Catalpa

[quote user="NormanH"]I have just had a look on the "other" Forum (I can because I am in the clinique on their Wifi, so my banned IP doesn't show up [6])[/quote] I read "clique". I was briefly surprised by you admitting to being in (or even finding!) a clique, Norman. [:P]

[quote user="Pickles"]And as for the burning of cars on New Year's Eve, well, that just DOESN'T HAPPEN now, d'ya hear? Nope. Not at all. It was abolished a couple of years ago. [/quote] Odd, isn't it, that the French media is colluding with the likes of French Entrée and AngloInfo in pretending the car torching and unrest doesn't really happen. Or at least, is not "worth" reporting. Ha! [quote user="sweet 17"]I must admit to some sympathy for those who thought it was all wonderful and then, for whatever reason, couldn't manage to hack it (or whatever the current expression is) in France. [/quote] As I run a chambre d'hôte, over the years I've had a fair few guests who've stayed while house-hunting. When they're waxing lyrical about the charms of France, I have to bite my tongue so that I don't contradict them too often - or even at all if all they're thinking of doing is buying a holiday home. But sometimes when people are talking of selling up completely in the UK and moving over - especially if they are early retired - I have to be honest and (briefly!) tell them the possible pitfalls. Even so, of the half-dozen or so I know of who've subsequently moved over permanently post-retirement, two of the partnerships / marriages have broken up within a couple of years of moving here... and in each case, I'm not really surprised. It's my perception that men settle in nicely but women want more of a sense of achievement from life and rural France doesn't easily deliver that for women. The people who seem to do best are a bit less sociable and more insular and very self-contained. But then, factor death or divorce - or even very serious illness - into the equation and the life they've made isn't right any more. Are they wrong for making the move? No, I don't think so - because how can you know till you've done it? Try to make a move from a position of knowledge, sure - and keep a foot in the UK property market - but being too fearful of what the future may hold isn't a fulfilling way of living a life. Imo. [quote user="Chancer"]So whilst not a wrong choice I do however now realise that the France I thought I was coming to and the life I would have there were complete self made illusions.[/quote] But! [:)] In another part of France, perhaps there is a place that is closer to what you thought you were coming to. We know from this forum and others that depending on location and circumstances (age, marital status, kids, etc) the French experience can be quite different. Although Idun and I are similar ages, her experience of France is completely different to mine - which always fascinated me when she lived here. The France she - and Norman, for that matter - describe isn't "my" France. But, of course, my life experiences in south-western England might not have been replicated in Wales, Lincolnshire or Perthshire.

[quote user="NormanH"]You all really do live in a different world [:)] I think that apart from Chancer it is because you are in rural locations with a personal service.[/quote] We're very rural and our Facteur Fred picks up (stamped) mail as well as delivering mail. He gave us a magnet sticker thing which we stick on the outside of the box if there are (stamped) letters in the box which we'd like him to take and put in the mail. I think it's normal around here. Generally, though, he's a lazy sod and will do as someone else mentioned - open the post box to push a package in which doesn't fit so he leaves the door open allowing the rest of the post to fall out, get blown around, rained on... [:@] That's a useful link, Betty. Thank you.

[quote user="Martin963"]Who remembers Coco (always at the centre of any fight!),  or Mazan,  or teamdup (well of course.....,  she's not far away even now!).    Did Ron finally fall in the Aveyron?   Or Swissbarry - I think it was he who wrote the funniest post about trying to listen to the BBC in bed that I've ever read...... Or Will the Conqueror.  Or Baz...[/quote] Coco is still in France running an extremely successful chambre d'hôte and I see her occasionally - very occasionally like once a year. Swissbarry I adored. I loved his sense of humour. But then I always liked an earlier incarnation of The Riff-Raff Element... can't remember what name he used "in those days" but his posts frequently made me chortle. Will le Conq and Mrs Conq are (or were, last time I heard) back in the UK - I think Mrs Conq has been looking after her mother. They still have their French interests, I'm sure. In fact, I saw them on a ferry a couple of years ago. Only to speak to very briefly - I had a streaming cold, was running a temperature and was feeling most unsociable. I miss Tressy - Tresco as was. Some of the Tressy / Twinkle / KatieKK threads used to make me lol. But if we're talking past members, especially those who were always up for a scrap, one has to mention... ...Miki. [6]

[quote user="Val_2"]As a non national you must also understand when there are any elections of ANY kind in the commune, YOU are not even allowed to go near except to vote where eligible, you cannot assist with the scrutin nor be present...[/quote] That's really interesting, Val. So, just to clarify, if a non-French national is on a liste, they can turn up at the Mairie (for us) to cast their own vote but they cannot assist during the day and they should not be in the room during the "count" in the evening? Equally, once elected, a non-national cannot be part of the rota or even in the room during any other elections that take place at other times? Presidential elections, for eg? By the way (and for what my opinion is worth  [:D]) along with Parsnips and Sunday Driver, you are another of my respected posters. With your experience of setting up and running a successful building-related business over many years, your posts were always invaluable to us. Edited to add: and I've just seen your post, Norman. Thanks.

[quote user="tinabee"]I suspect that there won't be much politics here, it is a very small village...[/quote] It's the same in our village - and the same as small village parish councils in England for that matter. The party allegiances only really start to matter at the next level. Upthread someone mentioned that with the new regulations, there has to be 50/50 gender representation on lists this year - I believe that's only true for communes with a population of 3,500 upwards so that change is unlikely to affect your council either. Best wishes for a successful election! [:)]

[quote user="nomoss"]Here is a link to the welcoming and helpful responses to a new poster, which is not an isolated example [/quote] I think the responses to that opening post were perfectly reasonable, Nomoss. I don't click on links provided by first time posters either and I suspect that few here were motivated to start figuring out a tax regulations vs maths problem for someone who'd popped in just looking to satisfy their curiosity. Did you research the problem yourself for the poster? What was the answer?

[quote user="idun"]I think that this extra care your Maire gives is down to the size of the place you live in. Our village was too dispersed with lots of hamlets as well as a decent size village which made the whole thing quite big really and no one would have been made a special case....... and getting the gendarmes out of the caserne for anything was very difficult. Maybe that was just the region we lived in. [/quote] I think it is down to size and perhaps also region - ours is a tiny village, a really tight-knit community (with a seasoning of feuds of long-standing) of about 300 inhabitants spread over about 10 km² and the maire involves herself in everything that is going on. Some people view it as interfering! but equally, a French family who were having dreadful problems with EDF and getting nowhere (and were about to enter a third winter month with two kids under the age of 4 with no electricity in their all electric new build) were absolutely thrilled that she waded in, bashed official heads together, and got the problem sorted within a few days.

The question I could never bother to reply to was: I want to move to France. Where is the best place to buy a house? Muppets. [quote user="idun"]And I have seen really bad info on here from respected members. [/quote] I've always wondered how posters become "respected". Number of posts? Time served? Effective use of spell-check software? A respected poster is a very rare thing and I can only think of two who deserve the description: Sunday Driver and Parsnips. I've seen some rubbish posted over the years by long-standing members. Of course, they've truthfully posted about their specific experience but failed to take into account how old the experience is (things, regulations, requirements, etc, do change) the poster's precise circumstances and also region. What is normal in Normandy (say) isn't necessarily so in the Auvergne but those of a dogmatic disposition usually failed to acknowledge this and entered into tiresome tirades about how anyone disagreeing with their experience must be pink and fluffy. Someone's experience of how the health care system works may be absolutely correct for their circumstances (working for French companies, perhaps) and utterly useless for an early retiree or someone starting off as a self-employed builder... or maçon if s/he's metier specific. Too long in France may cause fonctionnaire vision - too narrow and sometimes defective.  [:P] Many maires won't give a stuff that someone new (nationality irrelevant) has bought a house in their commune. Contrarily, and carrying on from where our ex-maire left off, our maire makes a point of going out to visit them and if they are English-speaking, she sends her tame Brit off to greet them and welcome them with a bi-lingual handbook explaining how life works. She is delighted if the new arrivals go in to introduce themselves to her and considers it an affront to her efficiency if there's someone in the commune whom she's not managed to meet. A British-owed holiday home was broken into in the summer. When it was reported to the mairie, the maire called the gendarmes and went down with them to inspect the property. She spent several hours ensuring that arrangements had been made to make the house secure, that the gendarmes had the owner's contact details, etc. Is she unusual? Yes, probably. But her attitude proves that going to introduce yourself to the maire, while frequently disparaged on this forum and others - is not necessarily an absurd waste of time, especially in the small communes frequently favoured by British people. Though I am confident our maire would politely decline any spiritual gifts. [6]

[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]I don't bother much with French forums these days: after 11 years here I don't really need them for information. [/quote] Same here. We're just entering our 10th year; on the face of it, I should be able to offer lots of information to people who're thinking of moving here / buying a second home ... but things change over the years and my advice on fosses, entering the health system, registering UK cars and trailers etc would probably be plain wrong now despite it being right when we did stuff. And my specialist subject never was ancient boilers. [:D]

[quote user="Lehaut"]...my reply was to indicate the things I don't do that "normal" people do. [/quote] You also do things that normal people don't - as indicated by your recent posts about your "generous use of poison" to get rid of local cats.

[quote user="Loiseau"]I was beginning to worry about forumites' apparent need for quite so many painkillers in the year... [/quote] [:D] OH took a couple of ibuprofen most work evenings in the couple of years before he had both hips replaced. Say 8 per week, 400-ish per year. In high season when I'm on my feet for about 16 hours a day, I occasionally take a couple because my feet hurt! And yes, in both cases in France, the painkillers could probably have been prescribed "free" but first define free - both to the individual and also to the French health service... a point raised earlier in the thread.

[quote user="Judith"]TESCO will only allow purchase of two packets of (say) paracetamol or aspirin and when asked why claim ''it is the Law'' - it isn't. It's the store policy.[/quote] This may have been mentioned by now (but as per, the forum takes forever to load a new page for me so I'm giving up) but Boots will sell you a tub of 100 x 200mg ibuprofen (my preferred painkiller) if you ask at the pharmacy and they stock them - cost: about a fiver. However, Tesco pharmacy will sell you 96 x 200mg ibuprofen for about half that. Either way, talk to the pharmacist, explain you live abroad and I have, over the past 10 years, had no difficulty in buying large quantities.

[quote user="Lehaut"] Thankfully, the generous use of poison and the ownership of a gun has reduced the incidents.[/quote] Clearly, your pride in your actions will enable you to tell us whereabouts in Normandy you live. Or are you only bold when you're spreading poison or have your finger on a trigger?

[quote user="Yonner"]We watch the Tunnel, Le H,  its become “ must see” for us. Well acted, interesting plot and a good chance to practice French. [/quote] I know it's airing on Canal+ but is it free or part of the subscription package? We only have the fta channels - which means we don't watch it in English either as it's on Sky.

A rather entertaining blog review of Day of the Doctor...

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]In a compare-and-contrast kind of way, is Dr Who more important than the Kennedy assassination? In the great scheme of things, are either of them important enough to warrant blanket TV coverage? I admit, David Tennant is very pleasing on the eye, but I've had enough now. [/quote] Well, he was... until I saw his plait! I can - obviously - see what you're getting at re the coverage. But I think they are such different events it is difficult to directly compare them or to fairly assign levels of importance. JFK - with the brief regeneration possibilities offered by Bobby - remains a character of his time and is simply a piece of (recent) history. The Doctor, being fictional and pretty much immortal and having good scriptwriters, continues to be relevant years after the original idea. And it has the full power of the BBC marketing and PR departments behind it. Not to mention to denizens of Outpost Gallifrey... [:-))] I can see that it is probably mildly annoying to people who aren't interested (because I feel that way about football and F1 racing [:D]) but Doctor Who is fundamentally very moral, feel-good tv. It is only tv... but I think it's not a bad thing to be celebrating...

[quote user="idun"]Strange program the other night made by Ridley or was it Tony Scott...[/quote] Probably Ridley if it was a recent production - Tony Scott died last year. e2a: If you are using Google, you'll see a little line of Daleks at the top of the result (or other) screen. Click it and you go to the Google home page. Click your preferred Doctor and you'll get a Doctor Who game where you have to navigate him around the obstacles  (monsters) to a prize and then back to the Tardis. There are, I suppose, eleven levels, each one - as is the way with these things - more difficult than the last. [quote user="Thibault"]There was a drama on the other night about how the programme started written by Mark Gattis which was excellent. [/quote] It was. I don't usually watch dramas "based on real life events..." - or manage to stay awake if I do - but this was good, not least as a glimpse of the BBC in that era - even if someone isn't overly interested in the show itself.

I love it. [:D] If anyone else loves it and has not yet seen the 7 minute webisode: if you've not got access to either the Red Button or BBC iPlayer or similar ways to catch up, have a look on utube... you're looking for The Night of the Doctor. Watch it before tomorrow (Saturday) night's episode. If you're not a fan, don't bother - it'll be meaningless to you. In fact, here's the link to YouTube... We're all different. For example, the obsession with the Titanic anniversary (last year?) mildly puzzled and certainly bored me. But thousands? millions? obviously watched and enjoyed. The shooting of JFK was shocking but (unfortunately) there's no parallel universe (in a timey wimey sort of way) enabling us to accurately compare and contrast a world with JFK completing his term(s) as president and what real life actually delivered. So, shocking as it was, though the documentary makers are trying hard, what new is there left to say? Assuming one isn't a conspiracy theorist, that is.

[quote user="Salty Sam"]May it also serve as a reminder... that in the event of an accident, many others will put their own lives at risk in order to bring about closure.[/quote] Exactly my point. This thread won't serve as a reminder of that sort because this thread will disappear down the list into the archives. A 'sticky' - which can always be started with a comment along the lines of: Following the death of one of our forum members while out walking... will remain permanently visible for those that care to look and for whom it might be directly relevant and useful.  [quote user="Quillan"]Incidently I still see nobody thanking thse that went out physically looking for her. [/quote] Why would we? We may be thankful that such groups of people exist - I am - but it's meaningless for me to say a personal thank you to anyone involved in the search.

A topic on safe walking / skills and equipment to have / precautions to take when walking in the mountains is undoubtedly a good idea in the light of Carol's accident. However, I can't see that this thread is the right place for those comments and advice. This thread reached it's logical conclusion when Carol's body was located. Any expertise with maps and compasses does not seem to have played a part in her fall. Also, putting such recommendations on this thread can't fail to look critical - if her family or friends come across this thread in weeks or months to come, they don't need to read strangers saying what they undoubtedly already know themselves. Such a thread would deserve to be a 'sticky' (or FAQ or whatever they are on here). If no one objects perhaps, mods, you could take the very relevant posts about 'wilderness safety' and put them in a new thread.

EmilyA, first of all I'm sorry that your family is going through such a worrying time. In your situation, I think I'd be faxing the UK newspapers with a paragraph of background on Carol, the fact that she is missing, where she is missing and a list of local police / gendarmerie offices, newspapers and tv stations in France for them to contact for further information. Receiving enquiries from the UK press might well encourage the French local - or even national - press to pick up the story and publicise the search. Be prepared for some sensationalist reporting and perhaps some intrusive questioning but as a means to an end - a sustained and intensive search - it may be what you need. Best wishes for a good outcome.

And then there's the maire of le Mont-St-Michel whose self-serving and illegal opportunism reduced tourist numbers to le Mont... qualifies under Wooly's definition of immodest enrichment, I think.

Where did you buy your bombe, Chancer? Point Vert or similar agricultural / horticultural emporium? We have an outbuilding that has only been used for storage - hay, straw etc - for about the past 12 years and it is jumping with fleas and other bite-y things... that appear not to have had a good feed on warm blood for about the same length of time. [+o(] Clearing the building hasn't cleared the insects so something serious needs to be done before I can start to use it and a bombe sounds just the thing.

[quote user="gardengirl "]I know that Cooperlola is often in the minds of people on the forum, Ian. I did a search here for something a couple of days ago, and she popped up on it with cheerful helpfulness. I bless her when that happens, and think of you as well. [/quote] Exactly what happens to me too, GG. Hope life has settled into a routine for you now, Ian, and that all goes well with animals various.