The Riff-Raff Element

I don't know the area, but I am told that the villages around Hexham are both attractive and relatively inexpensive: is this the case?

"Pension Le Portugal" at Marsais Sainte Radégonde - 02 51 00 12 75. We've used them twice and been very impressed.

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]  Mad as cut snakes, the lot of them. [/quote] That is a great quote RRE. I joined the Merchant Navy in 1961 and did my training at Gravesend. Were you there? [/quote] Ah no - the ship was built in 1963 and I was laid down in 1966. The trip took place in (I think) 1989. They built those ships to last!

[quote user="powerdesal"]How on earth did we morph from gas regulators to sailors in bars?????????? [/quote] Oh you can learn a lot from talking to sailors, and not just in bars. I did one trip on an LPG tanker of 1960s vintage and not only did they have an LPG fired stove in the galley fed directly from the cargo tanks but they had installed a gas fired BBQ on the poop deck. They insisted that all of this was perfectly safe. Beautiful little ship - about 540 tonnes displacement and mahogany fittings throughout. The crew were Spanish and raised chickens in a coop on the deck for eggs and meat. Mad as cut snakes, the lot of them. Anyways, the stove and the BBQ had two sets of burners and two feed pipes with different regulators so that they could switch easily (and, presumably, safely) between butane and propane - whichever they were carrying at the time. The amount of gas they used was tiny relative to the 360 odd tonnes they carried and just disappeared into the oil loss figures.

[quote user="sweet 17"] What a knowledgeable lot you all are! [/quote] Well it's not all hanging around in bars chatting up sailors, you know.

Tricky...there are bits of West Norfolk that are still pretty bucolic. And you'd have the challenge of having to learn a foreign language again, though I believe that the dialetcal "Norfolk" of my youth is scheduled for extinction sometime around 2020.[:)]

[quote user="powerdesal"]I suspect they do. The stuff added to natural gas is Methyl Mercaptan and its the most disgusting stuff you can imagine. It smells bad enough as a trace in gas but get it concentrated and its vomit making stuff. Really evil smell.[+o(] [/quote] Ethyl mercaptan is used in LPG because it is just that little bit less volitile and flows along with the LPG vapour. I wouldn't like propane indoors either, but I'm happy with butane. Propane should definately be kept in the garden in my view.

Butane is indeed in some of the cylinders you see on the forecourt. However, others contain propane and a few contain a mix of the two. They are quite different and you should take care to get the right one. Running butane through a system designed for propane probably isn't too dangerous, though the flame could be a bit small and smokey, and cooking anything might take a while. Running propane, which has a much higher vapour pressure than butane, through a butane system could be very interesting and involve scorched ceilings and the smell of burning hair. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that the manufactures of the various systams make sure that one cannot fit the other. But I wouldn't swear to it.

Just a little acid indigestion, thanks - not wind. So what is it to be - handbags at 15 paces or a pint? You didn't reply to my e-mail... The French passport will, as you say, make most difference to the assorted offspring and blisters, but I'm damned if I'm going to be a different nationality to the children. Anyway, I'd quite like to be able to vote in France since the blighters here are spending my tax euro. Also, the process could be amusing.

Us too - we're planning to gird up our loins, step up to the plate and many, many other clichés next spring. Can't say I'm looking forward to the Hydra like bureaucracy, but hey-ho the children have been here since infancy, regard themselves as French, even if their passports state otherwise, and we're certainly not planning on leaving so it would seem to be an approximately sensible idea.

Just a thought, and I apologise if this is a ludicrous suggestion, but if you've been here for five years could you not apply to be naturalised? That would presumably get you past any further problems.

[quote user="BJSLIV"]Do they not have an upper level for Tax Foncieres? Afraid Not. Ours is €630 LESS than last year. Can you see why its changed? Is it the rental value of the property or the rate applied by one of the many taxing authorities? As for the rubbish, you can expect to receive a new bill from a separate refuse authority. Fortunately its unlikely to be for 630 Euros. [/quote] Ah - I have compared them. The major difference is the rubbish (I await my new bill with interest! Nothing about any change has arrived in the post thus far, but "they" have a habit of witholding bad news 'til the last possible), but excluding this there is a drop of amout 4% across the board. Ratable value appears unchanged - who makes these things up!!?? Efficiency savings from the New Era of Sarkozy perhaps? [6]

No logic at all. Ours is €630 LESS than last year. But for some reason we're not being charged for rubbish collection, perhaps because the service is so àç''((## awful.

I have been told (by a man in a pub, I'll admit) that tax returns here in France are a matter of public record and one can request a copy of anyone elses. Is this true? It sounds a little unlikely to me, but then again...

[quote user="cooperlola"]Have I just been lucky, or what? [/quote] Possibly, but if you have then so have I. In four-and-a-half years I don't recall any problems with getting reasonable service (including the little trick of having paperwork changed to ease the return of goods) but I hear again and again of other people having no end of problems. Perhaps it's an area thing?

Since no-one has answered this I will try, but I should point out that I am neither a parent of a child doing English at this stage, nor a qualified teacher - I teach on a voluntary basis children up to 11. The grammer books I use for my own prep, suggest a working understanding of: - présent simple "I work in London" - prétérit simple "I worked in London" - what is described as the "ing" form (but what we might describe as the progressive aspect) with be: présent "I am working..." and prétérit "I was working..." - present perfect "I have worked..." formed with "have" - past perfect "I had worked..." formed with "have" Quite a lot of work seems to be done on aspect (perfect or progressive) which can present conceptual difficulties for French speakers. After that children move on to the use of modal auxilary forms - will, would, could, should, must, etc to express furture forms, obligation, etc. I think that they are expected to know the of existence of these forms by 4eme. The subjunctive in English is not covered until much later. There must be someone out there with better knowledge than I - having children of the right age, for example, whom they could ask? If you are willing to spend a few euros in the interest of helping this child, you would probably find the "Bled Anglais Grammaire & Conjugaison" very helpful. Jon

[quote user="wen"]'Pommie' and 'yankie' as words do not refer to a particular 'race' but nationalities. They do not refer to colour and that is why I found your 'A-O' word offensive, as an Australian. [/quote] Just because they are terms that refer to nationalities rather than races they are not in any way exempted  from being derogatory or xenophobic. It is the usage of a word that makes it offensive, not the assembly of letters.

BF are cool about putting a travel cot in a four berth, though it does make things cramped. Of course, once our youngest is out of a cot (about a year I'd guess) we'll need two cabins or take day crossings only....

[quote user="LEO"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]Bloody chickens have gone off lay and are looking bedraggled and deeply unmotivated. Some of them look as though they might be growing gills. I may have to start wearing the comedy breasts again when I go and collect the eggs in an effort to cheer them up. [/quote] So what you are saying is ....it's all gone tits up! [/quote] That's a, oooohhh, 5.8, that is. I've just been around the gites starting up all the heating. I normally do this in late October. In one the party look desperately damp and bedraggled. Happily they are possessed of the same Oaken Heart from which The Empire was once hewn and have just marched off into the rain in an attempt to find something to do. They seem to be enjoying themselves. Another party have just asked if they can invite her brother and SIL to come and stay because they have been flooded out of their campsite...we're dropping extra towels off later today. No-one has used the pools for three days. Although they are heated (and with a foresight that does not come naturally to me I fitted oil fired heating rather than solar), the Arctic blasts that accompany the brief exposure 'twixt water and towel have proved unendurable to even our guests from Wales.

Bloody chickens have gone off lay and are looking bedraggled and deeply unmotivated. Some of them look as though they might be growing gills. I may have to start wearing the comedy breasts again when I go and collect the eggs in an effort to cheer them up.

[quote user="Judyc"] I am concerned from your posting that you think pool checking is a once a week thing?  I hope I am wrong.  A pool can turn extremely quickly, particularly in the thundery weather and if it happens on any day other than a Monday, to tie in with your regime, you could be in for a nasty shock.   [/quote] Judy, what you need to do is what all canny gite owners should aim for and minimise pool usage to cut down on cleaning. For example, require each person wishing to use the pool to complete (on a daily basis) a disclaimer in quintriplicate, to be countersigned by all eight great grand parents (or, in the case of those, like me, from Norfolk, all three) and the relevant consuler authority. Each application should be accompanied by photocopies (authenticated) of passports, birth certificates and gold, silver and broze swimming certificates. A medical certifacte from the Dermetology Department of the University of Alice Springs (issued on the proposed date of bathing) confirming cleanliness and a attestaion of Good Character signed by St Thomas Moore should also be required. Once accepted, each guest in turn will be allowed a dip in the pool not exceeding 15 minutes. There will be no splashing. Similarly, you can reduce fosse problems by encouraging guests to defecate off site. Providing a trowel with the moto "Put Your Goodness Back In To The Ground" and a map marking local beauty spots (alfresco pooping being more pleasent with a nice view) should make this fun for all the family. Personally I find it more guest friendly to smile, clean the pool frequently and (when the inevitable happens) don rubber gloves, a clothes peg and sing "Abide with Me" under my breath. Pun - your place sounds like a right barrel of laughs.

[quote user="ErnieY"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]Airports used to be vaguely exciting places: quick trip through check in, then find a quiet corner with a soothing lotion and spend a pleasent hour watching folk wander by[/quote] I completely agree but those days are gone for ever. You should try flying on business once a fortnight, or even more frequently as I do. It used to occasionally pleasant, degenerated to be just about bearable and now it's just a nightmare and one of the things I shall least miss when I retire ! [/quote] Happily I got most of my work related flying type activities out of the way before the September 11th business, so I've not had the joy of being a regular passenger in the current climate. From making around oohhhh...lots of flights a year I've dropped down to none whatsoever in the last two years and I am optimistic that my ears may return to normal sometime in 2012.

Don't fly anymore, (too much hassle) or drive (no car in UK since congestion charge) so use train to get to France.  Almost civilised! I'm with you on this. Airports used to be vaguely exciting places: quick trip through check in, then find a quiet corner with a soothing lotion and spend a pleasent hour watching folk wander by and wondering if a trip to Dar es Salaam would be more or less exciting than a visit to Tyneside. Romantic, almost. Now they are unmitigated (uncomfortable) chaos. Given the extrordinary amount time it can now take to complete even the most mundane flight, the train (even the train-boat-train combo) has regained a certain amount of charm. I don't even care if it's more expensive - I just don't do the journey so often if I can't afford it.

[quote user="Jo Taylor"] Taxe professionelle is normally payable by individuals and companies carrying out non-salaried work. It’s levied at between around 15 and 20 per cent (the exact percentage varies with the commune) of a ‘base’, which is currently 8 per cent of your annual income, including VAT. For example, if you earn €30,000 per year, your tax base will be €2,400; if taxe professionelle is levied at 20 per cent in your commune, you will pay €480 per year. [/quote] It is worth noting that in the circumstance that a business owns a propery that is used solely for business purposes as a let, the taxe professionelle is levied but taxe d'habitation is not. The former is less than the latter.

[quote]The stats for those employed illegally are about 10% of the numbers employed but the numbers for total fraud seem to vary widely. I wonder what total fraud is? This seems to suggest basically employing someone without all the paperwork being correct. Seems an odd definition of fraud: Un établissement est en fraude si au moins un de ses salariés n'a pas fait l'objet d'une déclaration d'embauche. L'absence de bulletin de paie ou la sous-déclaration des heures effectuées constitue aussi du travail dissimulé, passible de trois ans de prison et 45.000 euros d'amende. [/quote] Ah yes, I see. 10% of workers, but 26% of establishments. Well, those 10% are clearly being astoundingly productive and should have little problem finding employment if they can become regulised....