alan h's activity

Questions Asked

Tesco and Eurotunnel[Copied from another Forum]If you shop at Tesco you'll probably be rewarded with Cash Vouchers.  What you may not know is that you can exchange these for 3x their value with Eurotunnel.

Sun, 03/18/2018 - 16:50

ITALIAN GENEALOGYI am researching my family tree [all UK based], and belong to a Genealogy Group here in the UK - its part of the U3A [an organisation for 'retired persons who want to do things rather than sit at home all d

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 05:24

Cancelling a Eurotunnel Booking I have had to cancel a return trip on Eurotunnel [Car + 2 + Dog], as I have to go into hospital for an op.The booking was 'non-refundable'.I rang them to cancel and they confirmed it was non-

Thu, 05/26/2016 - 08:00

IMU - Its still around I thought this had disappeared in the new tax system, but my Comune website says the first payment for 2014 is due by 16th June Paid it via my bank today - emailed them the F24

Fri, 06/13/2014 - 08:56

Looks like the days of the easy/cheap trip to italy through Switzerland are numbered. Apparently, the Swiss government has decided to raise the cost of the vignette to 100 Swiss Francs for 2015. They are introducing a two month vignette for 40SF,

Sun, 09/01/2013 - 15:58

Petrol prices in France are now comparable with the UK, except on the French Autoroutes.One option is to fill up at the L'Eclerc superstores with their SP95 E10 petrol [its a petrol with some ethylene in - generally used in France - which is OK fo

Thu, 07/11/2013 - 04:25

For a change this year we drove down to Italy via Besancon  [avoiding most tolls by taking some good french non-motorways.]However - Besancon roads are in total chaos as they are digging them up to lay tram routes - this will take about 2 more yea

Wed, 07/10/2013 - 16:44

Can you help?I've just completed making a 'variation' of Limoncello. The only change is that I dispensed with the lemons, I and substituted Sloes that I picked here in the UK at the end of last year.

Sun, 01/20/2013 - 09:10

In today's GuardianRyanair have announced their credit card will now be liable to the same charges as other credit cards - so the end of no charge bookings

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 09:07

Comments posted

Tue, 06/26/2012 - 17:10

How was it?  [Italy, not the honeymoon]

Tue, 06/19/2012 - 07:42

We leave at the house everything that is 'long life', that can wait for the next time we're there, [paper, metal, glass, plastic etc  - we also have 5 or six collections a week] Everything that is 'perishable' we put in a plastic bag and drop off in the service station rubbish bins - its usually a very small amount.  [We have a mental map of where suitable bins are - depending on the route we take]

Mon, 06/18/2012 - 10:55

"....... They then offered the return with an empty tank @ €1.74 a litre for a 56 litre tank, which on reflection was a resonable rate compared to the prices at the nearest Autostrada garage that happened to be 10.6 km from the rental place. ......." Did you only pay for the fuel used to top up the tank - or did they charge you for all 56 litres, however much you'd left in it?

Wed, 06/13/2012 - 05:52

"......  I'll see if I can attach a picture although I can't see how to do it! ...." Not sure you can attach photos. but you can create a 'New Photo Gallery' using the 'Create Content' button.  At least we could then view them

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 09:38

Go on your comuunes website - it should have details of how to pay from abroad.  And they'll have an IMU calculator, all you need is your 'rendita' value   Just done mine with internet banking - relatively simple - 2 payments, 1 to comune bank account and 1 to the state bank account, and send copies of payment details via email to comune.  And repeat in December

Tue, 06/05/2012 - 14:52

"I think the breathalyser comes into force on 1st July in France...............I HEAR that you should carry TWO !!!" Quite right - but the police won't levy fines until November - so should have time to find a Pharmacist as soon as we get off the boat without too much of a worry.  Will then pass it on to family members for when they drive down Or - E-bay - £4.99 + 1.39 postage

Mon, 06/04/2012 - 08:02

Already got an italian friend working on helping me.  His response this morning was;-  "I´m not surprised you found info on how much to pay but not how! That´s typical Italian..... However, for your info we are still waiting for our fiscal adviser to come back to us telling us how much to pay and how!!! Furthermore, just for your info, the new law has been drawn in such terrible way that, even if you pay with a 12 months delay, the maximum fine should be in the region of about 5 Euro!!! I will update you before the 16th ....." He has found something on my comune's website - apparently as a foreigner I must pay by bank transfer - [2 payments, one, for half,to the government and another half to the comune], and probably can only pay half of the total in June and another half in December [4 Transfer charges!]  He's getting clarification from the comune [if the respond] Hey Ho!

Sun, 06/03/2012 - 09:26

Have calculated the IMU for my holiday home - but how do I pay from the UK?

Mon, 05/28/2012 - 17:19

"what do the English pay to their government when they sell or buy a car?" If it's a private sale - Nothing.              Selling to a dealer/garage - Nothing.             Buying through a dealer/garage - nothing, but the dealer/garage pays tax

Mon, 05/21/2012 - 12:29

Dover Dunkirk by DFDS seaways - the cheapest - as low as around £60 return Dunkirk - lille - Belguim [Charleroi, Namur] - Luxemburg - Metz - Nancy [All free motorways, and cheap petrol in Lux.]     Only about 15 miles longer than the 'pay as you go' french motorway Normal road to Mulhouse [great scenery]  On to German autobahn and turn left before Basel to avoid jams [search 'Basle Bypass on this site] Lucerne, Gotthard Tunnel [or pass]  Only cost swiss carnet for all of Swiss motorways - then on into italy