A notable week-end

When I first came to France, I made a ‘To-Do’ list that seemed never to get any shorter because every time I ticked something off, I found something else that needed doing and had to be added to it. I mentioned in a post last month that it seemed to be going on forever, but this week-end all that came to an end. I came to the end of the list at last and I’ve now finally got my life back again!

I found an official translator in Perigueux and at the end of the week sent her off a copy of my birth certificate that I’d had authenticated at the Marie in Plazac. So when she returns the translation to me, it’ll only be a matter of sending it in with all of the other papers that I’ve already got, in order to complete my French health service registration. Then, having got my car CT’d on Monday, I also went into the Prefecture’s office in Sarlat with the huge wad of papers needed to get it registered in France only to find out that (a) I had to provide them with a stamped addressed envelope that I hadn’t got, so my Carte Grise could be sent to me when it was done and (b) even though no import tax was due, I had to provide a certificate obtainable from the Centre des Impots in Sarlat confirming that fact. Discretion being the better part of valour, I decided to try to complete the job the following day, which I did and after parting with a cheque for 150.50€ I came away with the certificate confirming that the registration was now proceeding. Result! 🙂

By now I was on a roll, so I decided to press on and get my UK Self-Assessment Tax Return done as well. After having procrastinated for weeks, I knocked it off in an hour or so and had the unanticipated pleasure of finding out that I can now expect a tax refund of £38! Not a lot, but better than a demand for payment, eh 😉

I can’t say how great this feels, because it means that I really am now properly retired. OK, I’ve got a couple of small things that I want to do to help out the guys who bought my business off me, but officially the period during which I agreed to support them ended last week-end and now there’s no pressure. So now I can turn my mind to my house and the X-Air which I can’t wait to get my hands on, and I don’t have to feel guilty any more that I should really be doing something else. And that’s a great feeling, I can tell you 😀