vervialle

I hope you have many happy years sweet 17 , my only advice to anyone moving to France, it is  no fun being poor in any country you choose to live in.The U.K.workplace, is not easy but there is plenty of scope for working, but France has such a huge lack of enterprise and it is not easy to earn a decent salary especially if you do not have the language skills.The english people round our area are all in the building game and seem to be holding  out , due to there reliability and price.I feel France is on the eve of great change and whilst I welcome that, I would hate the country to loose its ethos. I love the fact shops are closed on Sunday, but over the last two years more and more now are open.I suppose they have to change, but it is all these family values about not working Sundays that I have always admired.I really do not want France to go down the same road that England has, but I fear it will.The younger generation of people will want more out of life than the people I know in my village in France,Half of the French population are frustrated and the other half are steadfast in their beliefs, so we are in a time of great change . Despite everything if you can have a decent life in france and enjoy all it offers, there is no better place in my mind. We now share our country in England with that many different races and sometimes in certain places I feel like a stranger in my own country which is not a good feeling.I am glad sweet 17 you are happy, I am sure it has been a good decision.

Well sweet 17 I have had my house in France for 16 years, I wished to move there when my son was six, but my marriage broke up and I was left with everything to sort out, I fought to keep the house in France , I could not really afford it, but deep in my heart I knew I had to fight to keep it, something just kept me going, the house had my soul . People reading this will think I live in fairy tale land, but it was the best descision I ever made.I spend as much time as I can in France, but have never been able to move there as my skills are narrow, 31years in a bank. Now I can retire if I want at 50, but cannot afford it just yet.Wherever I have been in the world, I love France more, it is a country with everything, the Med , the alpes,the ocean, the pyrenees,the beautiful valleys of the loire, the rugged coasts of brittainy. the volcanoes (extinct) of masif central.And of course my own place the Limousin.Well I am a person who loves the sun and sea, so some far off place would be perhaps more ideal,but no thankyou, France is a very beautiful country, I can quite understand why they are the least travelled people in Europe.

We have just come back from a idylic holiday in St Lucia, we had a villa on a headland looking out over the carrabean sea.It really was heaven and the climate, just perfect. A beautiful green island, very interesting and the rainforest right up to our doorstep. Well the neighbour came out to introduce himself, asking us if we were interseted in buying his villa, must have been at least two million pounds (didnt let on I was a lowly bank clerk and my other half a tiler) but he then went on to say they wanted to sell up to move to France, we did not mention we had a house there, but it just goes to show,it really is a wonderful island and they still want to move to France.Well I can honestly say it was beautiful, but give me my little patch in France anyday, I have yet to visit anywhere in the world that I love more than France. Am I brainwashed,I keep thinking something will turn up that captivates me more than France. but yet to find it.

Yes I think I will start going backwards Cathy, no one will  know except you lot.Wish I could make the picnic, perhaps if it is a success you can have another in the summer of 2009.

Quite happy to have it at my house, you would all have to bring tents, but |I can supply shower toilets and everything else, also have a nice heated pool.But am only in France July, August and first two weeks inSepetmeber, am In Haute \Vienne, near Eymoutiers.

Oh I do hope life doesnt stop at 50 as I am 50 next week,just got rid of my son and feel reborn and ready to party.I am in the limousin four months of the year and am 49 for one more week, just got in before the cut off.

Super Besse is great for beginners and le mont dore is a bit more lively, both much cheaper than the alpes.

Could you make it the first week in July,then I could come as I am in France July and August and Chris Head is near me in the limousin, the Charente is not to far, I think it is a lovely idea.It would spur on the diet as well.

You could all post your pictures with the rellevent month scanned from another calender on the photographic section, we the punters could print them off and post a donation to the chosen charity, I know it is a bit DIY but would do for 2008 and that would give you time to get more organised for 2009, might be a problem with the sunflower picture though.

I am going away tommorrow, so I would like to wish every one on the forum a Merry Christmas, a very special one to Christine for all her wonderful animal work,I look forward to the arrival of the calender.

Cathy my auntie had her first baby in hospital and a nursed dropped him and he died,she lost all faith in the hospital and had her second baby at home.Philip was only two days old, but we talk about him and he is really part of our family just not here.Perhaps by telling us another mountain has been climbed, by you, by way of sharing your grief with us in a public way and you will never know how many people you have helped by telling your story.It may very well give them the courage to share their grief, because it may be a comfort to know you are not alone.

I travel regularly to the Limousin with my cat,I have a dog cage which takes her basket a small litter tray, I use a kitten one, her food and we stop to give her water twice, but she never takes any.She moans for the first hour and then settles down.She prefers to sit on my lap, which I do allow but only with a collar and lead on , with the lead on my foot,but you really have to be vigilant at tolls and naturally keep all windows shut, so the cage is a safer option.I reccomend a collar and lead anyway for when you have to open the cage .I would keep them in the house when you arrive for at least five days, let them get used to the new surroundings before they are let outside.Good Luck,incidently Lily much prefers being in France and gets the miseries for a week when we return to the U.K.

You have said it all sweet 17 and that is exactly how I view the forum and have enjoyed it for many years.

Dirk Bogarde, Nelson Mandella,Dawn French and Richard Littlejohn to stir up the coversation.  

I am with bugbear and catalpa,it has all got a bit to serious for me.

You sound just like my husband!!!!!

No Katie I work in a bank, but on a university campus and I do term time only,so that enables me to have 18 weeks holiday a year. But sickness is managed strictly, and I must say It needs to be like that, it is amazing how many people have time off at the drop of a hat, with little commitment.Anyway I aggree with you about the lovely lunches in France, we always look for EDF vans in the car park and we usually strike oil, often not knowing what will turn up on the table,had pigs cheek one day and it was in a really nice sauce,wonder how that would go down in a Little Chef.Yes that is one of the great things about France.

It is more than you dare, full interview when you return to work, with all that Cr-p about can they help you with your health problems, I have not to experience one yet,but I understand they are trying to manage the skivers.My friend returned after having a hystorectomy and had the full interview, anyway for a laugh she went into full detail about her painful periods (male manager) he sat there speechless, we always laugh about it,now but they have never interviewed her since.Anyway only three weeks and term is finnished and I am not back for a month, so must not complain.

Its threads like this that set you thinking about your circumstance,I adore France and have spent so many happy times there, I do not think I could ever turn my back on it,but I equally love England, I love the history,my neighbours are fantastic so are my work colleagues,I hate the traffic and think of France and its open roads everyday when I drive home from work.I love the fact in my french village,nobody appears to be materialistic and they really care and fight for the good of the commune.I would like to live in France one day, but I am not a chancer so will have to be patient until my pension is right for taking.At the end of the day you can have a great life anywhere if you work at it, we are sitting by a lovely log fire with the smell of a nice roast in the oven,if I were in France it would be just the same, only one thing, got that Monday morning feeling looming.

I work for Lloydstsb and it is not a problem for you having an overseas address,the problems start when your account does not have a good turnover as that starts to govern your credit score and if you become a non resident then lending can become a problem , but if the account is used and active you should not have a problem, if you keep credits comming into the account at least once a month  this will keep your account active.The alternative is to have an offshore account and whilst there is a charge for this, which is not massive, you receive all the benefits of a U.K. run account. You can open an offshore account easily by downloading the application form off the website.I have an account with Credit Lyonais in France and when I transfer from Lloydstsb to Credit Lyonais I pay £10.00. for an economy transfer and credit Lyonais do not charge me anything for receiving the money. It takes two days to get there.

Yes I am watching the developments on the new healthcare proposals in France for people in our position.On the snow front, over the last 16 years in my experience,the limousin never has prolonged periods of snow, plenty of prolonged periods of rain though.

Krusty, where are you? we are in verviale near eymoutiers. we are hoping to spend more time there and possibly take early retirement, but the recent change in health laws for EU members looks like it will be impossible as we are only fifty, and I doubt if we could afford private medical insurance for 15 years as we will not receive a state pension until we are 65 years old, although we will have private pensions as soon as we retire. So unless my other half works it is a problem. It is nice to see someone from 87 on the forum.

Oh what a shame about Keith Floyd, I am not suprised, but I loved his laid back style of cooking, but I guess that old demon that  has been his trademark, has caught up with him.Still sad though!!

This might have been asked before, but how do students fair that are studying at French universities, I mean any european student.At our university in the U.K. we register all european students into the N,H,S, for free we give them a health check when they register and they do not pay for visits to the doctor. They get contraceptives free and help with drug problems, they can attend our accident and emergency units for free, so I am interested on the French System.Surely as a member of the European Union they have to do the same.

Its funny sweet 17, I associate with producing lovely meals whilst enjoying a nice glass of wine, I think a nice glass of wine tastes better when you are cooking and I get so much pleasure out of cooking and feeding people.I often wonder if it was years of watching Keith Floyd, he was one of my favourite cooks years ago as he always loved Provence and cooked mainly in the wonderful french style.He always had a glass in his hand and his love of his craft just spilled out.Even now when I get given the odd pheasant or some game of some sort by our local hunter, I plan the cooking and really look forward to the nice glass of wine whilst I am cooking, as you say how do you break that habbit, I have not a clue and am not sure I want to, it is one of lifes real pleasures.