Yep, if Bruce has the info on where and when - other than that the Secretary at the Mairie (who is an employee of the State and NOT elected) will be able to help/advise him.
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We were told by a previous owner (the one before our vendor)of our house that a wall between us and our neighbour had once been knocked down by him whilst they were away. They took legal action immediately and the wall was rebuilt but apparently is not as nice as the previous one. She was also surprised that we donāt have free access to the side of our house where the wall is. We were told by the notaire that we must be given access to make repairs etc but that is all. I do wonder if in the 3 years the house was empty our neighbour installed the huge gate that we cannot get through.
One day I will offer to buy the tiny piece of land behind our bathrooms but I donāt think heāll sell.
My neighbour has the right to enter my land to cut his hedge (the side which faces us).
We are very friendly, always have been, but it does not occur to him to ask me before he puts up the ladder and clambers over my wall.
If I know when he is planning to cut, I can remove my pot-plants etc and leave the place easier to clear up the trimmings. Iāve mentioned this gently, but he simply smiles and tells me it is his pleasure to tidy up after the work. (I could also let him in through our gate!)
You are certainly within your rights to ask for access to check that side of your house. Failing that, perhaps my neighbour will lend you his ladder. 
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Recommande avec accuse de reception! Is he French?
Hi Fay - if you mean my neighbour - yes, he is French - all my neighbours are French 
No, Stella, it was to the original poster to tell him the name of the Poste method of sending leagl documents in France.
Sincerely
Getting back to the original subject - my neighbour - this is just to say that - hooray - he has moved out the last log. All Iām waiting for now are my keys, which no doubt heāll leave in my post box.
Regarding French neighbours and rights of way. One of my neighbours seemed to think he had a right involving my garden water tap! I would see him from time to time coming into my garden, through the garden gate, and fill a bucket with water! I humoured him, wasnāt a problem - now he is long dead.
This same neighbour appeared one day and watched my while I was digging a hole to plant a small tree on my land outside my garage. Another neighbour was helping me.
After he had casually rolled a cigarette, put it between his lips, and lit it, while still patiently watching, he piped up - said my tree would throw a shadow across his barn which was next to my garage, which would have been obviously true. I immediately pointed to a huge lilac tree, belonging to him, which cast an even bigger shadow into my garden.
He turned to look, thought for a moment, then walked away without another word!
The agricultural French are, or were back then, very jealous of their land, and foreign interlopers!
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Bruceā¦ folk around here do not differentiate between foreigners ie those from a different part of France and those from a different countryā¦ 
Some folk simply ādislikeā anyone who wasnāt born in their neck of the woodsā¦
Thankfully most folk are sympathetic and welcoming. I have found that treating them with friendliness and respect - brings out the best in them. 
On a similar subject:
Just buying a property where the neighbor has used the driveway of āourā property on occasion to access their property even though they have perfectly good access from the communal road. We are having a property survey being done before the act is completed to reveal the exact property lines and we will put up a gate to the entrance to our property. The only real issue I might face is the neighbor is the adjunct mayor and she is the difficult one. So including the mayor in resolving the issue could be also including a biased response. Any thoughts?
Hi Mel
In my opinion, you should ask your Notaire if any Servitudes exist on your property. Explain your concerns.
You need written confirmation from the Notaire that NO Servititudes exist - before signing to buyā¦ make it one of the Clauses Suspensives (or whatever the phrase).
Having said all that, you should check at the Mairie that you can erect gates - just in case you are in a controlled zone or whatever.
The Maire should be impartial - so give it a whirl and discuss your concerns there too.
The servitude issue was addressed in the compromis de vent and we have had an introduction to the neighbors who have complaints about our purchase of the property as they had wanted to purchase a parcel next to theirs to cut down the woods on it. They have built their home too close to that parcel and now get no sunshine during the winter as a result of the trees obscuring the light. In reality, itās their problem for not having done their homework, but now they have become nasty to the old proprieters and I suspect will be with us as well. Weāre thinking of having someone come to give us a devis to trim the trees and if the neighbors want to pay for that, we would do it, but worry that that will be just the beginning of the neighbors managing our propertyā¦
What was the outcome of the Servitude enquiry? If there is NO Servitude giving the neighbour the right to use your entrance - you should be OK.
(although our home came with supposedly NO servitude, only to find after the Purchase went through, that there WAS a servitude due to the neighbour having no other source of access. We were asked if we wanted to cancel the Purchase, but we decided we could live with it. )
Re trees and boundaries. This is quite clear in Law - there is a distance from the boundary which should be maintained free and clear. ie no trees planted within āwhatever the correct distanceā. As I understand it, all depends on the trees planted and their presumed height at maturity. (Iām no expert, this is just rough guidance.)
However, it makes no difference if the neighbourās new build is now ātoo close to the treesā. If the trees are yours and are too close to the boundary, the neighbour can demand that you rectify the situation - and it will be at your cost !
Again, your Notaire should be able to advise you on this. Certainly something to be thrashed out between you and the Sellers in my opinion.
Just an afterthought.
If you are still prepared to go through with this Purchase, in the full knowledge that your neighbours are likely to be troublesome - you might well consider taking out an Insurance Policy which gives you legal aid to fight your corner (that is how I understand it).
In our commune, we have someone who is using the Vie Quotidienne policy to full advantageā¦ complaining left right and centre about all sorts of things. The Legal letters are dropping on doormats with regularity which is driving folk mad.
To have such a force on your side, might help you - but you do need to know that you are in the right !!