menthe

Thanks ssomon, now I know!😄 I use groundnut oil (peanut oil doesn't sound right either?) for all frying, olive oil for salads and roasting and the "quatre d'huiles" stuff for making cakes. I used to wonder a bit at "profiter" to mean take advantage of, make the most of as in "c'est le beau temps, on en profite". But now I can see how nice it is to mention "profit" with no reference to anything to do with money!!! The other word I like is "insister" to mean, persevere, keep at it, etc. I think I make wonderful and often amusing discoveries in the French langue everyday.

Wools, I had quite a bit of advice on this some years ago. I have tried but I can't for the life of me remember who it was who gave me links to the form you need to fill in. I have also searched the forum using the search engine but goodness knows what babies they have thrown out with the bath water on here. Is this link of any use? http://www.europe-eje.eu/sites/default/files/pj/dossiers/france_petit_litigeenglish.pdf

Has anyone noticed how much bigger their supermarket bills are? Is the climb as steep as I think it is? Are fresh produce such as lettuce and other veg, meat and fish more expensive by generally about 20%? I thought that our inflation rate in France is just over 5% so are retailers simply whacking up prices and hoping customers with little or no choice will carry on paying out? If you have any personal observation or experience, I would be interested to hear it.

Castex was also a technocrat. I have read that some of these technocrats run things very efficiently. Many technocrats through the years have been responsible for "making things work" in large cities. They become mayors. I believe that Grenoble used to be held up as an example of what a modern French city should look like. Mind you, the book I read was written a few decades ago. I don't feel on such firm ground talking about present day France.....simply do not know or understand enough.

Elizabeth Borne it is then, Harnser. Some commentators in the French media are calling her a Mrs Thatcher figure!!! So is Macron really lurching to the right? Can he still call himself a centrist?

Did anyone see the match today, semi of the champion cup, between Leinster and Toulouse? Such a passionate, fiercely fought, energetic game you'd ever wish to see. Football fans can keep their football, if all rugby matches were like this one, there will be rugby fever instead of Wagatha Christie gripping the imagination of so many!

I agree with your thinking re Mélenchon, Harnser. Macron has a healthy majority and doesn't need "cohabitation". Harking back to history again, has a president ever re-appoint the same PM after winning a second term?

Thank you, Hanser, precisely the information I was asking for.

What a limited range of topics we have these days so French History is the nearest fit. I see that Macron has still not appointed his new PM. Is there always a new PM if the president is re-elected? Is poor Castex to be cast aside? Must admit I didn't like Castex when he was first elected. I compared him poorly with his predecessor and didn't like his accent or the way he always seemed to shout when he talked. Then I warmed to him as I thought he was quietly efficient and he could hold his own just fine in parliament. Does anyone have any historical knowledge of this process? What happens when it's time to elect the legislature and still no PM?

I agree with anotherbanana on this one. Thanks from me too, le martin-pêcheur. I have made a note of your rate and will be using that.

Fingers crossed....for you, for us both😁

Oops sorry Judith, was replying to Kong when you posted. I also don't transfer money monthly, not even yearly. Tend to transfer a lump sum at intervals of maybe a couple of years. But, like Kong, I used to do that actual day thing.....such a bother and a pother, me with my near zero numeracy..yuck!

I used to do that too, Kong. Looked up all the historic rates and it became a real pain. One reason for it being so tedious is because my husband receives money from 3 different sources on 3 different days in a month and I get my state pension and local authority pension on 2 different days which are also different from HIS 3 days! Last year was the first year that I used one single rate as proposed on here and this year I intend to do the same. I have quite a major op coming up in May and a walking holiday around the middle of June if I am up to it. Would just like to get the declarations out of the way so that I am not distracted from what I need to do to ensure a good recovery. BTW, I am glad you are on here, Kong. You will remember about those bonds (the bribery ones from the Tories at the time of the 2017 election) because we both bought some? To cut a long story short, I have left my money there through, I don't know, idlenness....But you might now like to look up the NS&I's Green Bonds.

Bonjour to everyone on here. May I be the first person this year to ask what exchange rate we are using for our tax declarations this year? Has anyone had an answer from an "official bod"? I no longer have a local tax office and the allocated one is now half a département away and phone calls do not tend to be "bien simple"😧

Cajal, thanks. Yes, I think that is what you need to do too. However, just to test the system, I put in a link to a French newspaper article that I had saved and tried to "paste" it into the message box. Guess what, no joy.....urg...