Miki

Em, It might be that whilst cleaning the pool you may have been "pumping to waste" ? If so you have lowered the pool level to below the skimmers. That would mean no water was now in the pipework. That being the case, you will get no water from the jets until the water level is above the lower level of the skimmers and at least covering the entrance holes of the skimmers to the pump and filter. Top up the pool until it is covering the baskets (and therefore the entrance pipe)do as Baz says and lightly vaseline or whatever the seal and tighten it down. Once all this is done, start up your pump but ensure you have the filter set to "filter" (normal mode)or whatever your pump dial says and fingers crossed you won't have caused any damage to the pump. Miki

Faux filet is sirloin, that's my lot on that. Now then SB, I have to say that this posting will upset those that cannot parlee Francay and may well put new people off posting. I could just about make out what you were on about, I think, as I recognised a few words; olives, ha ha ha (is that one or 3 words?)jours, French and thought I recognised a few more but you will really have to remember, we are not all as owfay as what you is, with speaking French. You, you you ......show off!! Bon appetit, now that does pose a quandary, what is that in English, Good appetite, jer pance pah (getting there, another 20 years and I will be able to post like what you does! Miki

Buster, I am sorry it never worked out for you. You are right in what you say about how many are not as happy as they would like you to believe. My wife probably would not worry too much about going home tomorrow but I personally, am for staying here, so is one of our kids. Our last move was a mutual agreement in so much, Tina wanted to go all the way home and the rest of us wanted to stay in France. So it was decided to move closer to the UK which suited her, so that's what we eventually did. What you have said, mirrors more or less exactly what was on ITV earlier today in a programme called TEXT. It featured a family that had lived in Montflanquin in the SW for just 18 months and just could not "hack" their new way of life. They sold up quite quickly and returned home. They could not emphasise enough about how any newcomers, especially those with childeren, must do their homework and not simply uproot the family on a whim or a dream of what they think it will be like from what is seen on TV most days in the last couple of years or more. OK, for all of you that hark on about whingeing, I hope this is not seen as such but as real honest facts. These were 2 items that have popped up today, would it be best to sweep them under the carpet or to post about it, if only as a reminder to anyone thinking of migrating to France and who still believe all is as glossy as portrayed in the many programmes, now on TV. I was surprised to see this programme today and now wonder if we are not now about to see TV show all the people that have returned to the UK, instead of the other way around. I suppose it was only a matter of time! Miki

Hi, We are on broadband with Tiscali and so far, all seems OK. They have what appears to be a really good deal with their 1024 or 2048K offer of 30 and that includes all your local and national calls to fixed phones. We have the 512k offer of 20 per month and that is pretty fast at 622Kps. Not sure we need the 2048 but if the phone calls are indeed free, then we will look further into it. Miki

LAST EDITED ON 18-Jul-04 AT 10:34 AM (BST)

LAST EDITED ON 15-Jul-04 AT 10:14 AM (BST) In the last few months we have had many Europeans and other nationalities stay with us. The common message that we are getting is that France is more expensive than where they come from. The guests from countries which have mentioned this are, amongst others; Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, The USA and Canada. There are others I'm sure but you get what I am talking about. The guests we have from the UK seem to be mixed in their opinions and it seems to depend on their purchases, we all know about wine, beer pate and baccy etc (Baccy prices rising fast here though) but I guess there is more to France than the "booze cruise buys" isn't there? I do get the feeling some things have risen in price but I have to be honest and say, when I am given my orders on purchasing, I go out, buy the items on the list and simply pay up and look big and that keeps me in 'er good books, so all stays happy in the household. We have had to but a few large "white goods" lately and they seem OK on price but they were (luckily) bought recently in the sales. Miki

>>>>>How about Fromage Blanc?

Patrick, You are experiencing a fairly normal practice, that in some places, would be what to expect. The French are not being so much standoffish, as reserved and valuing their space or privacy. You may need to make a few moves first before they will open up a little. If you have already done so, then more time may well be needed. You have had proof that you are more or less accepted, perhaps in a similar suituation elsewhere you would not have been so lucky. If you haven't already, why not now invite some around for apperos to thank them for their very kind gesture. Our neighbour (we only have one, the next one is half a mile away)and we both respect our privacy but whenever we meet we chat away about this and that like long lost friends. We have found that some areas can certainly make a difference in attitudes but like most things in life, you have to put in much to get something out, not always easy but...... Miki

Bunnie, We are far more exhuberant about buying cheeses in Sainsbury's or Tescos in Chichester (The outlaws live there!)than any shop in France, other than Philippe Olivers shop in the Pas de Calais. The French blues (including their champ Roquefort) lose out to the King of all blues; Stilton. Hard cheeses here don't come close to good old fashione mature Cheddar and many of the other hard bunch. And just take a look around the shops in France, loads of same(ish) cheeses just packaged differently. Now take a look around a good English supermarket, cheddars of all kinds and all tasting different. Double Gloucesters, simply on their own or with something added. Wensleydales with chives, pineapple and any other delicious tried and tested filling. And loads and loads of other super delicious cheeses from oop north or down south. Someone marketed the cheese market very well here but after many years I am now astounded that even with a large selection of hundreds of cheeses and flipping loads of disappointment, we now actually buy very few of them to eat ourselves. What we do buy to eat ourselves are Motin, that Pyrenean mountain cheese with black rind, Roquefort (when the stilton is no more at the house!)Brebay (Sp) and a couple of others, plus a nice cheese for raclet evenings. My opinion and Tina's (although she doesn't know yet !) Vive le fromage Britannique!! Miki

We have had an EGG account almost since the day it started here. It was for us an excellent card, 1% cashback at the end of each year, this more than covered the annual charge and in fact gave us a healthy "rebate". We even got the first 6 months free and 5% cashback for the first 3 months. Reports say have been closing for the last year or so and now after searching for a French partner and none appearing, it does look inevitable. The facts are, that quite simply the French could not believe that a "bank" could offer cashback and no catch. To date, only 115,000 French (and me!) have taken up the offer. EGG reckoned on a million customers at first but downgraded to 750,000 but still the French would not join, traditionalists to the end!! Sooner pay the banks and stores silly money for the joy of having a Carte Bleu. The card was simplicity itself, each month, on a self designated date they took the money from your own bank account and also offered credit at excellent rates for those that wanted it. If EGG, owned by Prudential, a well respected English financial institution, can't make it with an offer of this kind, well I doubt there is another similar card in the market place, is there? Miki

Tina has always "knocked" on the door and given the guests new linen every Saturday. Miki

Coco, We tell our guest on our website and in all correspondence, time of arrival is from 16.30 and if they are going to be later than 19.30 then please inform us. As you say, you cannot and should not be expected to simply hang around on the whim of guests thoughts, as to when they will arrive. Last month we went out to lunch (one of our only pleasures during the season due to demand). We arrived back home at around 15.45 to 2 cars with a couple of guests in each. They seemed a little annoyed that we were not here when they arrived. We explained that we cannot for many reasons (not less our sanity !)be on hand before 16.30 and always ensured that all clients were aware of this and were asked, to please not arrive before 16.30 One client said that he always liked to arrive early to leave his luggage before going out. We said, "why did you not let us know that"? His answer was that all the B&B's they have ever used, the hosts were always there at any hour. Well around here, especially with the French, that is most certainly not the case and any early arrival without warning is seen as extremely rude and between 12.00 and 14.30 are hours held as private. That is not to say with advance advice we would not let them in, marriages (don't go there!)are the obvious ones. Coco, make the rules, always be polite, the use of the permanent grin helps! Those that do not want to abide by the "rules" can look elsewhere. What could be fairer for both parties? You are now angry and it really can all be avoided by you telling clients the expected hours of arrival and departure. There is nothing wrong with explaining the hours and it is generally expected by the French. Miki

LAST EDITED ON 10-Jul-04 AT 04:01 PM (BST) Anyone watch the Tour on FR2 today? Just outside Plancoet and written in large white letters were the words ..........Brits Out. I know it is has been seen often enough in the Central Brittany region but are the strong feelings felt by the persons doing this, getting nearer the Dinan area now (not that it hasn't been aired around here before but more rarely)or was it just specifically written for maximum effect on the road as the Tour was passing that spot? I certainly do not subscribe to those that say it is other Brits writing it. This may be just a few Bretons showing their anger but from a few with these feelings, will it grow or subside? All I know is, from my point of view anyway, if Brits continue to congregate and form small(large?)enclaves, we will be seen by many, as no better than those immigrants in the UK that do the same thing and which I believe (I might be wrong) some actually leave Britain to avoid. Sure, we can always think that we are a different case but I see it as exactly the same. I listen or join in on some French discussions on occasions and recently one chap asked me as to why the Brits are coming here in such large numbers, my reasons had them scratching their heads. I just told them that they want to escape Britain because of the way it is for them now, their answer..........Will they bring that culture with them? Their thoughts were, if you can't mix with immigrants at home or live with it, do they expect us (French)to be any different? That set me back a bit, as that was the first time I had ever been given that kind of response. Which makes me wonder if some of the French are now thinking a little more seriously about all us Brits coming here in numbers not seen before. Food for thought eh? Put yourself in some French persons shoes and think how your village in the UK would change, if, all of a sudden the village has 10 French kids arrive in a year or so, house prices rise (OK you can say the French are selling houses "dearer" that would normally rest unsold or sell at a "normal" price) the village changes character, the local bar changes hands to a French person, whose only English is "Hello" "Goodbye". I admire those that really try to integrate and I know many do but, I can only say, if we want to be respected and live side by side with our hosts, we ALL (me included)need to think more about what will make us be accepted and what will only antagonise the locals. Far fetched, think differently, it happens. I am not taking a pop at anyone, just asking all of us to think how you would feel if the "chaussette" was on the other "pied" I can only say from my point of view, that we are so very lucky that many French are willing to accept us, I doubt very much the Brits would be so willing to accept the same situation. Bon weekend ! Miki

LAST EDITED ON 10-Jul-04 AT 01:21 PM (BST) Yes, strange as it may seem, AOL are consistently accusing Tiscali users as "spammers" and therefore have occasional periods rejecting emails from all Tiscali subscribers to their subscribers (pot & kettle comes to mind!). A tip from Mazan was to open an account elsewhere, in our case it was with laposte (www.laposte.fr)and simply send emails to AOL (and sometimes but more rarely, Hotmail accounts as well as a few others)from your account with laposte. The other point is to tell all your contacts with AOL accounts to email AOL and tell them to allow your friend with a Tiscali account to send emails to them. Miki

LAST EDITED ON 07-Jul-04 AT 11:04 PM (BST) John, You really do need help, that is for sure. I have to say I am rather dismayed that you have spent out so much money but now have no ideas what you should do about running the very thing you created to make a living from. I think it might have been best if you had started by getting all the admin side sorted out first and then seen if it was a viable proposition. There are many factors to take in to consideration with gites and B&B, not least the positioning, the length of season, who or where your market is, where you should be advertising etc etc. Brits alone will not sustain any B&B. Perhaps hopefully, you know all this and are in a good position and ready and confident to begin trading. I really don't want to appear gloomy but I have seen this happen so often and you may well be in for some nasty little shocks along the road to legality. Depending on where you are in Brittany, I can offer you the contact number of a woman who is fluent in French (being French herself) and English and she may well be able to guide you, on what is now best for you to do. Good luck Miki

We have a friend who has drawn his own plans for his restoration project and excellent they are too. They have been sent back by the DDE and the changes required have been done and anything needed has been added to the dossier but of course the 170m ruling has been addded. Therefore an architect will be required to serve any plans to the DDE. I am not sure what is happening these days but when we drew our own, some time ago now and in a diffrent region, we sought out an Architect who went through them, suggested changes etc, we gave him carte blanche to change a bit here and there and then give them to the DDE. This was an awful lot cheaper than letting the Architect draw the plans and do the project from "start to finish". So my question is; does anyone know any Architect in the 35 (or 22) region who would be willing to take on the drawings and get the plans passed by the DDE planning ? He would prefer someone near to Saint Malo if possible. Is this possible these days anyway ? Been a long time away from the building trade and have not really kept up with the last few years rules and regs and have no idea if anything has happened to disallow Architechs to do this. One or two in this area who used to do this, are now, making the gallic shrugs and tutting noises, which kind of says to me that they are really busy now, with all the work going on an don't want to take this one on at the moment, or am I missing something? Thanks in advance for any useful replies. Miki

Suze, We use both Promo (Saint Malo) and Metro and have done so for many years. We are now lucky enough that Metro is now moving a lot closer (Rennes to Saint Malo). For us it is often a case that normal shops cannot offer us the kind of things we require in our line of business. For example we can buy large serviettes in packs of 50 to a thousand. Mini butters and mini quality jams. We can buy meat in large quantities. Tina gets the large 3kg plus packs of Escallope de poulet and even larger faux filet packs of beef. These can't be found too easily elsewhere. We buy cleaning products, most of our wines and so much more. We buy most things in bulk, at the start of the year, such as a lot of the cleaning stuff, toilet paper, serviettes, breakfast place sets, the house bottled wine in half and full size and much more. We can't say it is that much cheaper all round, it is for meat and fish and the better ice cream. Same price for milk and orange juice but it is just so convenient, we cannot find a lot of the things we buy, anywhere else. As you have already seen, there are no long waiting times at the large checkouts. Promo are pretty competitive with Metro but where Metro score, is they have a much wider range of products, well at least where we use now does, what will happen with the new store, time will tell. Metro carry a far larger range of electrical equipment than our local Promo. All in all, much better all round to use the wholesalers but it does depend on what your needs are. Where is your nearest? We used Metro in Perigueux for years. Miki

LAST EDITED ON 02-Jul-04 AT 08:13 AM (BST) Well Val, We are also very happy but nervous, as she has been text (sp) by her friend last night with "felicitations". The internet results, through Rennes Academie website, did not arrive at the promised 8-9p.m. The lines were heaving and it was awfully slow. This morning easy to negotiate but guess what............no results still. All the rest from Brevet onwards but no bac !! The results are at another school in Dinan, so we could have gone to see there but daughter went out last night with a big group of mates and I guess she was happy enough with her mates text !! Just the parents on tenterhooks, what's new !! So, now the CPAM thing to sort out, money, place, accommodation for plenty etc. All the families with kids at pre-teenage years, make the most of it all now because, by far the toughest years are to come. Now there's a nice thought isn't it !! Miki

I have just had a conversation with a chap who informed me that before he left the UK last Novemember, he had informed Newcastle that he was leaving the UK to live in France and could he have an E106. Answer; No, he was told that anyone leaving the UK permanently to live in France were no longer going to receive such a form. Now he is an intelligent person and was never out of work, so what is going on I ask? I couldn't believe it so.......... They a very hard working family and he has previously gone out to work for a French firm to get health cover but that job is now finished (he gained 6 months of health cover on time worked) and he is getting on with the works needed on his future project. I would love Peter Owens to answer this one and give him good news. Miki

LAST EDITED ON 30-Jun-04 AT 04:52 PM (BST) Sorry Loulabel, The way I see it, they were built for the huge wave of Brit immigrants (yes me inc!) They have been going for a number of years now, the first one I saw was in Rennes in 1999, which soon grew so big, it moved into much larger premises and now it has outgrown even that one, especailly the materiaux section outside. I have only been in 2 but several times and there are always plenty of Brits in them. As most people know by now, they are the "wholesale" no frill end of the Kingfisher chain (Castorama, B&Q etc) They can be very good but watchout for some inferior products. Miki

In all honesty, yes. You would most certainly lose out on some people who may have liked to stay with you. For many families with kids, they really do need and look for places with a washing machine. Miki

Yep packed in it a while ago. Plenty of markets selling home produce these days, well I believe them ! I didn't realise just how much time and effort a veg plot takes, hats off to those who work full time and still enjoy all the hassle of growing their own veg etc. We still have fruit trees and other fruits though. Miki

There are clubs in every town in France Mark. The Dinan area is no exception. One look in the local paper (out every Thursday, it is called Le Petit Bleu)will show what clubs are in your immediate area. The problem at the moment, is of course it is summer and the season is finished. The season starts again earlier here than in the UK, so once you are here, buy the paper (1)and keep an eye out for when training re-starts. Even the smallest villages often have, not only their own ground but several teams as well, ranging from the smallest ages right up to the Vets team. What level did you play at in the UK? Miki

Absolutely the same thing. Out of curiosity, why did you ask? Miki

LAST EDITED ON 17-Jun-04 AT 09:52 AM (BST) Angela , I have emailed you at your wandoo address with details concerning P&O and the new site. Too long to put on here and not at all interesting to members. Miki