Loiseau

Would the arthritis in his hands not make it a bit difficult for your OH to play the mandolin as well, mint? Not that I know much about it... Angela

I think I would go for one OR the other, mint. Call the neighbour "ma voisine", and the other "mon amie". Or you could refer to the local one as "une amie, de mon village". Angela

Around 10 years back my UK-resident daughter and a group of musicians were engaged to give a concert in the Vendee. Their "cachet" (I forget the actual figure) was quoted in their contracts, and I was rather dismayed to see that it was stated that French income tax would be withheld from this fee. However, this had clearly been taken into account by the French organisers. The musicians all received the amount of money specified in their contracts; the organisers had on paper paid them more, so that once the tax was deducted they pocketed the amount specified. Angela

You can search this website https://vide-greniers.org for your departement or region. I don't think it will give you info on whether a fair is strong on any particular type of goods, sadly. Angela

But, idun, your friends were doing absolutely the right thing by moving back to a country where they felt comfortable about understanding their medical treatment. I am told I speak pretty fluent French, but if seriously ill/injured I might be fazed by having to describe subtle variations in symptoms, and the difference between say a pain that was throbbing, stinging, aching, twinging etc. Though I guess if I had to, I would learn pretty fast. I agree, I would not necessarily trust an "English-speaking doctor" to get it all right, so would much rather deal in French. I can completely understand their move, and think it praiseworthy. Angela

Wonderful, mint! Thank god to be born with English as mother tongue, cos it must be an impossible language for a foreigner to speak perfectly. Angela PS. I stayed with some Australian rellies in a Brisbane suburb called Alcester. I commented on the coincidence that I had grown up near the English town of the same name (using the English pronunciation, of course). They looked mystified to start with, and then said "oh, you mean Al-kes-ter!"

Re the children holding fire before taking their inheritance, Blodwyn, I said the same to my notaire 16 years ago and he countered that you never know what could lie 10 years down the line in the way of bitter divorces etc. He had seen it all, he said. I took his advice - though, happily, I can report no family upsets so far. Angela

Sacré bleu, idun !!

Have you looked in your local yellow pages, Angie? You should find one in your area that way. Re the cost, I had one done recently in the Vendee, and it cost 52 euros. Angela

QUOTE Dave This many notebooks of that type of paper with this many pages in....this many sheets of graph paper... that many sheets of this type of drawing paper and this many sheets of this type of drawing paper.....this many folder with that many dividers....this type of pen.....these colours of highlighters....this range of paints and a brush.....plus he now needs a scientific calculator. END QUOTE And is there ever anything of this lot left over at the end of the année scolaire? If so, can one not just use it up in the new year? Angela

A French friend of mine warned me about booking anyone who is ONLY a chimney sweep. He said it was often a favourite low-investment occupation of "travellers". He recommended always using someone who is also a plumber - he says the two occupations often go hand in hand, for some reason. Angela

I think it's so very evident in France because the supermarkets give over such a massive section to all that school stationery stuff, seemingly from July 1 onwards. I look at "La Voix du Nord" newspaper online from time to time, and one day last week the headlines of the first seven stories contained the word "Rentrée". Angela

Priorité à droite - arrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!

QUOTE mint What, Pierre, is your REAL name C o c k Robin? So, tell me, what are you trying to shoot with your bow and arrer? END QUOTE Actually, chère mint, just to be nitpicking, wasn't it the sparrer that fired the fatal shot? Angela

Ha ha re the 99-year thing, leHaut! I have been "told" that many times too. Oh, that reminds me: "ah ah" instead of "ha ha" (and indeed in place of a ha-ha in the garden of one's stately home!). The fact that is seen as more flattering to guests if you have BOUGHT the dessert, instead of having made it yourself. I totally love having salad-cheese-pud, and force it on all wherever I am. Seems so logical to me. And I can't stop myself wanting to say "Bonjour Messieurs/dames" on entering a shop or a restaurant - I get some very funny looks if I try it in London. Though I do rather like being called "darling" and "love" by shopkeepers in England. My French friends were horrified when they first moved to London, as they took such endearments for gross over familiarity! Angela

[quote user="suein56"]NickP wrote : Test for Google Chrome Aha, there you have it. [/quote] Test for quotes using Firefox EDIT Hmm, so that's no better then...

Ooo, AnO, who's a cleversticks then!! I didn't realise I could get Firefox for the ipad2, but I have just downloaded it and the problem is fixed, as for NickP, above! Many thanks. Angela

You mean you have the même problème, mint? I bet my iPad is older than your laptop! Angela

Is it just me... I use a link to "Active Topics" to start off my visits to the forum on my iPad. The last couple of days I have noticed that if I start reading a thread, and then click the "back" arrow on the top of the screen to go back to the AT list, I am not taken back to the current "Active Topics" page but to one of several days ago. I only get back to the current AT page by clicking my original link. The only reason that I can think of is that I ran an update to my iOS a few days ago. However, the problem does not occur with other forums that I visit. Anyone else having this problem? Angela

Can't help on the question of cancelling your Ryan car, MrsB, but I do have a comment about the payment for extra insurance at pick-up. We met this situation at the Hertz desk in Sicily a few years back, which is the first time I had come across it this cunning wheeze by even the most mainstream hirers to boost their income. Reckoning we were pretty likely to end up with a bump or a scratch among the crazy Italian drivers, we paid up, but if I had known about the dodge beforehand, I would have looked at some of the specialist insurance companies that offer much cheaper "excess protection" on a one-off or annual basis. Google "car insurance excess protection" for information. The MoneySavingExpert site looks helpful. Angela

Well, I guess because UN arbre is masculine, that would be logical. With cars, I always thought every make was feminine because "une voiture" is feminine. However, when some French friends mentioned "un Kangoo" recently, I took them up on it and asked why. They ummed and ahhed a bit, and finally said it must be because it was a model that was "un monospace". Honestly, what hope have we foreigners got...?

Looks wonderful, Norman.

I have a problem with "la victime" in crime reports - used even where the "victim" is a man. "Un squelette" bothers me, too. "-ette" sounds such a feminine ending. Le musée, but la fusée - they're having a laff, aren't they?! Angela

The banana and I were only talking about Coops the other day. I love it when old threads are revived, and she suddenly seems to be back among us again.

Ah, as idun says, it might be different if you are using a round French plug with the earth pin. http://www.decouverte-italie.com/prises-electriques-italie.php We were just using French two-pin plugs, and those were fine. The hotels always provided hairdryers, so we did not have to use anything with the French earth. Angela