My best-friend can only say one word YES although she sometimes uses it incorrectly and has us in fits of laughter.
anyway, now she wants me to help herā¦ so that she can keep up with her grandchildrenā¦ who love chattering away to me when they visit.
I stick to answering them in Frenchā¦ to keep her a little in the loopā¦ and it is always great fun.
Possibly not cheerful news but Davidās post (no more Brits) prompted a quick google search yielding this article Ā148,000 Britons Live in France, Especially in the Sparsely Populated Areas of the West - Insee PremiĆØre - 1809.
It will be interesting to see what happens when this dat is updated with real information from the process of British having to register for residence permits. It will of course miss out dual nationals, but will perhaps be more accurate?
I applied almost at the end of June for WA CdSand my number was 185,nnn. It was a national system and if that many had applied, me getting that reference number seemed in line.
I really, really hope everyone that needed a WA CdS managed to apply in time.
Apparently still some stragglersā¦.and not old people in care home either!
From my meeting on Monday - absolutely!
Our compromis de vente should be signed 25th Nov for a house in Cussy en Morvan. I am both excited and a little apprehensive about the commitment.
Thanks Angela, yes it is.
I have a feeling I may be begging advice in the next few months.
This wonāt seem particularly special to most of you BUT today I went to my bank and was given my Digipass (and they set it up for me as I think I must look feeble). This means the new supposedly ultra secure access to my account for online transactions can be done without a smartphone. Excellent news in my view 
(Even better was that my bank doesnāt charge for them but my partnerās bank does 
)
I did that at the post office, Banque Postale, but they didnāt give me anything. Took 5 minutes and then she just said āall doneā, with a smile.
Bought something on line yesterday and my mobile rang with a number code and I put it into the place provided, job done. 
The item bought has also provided good news. I am of an age when my waist is not much different to my hips and anything not tightly elastic tends to head south during activity. I had tried a belt but, without loops to contain it it was useless. Suddenly I thought back to school days and thought braces. Modern ones do not need buttons and holes, they all have alligator clips, so I went on Amazon and bought a pair, made by artisans in Lyon and guaranteed for life. Due to arrive on Monday an email this morning said they would be here tomorrow. 
So both hands available again.,
Thatās what the system used to be with both my bank accounts but they have both changed them recently to require QRcode-type verification. Supposed to be more secure than the mobile phone _ code concept but I canāt see that it can possibly be. Itās using just the same sort of verification. I hope the Banque Postale is able to stick with the old system - I preferred it!
Yes and Iāve been doing it with Yorks bank for a long time now. How does it work without a smartphone then?
I sure many of us felt the same 
and many have no regrets.
Bon courage
Originally there was no need at all for a smart phone bcause your mobile number was registered with the bank and they just sent a text to the mobile containing the code to put in. Easy - except for the problem with mobile phone signals in rural areas of course, but that applies to all phones.
Now that you have to scan a QR code for some banks using a smartphone, many banks either supply you with an additional personal code to use in addition to the send-it-by-text code (which is what happens with my Credit Agricole account) or they supply you with a little tailored-to-your-account gadget that scans the QRcode and sends it automatically. Itās called a Digipass and lots of banks use them - Credit Mutuel and CIC being the ones we use between us.
Originally, quite a few years ago now, Yorks Bank sent me a little calculator type thing and I was supposed to tap out a very long number on it. Trouble was, without the spacing between every 2 numbers, common in France, I had to block them off 2 by 2 with one finger while writing them down on a piece of paper with the other, and by the time that I was ready to input them, it had timed out. 
So they said ādestroy it thenā and weāll just send you a code to your phoneā.
The good news today? My braces arrived. And they are brilliant. Because I have since very many years worn my shirts outside my trousers, they must go on under them. Thatās fine, though such a pity that no-one can see how smart they are, or what a fierce bovver boy I am. Before replacing my shirt I went in to parade them before Fran, she was very scared. 
They came with a neat little drawstring bag, which will come in handy for something else, and Pierrot, the makers, seem to be promoting the hard man image by the enclosed leaflet and its pictures with the slogan which goes something like āNobody messes with a Pierrot manā. So be warned.
More good news. My calendar arrived from Maryvonne, the President of PAD. It always contains loads of photos of dogs rehomed during the year and this one has a lovely picture of Jules as one of the Mr. Julys and a less good one of Noubia as a Mamselle August. A favourite in the past, which I have kept, had my favourite widely smiling Boss (the Rottweiler) on it. I have never paid for it, unlike everyone else, it is a gift in recognition of all my efforts over the years, a very nice gesture, but I did wonder if it might stop now that I can no longer do any journeys for them. Apparently not, perhaps because I am still looking after 2 of their own in their later years.
My cheerful news for the day (at least I think it is cheeful ) is that our application to create the Association I mentioned above has been accepted so we can now talk to the Mairie and get a room. I bravely broached the subject of the bank account plus insurance with the bank yesterday and that is all looking promising.
As we tend to make the most of every teeny good event, we treated ourselves to a couple of Soulās Kiss cocktails yesterday evening in celebration
My cheerful news: neighbours going back to US todayā¦ handied over some farewell goodiesā¦ a bottle of beaujolais nouveau 2021 and some chestnuts to roast on our fire.
ohā¦ and the battery from their tractor/mower for us to guard over the winterā¦
My highlight today was a call from @David_Spardo I initially panicked seeing his name thinking something had happened to Fran as weād initially swapped numbers if he needed help etc. Happily Fran is fine he was just having trouble with his laptop and SF! After a lovely chat and a longish call he is sorted and was lovely to speak to him for the first time!
Yes, I enjoyed it Tory, and well worthwhile too having got the SF problem sorted, but as you know my laptop is the pits, (nip over to the recon laptop thread and see the latest) judging by the time it took me to do a complete reboot while we were talking.
So that was my 3rd good news story of the day, but I also had one from my son in Thailand, he is planning to fly here mid December for a 5 day stay on his way to spend Christmas with the rest of the family in Nottingham . It is at least 6 years since we have seen him. 
4 in one day, fair trumps the bloody laptop.