe all this conspiracy online (and to be honest, a lot of it is far fetched), but many things being said is making more sense than from our governments. I have taken a few antigen tests, just to be nosy if being honest. It’s free, so why not (thou my taxes pays towards it) - but the moment you have to pay for these tests is the day when covid ends in the UK. as usual, these are personal views.

Funny you should mention this - when I was at the house last time (poullaouen) some jets flew real low right over the house. Thought it was just a one off - but appears not. Scared the …. out of me as they came from no where and the after-shocks shook the ground. the cows from the field further up the road must had made excellent clotted cream that day - if the French knew how to make it. Question is - cream first or jam…

It’s rather amusing to see Parliament full today, with most MPs without masks, cheering, booing, shouting etc - all next to each other in close contact, with no care in the world about “catching covid” yet, I cannot go to a property in France, in the middle of the countryside where at best I might wave to the farmer as he passes by with his tractor as I am “at risk” of catching or passing covid according to the same government… At what stage will the Penny drop… (actually lots of pennies to pay for all these tests) Just thought I make a rant - feel better now

My aunt (who lives in Spain) just sent me a message Apparently the Spanish high court has just ruled this evening for Spain not have Covid Passports…

Apparently Randox has made so far £ 120million from these covid tests. With more people going on holiday now, they must be raking millions a day surely the contract for testing could have gone to a subsidiary of the NHS?, and the money could gone back within the NHS frontline. But I suppose the politicians will not get their share… the whole situation stinks i can guarantee in a few days we will hear “Randox (or other such companies) are dumping unopened tests as they could not keep up with demand” - you heard it here first!

Hope none of you guys are using Randox (albeit London)… https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9875721/Photos-expose-absolute-testing-mess-Covid-PCR-tests.html As much as I would love to sail to France - I feel there is too much hassle, red tape, hoop jumping and uncertainty.

That’s where the grey areas starts if the good are being taken to your holiday home/2nd home and kept there. Then the Euro 430 applies. (As rightly stated by the other comment) if you are moving the goods as you intend to live there (ie you are moving) - then it does not apply but if you are taking the mentioned laptop with you to use for work (while you are in your holiday home), but you are bringing it back with you, then it’s personal use. Same applies with the suitcase containing your clothes and underwear. Hence the itemised list is handy, as you can show what was taken over, and what was coming back. Mobile phones, wallet with cash (but personal amount), car etc are all personal use. the receipts are handy to show the value if you intend to “export” the items to your holiday home. You can read about here https://www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/customs-and-taxes-when-moving-furniture-to-france-1-6962027

If the (new) goods are for personal use, there should be no problems. The only thing I would recommend is to have/keep the receipts as this would prove that VAT was paid. if the items are “used” (ie you already own these products) there is no issue with bringing these goods in/out might be worth keeping an itemised list of contents that you take on a very rare chance that you get a jobsworth, but customs are only interested in illegal goods, or traders as it costs too much to investigate. (I do EU custom declarations everyday for a company - so have some knowledge).

This vaccine seems strange that you need two doses, plus another one this autumn, plus more in the future yet, for things like measles, whooping cough or other illnesses you only need just the one, usually as a infant. I understand (from experience) that some people need booster jabs such as Vit D jabs if they are having chemo etc as your body looses it during the treatment - but I cannot think of a “protection vaccine” that needs “updating/boosting” every few months? even the flu jab is a “one a year” you can see why there is mix feelings. I saw Pont Aven today (Plymouth) from the office window - and as much I would love to travel on her, I just cannot justify having something injected in my body that has been rushed through. (Thought I keep the topic BF related) Personal opinion as usual

Can you buy an overpriced tobleron or Lego from the onboard shop? If not, not interested…

Finally after a couple months of jumping through hoops, managed to sort out the water board situation. Veolia are not easy. I wanted to update my bank details with them - they would not accept my UK account details unless I phone up. Got no where with phoning them. The French Euro account is empty, I cannot put funds in as it is under probate, and I cannot visit the branch due to covid. The latest bill was due to be taken out by end of month, so managed to overrule their own system by logging in. Cancelling the direct debit of the French account, finding a very obscure link to pay by debit card (as they want everyone to pay by direct debit). Copied and pasted the invoice number to pay, “would not accept”. You have to manually enter in the invoice number (all 15 digits) - and finally it took my payment To make matters worse, they try and force you into using their app to pay - but it is not compatible in the uk! Getting there, slowly…

Thought I start a thread with advice, tips and general chat for 2nd home owners in France. Many travellers who use BF are 2nd home owners, so it is good to share information.

I think with today’s numbers - the uk are likely to red listed by others soon. Sorry to say, but this year can be written off again. I hope I’m wrong…

I second that question - judging that some of these cars yesterday were rammed with stuff inside, are the French and Spanish customs going to check each car, empty it, and take a note of what was inside. Are they going to impound you/car if they find a carton of milk or some slices of ham - while the car next to you gets away with 5kg of *cough* inside?

Yep, parked. Put it in reverse, and put the handbrake on. Left it neutral, ready to go forward. Hope the captain uses MSM (mirror signal manoeuvre) before leaving None of this docking thing…