The morning started sunny, but rain was forecast for the next two days, so we started to think about planning our return voyage to Auxonne. Since it was improssible to continue much further north because of the closure of the Vosges canal, this was always going to be a short up and back trip on the River Saone, but now we had to think about when we would return before our 30 day Vignette expired, and without too much travel in rainy conditions (which is not much fun for Rita doing the ropes outside). So we decided to stay in Scey for a bit longer, and were glad we did when the rain set in around noon. As the rain eased later in the afternoon, and some sun appeared, the swallows made the most of the conditions to practice their swooping and diving over the water.

Tues 25 July - sunny, rain forecast, planning, Optus, rain, Womens, taxe fonciere

One of the financial benefits of coming to France each year is that I can cancel some payments that I normally make in Australia, such as Medibank Private health insurance, Foxtel TV and Optus mobile phones, saving a total of about $4000 this year. While Medibank and Foxtel allow me to cancel from start to end of our time away, Optus only allows me to cancel for 3 months at a time. Yesterday I got an email from them saying that my 3 months had elapsed and my payments were starting again today. So I went online and found the way to cancel for another 3 months, and did so.

In the afternoon, I followed a bit of the Australian Womens Cricket game aainst Ireland, and it seemed that after their recent losses to England in the one-day format, they were starting to regain their form.

During the afternoon, I saw an article in The Local (an online English-language newspaper about all things France), talking about a change in the Taxe Fonciere (Property Tax) system in France which is changing so that French house-owners will not have to pay it any more if they live in the house, but foreign owners of "second houses" will still have to pay. Apparently, this change has been triggered by the shortage of residential properties in France (much like Australia), so houses not being used by French citizens will now pay most of the property taxes. This requires that all house-owners will need to complete an online declaration about the status of their property (e.g. self-occupied, rented, second house etc). I read a few articles about the changes, and then went online to do the declaration, but had trouble with the "numero fiscal" (my account number) not being recognised. This number was meant to be read from a previous bill for the Taxe Fonciere, and while I double checked that I had read it correctly, it still didn't work. I then remembered that the house in Moissac is officially owned by our company (TUTI) and that I should be making the declaration as a business (not an individual). So I tried that option online, but soon found that I needed a registration number for TUTI (called a SIREN - a bit like an ABN, Australian Business Number), but a SIREN can only be obtained if the business is registered in France (which TUTI is not). So we were caught in a bit of a Catch-22, which I resolved to look at in more detail tomorrow.

Instead I looked at the sun setting over the port at Scey - not a bright golden sunset, but the cloud patterns and relections were interesting.