Loiseau

Same problem in Calais last Thursday, 17 Feb, when I was heading back to the Tunnel from near Dunkerque on the A16.  And entrance slip roads to the A16 from the outskirts of Calais were closed. I spotted the queue in time to turn off into Calais, work my way round through Sangatte and then directly across country to the Tunnel terminal. Is it to do with the damage to ferry ramps at Dover on 11 Feb? Angela

In my experience, polite dancing in France is usually restricted to : "la valse" - equivalent to the dizzying "old-fashioned" or "viennese" waltz back home; "le fox" - a French take on the fox-trot; "le slow" - vaguely like the above fox-trot, but clutchingly close (so make sure you really like the person you're going to be doing it with!). So this could restrict the number of dances you need to learn to start with... Angela PS  Can't match Miki's goat story, but at fetes in our main village, when you visit the stall where you throw hoops over ducks - that's exactly what you do!  And if you collar one that wasn't swimming or ducking fast enough, then you get to take the duck home for tea (yours).

Arnold, it's looking great, with the maps too - congratulations on getting it going so quickly!  I think there's a real need for it.  I don't have a B&B myself, though I have passed details on to some friends who do. One thing occurs to me, speaking as the equivalent of a visitor coming to the page for the first time: I know the URL is "Our Inns", but I think it would be helpful at the top of the title page to have a sub-heading that included the words "bed-and-breakfast" as, to me, "inn" could mean more of a small hotel. Something like: Our Inns Small hotels and bed-&-breakfasts in France All our properties are owner-run accommodation offering you the finest hospitality   Of course, you probably aren't going to restrict it to France, in which case forget that word in the sub-heading!  Angela

Yes, it has done in the Vendee for quite a long time - perhaps about 6 or 8 years.  And I think some communes have a "conseil municipal des jeunes", too - so a similar thing at very local level.  It seems an excellent idea to give children a sense of how democracy works. The son of some English friends of mine was elected by his class (14 year-olds, I seem to recall) to represent his school on the département's first-ever "conseil général des jeunes". At the first meeting of the full council, made up of representatives from other Vendee schools, he was elected its president. The following year, with a new intake of 14 year-olds, the girl who was elected president was half British! I haven't followed it too much in recent years, so I can't tell you if this trend has continued!  However, it made me wonder whether Brits can think more "out of the box" than French, and this is why they get voted into the presidency... EDIT Just found the report on election of the current president of the CGJ http://www.vendee.fr/Actualites/art_show.asp?art_id=771 Angela http://www.the-vendee.co.uk

[quote]Dear Angela, You forgot to mention that Chavagne school was a selective school and only took students who passed the 11+ exam... Izz[/quote] Ah well, I don't know anything about the school, other than that it exists... Its premises were, incidentally, used as the location for a recently screened reality-tv series (on ?FR3) that imposed on a group of teenagers the rigours of old-fashioned teaching methods of the 1950s. (Obviously that was shot in the summer holidays, and bore no relation to the teaching at the present school!) I imagined that the school's intensely Catholic ethic would make it pretty selective for a start, and might rule it out for many. Angela

Lucky you!  What a great place to be spending 4 months! There are plenty of super/hypermarkets in the area: a huge Leclerc on the north side of town, and a large Géant on the SE side, for starters. A brand new HyperU at Olonne-sur-Mer (perversely, that village is a bit inland from Les Sables). Les Sables itself has the most beautiful market - daily (maybe not Mon in winter), until 12 noon.  It's in the centre, right next to the main church (Notre-Dame du Bon Port), in a lovely 19thC brick-and-glass market-hall.  There's another good market in the town (Marché Arago, near the cemetery) which is less picturesque but equally good quality. Have sent you an email, as well. Regards Angela http://www.the-vendee.co.uk

My experience of noisy monsters in the ceiling space, usually active from about 1am onwards, has turned out to be dormice (loir in French).  Not the little curled up chaps that one thinks of from Alice in Wonderland.  This variety look rather like rats only with finer features, longer back legs, slightly furry tails and some very dashing "go-fast" white stripes along the sides of face and neck. Here's a link to pix  http://www.btinternet.com/~lambjw/mice/facts12.htm and http://www.glirarium.org/dormouse/photo/eliomys-quercinus.html I always thought the clumping must come from their nipping diagonally across the roofspace, jumping on and off the ceiling joists as they went. I periodically put poison up there, and then find the poor disintegrated things a few months later.

My paternal great-grandfather was an Englishman, born in London, who (so it would appear) lived most of his life in Calais, which is where my Grandfather was born. Unfortunately, I can only find scant information about him, so I have no idea why he was there.     Hi Nick, If you know the date of your grandfather’s birth, you could try writing to the Hotel de Ville in Calais and asking if they would photocopy the entry in the registers. (I’m assuming that it is Calais, and not some outpost - a lot of English seemed to be living at St Pierre-les-Calais in the 19thC, which might be a different Mairie.) If you have a French stamp, and so could send them a stamped addressed envelope for return of the info to you, that might charm them into doing it for you… Among my ancestors, I discovered my 4xgreat-grandfather had 16 children, and that the last 3 were born in Calvados, France. I managed to get copies of the entries from the Actes de Naissance at the Mairie of Isigny-sur-Mer by writing in. It turned out that my ancestor was a civil engineer (which I knew already), building railways - and obviously by the 1860s he was doing so in France! Among the 16 children, several of the boys followed in his footsteps (or should I say along his tracks?) and married and settled in Austria, Transylvania and Hungary. Angela

  "Votre belle France est le pays du plaisir et du bonheur. Beaucoup de nous y reviendront aussitot qu’ils le pourront." Not said by some present-day expat - but by English soldiers who enjoyed their time garrisoned in the Pas-de-Calais in 1815-1818, and who numbered about 30,000. So large was the British population that a couple of English newspapers were launched: "The Pas de Calais" in 1818, and "The Boulogne Telegraph" a year later. (Another paper, "The Boulogne and North of France Times", still existed in 1904.) In 1830 more than 1,000 English were living in and around Calais. In 1834 a lodge of the Oddfellows was created at St-Pierre-les-Calais. Queen Victoria popped across in the royal yacht on 18 August 1855. By 1888 there were Anglican chapels in 1888 in Boulogne and Calais, as well as a French and /English girls’ school. In 1898 Merridew’s were advertising as English booksellers and circulating library at 60 Rue Victor Hugo in Boulogne, and Calais hoteliers were doing everything possible to attract well-heeled visitors from across the Channel The locals had their own theory about the popularity of their area with their British neighbours: "Les Anglais s’y croient chez eux, pouvant voir chaque jour la terre de leur patrie."   All this info - and more - I gleaned this afternoon when I popped into the Musee des Beaux Arts in Calais, and came across a temporary exhibition "The British on the Cote d’Opale 1814-1904", which I can highly recommend. If anyone’s passing that way, it’s on till 28 February (but NB closed on Tuesdays). Angela

I had copied the contents of a folder that had 171 files.  There was no reason I couldn't have copied the *folder*, but somehow I seemed to have it open, so I just did Ctrl-A to highlight the lot, and dragged them across. I'll know better next time! Angela

Some Mairies have stickers that you can put on your letterbox, saying to the postman something like "épargnez ma boite aux lettres"... Trouble is that in that armful of weekly "pub", there is sometimes the odd missive from the Mairie about an event, which I would miss if I had stopped everything... Angela

[quote]the kives are'Lagouille' and Lidl sells them at knock down prices fairly frequently. same beast, believe me.[/quote] Sorry to be pedantic here, but I think the knives are Laguiole  (I am sure I shall be corrected!).   Angela

  FIXED IT !!!! I did a Google search on "cannot be created", and found several Q&A sites where people were complaining of similar problems. The consensus from the experts seemed to be that though the flash drive/floppy/zip might not actually be *full*, there were in fact a limited number of *files* that could be stored on them.  So I took everything off the flash drive (as I have already copied the files successfully onto the laptop), and GUESS WHAT - I can copy whatever I want onto the empty stick now! In fact, some experts said that if you gathered the files into *folders* you could get more on.  I didn't try this. Gosh Mazan - I hope you're impressed... Thanks a million to you all Angela

In case it's of interest to anyone, there's an English school that opened in 2002 at Chavagnes-en-Paillers, just south of Montaigu (North Vendee).  It's a (very) Catholic boys' school, and teaches the English curriculum, in English. Website is http://www.chavagnes.org/ Angela

Sorry folks, I have been away for 24 hours, hence my apparent churlishness in not thanking you for these other suggestions. Mazan:  No, the filenames don't contain any funny characters. Ron: Yes, I was dragging-n-dropping from Windows Explorer each time, and did check that the files weren't open. George: I tried, at your suggestion, right-clicking and checking Properties, which showed me stuff like how much space was left on the disk (10.7MB used space; 109MB free space), but nothing else very useful.  Somewhere I also found an option to scan this "disk" for errors, so I did that, too - but it didn't find any. The flash drive still won't accept any new files when I attempt to copy them across via Windows Explorer, nor can I save a new file direct to that drive.  HOWEVER it WILL let me overwrite some of the 171 files that I originally managed to put on the flash drive (the contents of a folder that I am currently working on).  That's bizarre, isn't it?  Or not? I have transferred the flash drive to the USB port of the laptop, and moved the files over to the laptop (ready for a week's research trip) with no problem.  There again, though, I can't copy anything else from the laptop *to* the flash drive, though I can overwrite to the flash drive new versions of the files that it already has on it...  Angela

Thanks guys, for these prompt thoughts... Yes, Dick, the computer has been off - and on - more than once since the problem arose...  So often that is a cure for things - but sadly apparently not in this case.  George, I know what you mean, and I did check the write/protect button, which is still resolutely in the "unlocked" position - and is so deep-set that it looks as if it would be very hard to move, even on purpose! Angela (still through gritted teeth; is there a smiley for that?)

Yesterday I installed a PNY 128MB flash drive ("Attaché") on my PC. I was rather proud of myself, as it involved downloading and installing the right driver (required for W98).  Then I managed to copy a load of files off my PC and onto it successfully.  However, later on - and again today - I can't drag *any* more files onto it.  Every time I try, I get the message "Cannot copy <filename>. The directory or file cannot be created". It doesn't matter *what* kind of file it is: Word, Excel, jpeg, even Notepad. There is plenty of room on the drive (100+MB remaining). I have looked at "details" to see if the files are locked up in some way, but can't find anything there that would explain it. I think I have had this problem with the odd file in the past, copying onto the C or the A drive.  I can't remember how I solved it (probably by luck, or maybe I just gave up!).   But this time the problem seems to be with *any* file that I want to copy... Can anyone out there help, please? Angela

I stopped renting out a cottage in 2001, but until then this was the method I adopted, and some info that I provided on my website.  (No doubt somebody out there will update the info if it's changed...) Please note: I am not a financial expert; I'm merely telling you what we, as non-residents in France, have done in the way of paying French taxes. I can take no responsibility for these details being correct or appropriate in your case. Rental from a French property has to be declared in France, even if you are permanently resident in the UK. Having paid anything that's due in France, you can tell the UK tax inspector that this has been done (though you still have to declare the income and expenses in the UK).  Because of the "double taxation agreement" between France and the UK countries you should not be taxed a second time. The French system seems very simple. You tell them the gross amount of your year's rental. They halve the total amount (to allow for your running costs and expenses), and then charge you 25 per cent of the remainder as tax. If this final amount came to less that 2,000F (not sure what this will be now it's all in euro) then they deemed your liability to be Nil. (But you have to fill up the form anyway.) (1) Write in the first instance to the Centre des Impôts des Non-Résidents, 9 rue d'Uzès, 75094 PARIS CEDEX 02 France in about January, asking for form 2042, "Déclaration des Revenus", and 2042C "Déclaration Complémentaire des Revenus". (Once you are in the system - i.e. have declared in previous years - then you should just receive the forms automatically in early March.) You can also download the forms from a government website, though it takes some ferreting to find the right ones. Hopefully this link should take you to the page where you can click on the version you want (i.e. for PC, Mac etc). http://www2.finances.gouv.fr/formulaires/DGI/2002/2042/tch2042.htm The main "gateway" to the site is available in English at http://www.service-public.fr/etranger/english.html  (2) You receive (or print out) two copies of the form (fill in both, send one off and keep one for your records; if you have printed them off yourself, print two copies of each and then retain one completed one for your records). (a) You fill in the front page, and date and sign it at the bottom . NB if the wife is declaring the rental income as hers, the form still has to be filled in with the husband's details, plus those of the wife, and you both have to sign it at the bottom. (b) If you are just declaring rental income and are resident outside France, you tick a box to the left of the signature box if you are declaring some income on form 2042C. (c) You tick a box on page 2, to say whether you are married, divorced, widowed etc. (3) On form 2042C you fill in the gross rental received in euro in a box - on the 2001 form it was on page 2, C, box NO (if the husband is declaring it), or box OO (if the wife is declaring it). If in doubt, you can ring the tax office in Paris (see below), who are very helpful. If you have been charging people in sterling, then you need to phone the tax office in Paris (tel: +33 1 44 76 19 00) to ask what their official exchange rate - the Taux d'Echange Officiel - is for the year in question, and then do the conversion into euro. Send the completed forms to the Centre des Impôts des Non-Résidents (see 1 above), by 30 April of the year following the rental period (i.e. 30 April 2002 for 2001 rentals). (4) Some months later you will receive a bill. After the first year's declaration, you will receive a quarterly bill that is an estimation for the coming year (as yet undeclared) based on your previous year's income. You have to pay these as they come in, otherwise the tax office can add penalty payments.   IF IN DOUBT, SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. Angela www.the-vendee.co.uk

Don't know of any bookshops, but I see from a new site http://www.inthevendee.com/ that there is a book group in Vouvant (85)!  Perhaps its members could help you...   Angela www.the-vendee.co.uk

Just to go back a bit nearer to the original topic here   ...in the 1970s, when we had a house with a "fosse étanche" (cess-pit) that needed emptying regularly, the guy who used to turn up with a tanker to do the dirty deed was called Arsène Crépeau.  (Well, it used to make us laugh at the time...) Angela

Serge Danot made all the TV versions in a studio created inside a picturesquely italianate former light-industrial building on the banks of the river Sèvre Nantaise near Clisson (SE of Nantes). Not a lot of people know that... Angela (UK & 85) www.the-vendee.co.uk

How weird - so they do! Oh well, forget I spoke...  A

I notice that, if I type an accented letter in a post, it (both letter and its accent)has a distressing tendency to disappear once it's on-site, so to speak. I mentioned a "donation entre epoux" (though with accent) some time ago in a post, but when I read it later, it had turned into "donation entre poux", which isn't quite what I meant! I make my accented letters with the Alt key +three-figure codes, in case that has a bearing on the issue. Let's try a few: époux Vendée côté dernière à mât garçon All those had accents when leaving me...   Angela

Just done a search to see if there's anything official to go by. Here's a site http://www.cstb.fr/dos_presse/fichiers/DP33_06_00_RTF.rtf I don't know what body the CSTB is; I was intrigued also to note a reference to an organisation called SPANC (Ah, quelle deception! Just seen elsewhere that it's the distinctly prosaic "service d'assainissement non collectif"!) Something here http://www.maire-info.com/articles/archive.asp?param=1956 that seems to say it's not so critical for communes of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. This site http://www.ademe.fr/partenaires/Boues/Pages/chap12.htm gives some diagrams, specially on page http://www.ademe.fr/partenaires/Boues/Pages/f12.htm Ah, this looks more official http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F445.html As far as I can make out from a quick glance, the communes just have to officially *think* about it by 31/12/05... Or this site, of the Senat (so one assumes it's the most authoritative), http://www.carrefourlocal.org/vie_locale/ministres/assainissement/1008.html says that communes have to have their *collective* systems conforming to the norms by that date, but no mention of the individual ones (our cherished fosses septiques). and on http://www.carrefourlocal.org/vie_locale/ministres/assainissement/23501.html says that it's the "competence" that has to be transferred to the Maires by Dec 2005. Sounds as if that means that from then on the Maires will be responsible for having the expertise to judge the state of people's installations? Can't believe it! On this site http://www.intercommunalites.com/competence/a_comp2511031.htm it appears that two organisations involved seem (almost) to be called spick and span:  "...Premièrement, la notion de « service rendu » propre aux SPIC - le service ne pouvant être effectivement facturé aux usagers qu'après avoir été rendu - pose le délicat problème du financement des premiers exercices du SPANC..." This seems by far the most authoritative, however: http://www.carteleau.org/fmenu5.htm FAQs on everything to do with water...  Click on "Assainissement non collectif" and you find almost every question you ever wanted to know about.  It includes something that I think came up slightly garbled in the French News piece. Did they say the fosse had to be 35m from the *house*?  Well here it says it has to be 35m from a well or from an area of "water used for human consumption*. Oh, and I now realise that I have to describe my own installation as a "fosse toutes eaux" rather than a fosse septique. http://www.carteleau.org/faq/q01.htm and if you click on the link to the circulaire, you can see what has been sent round to the Prefets (gosh, who'd be a prefet, huh?) Oh dear - too much information.  My head's spinning. Bonne lecture Angela

Yes, good advice is a must in these circumstances. Unless the widow owned the property outright from the word Go, there would have been a notaire involved in connection with the late husband's death perhaps?  So probably this would be a good place to start. Leaving property to anyone other than blood relations usually means that a substantial tax (60 per cent springs to mind, but don't quote me) has to be paid on the value of the property when it is inherited. Again, a notaire will spell this out. I think Alexis is talking about the brother-in-law perhaps buying "en viager".  I have some friends who did this, and had to go on paying the old lady who stayed on in the house for as long as she lived.  (They had another house to live in, of course!)  In fact the old lady died within a year or two, so they turned out to have a bargain, but it is not unknown for robust elderly sellers to outlive the people who bought their house! There's a bit about it on this website http://www.sykesanderson.com/articles/french_en_viager.asp and more (in French) on this one http://www.pratique.fr/vieprat/log/prop/daf1902.htm NB that the person selling must not have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and also that if they die within 20 days of the sale then the sale is void. Angela