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Like a laugh at something silly? I heard that the queen went for her annual visit to the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday and was shown round by the president of the Royal Horticultural Society. Nothing funny about that except that the man's name was Keith WEED?

Well, do YOU know anyone who speaks like that? Or am I moving in questionable circles?

Can some knowledgeable person please tell me what constitutes "montant des revenus exonérés de CGS and CRDS" please? What could possibly be exempt and could you give examples of the sorts of revenue we are talking about? What do you put, if anything in the box? Fervant thanks...

Thanks for that little gem. It tickles me that people really did used to speak like that! Not so funny these days as, instead of tea at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, it's apparently "wine o'clock" at any time after 10 o'clock in the morning?

Yes, Harnser, storms destroy lives and property. I wasn't trying to make light of that aspect of storms. As Chessie sounded enthusiastic about storms and I do like watching them, I wanted to ,well, figuratively stand by her side and admire the show. It's more about not letting her feel all alone as no one had replied to her post at that time. She'd had a difficult time lately and I have always treated the Forum as a way of connecting to others.

Sorry, don't know how to edit mistakes. I meant half way through the first SET when things were pretty evenly balanced.

Roalnd Garros season is here! All excitement chez moi... First Sunday yesterday so settled down at 11.00 to watch the first televised game. All was great, Ons Jabeur the women's number 6 playing the Polish quqlifier Magda Linette. Half way through the first game, the clock approached 12 midday. Magic Hour in France? Mai bien sùr, time for, what else, le déjeuner?? Would you believe it, the transmission en direct stopped, the TV went on to something else (don't know what) and resumed about 2 ish when, presumably all the French were replete with Sunday Lunch and ready to watch tennis again. Can you imagine the BBC doing that in the middle of a match in Wimbledon? Well, do you have experience of anywhere else in the world where this is a likely occurence? I was more amused than annoyed because after all I have lived here for several years now and have become used to many quirky little French customs ....and yet, and yet, WHY???

Unfortunately no storms where we live. The sky did get dark early and I was popping in and out of the house into the garden looking out anxiously for the storm to arrive. Nothing, most annoying. We have a long glassed in veranda extending the width of the house and I always hang out there when there is thunder and lightening. We have huge skies and uninterupted views so the show can be spectacular. My best storm ever was when we stayed in a hotel in Sorrento perched up on the hills. The storm was massive and lasted about an hour. I opened up the floor to ceiling windows and let the rain pour into the room. Vesuvius loomed in the distance, giving a nice scary feeling. I have thought about that particular storm many many times through the years. It's the only one particular storm that I remember vividly. Also sleeping next to my mother as a young child and listening to the rain on the roof but those memories are vague and all those storms are all mixed up in my head.

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...

Id, so we are both back here! Plus ça change plus c'est la même chose? Weary....YES, exactly how I feel too....

Thank you for your warm words, Loiseau. Judith, I am going to try to make contact. Does anyone have Judith's email or can someone please forward a message via here?