HoneySuckleDreams

http://www.thompson-morgan.fr or the english version is http://www.tandmworldwide.com

As an aside to the equivalence of Brevet and GCSE's. My eldest is doing his Brevet this year and we have been revising. With Maths, I managed to get hold of some recent GCSE papers as well as some old 'O' level papers. I would say that the Brevet is more akin to the old 'O' level as even I find the GCSE papers remarkably easy. Norman: Would a French child be allowed to enter the Royal Marines if he got the required BAC level? Unfortunately it doesn't work the other way round here, my middle son asked about joining the French airforce, but he must be French (or hold dual nationality).

Every child is different so any info you get will be based on other peoples kids. (In my opinion forget french club, waste of time.) They should make it eventually. Unless you have a private school in your area you can send your kids to, you won't have a choice. It will depend on the commune you move into and what age they will be when they arrive. There are plenty of people on this forum who will pitch in with their knowledge (far more superior than mine I might add) Start preparing yourself for a big culture shock.

Everyone around here is helpful when off-loading chicks. When Mr Fox comes visiting we all lose one or two, but there are always neighbours willing to part with chicks. As an aside, we had a clutch of 11 chicks hatch, 9 were cocks (how unlucky was that!). Bedlam rained for a while until we did the deed and fed the freezer.

a "pondeuse" is a good layer and "pondre" is to lay être sur le point de la ponte ?? where "ponte" is the state of laying (feminine i guess as there aren't many male chickens that lay eggs!)

chancer They had 234kmh registered as the maximum in the Haute Pyrenees, admittedly high up, but lots of places noted >200kmh. One of the reasons there wasn't more damage here was that the tempete of last year took out most of the old/knackered trees/houses. We were lucky, lots of people were not and I think the finger pointing will go on for a while yet.

Nope. All trees present and correct. However...today...strength 90%, quality 60%...missing channels.

We've got a mish mash of all sorts now. We bought some fluffly feet types at the Tarbes market a while ago and with a bit of interbreeding along the way we have lots of mongrels. Have a look at what the neighbours have and ask where they got theirs. The ones with no feathers on the neck are usually for eating.

...thought I would report back. Spent an afternoon with my bro trying to re-adjust the dish to get the optimum signal strength, but with no luck. Maximum we got was 75% strength, 60% quality, and still missing stations. However...after the big storm at the weekend I'm now at 90% for both, and all missing channels are there..and for the 1st time in 5 years I can get ClassicFM by satellite. I'm of up the ladder tomorrow to tighten a few bolts. Bizarre...every cloud etc....

for some bizarre reason the temperature here was 20degrees at 11pm. It hadn't got above 10 all day until the storm hit.

Hello We had Solar panels fitted which has an electric heater as part of the water heater. Our old (fuel) boiler is still connected (for central heating) but it can still create hot water and is still plumbed in (albeit with a gate valve turned to the off position). Normally the hot water is generated from the new electric system. However, we have lots of people coming to stay over the next week and the solar system takes ages to heat the water. I would like to be able (in an emergency) to use the old fuel water heater. I know it's more expensive but you can get 2-3 showers out of 5 minutes heating with fuel. I asked the bloke who put the system in and he said not a problem...open the old valve, close the water input valve on the new system and it will work. It doesn't. When you open a hot water tap, the water is pulled directly from the mains supply straight into the hot water supply via (see photo) a valve on the exit to the electric system. I think this is a mixer to regulate the temperature of the output hot water (why they fit them I'll never know as all the taps in the house are mixer taps). My guess is that as the mains pressure is 6-7bar and the output of the old system is reduced to about 1.5, then the new higher pressure will win everytime, which is why i'm getting freezing cold water. But I'm no heating engineer, which is why I'm asking for advice. (sorry I can't get the photo to appear properly, the IMG tag is missing, and I can't copy and paste either!) [IMG]http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr283/greeninfrance/DSCF1387.jpg[/IMG] Question: (finally) If I fit a gate valve to the cold input on the new system, would this effectively isolate it...without damaging it all. I reckon it will but I'm not a heating engineer. The input side is all 22mm so a simple gate valve should suffice. And this is a gripe about costs....as I don't have an oxyacetylene torch it has to be compression fittings. The local plumbers merchant have the valve for 9euro. You can't buy it all together, ie. simple nut and olive, you have to be the raccords as well...15euro each. So what would cost about £4 in B&Q costs close to 40euro here...which i find astounding! Plumber bloke told me to get a man in to solder the cheaper copper fittings, but that will probably cost more.

I will try some more investigation. We have friends in the village who get perfect reception, and they are only 400m away. I borrowed their box and have the same problem, so I will try my box on their system to remove the box as an issue. We have both 80cm dishes so it would either be an LNB issue, cable or direction. I think I will leave the voltage tests for when my brother visits. I'm more of a draggy, droppy, clicky pointy sort of person when it comes to electronics and stuff and he knows a bit more about that side of things. But hopefully, it will be just a skew/direction thing. (as an asside, i've NEVER managed to get classicfm radio, it is always "blocky", or whatever the audio equivalent of a blocky picture is) I'll post back a solution for other forum members (if I find one!)

sorry to jump in on this discussion. We have a problem where we are missing certain channels. But I think it's the reverse to the OP 2D missing problem. I think we are having problems with the 2B signal, as we can get all the BBC channels, but are missing BBC Radio 1,2,3,4,4LW and sometimes the red button doesn't work. Looking at the lyngsat link you posted Martin963, it looks like the ones I am missing are on 2B, including some of the BBC streams. Would this point to a Skew problem? I've tried turning the LNB to what I think is around 19degrees, but i'm not sure. Could this be a voltage problem as well. Is this easy to test at the LNB end (i have a voltmeter and ladder at the ready)? regards

Chri, Not that experienced, but very lucky on the day. A freind had spent nearly 3years prospecting the area for White-Backed so we knew they were around. 6 breeding pairs we think in the area. We were actually looking for Black WP but only heard them. We spotted Wall Creeper, Goshawk and Lammergeier in the same afternoon, so not a bad day all round. My other friend with us (big birding fan) had Ptarmigan and Golden Eagle the day before, but was only really interested in Alpine Accentor (which we couldn't find).

which bit? The white backed woodpecker - Dendrocopos leucotos (i'm not sure what the french is) or the dept65 - Haute Pyrenees

white backed woodpecker - dept65

Does anyone have a reasonable french word/phrase I can use for Bird-Hide? i'm writing a letter suggesting the local lake could do with one. Regards

Hi. Which supplier are you with in France (or am i missing the point that there is only EDF). I've just moved to HC and we pay 11.54cts and 7.34cts respectively (6kw puissance). We have changed to Solar panels for the hot water, but seems to more expensive at the moment as the electric heater kicks in all to often (not too much solar heat about!) hence the move to HC tarif. regards

Fi Maybe I did get lucky, but it was after 3 years of no luck and a lot of hard work looking. And yes, I do use my "rubbish" french in my job. And you are quite right that assuming Fluent English will not be enough to get you a job in France, or anywhere else that doesn't speak English as a first language. There are, however, other skills that potential employers look for. I think fluent English would not be enough for you to get a job in the UK either; skills, experience and qualifications all play a part. (I think call centers are the exception though) I'm not sure I said you don't need French to work in France, so I can't pray tell thee. Besides, I think the only person who would like to know is the original poster as it was he who was asking for information, most other people couldn't care less. I directly support my family. I can't tell you how many French I support, hundreds I guess. With the amount of tax and cotisations I pay, probably thousands! Theodore If you have the skills required for the post they are advertising and you can prove your worthiness to them, then (in my mind) you will eventually be lucky. My "rubbish" french managed to get me through two job interviews, conducted completely in French (and of quite a technical nature). They didn't seem to mind that I didn't have a full grasp of the subjunctive, or the past imperative, it was my 20years of knowledge in the field and previous experience which was more important to them than perfect French. Make sure you research the company you are wanting to work for and prepare (lots of preparation!) some questions (with potential answers so you can follow up). As to where to look...get in touch with some employement agencies. Addecco and Atos are two that spring to mind. But there are also internet sites specifically geared to help you search for jobs sudouestjob.com is one i've used in the past. The big (bigger than most) cities will obviously be the best places to look. Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes, Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand. But obviously, it depends on what you do.(Not much call for ski instructors in Bordeaux!) Just remember that it isn't impossible...hard work maybe, but not impossible. To everyone else: I would be interested to know how many people on this and other forums are actually working full time for a French employer. I know there must be lots of English who have set up their own businesses catering for both the English and French markets, but how many people work solely for a French employer? More objectively, it would be interesting to know the level of French vs experience/skills that allowed them to get a job in France, i.e. more experience (less French) vs more French (less experience). best of luck

Theodore You haven't said what you do, or would like to do, as it may have a bearing on where you go. Don't listen to the negative comments about coming to France and not getting a job because you can't speak the language. I think you are doing the right thing by starting to learn. I got a job here, support 5 people, and my french is rubbish. good luck

Has any one found a resolution to this? I seem to have lost a load of radio stations. I can't get BBC4LW, but CAN get R5SportsX (for the cricket). But i can't get a load of other radio stations either. They did briefly make an appearance one evening, but have gone again. Could it be a dish alignment issue? H or V issue?

Many thanks for the adivce. I will go with the money received bit as the option to take for declaration purposes, as i normally declare converted GBP->EURO on the day I receive the money into the bank. Nothing received, nothing to declare. dragonrouge - I had already started down the solicitor route who sent them a letter demanding payment or else. I will wait and see what the Finance company do with the re-organisation of the business before going down the CCJ route. We had discussed a winding up petition, which is rather more expensive, but a bit more of a guarantee of being on top of the list if it does all go harry hatstand on me. Even armed with a judgement there is still no guarantee of receiving anything. I await with hope! .

I'm currently in the MICRO BNC regime (2nd year now). I did some work in the UK last year via a UK agency and have been chasing them for late payment (since last June). I've finally had a letter saying they are having their current financial position reviewed and looking at a restructuring of the business, i.e. they've gone belly up. All in all, it's about 15% of what i earned last year. Is there anything I can do on the Tax declaration to compensate for this loss? I know if I was in the UK working as self-employed then the accountants could offset the loss. However, i'm not in the UK. Or, as i haven't received the money (or likely to), just not declare it? What is the legal position of this? (maybe I should have posted this in the legal bit of the forum...or the finance bit) I feel rather agrieved by all this, as the agency had been paid by the end client for my time, but decided not to pass this onto me. This is just more nail in the UK coffin for me. I've had just about enough of the rip-off attitude from UK businesses...from landlords not fully giving back deposits with a shrug and a "sue me then" attitude. To the jewellers who "fixed" my wifes engagement ring but gave it back having shaved of bits of gold everywhere hoping I wouldn't notice until after i'd got home. ( i didn't...she did ) What has become of Great Britain? Sorry about the rant Any help re: income declaration would be appreciated. Thanks

Ta Pierre ZFP.. I PM'd you

Hi I'm just about to start a contract in Luxembourg so I need recommendations for a hotel around the city....(or is it best to commute in to the city from France) But...as it's half term for the kids, we're all travelling up there together to have a wander before I have to don the corporate suit! Can anyone one recommend a decent hotel in the centre for 5 of us? Thanks