hoverfrog

"the constat is not about apportioning blame" - but be aware that it can do, and the wording is very important. According to AGF all collisions on 'petite routes' are 50/50. In my daughter's accident the way the constat was worded (and they do pay attention to the poorly drawn diagram too) meant that she was apportioned 100% of the blame when in reality she was stationary when the other car hit her, as she slammed on the brakes but the other car didn't. Understanding the form isn't hard, but only having a miniscule box to write what happened in - especially when written french is not your forté, and being threatened with "sign or we call the gendarmes" can mean you end up in sh1t street! Big lessons learnt - particularly to take your time, not be intimidated, and to know your rights!

you fix it and then restore from the back-up. You do back-up, don't you??? :) Seriously, though, if your livelihood depends on your computer(s) then you look after your hardware, software, data and internet connection. You wouldn't be a taxi-driver and neglect to maintain your car, would you!

how big, does it work, what comes with, and how much do you want for it???

Some of the cash machines ARE in control of the bank whose wall they are placed in... I went to use the local CA machine one day, and someone was there before me and walking away very disgruntled and a bit perturbed. I approached, and the machine was in the process of rebooting. The usual screen appeared and I put in my card - and then the machine started talking to me! "does it work now?" - "I don't know yet, I only just put in my card!". "oh, is it doing the right things?" ... erm, at this point I was feeling a bit stupid talking to the cash machine (loudly, as it had asked me to speak up!) - and people walking past were starting to look at me odd! Turned out the bank had rebooted the machine, and the woman was still on the other side of the wall talking to me!

I am registered as a travailleur independente (MicroBNC) and don't do more than 60 hours a month, yet I was able to add my then other half (union libre) as a dependent. I can also add my 23-yr old daughter. They get their own carte vitale, and all of us are listed on both cards (i.e. doesn't matter whose card is used at the Dr or pharmacy for any of us) and they use my SS number on both cards. Costs more in cotisations, of course!!

yes please to the recipes!

I hired a van in Limoges and drove to the UK to pick up furniture. The most expensive bit was the ferry! "Berger Location " was the firm, and they didn't charge anything for extra mileage. Shop around - www.pagesjaune.fr is a good place to start.

if your train arrives very late, they hand out envelopes on the platform as you arrive. You have to fill in the enclosed form and enclose your tickets, booking confirmation and a "bulletin de retard" available at the station. The ex-out-laws train broke down and was 2 hours late on Friday, so I don't know if it works yet!

as far as numbers of burnt-out cars go, in the riots of 2005 they reported on the Limousin news that Brive had 2 cars less than average burnt the W/E with most disturbance! Turned out the average was 9 a W/E....

I wasn't aware that chocolate counted as a dairy product... Was given some today from a friend returning from the UK, so you certainly can on RyanAir!

something I used to make when vegetarian was a savoury crumble. Half cooked beans/peas/etc (the dry sort, not the green ones!) to cooked root vegetables in a white sauce (made with brown flour) topped with a wholeflour crumble. Herb-ed and seasoned to taste. It was yummy and I fed 20 members of the caving club on it for under 2 quid!

we have numerous self-sown sweet chestnut of varying sizes, 6" upwards.

"the 'conduit rigid' leads from the stove into the ceiling/ 1st floor where it enters the chimney, but there it terminates - the conduit does not go the full length of the chimney, which we understand to be illegal! " I recently asked about the regulations for installing a woodburner and was told that an "insert" had to have the chimney lined to the top, but a "poele" only had to have the required length of pipe to make it draw well, and if it didn't draw to add another section to it. Lining the chimney to the top is no guarantee that you will not have a chimney fire though - we had one in the UK betwen the liner and the chimney walls. The company that had installed the fire replaced the liner and filled the space with something resembling pearlite - 20 large sacks of it! When they came to replace the woodburner 10 years later, they made the mistake of removing the plate at the bottom, and the living room was knee-deep in white granules. They did tell me not to look when they started swearing, but I had to and just laughed my socks off! :)

actually the lindt mini-eggs were left over from Easter as the kids didn't like them :) Quality Street made extra-large versions of their usual range, and the purple ones worked a treat in rat-traps! Found that out by accident, as they'd eaten through my christmas store suitcase to get to the chocolate, and there was enough left over to dispatch the entire infestation :) Hearing a loud 'clunk' from under the bed in the middle of the night as the trap went off has to be one of the most satisfying noises!

there are lots of examples on the net. I was going to C+P some links, but just try putting exemple lettres légale into www.google.fr and then take your pick!

chocolate on a conventional 'nipper' trap. Quality Street purple ones work best in my experience (the ones with caramel and a whole hazelnut inside) but Lindt caramel mini-eggs from Casino are also very effective :) As has been said, check the traps several times a day and when there are no more mice then there are no more mice! Sometimes cats bring in more than they kill, but a Patterdale terrier will exterminate all of them very efficiently - even the ones the cats bring in and let go! We have had several varieties of mice - the 'house-mouse' is apparently unpalatable (bodies left in strategic places) but field-mice are devoured and the dog will mug the cats for a tasty mouse-treat.

there is a chain of restaurants called I think "Entrecote" which are really good and also good value. I have tried several in Paris but google isn't helping me today so no link :( Best bet is always to stay off the beaten track, and eat where the locals eat! Wander up the side-streets - we found a fantastic Lebanese restaurant that way not too far from Gare du Nord.

"have you tried dressing in black, gnashing and wailing?" now that's one I haven't tried - although brandishing a large chainsaw doesn't seem to put them off!

I think my one 'redeeming feature' was that my 23 year-old daughter was with me, and it was when she appeared next to me that the chap's other half stopped shouting at me and started on him! It's not easy keeping a low profile when the blokes all think they have a chance just because you've become single, and the women think you'll be after their fellas! :)

blimey - didn't realise I had neighbours on the forum! We're in La Veytisou - just the other side of 'the hill' from Eymoutiers! At the moment it's blowing a bit of a gale here, although I don't expect that it is in Eymoutiers as we are on the Chateauneuf side of 'the hill' (i.e. the highest bit at Bussy) and it's coming in from the SW as usual. We do notice that the weather changes going 'over the top' to Eymoutiers, and also at Masleon in the other direction. They say that Limousin has 8 micro-climates, but I'm sure it's more than that as our weather never resembles the forecast. It probably depends on the direction the weather-fronts are coming in, but sometimes we have the weather forecast for Tulle /Brive and sometimes Abusson or (rarely) Limoges. Thay said rain for tomorrow, but we've already got that - along with the high winds. Makes a change from the -2/3 we had all last week at night!

we had snow in Limousin on Thursday - enough to turn the ground white, but it didn't stay around for more than a few hours. Last February we had 60cms of snow in under 24 hours and all you could hear were the pine tree branches breaking under the weight - very eerie! Now it's -2 and very blustery - makes the fires draw well and identifies all the gaps in the insulation!

actually I think "eh quoi?" might have been more appropriate :)

if you have the business details (the SIRET number is a good start!) try www.infobilan.fr You can find out all the business accounts, projections, etc. how much they owe and for what - in fact more info than you will ever need! My friend is looking at taking over a hotel/restaurant and she has found the site invaluable.

cute? not even close! I do get on very well with his other half - we went on holiday together recently. She can be 'funny' though, and does listen to gossip. She had been out round the village looking for him, and came and retrieved him/rescued us - screeching at the top of her voice and threatening to kick him out! I don't want to complain to her though, as she gives him enough grief at the best of times and I think it would make matters worse :)

I don't know who edited my links to make them into clickable links, but they put a %20 at the end of the 1st one and the second one was wrong! I can't 'do' links from safari...