Fay

When did that extra bit get added to Dog's post? Last time I looked it ended with the bit about slaughterhouse products and now it's gone all non-sequitur!

Do you mean the Points Plus scheme as a whole is going? I haven't heard anything about this, but I am just a normal PP member not a POC one... It would be a shame, though since they stopped doing points at the Carrefour in Cite Europe we don't get enough points for a free trip each year any more. (On the plus side it meant we never had to shop in CE again!)

I watched expecting it to be a disaster and for them to be totally clueless but I warmed to them and their enterprise as the programme went on. As, it seems, did Kevin McCloud. This programme is the only one of the house-type ones I have any time for! Despite saying they didn't fit in, they seemed to have a good number of French as well as English friends who were good enough chums to pitch in and help. The only thing I found odd was the teeny bedrooms - if you are building for yourselves, what's the point in having to have your double bed with one side pushed up against the wall? Actually - not the only thing I found odd... I couldn't take my eyes off the beads in the architect's beard!

My vocabulary has just expanded by a word (had to look up cambriolée) - thanks! Though one I hope I'll never have cause to use... It certainly has one over on the usual 'Topsy and Tim go to the Dentist' and even 'Sally has Two Mummies'!

Thanks Ewa! Do they speak any English or will I have to mug up on French veterinary terms?

Yes please!

Thanks for letting me know I'm Advanced! I always suspected as much...

Wonder if it's because I'm on a Mac that I can't see the supreme beings...

I've tried this on various people's 'squares' and nothing happens... Feel somewhat cheated, rather like when I discovered inhaling from a helium balloon doesn't make my voice go squeaky!

Thanks Vanessa!

Hi Vanessa thanks so much for this - even though it's not too promising! We've emailed a couple of the agents but had no reply, so guess it's better to call before we go over in October on a serious hunt. But haven't tried the notaires, although have looked in the one by the marina (I think there's another one towards the 'back' of the town?). Is that Maitre Barbier? Also on the books of one of the UK property companies. We'll just keep trying - I think we'll find we feel the same as you. Thanks again Fay

Hi we have been looking for a property in/around St-Valery-sur-Somme, which we know well and love, but have just come across one that looks really appealing in Cayeux - which we don't know at all, even though it is just a smidge along the coast. We realize the two towns are quite different in terms of geography and therefore character but does anyone have any specific, first-hand info about Cayeux to share? Thanks! Fay

I reckon the best of the lot is The Taste of France - it was a Macmillan paperback but is, sadly, out of print. Main author is Fay Sharman (I hasten to say that I am not she!) and a search on Abebooks website will usually trawl a copy. I've used it for years and have never yet found a menu term it didn't cover. It is all in alpha order, making it very quick to refer to.

I just had to let forum users know how brilliant Brittany Ferries were recently, in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Story is too long to tell in full but involves: 1) a trip to Limoux with my friend for her to sign her Acte de Vente, 2) in a car laden with furniture, crockery, paint etc; 3) a stolen passport (mine, taken with handbag while loading said car in London on the morning of departure) 4) and a tyre blowout on the M5 near Exeter, 5) causing a missed ferry and thus necessitating a change of route from Plymouth-Santander to Portsmouth-Caen. Thanks to an impressive 'can do' attitude on the part of Brittany Ferries staff (and, to be fair, also the Southwark Police, and my husband who drove down from Northamptonshire to meet us on the M4 with my previous passport, as well as the nice AA man who helped remove half the contents of the car to get to the emergency wheel) we finally rolled aboard the Mont St Michel at literally the 11th hour and made it to the Notaire's in Limoux in good time for friend to become the proud and relieved owner of her French home. Every single person at BF with whom we came into contact did absolutely all they could to help us, and with the greatest goodwill. Despite making it clear there was no guarantee it would be possible, they went all-out to try to get me permission to travel from the French immigration authorities, as well as changing our booking (including cabin) smoothly and efficiently. The Duty Officers at both Plymouth and Portsmouth kept in regular touch on my friend's mobile (yes, mine was in the stolen bag) as we made out way first from London towards Plymouth and then (at 50mph on an emergency wheel) back to Portsmouth. It was the first time I'd travelled with BF but it certainly won't be the last. Well done and thank you to all concerned.

Don't forget that in the UK one has to search out sausages that are not made from 'mechanically reclaimed meat product' (ie slurry, guts and worse); bacon that doesn't ooze white froth due to being packed with water and nitrates; properly dry-cured ham... etc. The rise of farmers' markets (strangely enough inspired by the markets one takes for granted in France) makes it a lot easier these days for those of us - bizarrely - who live in the country far from 'posh' food shops, but most supermarkets are still pretty poor in the quality of these types of product (Waitrose excepted). It seems to me no coincidence that there is no English word that equates to 'terroir'. As for biscuits (as opposed to cookies, which aren't exactly British), while I love the occasional Diggie I tend to bring back packets of delicious varieties from France. Yet, to me, your breakfast cereal of choice tastes dusty and overloaded with salt and sugar. So, each to her own. I got a bit lost over the singing thing, which seemed rather a non-sequitur...

Next weekend I'm driving with a friend to her newly-purchased semi-ruin in St-Hilaire near Carcassonne. We're booked overnight with cabin on the Brittany ferries route above, and I just wondered if anyone on the forum has any words of wisdom about the journey/facilities/ports etc. It's ages since I've been on a ferry, I'm devoted to the tunnel. All advice welcomed! Thanks.

An essential addition to the list - Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. Fabulous.

An essential addition to the list - Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. Fabulous.

LAST EDITED ON 06-May-04 AT 03:05 PM (BST) I think the Feline Advisory Bureau website has a list of their criteria for a good cattery - they certainly give their 'seal of approval' only to those that comply with their guidelines and (I think) have gone on their training course (maybe it's the one you're doing?). I've always relied totally on their recommendations and have always been very happy with the catteries we've used (well, as happy as I can be deserting Pyewacket our Devon Rex, who makes her displeasure very evident). Not having to leave her behind when we go to France is just one of the many reasons for the current househunting plans! Good luck with your enterprise!

Am I the first to spot the May edition's 'deliberate mistake' and do I win a prize? Or did you put it in to see if we are paying attention when we read the mag? Page 9, Picardy article, tell us that 'it was from St-Valery that Oliver Cromwell set sail to conquer England'... umm... think that'll be William the Conqueror.

Hi there - anyone going? We are really looking forward to it. Maybe it will provide the final kick in the derriere to get us under way (I hope so!). Fay

Hi a friend of ours is thinking of trying to buy to let in Paris (I would think short-term lets as she wants to able to use the place herself - and her friends, we hope!). Has anyone had any experience of this? Any recommended agents? All/any advice gratefully received. Fay