andyh4

On the other hand we have friends with a pool who do all of their maintenance themselves. They are here for around 4/5 months each summer and simply lower the levels, drain the pumps and filters and cover the pool for the winter (autumn and spring). So far no problems that could not be solved with Ph control and sufficient chlorine, coupled with regular cleaning through the filters and with a robot . Maybe just lucky.

Have heard about the dearth of butter - especially Bretagne butter - and yet out Super U in deepest Ardeche has boxes of the stuff. I agree that farmers have to be properly paid (and recently have not been for milk and milk products), but I am beginning to think this may have more to do with the distribution groups than the farmers themselves - which if true will mean they miss out again.

Totally agree about language and hence the disappointment that mine is not better. The trouble is that quite a number of our friends want to improve their English when they speak to us and persuading them that it is more important that we get a semi fluent command of French is impossible.

Good luck John, super post. After 4 years total immersion in France - preceded by 2 years working in France - I still feel that my German is better. It shouldn't be but it is. And worse, we can both struggle for English word s from time to time having either the French and or the German word readily to hand!

Idun wrote: WOW! And I hear how the french health service is broke on the news and they dish out this cadeau, because 8% is just that. I understand that there is supposed to be some sort of equality for EU ressortissants... but why non EU..... Don't get it! But surely for a non EU resident to be granted leave to stay for more than 3 months (ie are given a visa), they either have to be registered refugees or to have a significant personal income so that they cannot be a burden on the state. So 8% of that significant income will in itself not be insignificant.

But that is exactly the point of Norman's post on France. Yes there are superb centres of excellence around the country, but the less populated areas are now suffering a dearth of services - just like the UK. I cannot judge what the UK is like anymore basing my experience on family members all in the SE, and "local" news reports to where we lived - where the picture is very, very different and it seems to me very much more severe than the problems here in my bit of France - which is not immune by any means. If you doubt me then just do a search on Wansbeck (Northumberland), Northallerton (N Yorkshire), South Shields (Durham), Whitehaven (Cumbria). These are just hospitals under threat. Last year the retirement of a GP in Northumberland required the local population to re-register with GPs at least 15 miles away - by no means a unique situation out in the sticks. Here in France we have lost 4 local doctors but 2 new dynamic doctors have arrived (and to be honest I could never understand how such a small population could support so many doctors, but I now have to book an appointment several days in advance rather than for tomorrow). The local (cottage style) hospital is expanding and large sections are being replaced with new buildings and facilities. I tried to do a comparison of our area with Wansbeck and could not find the regional population but Ashington which is part of the Wansbeck area has a population over 3 times our local population. Both countries have their problems but my limited view of regional services - as opposed to metropolitan services - is that France is still well ahead of England.

But that is (I assume) in the sunny leafy scenario of South East England. Try going to Northumberland or Durham even Cumbria, where local hospitals are closing and GP practices are not being taken up when the incumbent GP retires. They talk of a golden hour in the event of a serious problem - trauma, stroke etc.. Well if an ambulance takes on average 8 minutes to get to you (and in these areas 8 minutes is a rarity) it takes 10 minutes to assess you and 40 minutes to get you to a hospital, the golden hour is reduced to just 2 minutes!! Good luck with the queue at A&E.

NormanH write: All of the students assumed incorrectly that her partner was of the opposite sex How did that affect the medical care she was given? Just as a for instance, if (as an MS sufferer) it was deemed that she might need some physical assistance in say getting out of bed, it might well be deemed (not necessarily correctly) that a man would have the strength to lift her, whereas a woman would be less likely (but not necessarily) to be able to do so. Knowing that the partner was female could well lead to an additional line of questioning to establish the levels of need.

Apparently I too should be in the Dordogne, but then as others have said the opportunity to give your real answer to the questions is severely restricted.

Well said Idun. Price is always an important purchasing factor - unless you have far more than anyone on this board has. I have never bought any house in any country where price has not been an important - often overriding - issue. It is why we live in Europe and not (for example) the Bahamas - not personally my thing, but you get my drift. It is why we live in 3 bed semis and not 4 bed detached. It is why people live in York and commute to the capitol and do not live in Hampstead or Canary Wharf. And it is very importantly, why a number of foreigners (not just Brits - I am surrounded by Dutch, Belgian and Germans) decide to move to France to the countryside for their (pre) retirement and, if not final years, then last active years. Beyond price we will all have our personal individual reasons for choosing a location - and thank goodness for that, otherwise this little mountain village would be overrun and would be a small city. Many, myself included, will be driven when looking for a maison secondaire or even permanent home by accessibility from wherever they live(d) - although relying on a single loco carrier route has proven to be poor choice in some cases. I kept my options open and did not rely on any of the usual suspects for travel - in fact only used them once IIRC. So like it or not, the Dordogne does fit with many of the desires and requirements and does fit within the price range of many. Not my personal choice but then I had other driving factors.

I have the same problem with my fat balls ALBF. You hang them out for weeks or months and no birds are attracted. Then comes a cold snap and there are tits all over them.

Yes I could go with Tetrapak as an iconic design, but could it be improved?? Well despite the recycle bins accepting it (but not it seems yoghurt cartons*), it is such a mish-mash of materials that its recyclability must be questionable. [HDPE cap and cutter; card body, but wax impregnated; frequently bonded (with what as bonding agent?) to an aluminium coating and usually a PE liner bonded to that.. * Why the hell cannot we recycle a yoghurt carton? They are either made from PP (floats in water) or PS (sinks in water) and both can be recycled. Sorry design of recycling systems rant over,

If I can continue contributing to society after my demise then that is probably to the good , isn't it?

Well I thought there was a national law from IIRC 2011 that forbids the burning of all green waste. So if you are allowed a bonfire, you are very lucky. The observance seems to be somewhat shall we say, applied in the French manner. Here no real observance at all, but the next commune it is strictly observed - but they are in a valley and enjoy the effect of smoke hanging in the air sometimes for days on end. Before the ban, the maire of the next commune had a similar system, and you had to get permission the day before from the local fire station, which would be refused if everything was too dry or if winds were forecast in their opinion to be too high.

Can agree on the TGV but cannot agree on the double decker. The lower deck is cramped and frequently crowded and has all the allure of travelling in a Shorts flying portacabin.

Cajal wrote andyh4 wrote: There are a few products that fall in between. I happily use Lidl dishwasher tablets for low temperature cleaning, but have found that at high temperature washes glassware starts to become milky after a time. I therefore use a much more expensive branded dishwasher tablet when I have glasses in a hot wash. Probably a false economy given how cheap glasses are to replace. Wash your decent glasses by hand (and polish">) and continue with Lidl products. You are of course correct but then it is so much easier to just put them in the dishwasher and of course glassware also includes those Pyrex or similar ovenware which inevitably get baked on food residues that really do not come off easily - indeed are the most usual reason for using a high temperature wash in the dishwasher.

It is in my opinion horses for courses and there will be a great deal of personal opinion and perhaps personal prejudice involved in a decision of own brand versus brand leader goods. I discovered Aldi and Lidl in Germany. There, there was no stigma involved in shopping at these establishments, but when they appeared in the UK I am told that some shoppers would switch their purchases into Tesco or M&S shopping bags, so no one would know they were buying the cheap stuff. There are many products where I am happy to buy such own brands, but equally some products I find less good than a branded item or more expensive own brand from elsewhere. There are a few products that fall in between. I happily use Lidl dishwasher tablets for low temperature cleaning, but have found that at high temperature washes glassware starts to become milky after a time. I therefore use a much more expensive branded dishwasher tablet when I have glasses in a hot wash. Probably a false economy given how cheap glasses are to replace.

Speaking for myself I fully understand that not everyone is the same and has the same needs and motivations. Your needs and desires are very different from my own. But this seems to be a point that you have absolutely no grasp of. You bang on about not buying renovation projects. They will loose you money. What we are saying they may lose us money - or maybe not - but making money is not our motivation. As I wrote above my motivation is having property that meets my immediate and foreseeable future needs. This is something that buying a box on a lotissement or a flat in a vibrant city would fall far short of. If at some time in the (hopefully) distant future there is a need to move, I suspect that the monetary value of the property will pale into insignificance against the problems that would cause such a move.

I am also in the same camp as Patf and BinB for perhaps slightly different reasons. We have renovated two adjacent buildings and now have what for us is an ideal place to live and enjoy our lives. I doubt that if we sold we would fully recoup our costs, but we have no plans to move and sell up, so that becomes entirely immaterial. I strongly doubt that we could have built new to give us the same accommodation and facilities any cheaper.

Well said Chancer. It seems the vigilante hanging posse is out in force. If he is now effectively resident in Ireland I can understand that Groupama cannot help - they are not permitted to do so. But nowhere does it say that they have withdrawn his insurance. His options seem to be limited. Re-register his van in Ireland with all the cost involved and take Irish insurance. Purchase something in Ireland and find an insurer who will take his French driving experience into account. [Unfortunately he will be treated as a novice driver just because of his age]. Walk - probably impractical if he has tools to cart around.

I am surprised that others are surprised that this lad did not know the rules. A trawl back through posts on this and other forums will show a whole raft of posts along the lines of: My insurance company won't insure my UK car in France because we are here full time and they limit cover to a maximum 90 days. The DVLA will not accept my CT as a valid MOT etc.. It is easy to say that people should know the rules, but as Idun says, many do not and the real problem is not that they don't take the trouble to find out, but rather it is a question of how do you find out what you don't know, when you don't know, what you don't know.

Well here in the outback the supermarket seemed to be much busier than usual (people stocking up?) but there was if anything less of a queue at the filling station than normal - when I arrived one pump from the four was not occupied, so I filled up immediately.

Further and potentially relatively unbiased information regarding the causes of RAs pilot shortage https://ialpa.net/ialpa-analysis-of-ryanair-pilot-numbers-crisis/

So far the impacts have been exclusively with transport. SNCF cancellations, Air traffic controller walkouts, Air France cabin staff etc. but the worst effect was when Lufthansa pilots went on strike and the OH had to cancel a long anticipated trip back to Germany to meet up with her girlfriends. So not just a French phenomenon. With that exception we have always found a work around - inconvenient certainly; but we have always made it to our destination.

I have to say ALBF that is not my experience - based on a relatively limited number of flights. Clientele was pretty much like a lot of other airlines if you are flying stowage. But then just maybe I was flying more select routes than your good self. One thing that has changed perhaps since you last flew with them is an increase in business passengers, who have been first downgraded by their company from Business Class to stowage and then encouraged to take loco flights when possible. Indeed I have seen some managers become so obsessed that they completely lose the plot (ie we are doing this to save money). You must take the loco flight - means leave the office around midday to catch a mid afternoon flight; take an overnight hotel; have your meeting which finishes too late to take the return flight; so another overnight hotel; fly back but arrive too late to be worth going into the office. So one days meeting takes two and a half days and involves two nights in a hotel, compared with fly with a flag carrier on the early morning flight; have the meeting and fly back on the late evening flight - but not allowed because it is not loco flight.