Hagar

For fitted sheets it is the size of the mattress not the bed that is important. Most Ikea double beds are designed for mattresses of either 140cm x 200cm or 160cm x 200cm ( I beleive there is a 140 x190 option also). You can see all the options with sizes here - http://www.ikea.com/ms/fr_FR/rooms_ideas/mattress_2006/index.html We bought four beds from Ikea Toulouse when we first moved in - all with Sultan Forestad matresses. 4 years on and we are very happy with them. We brought some bed linen from the UK (M&S) which fits the 160 size perfectly  and bought the rest in Ikea Toulouse - very good value. Hope that helps rgds Hagar    

[quote user="missyesbut"] Looks like 'Big Brov...' to me... [/quote] Think that is bad - click on A QuiDonc est ce numéro ? , enter the telephone number, pay your 50c and you can get an aerial view of the place that phoned you. Does make you think about how many people/websites etc have your phone number. rgds hagar p.s I am sure there is another site in france that offers this for free but can't remember the link.  

There is a list of walking clubs in and around carcassone with contact numbers here http://www.ffrp.carcassonne.net/cdr_clubs/cdr_clubs.php Along with general information they have a list of upcoming walks (meets?) and some details on recommended routes. rgds Hagar

[quote user="Jonzjob"] If the bowling alley is the one by Intermarché, Pont Rouge then there is also a disco next door called Le Living Room. No idea what it's like,[/quote] John, the Living Room is a veritable Tardis!. Looks a bit like a large garden shed from the outside with some grand pillars on the front door. inside it is absolutely huge with a massive dance floor and bar area with seating round the edges . They also have a couple of VIP rooms which you can hire privately but also seem open to the public. It is very popular with the locals but dosent really get going until after midnight. Around 2 am there can be hundreds of people queueing to get in. Good for spotting some local celebs. rgds Hagar

[quote user="Will "] I don't know what system Normandie uses, it's quite likely to be Brown Bros folding fin type, which seem very popular on passenger ships. There's just something about the roll motion that seems more marked now on Normandie than hitherto, certainly in comparison with Mont St Michel and the other ferries. [/quote] Could it be speed related?. The stabilisers would have been originally designed for optimal operation at the ship's design cruising speed. If, as often happens, they are running the ship at less than cruising speed then the stabilisers will not be operating 100%. Otherwise it might be some change to ballast/fuel tank configurations or indeed different loading patterns from the original design that would change the ship's natural rolling period from the one used in the stabiliser design calculations. Getting a bit off topic now - I will put away the Anorak. rgds Hagar 

Will, If the steering gear fault caused a sudden and substantial rudder movement. e.g hard over  then that could definitely induce a violent roll to port - 15 deg would be about right. Do you know if the stabilisers on the Normandie are of the "folding fin" variety ?. If so then it is unlikely that they would have been deployed at that stage of the voyage.. I agree with you about the stabilsed motion in rough seas but I think that's common to most ships using active fin stabilistaion. rgds hagar    

There is some more information here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4967736.stm From what I have read the incident happened just as the ship left the fairway (channel) for open sea. This would normally be the time the captain would switch over from manual steering to automatic pilot. It is quite possible that is where the problem occurred. i.e it actually was a "technical fault". rgds hagar      

[quote user="Polly"]Why do you want to eat in the Cite?  It is generally overpriced and not particularly good food!?  Restaurant Gils - an excellent fish restaurant - near the Canal du Midi just by bridge that crosses the railway track over the road (Av. Mar.Foch.) [/quote] Not sure I agree with the first statement but can certainly recommend Restaurant Gils if you like seafood. They also do a good steak. Staff are very friendly - wine list is a bit limited but overall very good value for money. [quote user="Richard"]The restaurant in the Hotel de la Cité is excellent, we've eaten in there a good few times over the years and never been let down. [/quote] The hotel restaurant "la Barbicane" is very good but  pricey.  As Richard says the wine list is seriously impressive. That said their top chef , Franck Putelat, left recently to set up his own restaurant (le Parc) and I haven't been since then so don't know if or how it has changed. The bistro at the hotel "Saskia" serves good food and wine at prices somewhat lower than "la Barbicane" - as Richard says good for lunch. In the evening the staff in both places can be a little on the formal side.  My own favourite , by a long way, is Compte Roger - just a few yards from the hotel. Run by the chef Pierre Mesa and his wife it is a family friendly restaurant with an inventive cuisine using very many local ingredients. Excellent wine list concentrating on local Minervois and Corbieres. Pricing is about the same as "Saskia" - wines are probably better value. More space between the tables than Saskia and a much friendlier atmosphere. Best to book ahead - even if only on the same day. Edited - just noticed that there are twelve of you ! You will almost certainly need to book ahead at any of the places recommended here. rgds Hagar

Helen, I do feel for you at what must be a very difficult time. When my father died suddenly in France, cremation locally was an option but in the end we decided to repatriate the body. The local undertaker (pompes funèbres) made all the arrangements to get the body to Scotland and an undertaker from my father's home town arranged to clear it/collect it at the aiprort and made all the funeral arrangements from there on. Although it was all very fraught at the time the whole process was relatively straightforward. There was no direct involvement with the local Mairie or any other french authorities. The repatration costs were around 4,000 pounds (yes they do need a specially lined coffin - zinc rather than lead) plus the normal funeral costs at the Scottish end. This was 8 years ago. The one significant problem we had was with the French death certificate. The French don't declare cause of death on the certificate and the British apparently require this. This caused a delay in clearing the body through Edinburgh airport. We resolved this by getting the British Consul in Marseille to fax an endorsement to the authorities in Edinburgh. Only other problem was that the "pompes funèbres" could not accept payment by credit card and nobody in the family had a french bank account at that time. After a couple of calls to our respective banks  in the UK to clear it, my brother and I made 28 (yes twenty-eight!) trips to the cash point drawing out 990 francs each time ! - We laugh about it now. Hope that is of some help Hagar  

L'Amerique ne vous a jamais influencee sinon vous seriez bien plus avance..... (The last line is rubbish and says nothing, other than a sort of "so-long!" ' Not sure - but is it not trying to say - "America has never influenced you - if it had then you would be more advanced ".  

Hi Ron "We were told that surveys were not the norm in France" - When we were buying we were told the same thing a number of times - but only ever by ex-pats, ex-pat vendors or agents. The french agent and the notaire we used thought a survey was perfectly normal and the agent arrranged for the architect (www.adia.org) to carry it out before we signed the compromis. The standard surveys that are available through ADIA's architects are remarkably similar to those you would expect an engish "surveyor" to provide. (with the exception of the "valuation survey" which I think is a particularly british thing - and a complete con IMO).  I'm sure somebody will correct me if I am wrong but I don't think "surveyors" are recognised as a separate profession in france i.e surveyors are not the norm in France - surveys are quite common. rgds Hagar  

[quote]hi all, great site by the way. We have been looking for a house in france for a couple of years (at the same time as selling a property in UK, this has finally sold). I have trawled latitudes, fr...[/quote] I would suggest you consider consulting a separate notaire. On the survey - ask yourself if you would be happy buying a house in the UK without a survey (even if not required by a mortgage lender). Have a look at these threads -  http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=288&messageid=108665#bm108409 http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7202&highlight=adia Alexis - when you say "We don't have surveys here" - I assume you mean you yourself and your immediate acquaintences . It is certainly not my experience in France that you buy a house without a survey first. rgds Hagar  

[quote]Hi wet through I can solve your problem .... without and alarm which as you say will be useless when no one is there. It would also drive the neighbours mad and they would probably try to disable it...[/quote] Andrew, I would also like to hear about your solution. I am in a similar situation to wet through - Our pool is on a separate piece of land totally enclosed by a combination of stone walls and chain link fencing. I am perfectly happy that this is sufficient to deter unsupervised access by a child of 5 years or less. I want to satisfy the regulations in the simplest way possible whilst at the same time adding a second level of security. An additional perimeter fence and/or infrared barrier are neither practical nor appropriate and I am not interested in a security cover or abri. As I understand it the only alternative  is an immersion alarm. Do you know of an alternative ?. I posted a question about Kallista alarms some weeks ago but got no response. You can PM me if you prefer but I think others might be interested in your solution b rgds Hagar  

[quote]I'm not too sure of my ground here, but I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me that he had been caught for an offence annd he said that now there is a reciprocal agreement between the ...[/quote] John, According to this article the reciprocal agreemnet won't be in place until 2007 at the earliest - http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22749-1723138,00.html "In February the EU council of ministers, the main decision-making body, formally adopted a decision to remove protection for drivers who commit traffic violations abroad. As a result, legislation is being drafted in Brussels for incorporation into national laws as early as 2007.......... .......A spokesman for the Gendarmerie Nationale said that, because traffic fines are not currently enforceable in UK courts, it did not bother finding out addresses through the DVLA and sending tickets to UK addresses. ....... ......One issue yet to be resolved concerns appeals. Brussels has not decided whether appeals should be made in the country where the offence was committed or the country of residence. Another issue on which there is no agreement yet is licence penalty points" On a related matter - How does the Gendarme know you are resident in France if you present a UK driving licence (which can only have a UK address on it)?. Last time I was stopped for speeding in France the Gendarmes never asked me where I was resident , nor did they ask for any ID other than the driving licence. rgds Hagar  

You could try ADA - http://www.ada-location.com/index_resa.php. range of utility vehicles available. I have used them in Carcassone - they have an office in Perpignan. rgds hagar 

Haven't seen it in years. "Poetic endings" reminded me of one episode where they followed a guy in Corsica who went diving for red coral using only compressed air. This guy would go to amazing depths to collect coral risking the bends every time he dived. At times the Cousteau divers could not follow him even using their fancy equipment. He also risked life and limb by overfilling the air bottles. A couple exploded during filming. When the rolled the credits at the end they told us that the Corsican guy had unfortunately died since filming. He was killed by his neighbour in an argument over a garden hose !. rgds hagar  

Val, It sounds like your friends' son-in law has been wrongly advised by the staff at the DWP (name changed from DSS some years ago). Somebody that has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease should most certainly qualify for Disability Living Allowance (DLA). DLA is by and large over and above other benefits and does make it easier to qualfy for additional assistance. Details can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/disability_liv_allowance.asp#howmuch. If he feels he has been wrongly advised then he should make a formal complaint - details on the web site. It also helps if he can get support from his local MP. Queries by an MP are treated with high priority in the DWP. There are a whole range of benefits and assistance available to people suffering from MND. Some provided by DWP others by local council. The association listed by SB is a very good place to start. rgds Hagar  

Ty, I read somewhere that it originates from the days of coach and horses. Since the coach driver , sitting well back from the front horse, could not see round corners in city streets the "priority a droit" system was introduced. The logic being that coach driver going straight ahead will always see the horses of the coach coming from the right before the driver coming from the right will see the coach crossing ahead of him. Does that make sense ? rgds Hagar    

Got one free of charge for a Peugeot 206 just a few weeks ago- see - http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=293&messageid=173974#bm175339 rgds Hagar

[quote]"I'm in the Aude also - where are these Michelin starred restaurants in our departement?PLease tellStuart"One in Narbonne and another in Fontjoncouse and i think Hotel de la Cité in Carcassone may wel...[/quote] Yes the Hotel de la cite in Carcassone has a Michelin Star - although personally I prefer "chez Saskia" the brasserie attached to the hotel . Domaine d'Auriac - just outside Carcassonne also has a michelin star. Better than all three (IMO) is Comte Roger - inside the medieval city not far from the hotel. rgds Hagar

Chocccie, You might try www.adia.org  rgds Hagar

Edinburgh - Toulouse via amsterdam with KLM - GBP 70 return plus taxes (although taxes are pretty steep). rgds Hagar

Tiger Balm is the most effective treatment I have found for all manner of insect bites. It contains an analgesic (sp?) so itching stops pretty quickly and I find that almost all such bites dissappear completely within 2-3 days. rgds Hagar 

Le Presbytere, I can unreservedly recommend - Entreprise Gils 2, rue du Stade - B.P. 5 11160 Peyriac Minervois tel 04 68 78 11 31 Best to speak to the Propietor - M. Charles Gils. They put in a traditionaly built (breton arme) 14 x 6m pool for me last year. - Carrelage en pate de verre. The entire project was carried out by Gils themselves - no "iffy" sub contracting and included supply of all equipment and , landscaping and building of a pool house. After some months of negotation / planning applications (we live within 500m of an historic monument) the whole project was completed in 5 weeks - i.e - five weeks from breaking ground to pret a plonger. They are not the cheapest but very professional. rgds Hagar  

That's interesting - although I have read elsewhere that the termite certificate should be in place before signing the compromis/sous-seing it was not the case when we bought in Aude some 3 years ago. In our case the notaire arranged for a termite inspection AFTER we signed the compromis and had paid the deposit. There was an appropriate clause suspensive in the compromis. Seems a better way to deal with it to me. Albeit not much help to Cfcjohn. rgds Hagar