Loiseau

I am sure we used our usual French plugs to charge things while in Sicily a few years back, JJ. Another time I would make sure I took an adapter with two USB sockets, though, as we were often fighting over a single wall socket! Some hotels had such an advanced approach to energy-saving that all the electrics automatically were cancelled as soon as you left the room and locked the door, so nothing got charged in our absence, though. Angela

???

Wow, mint! I had the same shock at 19h ce soir. A lady called on behalf of EDF trying to convince me that I could cover the costs of my elec consumption, presumably with photovoltaïque - but I didn't give her a chance to convince me...

Can't stand poached eggs, idun, so no advice from me I'm afraid!

Are you sure you are talking about your friend changing her FOREname? Not her surname/family name?

Actually, idun, I think we ladies should not be sending our "sentiments" to anyone but, rather, our "salutations". Hopefully ericd will pop by to confirm or deny this. Angela

Interesting question,Spidworthy... I have no idea! I would imagine someone would have to ask the notaire to act, or who is going to pay him/her? Could you ask whoever is your designated executor in the UK to get in touch with the notaire to handle the succession in the event of your both dying together? In fact, some UK practices these days have a French qualified notaire in their offices, who could presumably retrieve the French Will from the national place where it is lodged and deal with it all from the UK end. Might be a much pricier option for your executor than doing the French part through a France-based notaire, but a lot simpler for anyone who doesn't speak French. Angela

Gosh, amazing that the effects are even filtering down to you, Chancer. I suppose it's a reflection of what must be happening to France's tourism generally.

Quote The music fest at Berck has been cancelled? END QUOTE Yes, Pierre, that was in La Voix du Nord a few days before the announcement that the Braderie de Lille might also bite the dust. A bit crazy if the Tourist office has not announced the annulation. Angela

Ooooh, let us know how you get on, mint!

What a faff, mint! Much easier to pour the right measure from the bottle of cordial kept in the fridge for months... Angela

To tide you over till next elderflower season, here is a delicious lemonade recipe that my mother used to make for us every summer, and is a staple in our family. Sorry about the imperial measurements! 2oz citric acid powder. 4 lb granulated sugar 3 lemons 4 oranges 4 pt boiling water Grate peel and put it in a large bowl with sugar and citric acid. Pour boiling water over it all, and stir to dissolve sugar. Squeeze the lemons and oranges, and when liquid is cool add the juice to the bowl. Cover and leave overnight to infuse. Strain into bottles. Drink diluted, like a cordial. It keeps well in a fridge; even better in the freezer (keep it in plastic bottles if you are going to freeze it). You can vary the amount and proportion of the citrus fruits to taste.

QUOTE victor .... Did you use someone from CS at the consultation? If so how did you/they handle it? .... END QUOTE No, victor, it was all in the UK. So I have no direct experience of CSF, apart from knowing that the volunteers all have to go to training before being allowed to speak to/accompany any clients. They are not medically trained in any way; it's more practical and emotional support, and maybe helping you to ask the right questions and to understand the implications of the answers. Plus perhaps being aware of what financial or other help might be available towards transport etc. Angela

Interesting to know it's in Carrefour, Sue! Mint, my recipe takes only two days. It involves 25 heads of elderflower, sugar, lemons, water and citric acid (the only item that I find increasingly hard to source from a chemist, but I found you can order it from Amazon). I can't put my hand on the exact recipe at this moment, but I know I have it in the Vendee, so will post it next week. Angela

QUOTE dharma Mint is the antithesis of what a forum member should be. .... This is certainly not the first time I have encountered hostility on social media. END QUOTE Au contraire, dharma, the Mint who has been with us on here for many years had always manifested herself as EXACTLY the sort of person a forum member should be. Like her, I have spent a lot of time and effort reading and re-reading this long thread, hoping to find any way to be helpful to you - though I don't have experience of the French educational system either, except that of having been a student there myself many decades ago. You have received some great advice, but I fear nobody is going to be able to pinpoint that perfect house in its perfect position that is going to furnish your daughter with the perfect university course in 4 or 5 years' time. I, too, am worried about whether you would get the necessary resident visas and - particularly - how you would fund your health care if you were on such a tight budget (I think you said your husband would be "on Social Security"; I am not sure what that means). Also, if you did make the move to France, and life did not come up to your hopes and expectations, could you afford to move back to the US? I wish somebody on here could wave a magic wand and give you confirmation that everything will be OK, but it is much better to be aware of possible pitfalls before you have gone too far. Angela PS. Regarding social media, it is easy to unwittingly give (or take) offence via an email or a posting, since it is hard to convey a tone of irony, jest, wry amusement etc.

You're too late to make it this year, but get out there picking elder flowers next May and make your own! I don't think the French ever have it. I have tried them out on my home-made "sirop de sureau' and it had never gone down too well That sounds a wonderful drink that you describe; I must remember to try making it. Angela

A friend of mine set up Cancer Support Vendee a few years back, and i know its volunteers are a huge support to those who contact them. However good your French, victor, it is invaluable to have someone else there for the consultations so that you can compare notes afterwards and discuss the implications of what was said. I used to go to consultations (in England) when my husband had been diagnosed win cancer, and we both found it incredibly useful to be able to talk it over together afterwards. Angela

Yes, I just saw that in La Voix du Nord, too. There has already been the cancellation of an annual August music-fest due to take place over a few days on the seafront promenade at Berck. And quite a few smaller braderies seem to have been cancelled in the north, too. Angela

Ooooh, good, mint! Now I shall have to find a pretext to use it myself and see if it enjoys the same success! ???

Or, Kathrine, why not use the fabulous coastal road D940 to drive from Calais to Boulogne, past Wissant and Wimereux? The scenery is wonderful, and it would be a real plus. If you start on the A16 (which is toll-free between Calais and Boulogne), you can turn off soon, westward towards Blériot Plage (junction 43), or to Sangatte (junction 41), to get on the D940. And if you work your way through Boulogne, sticking to the D940, you could rejoin the A16 near Neufchâtel-Hardelot at junction 27 and continue south from there. (I don't know if you have tunnel phobia, too, but the A16 does go through a spacious, well-lit tunnel beneath Hardelot Forest between junctions 27 and 28; using this route, you would also have avoided the tunnel.) Angela

As a UK resident, I have made a Will covering my UK assets, with bequests to various people as well as my daughter and stepchildren, but specifically stating that it does not cover any property I may own in France. That cost me the usual £££. I have since made a French Will, in France, to clarify that I want anything I own in France to go to my only child (too expensive for stepchildren to inherit anything!) and again specifying that it does not cover any assets in the UK. This covered a single A4 sheet, had to be handwritten by me (copying out the exact wording given to me by the notaire, who was sitting in front of me), and was then to be lodged by her with the main French registry of Wills. As far as I recall, this did not cost me a centime. (Though maybe there will be a charge when it is implemented, on top of the usual taxes.) Angela

Yes, I was going to say a 4 for that h-type thing, too, Chancer! I agree about the old-fashioned style of French handwriting; I can always recognise it even on an envelope WITHOUT a French stamp! Americans write in a distinctive curly style, too - though not in quite the same way as the French. I always feel we British have an infinitely varied style, though I do remember having to practise "Marion Richardson" style at school (who on earth was she?) Angela

So glad to hear the procedure went as smoothly as it could have done, Victor. Good luck for Wednesday's meeting. Angela

I thought the Mairie set its own taxe de séjour, Chancer? When I used to rent out a humble rural gîte, the secretary there told me how much it was. In fact it was such a piddling amount per adult and child per night that I absorbed the cost myself rather than demand it from the tenants. It might have been a more significant amount if the property had been in some fashionable seaside resort, I guess. Angela

MDR, Pierre!