Taking a narrowboat to Europe ?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Evidently not according to the French.

 

Having said that I did quite like the £30k house a friend of the woman had bought in burgundy somewhere. Apparently the local doctor was a psycho but there was a beer shop and some nice countryside. 

 

Englandland for me any day. 

 

Harold Shipman anyone?

 

What a meaningless comparison.

[mrsmelly]

26 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

The land mass and population density is one of the things that make France a great country.

This is one of the reasons I have bought in Wales. The population density of England as a whole is 434 peeps per square foreign thingy, in Wales it is 150 so moocho better. The county I live in is actualy only 40 people per square foreign thingy 😀 absolootely fabulouso

[Biggles]

39 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Saw @Biggles boat over there a few years ago when I was there 

Yes I did. It's still there.

[blackrose]

29 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Englandland for me any day. 

 

I guess you're more of an egg & chips man.

 

Taking a boat to France doesn't mean you have to stay in France of course. You have the entire European waterways. 

 

England is ok but it's overcrowded and expensive in terms of boat ownership. Pubic services are going down the crapole, the weather is shite and everyone's a bit miserable. Anyway if you're a liveaboard with one boat you don't really have the choice anymore, you're stuck on this island so it's all academic for me.

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I guess you're more of an egg & chips man.

 

 

Quote of the week...🤣🤣

[Momac]

7 hours ago, M_JG said:

 

We have friends who used to spend the whole of the winter in Spain in their caravan. They stored their 'van there would go out in the beginning of November and come home at the end of March. They can no longer do this.

Could they not do that if they obtained a visa?

 

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Could they not do that if they obtained a visa?

 

 

A quick google suggests 'I really like staying in Spain for longer' isnt a valid reason to request an extension.

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/how-to-extend-schengen-visa/

 

 

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

The UK is obviously a better place otherwise the dinghy sailors would not be coming. 

 

Sometimes it pays to check your facts before posting.

 

Just from this evenings news.

 

 

 

 

And who can blame them.

Edited March 7, 2023 by M_JG

[Momac]

42 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

 'I really like staying in Spain for longer' isn't a valid reason to request an extension

I think that is a perfectly valid reason. Especially so with a history of past travel to Spain.

 

Certainly there are some requirements like health insurance and you have to prove you have enough money to support yourself and you cant have a criminal record.

Perhaps one of these requirements  is a barrier.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/spain/visa/non-lucrative-visa/

 

For what its worth I sympathise as brexit has really created barriers to British people (and there are  less barriers to EU people wanting to travel to the UK).

 

 

PS I see the financial requirements are quite significant.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by MartynG

[Tam & Di]

2 hours ago, Bee said:

Dutch Barge Association has good info. We try to do about 3 months a year and have been doing so for more than ten years. There are brexit problems though

I don't know if the OP is still looking in on this, but I would certainly advise looking in on the DBA site https://barges.org and if he is really serious it is worth joining as he will get all the information he needs on all aspects of continental boating and boating life. I would however add my pennyworth that although narrowboats are to be found there, they are not by any means the best craft to have, and certainly not by a novice boater.

 

Tam

[Athy]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

Pubic services are going down the crapole,

Those discreet clinics are closing down, are they?

[Mac of Cygnet]

3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

This is one of the reasons I have bought in Wales. The population density of England as a whole is 434 peeps per square foreign thingy, in Wales it is 150 so moocho better. The county I live in is actualy only 40 people per square foreign thingy 😀 absolootely fabulouso

 

Perhaps you should have come here, then:

 (Scottish Borders 21 per sq. km)

Population mid-2011	Population density (pop per sq. km) mid-2021
England	53,107,000	434
Wales	3,064,000	150
Northern Ireland	1,814,000	141
Scotland	5,300,000	70

 

 

 

[mrsmelly]

9 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Perhaps you should have come here, then:

 (Scottish Borders 21 per sq. km)

Population mid-2011	Population density (pop per sq. km) mid-2021
England	53,107,000	434
Wales	3,064,000	150
Northern Ireland	1,814,000	141
Scotland	5,300,000	70

 

 

 

Yeah Scotland is fab. My sister lives oop there. The only reason we didnt consider Scotland was, we have many kids/grandkids etc in the south such as Cornwall and it was simply a bridge too far.

[Stilllearning]

14 hours ago, magnetman said:

Quick google suggests there are a lot more French born people living here than UK born people living there. 

 

 

189000 French in UK and 177,000 UK in France. 

 

Interesting question actually. May be about the same. 

The UK is obviously a better place otherwise the dinghy sailors would not be coming. 

I suspect those are the figures for people living in the respective countries, not including  those who have a holiday home that they visit, or visit and also rent out. That figure would, I venture to suggest, make British people owning a home in France vastly outnumber the French living in the uk.

[Athy]

49 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

I suspect those are the figures for people living in the respective countries, not including  those who have a holiday home that they visit, or visit and also rent out. That figure would, I venture to suggest, make British people owning a home in France vastly outnumber the French living in the uk.

I would think that our magnetic friend's figures refer to residents, yes.

[NewCanalBoy]

And I guess a big problem is that the French HATE the English too ?!

[IanD]

Just now, NewCanalBoy said:

And I guess a big problem is that the French HATE the English too ?!

Not as much as some of the English hate the French... 😉

[Tam & Di]

18 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

And I guess a big problem is that the French HATE the English too ?!

If that is what you think why are you considering taking a boat there? Are you a masochist? Actually it is not true anyway, other than the occasional French version of mrsmelly.

 

Tam

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

And I guess a big problem is that the French HATE the English too ?!

 

Well that is not my experience at all.

 

There is of course the long standing banter between us but I think 'hate' is a gross exaggeration if talking about the French population as a whole.

[Athy]

10 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Well that is not my experience at all.

 

There is of course the long standing banter between us but I think 'hate' is a gross exaggeration if talking about the French population as a whole.

W hen I lived over there I took my share of "Rosbif" jokes, but they were generally good-natured, and I learned to counter them with "Grenouille" comments.

   I reckon they're rather like alsatians: they can seem intimidating at first, but gradually become more amenable on further acquaintance. This, I've found, is particularly true of any Frenchman in an official capacity, whose first reaction to a request will be "Non! C'est impossible" but who, if one persists, will eventually say "Well, there could be a way around this".

[Jim Riley]

58 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

And I guess a big problem is that the French HATE the English too ?!

Just show them you still have your Bow Drawing  Fingers. That'll learn 'em.

[magnetman]

11 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Perhaps you should have come here, then:

 (Scottish Borders 21 per sq. km)

Population mid-2011	Population density (pop per sq. km) mid-2021
England	53,107,000	434
Wales	3,064,000	150
Northern Ireland	1,814,000	141
Scotland	5,300,000	70

 

 

 

 

I like the highlands and islands.

 

 

 

Donald where's yer troosers?

[Jim Riley]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Yeah Scotland is fab. My sister lives oop there. The only reason we didnt consider Scotland was, we have many kids/grandkids etc in the south such as Cornwall and it was simply a bridge too far.

You could help with the campaign to rejoin, leave us all in the midden. 

[mrsmelly]

22 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

You could help with the campaign to rejoin, leave us all in the midden. 

Rejoin what?

[Jim Riley]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Rejoin what?

You've forgotten already? Bless. Ask Nurse. 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Jim Riley said:

You've forgotten already? Bless. Ask Nurse. 

Your in the wrong area if its some ancient political matter from several years ago? is that what you meant? try elsewhere if it is