JimmyEveriss

One summer I was driving into town to buy a new mower belt with and for a friend of ours, an older French lady. As we were driving along I stated "Je suis chaud!" She was very quick to correct me...

Some of our English customers stopped off at a McDonalds on the way down here in the morning. They ordered their 'food' and tea and sat down at a table and a few minutes later one of them realised they had no milk and went with his very limited French to ask for some. The young woman behind the counter gasped in horror, as did the customers waiting behind him who then proceeded to shout and gesture furiously at him before he was thrown out. Any ideas on what he said? I'm always very careful when asking for milk now!

I'd stay away from deet, nasty stuff. Just be sensible, don't go through long grass in shorts if it's a deer area and don't have any picnics in the woods or sit on a tree stump ect. I've only ever found one tick on me and I'm working outside on the land all the time. They're only really bad in large woodlands where you get loads of deer - that's why hunters get them so much.

It's pretty common, my dad's had it and a friend of our's has had it also. It's pretty easy to spot though, and if you catch it early then it's not a big deal. If you've had a tick or been anywhere that tick's hang out (mainly woodland) and you develop a red ring or red circle then see your GP ASAP. The same goes if you find a tick and later develop flu-like symptoms. They will do a blood test and put you on antibiotics. Our friend decided his red mark was shingles and left it until the very late stages, it could easily have killed him.

When I was looking for a digger leboncoin looked full of scams, 20k machines being advertised for 5k for example. Could just be trying to make people look closer at the add, but I doubt it.

I'm planning on turning a "cabane de chantier' (basically a shed on wheels) into a small workshop, which is the one thing I've never had in France and really miss. I'll be able to stick it on the back of my tractor and take my workshop to my work.

I've got a 4(Quad) output lnb and it doesn't make any difference how many are being used.

We had an oil fired Rayburn for years in the UK and never had the tank cleaned out as far as I remember. I've spent a bit of time on a farm and never recall them having their diesel tanks cleaned either. I'd drain it then have a look inside, I wouldn't worry about it unless for some reason there's loads of sludge in it - or if you don't have a filter fitted. If the tank's really dirty then it might be at the end of it's life.

I couldn't see this mentioned here: I believe that the banks (or at least CA) offer an interest free loan (what I presume is a government initiative) on certain types of eco-friendly work on your house and some septic tank installation fall under this category - worth checking out anyway. "Eco pret" http://www.credit-agricole.fr/particulier/credits/credits-immobilier/eco-pret-a-taux-zero.html

Hi all, We are interested in building a toilet/shower block on our land away from the house and it's amenities. I can trench water and electricity to the site but the thing that worries me is whether or not we'd be allowed to install a septic tank. I more or less understand the procedure of having a tank fitted for your house (soil tests ect) and I know that if you need one you can't be denied permission but I guess that right probably goes out the window if it isn't for your dwelling. Has anyone got experience in this? I'm also interested in whether or not there is anything stopping me installing a tank myself or do I need to use a qualified fitter (I'm aware that the whole lot is inspected and signed off after installation)? Any insights into this are welcome! (Especially if anyone has any resources on the correct construction of a filter bed... though I may try and dodge that difficulty and invest in a micro station)

Thanks for your replies, I've been down to the gendarmerie and was told I should wait a few days before officially declaring the wallet as stolen in case it turned up and that in the meantime I should declare my CV and driving license as lost or stolen (I had obviously already cancelled my bank card). I think I may have mis-translated the document I mentioned - I think it is saying that I should have the CV updated every year, rather than renewed every year. I'm 26 and admittedly don't really spare my CV much thought as thankfully I've never needed to use it! I have my attestation/social security number and as far I'm aware as long as I continue paying my contributions via my AE I'm covered. The gendarme said that I needed to cancel my CV but suggested that because it was a photocard it wasn't much to worry about. In the end I've followed the instructions on ameli.fr and have posted a lost/stolen declaration to Harmonie Mutuelle - nowhere did it say that I needed to contact them by phone and cancel it urgently so I presume that it isn't of much practical use to a thief. Should I be more concerned?

As some may have read in the driving section, I've had my wallet stolen (or at least it's very very lost). It had my Carte Vitale in it and I've downloaded and printed off a form to report the card lost or stolen. However, on the papers that came with my carte vitale in 2010 it states that the period of validity is only up until a date in 2011 (a year later) - a 1 year validity period seems excessively short, so am I translating it correctly? and should I bother sending the form in if the card expired 18 months ago anyway?

I've talked to the DVLA and as Emily said it is £5 to have the certificate of entitlement sent through. I asked over the phone what the situation is with licenses and he confirmed more or less that a UK license remains valid but you can't have it renewed if you live abroad permanently.

Cheers Another, I'll phone the DVLA and get a certificate sent through, you've all been a great help!

Well it was an automated system and when I saw 'I no longer live in GB and I have lost my GB licence' I thought "ooh that's handy".... ha I have scanned copies of my driving license for my insurance policies, Would the information on those be enough to use at the prefecture without waiting for a certificate of entitlement to come through from the UK, do you think? I have no aversion to getting a French license really, and it looks like it's going to be the most straight forward option. Does anyone know if the prefecture issues a temporary document which you can use whilst waiting for your license? - Much like they sometimes do with a carte grise.