Loiseau

QUOTE I am a freelance journalist based outside France and not a French national. I submitted an article that was published by the magazine this year. We agreed on a payment of 100 Euros but I only received 90 Euros. END QUOTE Hello Ashi, and welcome to the forum. As a non-French resident, I have come across this situation, too. It seems that in France the tax is automatically taken off a freelance before payment (unlike, say, in the UK, where freelances are paid gross, and then deal with their own tax). My daughter and the baroque ensemble that she sang with were engaged for one performance in France, and tax was deducted from their "cachet", or fee, even though none of them was French-resident. Though I have to say in this case that the organisers had marked up the fee to allow for that, so that in the end they received the sum they thought they would. I don't think you have a snowball's chance of getting a refund, but in any future dealings maybe you should up your quoted fee by enough to allow for the tax "take".

Agree with all the foregoing. Mawkish headlines splashed all over the tabloids on newsstands I have seen today. It's a terrible tragedy, even for families whose children were not involved in it - and who now are made, by press hysteria, to feel they should not let their children out of their sight.

QUOTE patf encore is usually "again". toujours, always or still ie "she's still working". Not sure about the next one - I asked in the garden centre, "avez vous de plus de cette plante?" And she replied "il y a beaucoup d'avantage la bas". END QUOTE Actually, I think in the example you gave, Pat, of "She is still working", you might hear "toujours" OR "encore". "Elle travaille encore" "Elle travaille toujours" I stand to be corrected, but I think either of them can mean both "She is still at work" (i.e. working late), or "She is still working" (i.e. hasn't retired/given up work yet). Plus is a tricky one, because it can mean "more" and "no more"! "Avez-vous d'avantage de plantes comme celles-ci?" "Non, il y'en a plus". (Of course, there should be a "ne" between "il" and "y", but in conversation it would often be dropped.

Thanks idun! I have swept and swabbed the decks this morning, so functioning pretty well; can't complain! Norman wrote: Not sure that these revelations have a place on a public Forum Hmm, maybe I should have been more discreet there... ;-)

Ooo, dear, mogs. Sounds nasty. Did you do them all at once, or spread over several years?

Bon courage, Pommier. I hope all goes well in Nantes. I feel a bit of a fraud, engendering all this sympathy when I actually now feel almost normal, thanks no doubt to the panoply of French médicaments I am ingesting! The banana held the wheel valiantly all the way today, while I attempted to entertain him (and the dogs) by reading out choice morsels from the News about Trump's travels.

Aw, thanks for the sympathetic messages, folks... Yes, mint, I remember your fall; must have been jolly painful. In all honesty, it's not too bad unless I sneeze, laugh, etc. So I have not taken many of the painkillers prescribed with such largesse. Will take a handful before retiring though, cos as you say, mint, it's the lying down and the sitting up movements that are the worst. I have still done some gardening today, between showers, but walking v deliberately and cautiously. Tomorrow, we have 600km in the car back to Chez Banane from Chez Loiseau.

The woolly one was ok, idun. I was the patient... Tripped over in the garden, and went flat on my face. Lots of pain on left side, so convinced WB that I needed to go to Urgences. Chose small town nearest, rather than county town a bit farther away. V efficient admin, just a L-o-n-g wait to be seen. Mind you, the esprit among the fellow-waiters was pretty good, especially when having to deal with the local drunk, who kept erupting with and without cigarette until finally sent on his way by the gendarmes. Once I was called through, after 5h30 wait, it was to face a huge line-up of stretcher cases that had been arriving by ambulance. I felt quite guilty that I had nothing life-threatening (just a broken rib, as it turned out), since there was apparently just one doctor on duty. So I have of course been issued with enough painkillers to knock out an ox - though I actually refused the most potent once at the pharmacie.

HollyHock, with an H, Eric. They are lovely. I have seen them in Noirmoutlier town, growing through the tarmac - but have never managed to get them going at home, so that is good news that you have some leaves. The reason you have only leaves this year is that hollyhocks are biennials, and will flower in the second year after planting. So give them time!

The lyrics are usually so banal, that it's better if you can't understand them IMHO.

Why should she sing it in English?

Every time my late husband and I (both British) purchased property in France, his first wife/wedding had to be mentioned in the deeds, and he had to produce his certificate of divorce, along with that of our current marriage.

Here's an article that will please albf, at least: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/lets-just-admit-it-the-french-are-simply-better-than-us/

Good thought, mint, thanks! Will give it a go when I am over next week...

Is it possible to open the outdoor box to read the meter oneself? Mine has a little Perspex window through which one is presumably supposed to be able to read the meter, but it is yellowed with age and impossible to see through. The box itself has a lock with a sort of triangular sticky-out bit, which presumably requires a triangular gadget to undo it. As I had a massive bill 12 months ago, and a tiny one recently, the EDF themselves actually queried it with me, and asked me to read the meter myself. But it was impossible without opening the box. Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread, but just interested in a tip about opening the box.

It is "lait ribot" you bought, chessie? Like the drink Chancer describes, it is a kind of "drinking yoghurt" much enjoyed in Brittany, but I have bought it (on purpose!) in the milk section of my Vendee HyperU. So I can imagine it being fine in a white sauce, but disgusting in tea!

In my rural Vendee village: MLP 23 per cent Fillon 22 pc Macron 21 pc

I am all agog, but will have to wait till later in the week to view it as I see "the uploader has not made it available in your country". :-(

Diverting briefly back to the butter discussion on the previous page, the only dishes I have been offered butter with in the Vendée have been grilled sardines, and oysters.

But WHAT do you click on up top to see them? I have tried my username, settings, etc, but cannot see PMs mentioned anywhere. I must have had a mental aberration, cos I know I could see them once upon a time

But where ARE the PMs that one has sent? I can see how to send one, and they seem to go off ok. But surely one used to be able to look at the history of the PMs sent, along with their replies. I can't find anyway of doing that. Grrr.

Roseysan, have sent you a PM.

My ordures ménagères charge has always been a separate bill. Was once a year, but now twice. Mind you, we now have a very flashy new déchèterie that no doubt had to be funded somehow!

As the signing of the "acte" at completion seems to involve the presence of the seller, the buyer and, possibly, the vendor's estate agent as well, it would be logical to use a notaire near to the place you are purchasing. The only way to avoid people having to trek 600km north to sign in front of your PdeC notaire would be if they all gave "procuration" to a member of that notaire's staff.

Is there a minimum number of posts that a new member has to make before their PM system is active? I seem to remember something about that years ago, or maybe it was on another forum.