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 7th September 2008
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Real Life Stories from the Lot and QuercyReal life stories from people living in the Lot, Lot et Garonne and Tarn et Garonne departments in south west france.What's the Weather Really Like? Business Directory  Doctors and DentistsHow to find medical help Local RestaurantsUse the links or logos below to see a searchable map of your chosen region:   Lot Lot et Garonne Tarn et Garonne |
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 Holiday Accommodation For holiday accomodation in the Lot and Quercy, more... Relax by the Pool What’s On If you know of, or are organising an interesting event in the region, why not contribute an article about it and we'll feature it here. Beautiful Villages of the Quercy AutoireAuvillar Bruniquel Cardaillac Carennac Lacapelle Marival Lauzerte Loubressac Montflanquin Poujols le Haut St. Cirq Lapopie |
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Books and Company is an English bookshop in the charming town of Gourdon in the Lot. Opened in November 2005 and stocking greeting cards as well as an extensive range of books, the shop has proved to be very popular with locals and tourists alike.
Providing a range of services in the Cahors area ranging from housekeeping, house cleaning services and pool maintenance to garden care & grounds maintenance. Carroll Property Services caring for your Home away from Home
So, you wake up one morning and find yourself in another country and your parents think it will be ‘fun’. And you think that it will not perhaps be quite as easy as that...
Toula-Three-Legs. Poor 14 month Toula had an accident when very small which accounts for her name. But, don't be fooled, Toula can run as fast and faster than most other dogs! Loving and faithful Toula is looking for a new home...
Lot resident Tim Atkins shares some of his research and experiences of trying to decide the best and cheapest way to heat his French home. With tax credits of 50% now being offered on wood burning stoves, together with reduced TVA rates of 5.5% instead of the normal 19.6%, they could be an attractive option…
We recently caught up with Nicole Killick at Books and Company in Gourdon and she told us about their popular and expanding reading groups and the Christmas social event in the shop which has the added bonus of a 5% discount on any books purchased.
This month we feature an interview with Jason and Michelle Aplin creators and owners of Evolution Motorhomes – a motorhome rental business, based in the Lot et Garonne. After two years of research and careful planning they now have a thriving family business...
Having first written an article for FrenchEntrée-LotandQuercy two years ago, Tessa Collier gives us an update on what's has been happening recently - changes in the rental market, sheep farming and her talent for sculpture...
The charity Les amis des chats, situated in Roquecor in Tarn et Garonne (82) and bordering the Lot and Garonne and the Lot, has become the fifth Companion Animal Welfare Associate for the Blue Cross Charity, and the second in Europe.
Helping to train guide dogs for the blind can be a very rewarding experience. If you love dogs, bringing up a puppy to be well-behaved and good company is a pleasure. It's fascinating to see how they respond to kind, patient training...
The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) allows the entry of pets from certain countries into the UK, without passing through quarantine, using an EU Pet Passport. To obtain an EU Passport your pet must ...
Lot resident Martin Gilliam was recently involved in a car accident which resulted in him discovering what his French car insurance really covered - and what it didn't! A valuable lesson for everyone who thinks "Tous Risques" covers everything...
Chef Ken Hom is selling his 14th-century French house — lock, stock and barrel. "Gordon Ramsay would be very happy to have my kitchen,” boasts Ken Hom, television chef and one of the world’s leading authorities on Asian cookery...
In 2004, Niall and Karri Carroll decided to give up their house, car and well-paid jobs in Dublin and head south for new adventures in France. In the first of two articles they describe the difficulties they faced in getting to the southwest and finding somewhere to live...
It has now been a year since I first submitted a piece for this site . A lot has happened during the year. My father-in-law’s house, that we were trying to sell for him, finally sold to a young Dutch couple...
To start with we came over and lived in the holiday house that we bought 6 years ago, and (with an estate agent) drove around aimlessly looking for a for a good house. But we were choosey and all wanted the house to have...
Belle, Buster, Bazil and Nounours arrived on 27th April 2006 from Lascabanes in the Lot department. The four kittens were just 1 week old and had been found in a field by a farmer who would have cut them to shreds had he not seen them...
As our first year of starting a new life in France is complete we can look back with a sense of satisfaction. Fiona and I wondered how we would get on working as a team and living with our work day in, day out. Fortunately it has worked out very well. It is hard work and at times can be stressful...
Learning the language is an essential step for anyone moving permanently to France. Sarah Weston tells us about her French language lessons which resulted in her father being "expelled" from the class...
Rural France is a perfect place to live but life for a country cat can be difficult. In many villages there is an over population of strays which are fed by well-intentioned residents but not managed...
We wanted to get a telephone installed in our holiday home, expecting to move there full-time one day. We selected France Telecom on the basis they have an office in Cahors where you can talk to people ...
The Tarn-et-Garonne based cat charity association Les Amis des Chats has launched a brand new web site in both English and French. www.les-amis-des-chats.com offers a wide range of cat health and welfare information ...
My heart pounded so loudly when we signed the “Compromis de Vente" I thought that everyone could hear it, I was excited, but so scared. We had just just signed to say that we were buying our dream home in the small village of Carlucet, 12 kms south of Rocamadour...
These three siamese type kittens where about to be shot. They are totally delightful, adorable, cuddly 4 month old kittens, two brothers, Bobbie and Bertie, with their sister, Georgie..
After moving to France in August last year with her parents and eleven year old brother, Georgina has had to work hard to make new friends and get to grips with a new language. She tells her story...
When the phone rang unexpectedly at 6.30 a.m. my husband Paul answered it. I could tell that he was talking to Richard, the incumbent 'locataire' at our house near Caylus in Tarn-et-Garonne, and that there'd been some sort of problem, but I couldn't tell what...
Sport is something the French take very seriously. It’s not only the taking part and the strong competitive spirit, but also the whole ethos of what you’re going to wear. The ‘sporty’ Frenchman chooses his wardrobe for every sport...
When David Low and Lindsay Nixon bought a semi-derelict barn in the Lot during the summer of 2003, they had visions of sunny days spent gradually renovating their dream home. Eighteen months on and despite several setbacks they are now hard at work turning the dream into reality.
After living here in France for nearly 4 years building up our gîte business, the time had come to look for another opportunity, but what? We needed something flexible enough to fit in with the gîtes but still give us the quality of life we had come here for...
Kevin Lowe & Sandra Milne left their home in Leicester in 2001 and set off in search of adventure and a new life in France, with only a vague idea of where they were going or what they were going to do when they got there...
We moved to France in August 2004, bringing our trusty VW Passat with us. It was taxed in the UK until the end of the year and knowing that we were allowed to use it in France for the first six months, re-registering was not top of the priority list...
There are three kinds of dogs in France. Firstly there are the upper classes, the pampered and protected pooches, coiffured within an inch of their lives that trot obediently beside their mistresses in the elegant city streets. Then there are their country cousins, farm dogs and family pets living the outdoor, rough and tumble life on vast tracts of agricultural land in and around the little villages and hamlets. But it’s the third kind that are probably the most vulnerable...
Mike and Sue Spring came to live in France in 1994 when they bought a small vineyard (Domaine du Garinet) in the village of Le Boulvé of some 200 inhabitants in the département of the Lot. This is their story...
After four years of research, Mike and Sue Spring made the move to France in 1994 and bought a vineyard in the Lot valley near Montcuq. Here they describe the work involved in a winegrower’s year...
To live in the Lot is to be immediately overwhelmed by the sense of space, both public and private. Space to live and breathe and bring up a family; space to listen to music without upsetting the neighbours; space to see the weather before it arrives ...
To many English people, the perfect Lot and Quercy home is an old stone farmhouse with a nice view and a Pigeonnier. When Michael and Eileen Fawcett came to the Lot eight years ago, they found a wonderful house – but no Pigeonnier! Unperturbed by this, they proceeded to build one of their own – and not for keeping pigeons. Eileen takes up the story...
I had been told that patience is required when registering English cars in France but, even so, there have been times recently when I've stamped my size six foot in sheer frustration...
Many people would love to own a property in the beautiful South of France. Most hanker after a little stone cottage; but there are some who are satisfied with nothing less than their own vineyard ...
Peter and Zoe Scott decided to make their home in Mondounet, near Montcuq in the Lot valley. Fifteen years on, they look back on the choice as one of the best decisions they ever made
Tessa and Stephen Collier first bought a house in the Lot in 1983, initially as a holiday home. By 1995, and with two young children, they had decided to make a permanent move. And now, with children about to leave school, they are planning to take up sheep farming! Tessa takes up the story...
A trip to the weekly market is an essential part of life in France; a chance to shop, chat and soak up the atmosphere. Local photographer Michele Ch'i takes us with her...
Roger Lee is often asked what he does all day now that he has retired to the sunny south. He used to say "Oh, you know, a bit of this and a bit of that" - he felt a bit lazy to admit how easy it is to fill the day doing absolutely nothing. But, that was before something dramatic happened ...
Did you know that the Lot has its own, English speaking, local radio station? Part of the Antenne d’Oc network, Britdock is broadcast live every Thursday afternoon from 4 till 7pm. One of the founders and veteran of five years broadcasting, Mike Gardiner takes up the story...
Our move here was based on the colour of a car, totally unexpected and unplanned, and yet it changed our lives. We had had a turbulent year, moving from Tunbridge Wells ...
I know this is going to sound like a tired well- worn cliché, but I really do wonder at how quickly the last year has flown. I’m sitting here overlooking the river Dordogne, gleaming like a mirror in this stunningly beautiful environment...
After setting up his own Internet mapping company, Justin Saunders decided that adding a few extra miles on the commute for a better life would be worth the effort; although this commute was to be from France! Here he describes the experience of buying and living in France...