Beautiful Combourg in Brittany, where Joanna is based
Read more guides
to living in France on:
frenchentree.com
By evening, we’re at
Portsmouth and have presented our barcode to the customs office and we’re good to go! Sometimes the boat can
be late due to bad weather, but fortunately tonight looks like a smooth crossing and we haven’t had to wait for the ferry. We book in at the terminal and drive the van and trailer onto the boat, just taking our overnight bags into the cabin. We usually have a night crossing so that we can spend the daylight hours travelling to the customers’ address. Best news of all is that there are
Diary of a removal man
What goes on behind the scenes on moving day? Darren Hayward shares the details of a typical working trip from the UK to France
T
he somewhat unsung heroes of the moving to France industry, removal men are
the essential element in the logistical process of moving household contents. They spend their working days criss-crossing the Continent, moving household effects into farmhouses in the Dordogne one week and into châteaux in the Charente the next. Whether it’s navigating
rural roads, squeezing lorries down narrow winding village streets or moving furniture into high-rise Parisian apartments, the challenges can be many and varied. We join Burke Bros removal
man, Darren Hayward, as he recalls a typical working week and offers a unique vantage point into how a new life in France starts for many expats making the move.
FRIDAY Mr and Mrs Smith’s household effects have come into storage, while their house was being sold so we’ve already loaded it all into containers, and it’s been stored safely in the Burke Bros warehouse. Now that the Smiths are ready for their furniture and possessions to be delivered to their new address in Haute-Vienne, it’s our job today to load the van with their effects ready for outward travel to France on Sunday. The containers themselves
don’t make the journey as they would take up extra room, so we load the boxes and the furniture straight into the van, covering the furniture with removal blankets to keep them safe on the journey.
SUNDAY The customer and our transport office have quite a lot of
62 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: July/August 2023
paperwork to get in order in advance of the move taking place. Once this is done, we’re issued with a barcode which we take with us to be able to clear customs. Preparation is key for trips to France, not just for the customers’ furniture and effects, but for us too. I’ve got my essential items packed: a sleeping bag as the trucks have little beds in the sleeping pods over the top of the cab and enough rations to last the week. We’re able to take tinned food with us, baked beans and tinned potatoes etc, as we take a gas cooker with us for the journey. Not forgetting my passport, of course! We set off in the afternoon,
leaving the Burke Bros depot and heading to Portsmouth. The drive will take about four and a half hours. We can’t drive through France on a Sunday, so it’ll be early Monday when we reach France.
Blankets protect household effects
two beds in our cabin, one for me and one for my colleague Glenn. As all freight passengers travel together, depending on how busy they are, you can end up sharing with another driver. Just the two of us tonight! We’ll be off to find the
restaurant next. Hope my favourite is on the menu – potato gratin and steak – and then back to the cabin for a good night’s sleep before a busy day tomorrow.
The customers’ possessions are unloaded from storage into the truck
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
