Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com

Yes the airport is going ahead. It is being built on the Causse south of Brive, between Brive and Souillac, nowhere near the N20/N89 intersection, sadlt, though I understand why. Last week Mme Chirac cut the first sod amidst general junkettings and festivities. However, I've just had a look at the news from the Chamber of commerce and this is what the headline said in 2004 L’aéroport Brive/Souillac en piste pour l’été 2007 Il aura fallu presque 20 ans pour que le syndicat mixte de l’aéroport Brive-Souillac(1) remplisse son objectif I'm sure I don't need to translate this. This is a link to a news report from 4 or 5 days ago http://www.e-midipyrenees.net/hebdopressedetail.asp?id=5588& In it they say it will be ready in early 2008. If they said the work would be finished by then, bet your boots it will be. The French nearly always finish their major civil engineering projects on time or early. I can't think of one in this area in the last 20 years which wasn't. During the planning stages, there was some doubt cast as to whether there was need/finance, but obviously with the increased number of low price flights around and the success of Bergerac, Rodez and Limoges, the viability looks pretty good. As you can see, it took them 20 years to solve the financing. ATB Ian

Hi, I think Miki's right in saying that targets are essentially meaningless. I know you say that you were surprised to see how similar figures quoted were from different areas, but I don't think that enables you to have any kind of realistic target or even vague expectation. Anyway, to answer your question. Relative to the trends in recent years, which is really the only sensible way of judging how we're doing. January excellent Feb - poor, Mar spot on average, April down a bit, May well up (surprising considering no long w/e these last two years). June - Magnificent (near 100% except for 3 days at the beginning) July bookings very moderate, Aug bookings poor. However, several of our colleagues - serious and good - have reported catastrophic spring figures and we have noticed that despite being pretty full ourselves, we've not been passing on anything like the number of enquiries we've had in recent years. It's also true to say that our results, having run this business for 10 years, as members of Gites de France, advertising in Sawday and being included in the Guide Routard, will be wildly different from those achieved by someone in their second year, aiming almost exclusively at Brit visitors, by having English language only advertising, present only in English language web sites and guides and so on. We have found every year has been different. I think that there is a complex inter-relationship between the events/weather in the previous year or two, the amount of advertising carried out by the Department, the weather in competing areas, and so on. You can be pleased/disappointed at your performance vis-a-vis your colleagues nearby, that IS meaningful, but if no one is travelling to your area, then no one is travelling to your area and you can't really blame yourself for that. I'd not be surprised for example, if the rows between Blair & Chirac reduce the number of Brits visiting France next year. It might even reduce the number of French we get here (as Brits ourselves). Of course such speculations are pretty pointless as we have no control over the events and have no way of knowing whether our ideas are right or not.

No Miki, You just shout louder.

Hi Cary, You asked:- want to make my classic cheesecake but i need gelatine. Have bought some stuff for tarts, the glaze on the top called "nappage". Is this the same as gelatine?? Nope, as TU said, nappage is like rather nasty jelly. You buy gelatine (VERY expensively in small quantities) in leaves. To use them, soak in cold water until really floppy. Then put into a mug in hot/boiling water. When melted, incorporate into your recipe as usual. I much prefer leaf gelatine to powder. For your info 1 leaf weighs arould 2-3 gms.

Hi, Grin! Yes 14 litres is rather a lot. But I run a B&B, and crème de cassis is one of the mixers I suggest for an apéritif kir. I am not even sure if I did it in that quantity, it's just how it was stored in my recipes database. Anyway, it has improved steadily over the last 10 years (grin again) so I don't think it was a bad idea to make it in these quantities. You should see how much Vin de Noix I make each year (very soon now, as it's usually made between St Jean and Bastille day)!! I see no reason why you shouldn't cut down the recipe to just one kilo of blackcurrants, though that won't do much to use up your glut! And yes it does taste nice - now. But I was woefully disappointed when I first made it. I think if I made some again, I'd be tempted to use one of the other recipes I've got, in the hopes that it wouldn't need _quite_ such a long cellaring.

Oh dear, oh dear, what have we come to when our definition of excellence in soup is so debased that we judge it by Heinz? No wonder Jamie Oliver waxes lyrical about debased tastes in the Uk. In fact what you so beautifully illustrate, is the danger of increasingly relying on supermarket food. We lose the reference points that we need to allow us to judge what IS good and what is merely artificially flavour enhanced. If you want to find out what Cream of Tomato Soup ought to taste like, try this. The quantities suit 6 1 litre sterilising jars, but you could halve or quarter to serve more moderate numbers. Be sure your tomatoes have some flavour, it's better to avoid supermarket ones, as even in France they're pretty poor. Make decent stock from chicken (or duck) carcases. @@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format Cream Of Tomato Soup british, soups, starters, vegetables 2750 gm ripe tomatoes 6  garlic cloves; chopped 1  celery stalk 275 gm chopped onions 300 gm chopped young carrots 2100 ml stock; (1) 1  bouquet garni 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar    freshly ground black pepper 700 ml stock; (2) 825 ml cream 1  chopped chives or basil Simmer the vegetables and bouquet with the larger quantity of stock (1) until they are tender. Remove the bouquet garni and puree the soup in the blender or sieve until it is very smooth. Taste, add  seasoning and remaining stock. If it is to be served cold, stir in the cream and chill. If it is to be served hot, bring the cream to the boil in a clean pan and add the soup gradually. In both cases serve sprinkled with chives or better, chopped basil. If you like a spicy flavour, add nutmeg to the soup as it cooks and sprinkle a little on top when it is served. Modifications for sterilising Season lightly. Blend the soup, then sieve. Pour into 1ltr sterilising jars, and seal and sterilise in the usual way. When reheating, season then bring add the cream to the boiling soup and serve without reheating. Yield: 24 servings

Hi, (For what it's worth, I understood your request from the title). Here's the recipe I used. Beware, you may find the pectins globulate when adding the alcohol. I didn't like this when I first made it. After 3 years in bottle, it's delightful. (You might feel it's worth reducing quantites!) I've also got a few french language recipes which are a bit different, can you read them? @@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format Creme De Cassis 5 kg ripe blackcurrants 5 liter red wine 8 kg approx sugar * 4 liter approx eau de vie blanche ** * Use 800g sugar for each litre of juice - see recipe ** Use 1 part of eau de vie at 40% per 3 parts syrup. Macerate the fruit in the red wine for about 48 hours. Ideally in the sun. Little by little, smash up the fruit in the blender, then press well in a cloth to extract all the juice. When all done, measure the volume and add 800g sugar per litre of juice. Put into a jam pan and put over low to moderate heat to dissolve sugar. When dissolved, warm gently to about 140F and start timer for 15 minutes. When timer goes off, stir gently and check temperature. Repeat 2-3 times, then set timer for longer intervals (say 1/2 hour.) Make sure temperature stays steady, as it shouldn't rise above 160F. After some time (>2 hours) the volume will have reduced slightly and the liquid will have become slightly thicker. Remove from heat and cool. Using a mug, transfer 3 measures of syrup into a clean container, followed by 1 measure of alcohol, added while stirring carefully and continuously, until all the syrup is added. Towards the end, adjust the volumes maintaining the ratio of 1 part of eau de vie to 3 parts of fruit syrup. Pour into sterile bottles, cork and leave a couple of days before drinking. Recipe Jane Grigson's Fruit Book MMed IMH Yield: 14 litres  

Hi I tend to agree with Zeb, though it has to be said that I don't seem to be inline with some french thinking. I (running a B&B with double/twins) got someone who wanted me to pack five into a double! "Oh the kids can sleep on the floor if you don't have enough beds". What we do is to have mathching singles, with bedding for both single and doubles, and fitted lower sheets which go over both single mattresses together, holding them together. You can then put the singles together to make a large double, which the guests love. Doesn't cost THAT much extra, for the duplicated bedding compared with the cost of converting the house. As a general rule I heartily advocate planning for maximum flexibility. No matter what you think is right now, it's perfectly possible you may change your mind later. It's difficult to change unless you've designed for it from the beginning. ALWAYS (as in your own home) put in loads of sockets, far more than the electrician - trying to keep his devis competitive - will suggest, for example.  

Hi, Of course I buy in Supermarkets. But not much, honestly. Mainly because I can't get fresh (but pasteurised) milk elsewhere. As for my charmed life. I buy bog rolls in Promocash since my toilet habits are obviously of paramount interest to you. I used to get them in Leader Price, but the quality went down the drain - err - to coin a phrase. I'm well aware the French are plunging headlong down the same shopping abyss as the Brits did 20 years ago. I don't have to like it, nor do I have to emulate it though. I buy my pork from Sylviane & Régis Balat, my chickens from Mme Vialle, my beef & lamb from TradiCorrèze, my ducks from René Larnaudie, my wines from the vignerons, and so on. I know most of my suppliers at the market, and in Argentat & elsewhere, and they know me. It takes me very little more time to do my shopping as I do, and the quality and freshness of what I get is incomparably better. I can even cook English food now, which is more than I could do in the UK - though with the improvements in the availability of decent produce again there, maybe I could envisage it if I lived there. And Miki, you BUY tomato soup? SHAME on you.

Hi TU. You said:- Deby, the last time they wouldn't open the checkouts and I was queueing like that I went down to the accueil and placed all my shopping on their counter, the lot, and off I waltzed with my empty chariot. The girl at the counter was just about screaming at me saying I couldn't do that, but I smiled sweetly and said if they couldn't be bothered to open tills to serve me, then I couldn't be bothered to buy. Two - entirely opposite - comments. 1. Quite right. And you should have asked for a complaints form too! 2. If you buy in Stupormarkets, you are playing into the hands of the system that is destroying the French way of life. I'm not too sympathetic!! (choose whichever reply makes you feel happy and fulfilled ;-)) And OP. No, it's not time to quit, it's time to learn French, get off your self pitying butt and DO something to make your life less boring. (He said- full of sympathy and the milk of human kindness).

Hi Christine, Well done!!! And thanks for coming back with the information. I might add that I feel less ashamed of myself at not having had the least clue about what it was!

Hi I had to have this test once, when I fell rather badly from a table and had some very nasty bruises. The doctor wanted to find out what I'd done. The doppler echography enables them to distinguish between blood clots, free flowing veins/arteries and muscle tissue as far as I know. I'm not a doctor, but reading between the lines, it sounds as if they are wondering abour phlebitis - where a blood clot in the lower limbs can come loose and wander about the body, possibly cause deep probs in heart or lungs. The french for this is "Phlébite" afaik. The tests are non invasive and painless. Get them done ASAP, certainly and also make sure he DOES walk. When he/you goes to the clinic, make sure you either take a French speaker with you, or check that they have someone who speaks enough English to explain what is wrong and what should be done. My experience is that you get the repart as soon as the test is completed.

Hi Coral, You asked about how I came to pay japanese Car Tax. I'm afraid my language was careless. It was a special japanese car excise duty. My Aerodeck would have cost £13k in the Uk, but I couldn't get a LHD one there so had to buy it "abroad". I bought it in Belgium. Tax free it came to £7k odd. Then came the Japanese car excise duty plus £2.5k VAT. Total cost around £10.5k. A significant saving. Sorry for the careless language.

Hi. Completely off topic and off thread. I've had a Honda since I moved here 16 years ago. Bought in Belgium to take to France - had to do so via the UK so I could have kept it 6 months there first (£1000 Japanese vehicle tax). Rules may have changed now of course. To get French plates you need a "certificat de conformité" from Honda and pass an examination by the Service de Mines. Again, the rules may have changed since then. Apart from the fact that I've never broken down with either of the two Hondas I've had here, nor either of the two I had in the UK before we moved, servicing is no problems, there's a brilliant dealership nearby, with "rolls royce" service (remember them they used to be brit made cars).

Hi, Well, I've had a good look, and I can definitily say it's not a buddleia (butterfly bush). That has flower heads that stand up, yours are racemes that hang down, and the leaf shapes are quite different. From your photo, I get the impression that the plant is some kind of rambler/climber, and that the flower colours evolve from a richish purple to a paler pink. Are the greenish parts seed pods by any chance? Whatever they are, I'm afraid I've no idea what the plant is. If you could take a series of closer photos, there's a chance I might be able to look again in Polunin. By the way, what part of France are you?  

Hi again Royston Very briefly, (just about to have a pre dinner bath!) Keywords. I accept that they aren't a "be all and end all", but they exist for a purpose. Use them, they cost nothing. At best they'll add focus, not only to YOUR way of thinking about your properties and how you want to market them, but also to the way the search engines and directories assess your site and at worst they will do no harm. Chat with your other half about what words you expect people searching the Internet to use to find you. In fact, try to find yourselves using search engines/directories. Whatever anyone may say, if you can't find yourself easily, something's wrong. Agree absolutely with Arnold that there MUST be a tie up between what you do, how you describe it on your web page and what the keywords say. So if you want to be found by people using the words B&B, Allier, Fishing (I know you don't) then your text should contain those words at various places (top, bottom and middle of your main page) but I repeat that these words _should_ be in your keywords. B&B is tricky, because the ampersand is used as an HTML escape character you need to put in "B&B" (without the quotes). Submit your site to the W3W validator site - http://validator.w3.org/ as the comments can help your webmaster make sure his code is in conformity with the standards - helps to make sure it displays well on _all_ browsers. I am unconvinced by Buntina's comments re the location keyword, though it's hard to find authoritative descriptions of the way keywords _are_ in fact used. To look for YOUR keywords, load up the page in yur browser and then navigate your way - using the top bar, to "View source". Then you might like to do a similar exercise on mine. You might like to ask your webmaster what search engines/directories he sumbitted your site to, and in which countries. Why should most such services have a "submit site" button, if it's entirely unnecessary? You might also like to print out the various comments you think are relevant and pass them to him for comment. Lastly, I fully accept that YOU are welcoming and good hosts. However, reading your site as a total stranger, who has been asked "what are we doing wrong?" I have to say that I get the _impression_ of negativity. That means that the site isn't reflecting the reality - or to put it more classically - isn't a good piece of sales material. Selling isn't easy, and too many people think that it is. Because it's dead easy to throw together some impressive looking HTML code, (even easier to use Dreamweaver - though it produces horridly convoluted code) many a random Tom, Dick or Harry has set themselves up as Web designers. I'm NOT saying that's happened in your case, though I don't think the overall design of the site is planned to lead people towards pressing the "book now" button, which is what you need. Anyway. I'm repeating myself. Sorry.

Hi Royston, Several comments. (I've read throught the thread, and agree with many of the others' comments, by the way). I looked at your site, which looks very attractive (although you've put FAR too much on just one single page) and the very FIRST thing I noticed was the RED BACKGROUND SAYING NO NO That's a real turn off. I agree that you've got to be honest, but I think you would be better off emphasizing the positive on your "front page" and then creating other pages (I'll come to this later) one of which would be "terms and conditions". THAT'S where you should say, "no this", "no that", "no the other". But I do think you should see if you can make things a bit more positive. Is there room for a baby in its own cot in the two Gîtes for 2. What about the Gîte for 2/3? Could they add one child? Also, I feel you should be much more forthcoming as to WHY. If you're worried about kids' safety in the Lake, then say so. As for smoking... explain yourself in a positive kind of way. Something like "Because we have many people in the Gîte, we have to make sure that there's no residual smell from cigarettes. You're entirely welcome to smoke outside, but please don't do so inside." As for multiple pages, it's a good principle that a web page should be able to be printed out on one - or two at most  - side of A4. Your excellent site would easily divide, obvious choices would be "The Photo Gallery" and "Prices and Bookings". Make sure there are plenty of easy to follow links between them. As Di (another member here) once said to me "Decide what you want people to do on your web site and make it easy for them to do it!" Another point. You can have the best Gîte in the world, but if no one knows about it, you might as well burn it down and forget it. So, you need to be MUCH more active in promotion. You say (rather weakly) "well I piggy back on a couple of web sites". So what about serious guides? Some friends of ours had a two person (no smoking, no kids, no animals) gite in an old "four a pain" not far from here. They kept their prices reasonable and they are booked >20 weeks every year! They advertised in "Chez Nous", and that's about all they did. What about Gites de France? (Not that their average lettings - in the Correze anyway - are that magnificent this year either). By the same token, you can have the best web site in the world, but if no one can find it, you might as well take it down. How much time have you spent in submitting it to search engines. Google, Ask Jeeves, Lycos, Yahoo, and so on? Not only in the UK but in the US. The biggest single clientele for Gîtes are the French, so why isn't your site bilingual? Could you find it by typing "Gites, Auvergne, peche" into French Google? Search  engines can't find and spider your site unless you tell them about it. Also, I've had a look at the keywords you use. FAR too waffley, in my opinion, and far too many of them. I counted 64, and several are mutually contractory. "Gites, gite holiday, holidays in france, france, holiday, puy de dome, auvergne, massif central," are all fine, though I'm not sure how many people will search for "holidays in France" as opposed to "gite, Auvergne" for example. However  "luxury, villas, farmhouse, apartment, bed and breakfast, villa, gites cottages, chateau, manoir, bed & breakfast, hotels and farmhouse, french cottages," gives me the impression of a desperate attempt to get hits on anything at all, and are unlikely all to be true at the same time. A villa, a chateau and a cottage? So decide what you really are, and just use the right key words. Also you could use a "Location" keyword, thus:- <META NAME="location" CONTENT="France, Europe, Allier, Massif Central, Auvergne"> for example. Anyway, I hope I've helped in making pointed criticisms, but each with putative solutions.  

[quote]Hi, Am I reading this correctly: I couldn't provide B&B in France if my house doesn't have a garden? Debra[/quote] Hi Debra Yes you are reading the text correctly. However, as laws have yet to be drawn up, you couldn't be prosecuted for doing so. I think the idea is to try to prevent people in flats and apartments from running B&B. Personally, having been to such places in Hungary, I see nothing wrong with them provided you know what you're getting, but I guess that it's not the image that those developing the concept here want to promote.

Hi, If you're anywhere near Argentat, then Yves Farges is honest and competent. I'm afraid I can't tell you the current prices as we had our work done 16 years ago. A lot depends upon the length of cable run required from the central curcuit breaker unit, how many sockets you need, and whether you want the guy to make good afterwards. How's your french?

How I agree with you. Cheddar is truly irreplaceable. The nearest cheese to it that I know of is Cantal - rumour has it that this ancient cheese was a favourite of roman soldiers, who took it with them on their way north to conquer the UK - and the ancient Brits, who knew a good thing when they had "liberated" it, made their own version which became Cheddar. True or false, a Cantal Vieux can be quite close in flavour to a fully mature cheddar, and the oldest Cantal "cantal croûtard" can be nearly as mouth stripping as a really strong mature farmhouse cheddar. We both find that the "Vieux" is as strong as we like. You can try cooking with it, though my personal preference for cooking with cheese is to use 50:50 parmigiani reggiano and 2 year old comté. But when all's said and done, if my visitors/guests couldn't be relied upon to bring the odd pound or two of Jamie Montgomery's or Keen's best, I'd get REAL withdrawal symptoms.

Hi GdF is more or less autonomous in each department. Cotisations are voted upon at the annual general meeting of GdF of the Department concerned though usually they accept the suggestions put forward by their Administrative Committee (which in turn will vote charges as suggested by the full time staff). That can vary widely and the basis can vary widely. I thought the Creuse charged a fee based on the maximum B&B rental. (Say you have 4 rooms at E40 = E160 per day so 100% of 3 days would be E480). Although the outgoings of each local GdF "antenne" can be broken down in the way Miki shows, I've not heard of any of the antennes, actually billing in that way. It could be that they are doing it to show just how much money goes to Paris! Whatever, here in the Correze, we've just voted a moderate increase for 2006 (to around E160 on average), which will include an individual "web site", linked from the Limousin site with 6 photos and some associated text. As for whether you _have_ to be registered with the CCI, I don't thing this is needed unless it is your only/major source of income. I suggest you try Welcome en Limousin in the CCI Limoges, who seem to be making a really positive effort to help brits.

Sounds to me like solitary wasps. They aren't solitary but live in small colonies such as you've described. The wasps are slightly smaller and slimmer with dangly legs. I like the water jet solution. Another possibility is to get a "bombe" from your local DIY or supermarket. There's one designed for wasp and hornets' nests. Big booger, with a sort of trumpet shaped nozzle. Mine is made by Eleco and has the words "Nid de guêpes - nid de Frélons" "Foudroyant 6m portée".  A good blast from that will do for them nicely.  

Hi Coco, I should have explained that Jacquie & I drink very little during the meal, say 1/4 of a bottle between us. So that makes round about 1½ bottles between 4, usually. My experience is that many French women drink less than a glass a head. So perhaps that puts the overall  consumption into better perspective. Remember also that probably 3/4 of our guests are French and that in general they don't regard drinking wine with a meal as some kind of competition. My experience is that of all the visitors we have the Brits drink the most - especially when they don't have to pay extra for it, with the French (taking men AND women into consideration) the least. What I regard as civilised behaviour is consuming enough to give pleasure, without skimping, but not drinking enough to get drunk. I use the standard INAO glasses with a total capacity of (hang on I'm going to do some measuring) 225 mls. When you pour a generous amount into such a glass (leaving decent headspace to be able to swirl and smell the wine, naturally) you pour in around 105 mls. That gives 7 good pours per bottle. After a good 100mls of an aperitive (white wine, kir or homemade vin de noix) and a glass of white with the first two courses, I rarely find people want more than two glasses of red. Perhaps it's _because_ we don't make a limit that people drink less. In any case, I've never limited anyone. Oh... and our meals are 5 courses, not 4. Soup (Although I serve wine with soup, most people don't drink it as it rarely goes well). Entree -  that's when the white wine gets drunk. Main course - red, usually, or we may just switch to a good rosé if it's appropriate, or even, just occasionally stay with white for a fish dish, or a very light white meat - in that case, we'll usually change the white to one designed for meat. People usually finish the red with their cheese, for all that it goes horribly badly with blue cheese (bad habits die hard), or if we've had white, either finish that, or have a glass of red. Mostly, our guests finish their wine before we start on the desserts (I'm not about to start serving my E15 monbazillac dessert wine for a E17 meal!). Yesterday, to give a concrete example. Hungarian Mushroom and dill soup, (actually the Bergerac Blanc was quite fair with it) Tarte aux Trompettes des Morts, made with loads of horn of plenty (craterellus cornucopioides) mushrooms etc, which was yummy with the white. One of our number (a Canadian lady) had asked for red wine as her aperitive, and stuck with that throughout the meal. Then for the main dish, Cassette d'Auvergne (roast leg of lamb on a bed of potatoes boulangères) and salad, we had a Bergerac red, which we finished with the cheese. We drank (a Canadian couple, an Australian couple and a frenchman on his own who only allows a one finger pour into the bottom of the glass (but four times!!)) a bottle and a half of white (aperitives and meal together (three vins de noix)), and about a carafe and a half of red.  I don't think I allowed ONE glass to get completely empty throughout the meal before topping up,  except at the changeover between white and red. (B*ms... I've tried to edit this message three times, once failed, the second time I got a power cut and the third time I was just cut off!! GRR) You said:- Interestingly, no one has commented (not even Ian) about how you would deal with an inspection where guests were drinking their own wine but the gendarmes were to point out that you don't have a licence. Well, Firstly I didn't comment because I don't think it would be the Gendarmes, but the Service des Douanes who police Licence fraud. Secondly because I think it highly unlikely they'd charge in for a surprise raid, they're much more likely to write to you informing them that due to information received, they believe you're illegally selling alcohol, would you like to explain yourself. But can I say that generally, I think that being part of a society inplies taking the rough with the smooth. I so love living here, and running a B&B that I am perfectly willing to put up with the (odd) lunacies of the system. Surely you don't ONLY obey laws because you agree with them and/or are afraid of the penalties if you're caught. I DID write much more before, but will update this post before anything ELSE eats it up!

Hi Coco, I'm afraid you're right! The petite licence is to consume drinks with the meal, the licence de debit de boisson a consommer sur place 1 cat is for non alcoholic beverages. Would you break licensing laws in the UK? (I wouldn't) So you have every right to insist that guests don't drink in their rooms, but what about the sitting room? That's what I do. I say, you are welcome to have a drink in the sejour, glasses are in the cupboard, here's corkscrew, help yourself, but make sure everything's spotless when you go to bed. If you don't have a sejour, then the garden verandah or whatever. You shouldn't sell alcoholic drinks, and you CERTAINLY shouldn't publicise the fact that you do. That's asking for trouble. No doubt your unlicensed french competitors who do are the mayor's second cousin once removed, you're not. That's the difference and that's the way it is here. WE have to be squeaky clean. Some have said here, they should have a drink when they want. So they should go to thew local caviste/supermarket and get a bottle to bring back - that's what the licencing laws say. So apply the law and tell people that's what you're doing. I really don't see the mania half of you have here to seek to avoid, evade, and whittle away at the legal fabric of what we're doing. You don't like the way France runs things? So sell up and go somewhere where you CAN do what you want. Jeepers!! It's all pretty easy going, you know. As for making a mess in the rooms, that's not the behaviour of adults, but of ill mannered louts, behaving like indisciplined 3 year olds. If that's your experience with Brit visitors (I've never EVER had a french visitor do that), then you may just have to apply different rules to Brits. Take a €100 deposit, and only give it back when you have inspected the room. That'll quickly give a clear message! Lastly - drinks with meals. Fortunately our guests are mainly very civilised. We've virtually never had people who drink too much. Just as we would do at any dinner party, we fill their glasses as and when they empty them, until it's time to serve after dinner coffee. End of story. I don't count or allocate, and on average I'd say that although the wines are excellent in quality (our guests usually say they're the best they've had in B&B), we use about 3/4 bottle of white and a bottle of red for 4 guests (plus us), rarely more. And if it does turn out that we have some thirsty guests we grin and bear it! Happened last night and we used a carafe and a half of red. Big deal at €2.50 a litre.

I believe that if you're permanently resident you do need a French driving licence. It is supplied simply on presentation of your British licence for one calendar year after taking upo residence. After that you will need to pass the French driving test. That was the situation when we move out here 16 years ago, of course Schenghen might have changed that, though it's equally possible that your local Prefecture might not know that. Is is silly or naive to suggest that you ask _them_?