Moving to France... Things you WISH you'd put on the removal lorry

Agree with Alexa, Revel is very special (and has a fabulous market).
Good luck with the move
Nickie x

Revel is very nice!!! Is this the area you would like to move to?

Yes, Nickie, It is the thought of rose by the bucket load that weā€™re focusing on!.. weā€™re renting just outside Revel in the Tarn for 6 months while we look for a permanent spotā€¦ i think we went through Camon last year - lucky you
x teresa

thanks for the good wishesā€¦ God, it not fitting in the truck has been, and continues to be my ongoing nightmare. Iā€™m doing my circular breathing as i typeā€¦
x teresa

Bon courage! the sun is shining here, temperature is currently about 17. Time to focus on that first glass of chilled rose when you arriveā€¦ We are in gorgeous Camon about 10km outside Mirepoix. I think I know someone who knows Nicky and Aidy (apart from yourself). Where is it youā€™re moving to?
Nickie x

When we moved, they couldnā€™t fit it all in the van and we had to wait for a second shipment! Donā€™t bring too many cards with you :0) Joking apart, hope it all goes well, Teresa. Good luck.

Nickie thankyou so much - great advice! we are in the midst of packing madness with the truck arriving in less than 48hours - iā€™m sitting doiwn to a large G and T and a 10 min breakā€¦ Paint, cards, xmas, books we have. Enough beans to power a methane station, and enough drugs to set up shopā€¦ Now we just have to fit it all on the lorry, and by saturday weā€™ll be heading sud-wards. It is lashing sideways with rain as i type here in sussex - only adding to our happiness!
we have some friends who run a gite business near mirepoix in montengrand - Nicky and Aidy - i wonder where you are?
x Teresa

We travel back to the UK twice a year and always stock up on the following foods:
T bags (Lipton yellow label really does not cut it)
Cheddar cheese (significant other swears there is nothing as strong as good olā€™ trad cheddar here)
decent back bacon, baked beansā€¦

Also paint, paint and paint

Drugsā€¦ over the counter drugs are v cheap in UK so Iā€™d stock up on many, many packs of painkillers (Parcadetemol / Asprin / Ibruprofen etc) - these are pricy when bought in a pharmacy.

BOOKS - limited ranges available in English and v pricy to ship via Amazon etc - donā€™t be tempted to ditch your library because it takes up too many boxes - youā€™ll regret it. You can usually swap books with other desperate ex patsā€¦

Greetings cards - as mentioned they are seriously dreadful here. we got a moonpig account to send cards to loved ones but this is an expensive option.

Christmas stuff - I know, I know itā€™s March but you simply cannot buy crackers, christmas cards, mincemeat etc here. Range of decorations is ermā€¦ interesting. Iā€™m sure its not just our region that favours santaā€™s on rope ladders climbing in through windowsā€¦ bring your own

Finally and obviously - furniture especially sofas and beds. Furniture is also interesting with not much between real rubbish and top pricy stuff. Itā€™s also a challenge to buy the type of mattresses youā€™re probably used to (they seem be foam and very hard here)

Good luck

P.S. donā€™t despair if you canā€™t bring everything - there are some v cheap parcel courier services and we have ordered huge crates of goodies like TV amp, ice cream maker, ebay bargains etc and had them shipped

I dont wish that I had bought anything really, but do think that some things I did bring could of been left behind or sold in the UK before leaving there. E.G. Electrical Equipment.

Enjoy your life in France.
Jackie

Hi - Have you tried Leaderprice for Porridge Oats , Lidl also have a fairtrade range and do sweet chilli sauce & peanut butter with specials - they show these on their website!. if you have one near you!

Bought porridge pots at a sensible (UK) price in Spain last week. Lidl periodically do peanut butter at reasonable prices - or you can make your own. Ask HAH in the food group.
We have a chinese supermarket in Anglet for most of the rest (bar the rockwool!!) and there is one in Bordeaux too.

Shoes - didnā€™t look but will check - we will go in the next two weeks!

thanks Catharine but do they do size 49? would hate to go that far and find my son having a 3 yr old tantrum in a spanish MrShoe!

oh dear have gone all anal and had to find my GB shopping listā€¦ things canā€™t find here; baking powder, garden rockwool,satay sauce, sweet chilli sauce, anything vegetarien,tahini,stuffing mix, peanut butter, gravy browning or mix, porridge oats, custard powder, fairtrade tea and instant coffee

things can find but are too expensive to eat regularly enough ; wholemeal flour, soya milk, chocolate digestives, bread-mix,shredded wheat, pizza-base mix, tea

My aunty buys my knickers and the girls every year now at Christmas from M&S!

Re shoes - if you can get to spain they do much larger sizes. Eg James is a 46/7 and they never (or rarely) have trainers in Decathlon in that size here in France. Went to Decathlon in Spain last week and all sizes up to 48 were in stock - yay! Heā€™s now wearing trainers that are SFN blue to match our colour scheme!!

that statement is so uncouth Stephen, but absoloutely side-splittingly accurate.

size 49/13 mens shoes for my 15 year oldā€¦we have to order them on the net or go to England. French people are smaller. Now what was it people used to say about men and the size of their feet?

yes Coriander, hate marmite (am actually allergic to it!), and a pair of plain womens pants for less than 12 euro a pair! actually I keep a permanent list to take back on English visits as so many basic things are so expensive or untraceable hereā€¦Barley, vegetarian soya anything, baking powder, vegetable suet, self-raising flour, wholemeal flour,

will have to check that out Sarahā€¦Iā€™ve brought coriander seeds and started planting.

Ah, thank you Stephen. Now I finally understand itā€™s mysterious appeal!

Astonish products are good (esp their spray stain remover, which is the best Iā€™ve ever used) & they will deliver over here but have to quote for delivery. If someone wanted a business opp they could do worse than becoming an Astonish reseller over here - Iā€™d cert be a customer (havenā€™t looked into it myself & donā€™t know why - but if someone beats me to it thatā€™s just tough on me!

OR - just 2 b completely boring - ecards - free & so good esp if u only remember on the day/day b4 - also eco