vivienz

Why should any woman be required to dress modestly?  I agree entirely with the sentiments of the OPs that it's been such a long and hard won battle for women to gain any sort of equality, it's important to protect those rights.  I fail to see why any person would wear a garment such as a burkha without a lifetime of indoctrination and the threat of being made a social outcast.  I still wear high heels with reasonable frequency because I think they look great.  I don't really care whether anyone else agrees with my style and fashion choices, because they are my choices.  If I'm wearing heels with my jeans and have to walk far enough that they may make my feet hurt, then I opt for a bit of Copenhagen-style cycle chic and use my bike instead (wearing my heels, of course)!  It's a shame that I can't get a colour coordinated trouser clip, though.

There is something particularly disturbing about vulnerable and elderly people being attacked, but far more so when it's in their own homes.  What is a person to do if they can't even be safe in their own home?  The violent aspect of the incidents are very unsettling.

Thanks, Sue and Norman.  I think I will sit tight for now and wait to hear from the notaire.  The compromis has been signed by the sellers; it was signed by them before it was sent to us, so the documents should all be in order.

I understand from the immo that the signed compromis etc. were sent to the notaire a couple of weeks ago. As yet, I've heard nothing from the notaire, including bank account details to pay the deposit. I'm wondering whether to chase this and contact the notaire myself, but I would prefer to have the bank details confirmed in writing of some sort (e.g. email) before making a transfer, just in case an error of some sort occurs. I would have thought that the seller would be chasing from his end, but I have no direct contact with him and don't know if this is the case. When and what should I expect from the notaire? What would people advise? Thanks, Vivien

You can roast swede, mint, but it takes longer than all the other root vegetables so it's a good idea to put it in first or parboil it, as Patf suggests.  Personally, I like it roasted with a few whole cumin seeds thrown in.

I can't see bramleys working well for a tarte tatin as one of the nicest things about them is the way they collapse into a sharp/sweet apple fluff, just perfect for crumble but for not for something that needs the apples to retain their shape, as with a tatin.  Coxes on the other hand are lovely in anything; I guess the russet is a nod to the reinette and they do have that delicious hint of pear about them.  One of the more successful pastries that I've used for tarte tatin is Delia Smith's quick flaky pastry, which is really easy to make.  225g plain flour, 175g of butter in 1 piece and a drop or two of water.  You put the butter into the freezer till it goes hard and then grate it into the flour and bring it together with the drop of water.  Simplicity itself but a result that seems as though more effort went into it.  I think I added some sugar to make a sweet pastry for the tarte tatin. I'd better make dinner before I drool over my keyboard!

I recall hearing Albert Roux talking about tarte tatin a few years back.  Sadly, I can't remember what pastry he recommended, but the variety of apples did - he reckoned that a mixture of coxes and russets was the best, better even than traditional French varieties!

I started French conversation classes (in England) in the spring and it's been good fun so far.  The classes are informal in so far as they are unstructured and we talk about whatever we have done over the last week, a little bit of current affairs, etc, with the teacher coaching grammar and pronunciation as we go along (not withstanding my comments re. salty or spicy in another thread!).  The group is of mixed ability which can be useful as it's a few decades since my 'O' level in French and there are plenty of gaps in my knowledge which get filled in as we all express ourselves at our different levels.  The one thing I find a little frustrating is when group members prepare a little speech about their week and read it verbatim rather than engaging in conversation about it.  I find that conversing takes a lot more effort with the range of vocabulary and grammar that is needed, along with the agility to apply it all at conversational speed and this is what I need practice in.  I guess it's as much a confidence thing as anything, but if you don't make a start you will find it hard to improve, in my view. I'm a little like you, mint, in that I like the structure of a more academic route, but that isn't really open to me at the moment so conversation classes along with some self imposed study of grammar works for me right now.  I'd love the opportunity for more formal study, but that will be a treat for when time allows.  I'm hoping that my skills will improve more rapidly when we've completed our property purchase and spend more time in France, more regularly. 

There are lots of language schools along the south coast, particularly in Bournemouth.  They have many European students through the summer and arrange accommodation for them with local families, too.  It might be worth investigating those as they will have all the necessary safety checks in place as well as offering something specifically designed to enhance language skills.

Thanks, all. Good to know that my classmates and I weren't off the mark. Mint - equally useful to know!

Cendrillon - yes, she is French, which is why I raised the question. My suspicions were roused when she repeated it recently, but after she said 'épicé' in French, she then said 'salty, spicy, in English and so I don't think she is differentiating between the terms.

Thanks, mint. In this instance, it's actually our French teacher who is insisting that épicé means savoury and, quite specifically, when referring to things that don't contain any spice at all, hence the reference to salty crisps. To my mind, spicy can be sweet or savoury, as you clearly say. A custard tart just wouldn't be the same without that little sprinkle of nutmeg on the top, would it? I'm also partial to a bit of pain d'épices, too. I'll definitely keep quiet on this one as we could spend an entire evening arguing about it. I thought it was interesting, though, when I was in St Malo last December and mulled wine was being sold as vin chaud; I expected it to be vin épicé, but seemingly the physical heat wins in this case.

Thanks, Sue. That's pretty much how I understood it to be until my French teacher confused things. I'll just keep my own counsel on it for the time being!

There has been a low level but constant rumbling of disagreement in my French conversation class for some weeks now over the correct term for describing salty or savoury food. Our French teacher insists that the correct term for savoury is epicé(e) even when we are talking, for instance, about ready salted crisps and there is no spice involved at all. Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

A form of insurance specifically for long term care funding was introduced about 10 years ago, but was withdrawn after only about 2 or 3 years because the take-up was so poor. In the long run, though, I think it's likely that there will be some form of compulsory insurance against long term care costs so that those who prefer the 'spend it all and let the state pay for my care' option have made some contribution towards their care costs. It will go the same way that pensions have gone in the UK now, where contributions towards non public sector workplace pensions are compulsory for the employer and pretty close to compulsory for the employee. Sadly, most developed economies (and that includes the likes of Japan) all have enormous problems looming with funding the care of their elderly and it's not unique to the UK, France or even just western Europe.

Or alternatively, William owns only his own home whereas Harry has always rented and had surplus income that he has saved and invested. In their 80s, both William and Harry enter a care home. Harry's investments are clearly going to be used to fund his care fees, along with whatever income he has. Why should William's chosen form of saving (his house) have a protected status compared to those of Harry?

La lettre est arrivé!  I'm not going to grumble as I'm so relieved that it was finally delivered (correctly).  We may still be in before Christmas, otherwise it'll be a break in January.

Compulsory sale of property is effectively already in place, NormanH.  If a single person has to go into permanent care and they had a property, the property will be included as part of their assets that are available to them in order to fund their care.  If it takes a long time to sell the property, the local authority will pay for the care but put a charge on the house to recover the money paid as soon as it's sold.  The house won't be sold, however, if it is a couple and one of them remains in the home, although half of all other assets and income will be counted towards care costs.

There is a huge amount of press spin on the truisms about so-called 'skiing' holidays, Eurotrash.  With property prices as they are in the UK, the majority of people hold the majority of their 'wealth' in their homes which isn't in a form that they can easily spend, or at least not without incurring quite a bit of expense to access and many are reluctant to do this.  Ironically, if they do smoke and booze, they are theoretically reducing their life expectancy, so spending less over their shorter lifetimes and so leaving more to their kids than a 'healthy' elderly person who has to eke their  money out to their 100th birthday or beyond!

It was sent from the UK, idun, but the Royal Mail advise me that they are reliant upon La Poste updating the tracking site from their side. They haven't done this since the documents first arrived at the wrong destination last Thursday. I shall sit tight for a couple of days and decide what to do then, if they still haven't arrived.

It's getting a lot harder for children to 'hide' their parents money when there are care fees to be paid as local authorities are far more clued up on this than they used to be. If the local authority believes that a person asking for financial assistance with their care fees has somehow deliberately deprived themselves of their assets, i.e. given them away or hidden them with the express purpose of avoiding paying for care fees, they will pursue and carry out what is almost a forensic accounting exercise to investigate what has gone where. I don't see this easing off any time in the future, either, with the ever increasing number of elderly needing care and help in paying for it.

I was getting ahead of myself in thinking that all was going swimmingly with the purchase of our holiday home. I sent the compromis back to the immo on the 18th using a tracked service. Even though the envelope was clearly addressed (printed label to avoid handwriting issues), the 7s in the postal code were read as 1s and so it went to the wrong area on the 23rd. I'm assured that it's been re-directed to the correct address but have no way of knowing what's going on as La Post aren't updating the tracking site. As yet, even though the re-direction only involves the parcel going about 40 miles away, it still hasn't arrived. How do more regular users of La Poste find it to be? Have I just been unlucky on this occasion?

No, we don't have that concern at all.  We do still plan to take other holidays elsewhere, but we're very much looking forward to being able to explore the area in greater detail and at a more leisurely pace than our, to date, maximum of one week per year in France has allowed, not all of which has been spent on St Jacut.  It's very much a pied a terre that we can easily get to for plenty of long weekends and, as work/time allows, longer periods of time in due course.

Hi Richard, I'm sorry but I don't understand the question.  Is it whether I'm concerned about the language barrier or boredom of visiting the same place?

Thanks again for all your replies.  The purchase is going along very well.  The immo has been very efficient with getting the compromis and all associated documents together; the vendors signed last weekend, the docs were sent to us on Monday and arrived yesterday.  Everything is in order, so we signed and sent them back by tracked post this morning. We're not there yet, of course, but it's been a good start, so our fingers are crossed that the notaire is equally efficient and we can squeeze in a pre-Christmas break there.