andyh4

Our commune is only around 260 souls but every one of the council representatives is elected. Maybe your council has fewer candidates than places available. But yes the maire is selected by the councillors - in our case nominally since they chose the person with the highest number of votes in the election.

My interests are in science Mogs and I am afraid this event was for Europeans an overhyped non-event. As you say the blood red element did not occur over Europe, but a lunar eclipse is something worth seeing. There was one while I was in Germany - probably 15-20 years ago now - and interesting it was. So down to the European bit: Blue moon - well these by definition occur once in a blue moon. But what is it really? A full moon that occurs for a second time in a month. So that is really interesting, except that a month is a man made construct and it took a couple of millennia to get the approximation of months to fit with solar cycles. That is why we have a mismatch of months with 31 days (most likely to have a blue moon), 30 days (less likely to have a blue moon) and 29 and 28 days. The moon circles the Earth at a predictable rate and every 28-29 days there will be a full moon. We treat 2 of these in our artificial construct of months as something special, but it's not. We might just as well drop months and call today for example Earthdate 201833 (day 33 of 2018) and blue moons would instantly disappear. So we are left with the fact that the moon is at its closest approach to the Earth which we perceive as a bigger and brighter moon. Except that most of us don't and couldn't. If it hadn't been plastered across the media, how many people would have known or noticed that it was bigger and brighter? As you found the impact of atmospheric conditions on how bright it is or even if you can see it at all is far more important than how close it is. Its closeness is of interest to those scientists looking at gravitational effects - beyond that it is just media hype - and the lunartics fell for it.

Depending on where you are they may be responsible to the head of the canton - maire of the head town in the area - but ultimately they will be responsible to the Conseil General for your department. All I would say is tread very, very carefully. These are elected positions and the maires are generally held in high esteem - even by those who hate the individuals with a vengeance. Perhaps there is another way, if you are prepared to share your grievance.

No one in France will have seen the red bit of the combination since this is caused by a lunar eclipse - which ran from the Western USA to Asia - but not Europe. Just a rather hazy view of the moon, which may or may not have been bigger and or brighter than usual, based on a purely subjective view. Amazing how the world can get wound up about something of little consequence. Bah. Humbug - and all that.

Well I have not moved and life is definitely greener in the UK. Very little rain since autumn 2016 and we are still on water and watering restrictions from the summer 2017 despite being half way through the winter. So lots of brown plants here - must be greener in the UK with all the rain they have had.

The Rhone is also running high - nothing like the Seine mind, still 4m of its high point, but it is the first time I have seen it locally breach its banks. The entrance to the hospital car park was damp and you wonder what happens if water levels rise further.

Théière wrote Is glucosamine sulphate a homeopathic remedy? It depends on what you mean by homeopathic. If you mean dissolved and then diluted to the point of zero concentration, then certainly no. Well not if 1000 to 2000mg per tablet is supposed to be dilution to zero. If you mean produced from natural sources, then probably yes - sources include fermented corn, crustacean shells. But it is of necessity highly processed.

IIRC Arnigel is €4.80 a tube

There seems to be much confusion about the difference between homeopathic remedies and natural remedies. Homeopathy relies (as has been said above) on giving magic water - water that has been dosed with something and then diluted so much that there is none of the original material there, but the water somehow "remembers" the material that was there and cures you. Natural remedies rely on someone taking or using material based on naturally occurring materials - arnica is a good example for treating bruising, other less obvious one are foxglove - source of digitalis used in heart conditions - or aspirin - originally sourced from the bark of the willow tree. I sense that in France homeopath is used to refer to the latter.

Linda A payment system does not necessarily mean that every visit has to be paid for. Our vet charges a €25 consultation fee. If the animal has to go bac several times that fee carries over and you only pay for additional treatments or medication. In Germany if I visited a doctor I paid €10 and this carried over for the full quarter. If I had to see another doctor I got a transfer note (essentially a receipt) and paid nothing. The downside was that if you visited the doctor on the 30th March, the repeat visit a week later would cost you another €10 because it was in the new quarter, but I guess the perfect system has yet to be invented.

Betty wrote: Another friend of mine, who isn't that old, is back in France after working most of her adult life abroad. She has worked the last umptyteen years in Bali. She came home because her kids have now left Bali, but she has severe cardiac problems and everyone was afraid for her that if she had another heart attack, she'd die. The nearest halfway competent hospital to Bali is Jakarta. So she's now working remotely for the Balinese company from France. Her French doctor insisted that she go for 3 weeks of assessment and rehab. He said that if she continued refusing or putting it off, he'd stop treating her. She has no mutuelle and has been worried about the costs she's going to incur. I left France last Saturday. She was due to go to the hospital on Monday. I got an email to say that on the Sunday she was rushed to Bordeaux after suffering 3 small heart attacks. 99% of the cause was the anxiety she was feeling about being forced to go for 3 weeks rehab and assessment. She knew it would be a good thing, she was just terrified about the cost. And she needs to keep working because she has no French social contributions history worth a damn. and the same should probably also apply in the UK. The commonly held myth is that you just have to turn up and get free treatment from the NHS. There is not enough info in your post to make a decision but there is enough that questions should at least be raised. In fairness it often happens that people do just get free treatment but from what you have written this lady might not be due free treatment in the UK either.

Wooly wrote At present the NHS is being overwhelmed by a flu epidemic that it could not really have predicted nor planned for. Utter tosh Wooly. They failed to predict the flu epidemic last year, and the year before. Using something that happens every year as an excuse that "could not be predicted" is a bit like the power companies not having enough generating capacity because they did not predict lower winter temperatures.

Like Gardian, I see little or no opportunity for any improvements round here. Unless I have been doing a significant amount of motorway driving (which these days tends to be 4 or 5 times per year) my average speed on journeys is likely to be around 40-45kph. The roads simply do not allow faster driving. If I drive the 40+km down to the Rhone valley, there are 4 stretches (about a total of 3 - 3.5km) where I can get speed up to 90kph. The rest is slow going bend after bend or through a couple of villages with 50 or 70kph speed limits. The idiots with their sixth sense radar that allows them to see round corners will still drive like maniacs.

Yes I remember milk loaves. Round in shape, with ribs down the length as if to give a slicing guide - at least ours were. Never had such a longing for a white loaf, but I do use some milk in all the loaves I make. About 1:4 milk to water.

ALBF wrote: I made a point of watching Doctor Who on Xmas day, and that was cra&p. So that was the end of Xmas TV. and that also sums up my opinion of French TV over the holidays - not even worth turning on.

I had no problem restocking with a 2.5kg bag before Xmas, but I had problems finding white bread flour - I use a mix. It could be that the French have discovered home bread making and that being a baker is not a protected profession.

The two sets of data are not necessarily in conflict. This raises the interesting question of whether it is better to have a highly efficient workforce but high unemployment, or an inefficient workforce but essentially full employment. Of course ideally you would want the best of both worlds - a la Germany.

Well I can imagine the prejudices from the Anglo brigade. At work I had a group of staff and we exchanged bisoux every morning. I did have to remember to only kiss twice (marseillais(e)) and not three times (ardechois(e)). Males would however shake hands. No one seemed to be intimidated by this; indeed I did wonder if it was a test for me to see if I would/could fit in. Now at home bisoux are exchanged (and sometimes hand shakes) with male and female colleagues and friends. What's not to like? Unless of course the Anglos feel this is all a bit too intimate. As for the time taken - any more or less shaking hands and saying good morning? It is a pleasantry and as such should be treated as something pleasant.

ALBF Wrote: most of the French population live in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and other major cities. The green bits don't really count unfortunately. Well unless you are on holiday. Is that the same in the UK ? Yes ALBF, the UK population have accumulated in the SE corner of the UK around London, with tendrils spreading out along the M4. That is why London rents are beyond the ability of people like nurses to pay on their own salary. I hear Paris has been heading in that way.

I think you will find that ALBF knows a lot about crepe. Merry Christmas everyone

What makes you think that these animals were not being supervised overnight? The reports I heard said that 8 members of staff had to be treated for smoke inhalation, and given that the fire service were on site a few minutes after 6am this suggests to me that at least some of those were on duty before six and probably overnight.

You can do it with oil, but I agree dripping or lard are better. Make sure your mixture is not too thick. It should be really runny. Make sure the fat/oil is very very hot before putting the mixture in the over. Lard should be at smoking point. This means you need a high temperature resistant oil. Rape seed oil is probably the best to go for. Once the puds are in the oven, leave the door shut until they are done. If you open the door they will cease rising. If you continually open and shut the door - putting in or taking out other things - they will indeed end up flat as a pancake. EDIT to add: Make the batter mixture 1-2 hours before use. The trouble with all these things is that things that are obvious and automatic to you may not be obvious to someone else.

DPD - Deutsche PaketDienst - German parcel service.

That's German efficiency for you.

My experience is more in line with Dave's and more often than not I get an email that following my absence they have delivered to the point relais - 11m away, but at least it is near the supermarket. Of course I have not been absent, they have just not bothered to even try. However having worked in logistics I can at least understand why this happens. 11km off the main drag means that they have a 22km round trip and at 90kph with say a 30 second drop off means that their traffic office will reckon on a 15 - 16 minute delivery off that main drag. on a good day with no hold ups I can do a one way trip in just under that time. The time pressures the drivers are put under makes it near impossible for them to maintain the traffic office schedules, so if they have a chance to gain a quarter of an hour by delivering to the point relais they take it. Only if they have an accumulation of packages (and especially if they are COD) for the village do they make the detour and actually deliver.