Nightmare in Paris

Yes horrendous , and in Bergerac of all places. In the dark, not in the town centre, no lights… She was very shocked.

Is Naillac where Jean Capelle is?

That’s disappointing, seeing as he lost it in France, are you sure?

Yes, it’s the CA on the right hand side, just before the set of traffic lights which are at the start of the neglected-looking shopping precinct opposite Jean Capelle.

Oh wow, I’ve got cash from there! I shall avoid whilst doing my Christmas shopping in Bergerac tomorrow!

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Does your son still live in the UK, David?

No, he lives and works in Macao, China, but his heart is really in Bangkok and the lovely Kirsty, for whom he does the return air flight most weekends.

I see. I hope that’s not going to cause issues. DVLA are (probably rightly so) picky about replacing licences issued in the UK for people who no longer live there.

I had to look into this a while back… For people living in France, for example, they won’t replace a lost or stolen one and advise applying for a French licence instead.

Luckily for me I found my UK licence in the end…!

I found this page for people living in China which discusses driving but it doesn’t cover what to do about lost licences:

@toryroo
That CA is going to be the safest from now on, I imagine!!The CA on the place du marché couvert is open. (And it was 8pm when it happened).

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It would never occur to me to be nervous at that time :cry:. How is she doing?

She spent all this afternoon with the police (for the 2nd time) they seem increasingly geed up about it and rightly so, which is why they asked her to come back this time with an official translator.
No you wouldn’t worry at 8pm but of course at this time of year it’s pitch dark, the shops are shut and people are probably about to have supper, so there’s nobody about really, especially there.
She’s doing ok, made of stern stuff, but it may hit her later. It’s not nice having a gun waved in your face by some idiot or psycho.

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That’s really bad news @Gareth, but thanks for posting it, I’ll try and contact him before he rings the DVLA just in case, laid back person that he is, he never offically became a resident elsewhere.

The first question I’ll ask is what address is on his licence, and make sure he does not tell them otherwise if not UK.

Edit before I get to speak to him:
Had a chance to look at those 2 links and I don’t think he drives since moving to China in August, but he certainly did when he worked in Thailand so I will ask him what the regs are there. He might even have a Thai licence as well which might allow him to drive in France as a tourist. Fingers crossed, but even if he has a Thai one I wonder how efficient they are at replacing it overseas.

That is appalling and terrifying.
I hope she is alright.
That must be so confidence sapping.

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Good idea, David. Or if he does ask a general question about stolen licences when you live abroad, don’t tell the DVLA his name and driving licence number… Just pretend he’s curious about if it were to happen :wink:

Just a thought (and I’m not sure this is legal but I don’t doubt it happens all the time), if he knows someone still living at the address in the UK perhaps they could receive it and forward it on to you. Again, that’s definitely not something to share with DVLA though.

Best of luck. I hope it’s sorted as quickly and easily as possible for you and him both, and it doesn’t impact your holidays.

The good news is that he has never changed it, so to all intents and purposes he still lives in Nottingham. Whether they insist on sending it there or here is another matter. The address is his Mum’s, and was mine, so no problems there but if it arrives rapidly we’ll have to take the decision whether or not to send it on here.

But the 3 of them might have to rent bikes for the next 10 days or so. :roll_eyes:

If by “here” you mean France then no chance whatsoever. They’ll send it to the UK address that’s on the licence, though you can choose to change that UK address.

Interesting - might be worth trying. I have managed to persuade Barclaycard to send my new card to here in France by saying I’m staying at my second home and won’t be back in the UK for several weeks and that I need my Barclaycard while I’m here.

Better than losing it altogether but it does muck up their holiday being tied to this little backwater for 10 days. and, as @SuePJ says, he is at the start of a ‘motoring holiday’ in france.

However I accept that DVLA is different, both my English banks have sent cards here.

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Good news and bad news but fortunately the bad was expected and the good less so.
The hire car company will not let him have a car without a licence, that’s the bad news and expected.
But they can catch a bus this evening to get to the nearby town at 18H where I can collect them. Good news, although, knowing my son, I want him to confirm that he has cancelled the hotel and is coming today. :wink:
He wants to know if there is a restaurant nearby, yes 4 kms away, but I have to confirm if it is open on Monday evenings, the only other one I know I think only serves midday.

Hold the front page. They are coming tonight, and waving a tricolour apparently. :rofl:

Forgot to say that Swansea is sending his licence to Nottingham, so if everything is swift, given the time of year, it might be worthwhile Pat sending it on here by return of post. :joy:

Fingers crossed.