Diana

This has happened to me too many times in my local supermarket for it to be just coincidence. Asking amongst friends its happened to them too. It goes like this: Your shopping comes to more than 80 euros, so you pay, go home and unpack. Only if you check your till receipt do you find that you have been charged for a non existant cooked chicken or crate of beer etc. What do you do? go back to the supermarket and say you did not have these items, how do you prove it? What i don't understand is how anyone profits from it. It seems the only thing to do is check the receipt before leaving the checkout. Diana

I feel the start of my first ever french cold coming on, sore throat, blocked/runny nose etc. In the UK I would have headed straight for the Day and Night Nurse. Can I buy anything similar over the counter here. Thanks Diana

Tomorrow I am having a small informal supper party for eight people with a Beaujolais Nouveau theme. What are the traditional dishes to accompany this wine. Thanks Diana

Does LF have a sister magazine with an on line forum for Spain? Thanks Diana

Thanks to both of you. Mistral if you have time I would be interested in the tables. Here is the ref for the old bank note, just copy and paste it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8348206912&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Fsojs%3D1%26from%3DR40%26satitle%3D8348206912%26fvi%3D1 Thanks Diana

Often I stumble across in old documents or French literature livres and sols for currency and even today in the local market fruit and veg can still be measured in livres. I know it was Napoleon who introduced the decimal system in France but I have been unable to find what these equate to in either pre -60’s Francs or for weight stones, pounds and ounces. I have just seen on ebay a listing for a 1793 French Revolution bank note ‘Assignat de Cinq Livres et Cinquante Sols’ dated 23 Mai 1793. Why does this not use the language of the Revolution for both the currency and the date? We have the papers for every sale of our house going back to 1794, all the dates are in the style of the revolutionary calendar and the sale price in old, old French Francs. Thanks Diana

We started with the local architect, who liaised with the fire dept, health and safety etc etc. Don't forget if you are providing any seating you will need a WC suitable for disabled people. And any change to the outside of the building ie an extra window or widening a door to allow for wheel chair access will need the equivilant of planning permission. You will need to apply for at the very minimum a licence 1 from the marie to allow you to serve soft drinks. If you want to serve alcholol with food you will need a restarant licence from the local customs office which your marie must agree to. Diana

[quote]You will need to send it, all filled in and signed to your caisse de maladie. As there are different ones, you should already have your own's address as you are paying into it.[/quote] Thank you TM Diana

Our business was registgered from the begining of May and we started to pay contributions from that date. We also applied for our Carte Vitales. I needed to have emergency dental treatment at the end of June but I had not yet been issued with my card so I just paid up the 180 euros and forgot all about it. I have just found the cerfa form and receipt under a large pile of filing and it has reminded me that I should be able to claim for some of the cost. How do I go about this? Thanks Diana

[quote]Did you try the Brakes site - just interested to see what cover they give in France James[/quote] James I had a look at the site but have not yet done anything. If I do order anything I will let you know the outcome. Thanks Diana

[quote]Where are you?[/quote] we are in Sainte Mere Eglise, La Manche Thanks Diana

This summer we have bouught all our fresh baguettes from the local baker and paninis etc from the cash and carry. I would like to find a supplier who will replace the need to do the 50 mile round trip to the cash and carry. I am looking for a supplier who will deliver panini, bruchetta, wraps and sliced sandwhich loaves (the type we know in the UK not the small pain mie). I don't know what heading this type of product/service would be listed under in the pages jaune so have not had much luck in trying to track them down. Thanks Diana

We have a one year old Apple laptop and an ancient PC, also a Netgear wireless router. Over the last few days the Apple keeps losing its wireless connection and the only way to reconnect is to restart both the router and Apple. It makes no difference even if I connect the them by the cable. This morning it it won't connect at all. So I am back to the old faithful PC which tells me that the router is OK. Also even when the Apple wont connect it still show on the info bar at the top of the screen that there is a full signal with all four bits of the radar image highlighted. Thank you Diana

Thank you both for your replies. I should have mentioned that where we are in Normanday we can pick up UK terestrial TV via a normal ariel. I don't know if this would make a diference to being able to receive the UK digital ones. To cut a long story short we just want to be able to receive more channels without having to pay for something like Sky. Thanks Diana

I never thought I would own and run a cafe, least of all in France. We have been open now since the begining of June and and it is going far better than expected. Our customers are from all over the world and enjoy what we offer, the expressions of the French when they point to the homemade carrot cake and ask what it is are priceless. Diana