France: Three days to go

We are in the Endgame (11 Jul 2026)

Hard to believe, but with a couple of weeks of concerted effort we have cracked the packing. As of yesterday there are 95 boxes waiting to be picked up alongside the furniture and things in the garage.

A room filled with boxes stacked high and all with labels

I have to be honest and say this has come at some cost. I’m pretty much in constant pain right now and living on painkillers. The leg pains turned out to be sciatica, which will probably clear up in a few months. But the bigger worry is my left knee which first became a problem in 2019 and is now very angry with me for making it work so hard.

Not the best way to start a new life in France, but I’m staying hopeful.

Revising the move plan

As my aches and pains mean sitting still for long periods is uncomfortable, it started to dawn on us that our original plan for moving with me driving solo across France was looking shaky.

Our Director of Relocation jumped in and promptly reset the timetable to solve it. It means we are leaving Tolpuddle a day earlier and stopping overnight in Folkestone to break up the over-long first leg now, and all staying together (which feels better all round).

Final timetable

Here’s how it’s now looking:

Customs clearance hurdles

One of the ‘must do’ tasks this week was to finalise everything for customs clearance.

It’s worth pointing out that moving country means you are ‘importing’ a batch of stuff in a large lorry, so you could be liable for paying customs duty on this unless you get the paperwork right.

(Yes, another Brexit bonus. Vote Count Binface!)

Thankfully, international removals companies (like ours, Brittania) have arrangements with French customs agencies to get everything in order so things clear easily. We’d originally been informed that everything needed to be included on an inventory, with an idea of current value. This got moderated to grouping things together more (e.g. crockery and cutlery), but the latest request is that we also provide a very summarised version under generic classifications with a total value.

Gemini tells me that these classifications are called TARIC (Tarif Intégré de l’Union Européenne) and was able to help summarise our 190+ line list down to six TARIC classifications. All that was sent Friday afternoon, just in time to meet Brittania’s deadline.

The car import conundrum

While Britannia deal with customs issues with house moves all the time, they were at odds when it came to how we handle the ‘import’ of our car. It just wasn’t in their wheelhouse, and there was a risk that customs officers would expect to see a BMW 320i in the back of the van if it were listed.

Once again I can only praise our Director of Relocations yet again as she tackled this head-on and called French customs directly with confirmation of how she thought it needed to be done. She was spot on (again).

So we are, in effect, acting as our own customs agent for this part, putting together the dossier of information needed to prove we own the car, it has been in the UK for more than 12 months, that we have lived in the UK for more than 12 months, that we have a visa AND we have an EU-manufactured car that complies with EU standards.

Yes, the latter part meant I had to apply for my third Certificate of Conformity and shell out €100 for the privilege.

So we are very much hoping to come away from customs clutching an 846A to stop us needing to pay 30% import duty on the car.

Remember 'Brazil'?

Insurance

More praise for Mme. Directeur in sorting this part too.

While you can happily take your car into the EU and drive it around for 90 days (subject to your insurance cover being extended) you can’t do that when you are importing it. UK car insurance cuts off the minute you land on French shores with your long stay visa.

Previously, Rachel had worked out some insurance with Fab French to cover this all, but she began to realise that this as only 3rd party and only covered her as a driver. So she switched teams and headed for Allianz instead.

Not only did she get us both covered, but fully comprehensive AND with breakdown cover. All for less than our other quote.

I guess sometimes it really is worth sticking to the bigger players in the market as they have the scale and know-how to offer better deals.

A night out with neighbours

Or should that read ‘our buyers’?

Back in March, the idea of a private sale to our neighbours felt fraught with risks, particularly with regards to our timescale. But it’s great to know that we are now close to Exchange with no horrors on the horizon.

To mark the occasion we made the long journey of 5 metres to their house last night where we were fed and watered like kings. We laughed and chatted about our experiences, and how it just feels like it was meant to be. We couldn’t be happier (and nor could they) about the transaction.

…and the curry was fantastic!

Back to Finance

The Battle of the Financial Advisers was, in the end, a bit of an easy one, and we’re now working with Hoxton Wealth on setting up an Assurance Vie.

Rather than Luxembourg, this one will be based in Ireland (cheaper) and will enable us to determine what ETFs we use for different aspects of the money we’re holding to keep some parts very safe (house sale proceeds) and others with varying degrees of risk

They also have a financial cashflow tool that, once populated fully, will enable us to see the impact of any financial decisions we make while we’re pensioners and plan accordingly.

It’s all right before we go, which isn’t ideal, but that’s down to Froth Crapital being so hopeless when it came to helping us, meaning we had to come back to things a bit late.