chessfou

There are still factories in the UK? Incidentally, on the previous thread about the Irish referendums (or referenda if you prefer), the No vote in the first seemed to be largely influenced by a lack of knowledge about the treaty, greatly exacerbated when, in the run-up to the first referndum, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen admitted he hadn't actually read the treaty, which ranked far higher in honesty than common sense.

Trouble is that UK government action/inaction smacks of the "competitive devaluation" that was such a disaster in the 1930s.

[quote]This man is a star !![/quote] Naine jaune, géante rouge ou étoile variable?

tuyauterie tViJOtRi [:[:)])]

Porsmousse est une ville d'environ 186 000 habitants sur la côte sud de l'Angleterre, face à l'île de Wight. Elle appartient au comté d'Hampshire. Porsmousse est un des trois plus importants ports militaires d'Angleterre.

Je franchis le seuil de l'accueil pour vous réconforter dans votre deuil à la mort de votre écureuil à Porsmousse.

Félicitations, Odile. Quelle bonne journée - pour vous et pour nous. Nous venons de recevoir un petit courriel de notre fils cadet - il a réussi sa licence à Oxford avec un 1st / mention très bien / summa cum laude. Notre fils aîné (qui aussi a réussi sa licence avec mention très bien - il y a 7 ans à St. Andrews) va se marier l'année prochaine, donc ... edit: how strange that the forum software precludes the use of a Latin word (the *** above) much used in the USA, especially by Ivy League universities.

Wooly, Your language seems to have become seriously affected by something or other (eating too much pidgin?). Thanks for the link to the (perfectly intelligible) complete study - somewhat astonishing that 10% of the population should migrate over 5 years, almost all to the SW.

BAC+5 The number of years study after taking the BAC (baccalauréat) exams. BAC+3 = 1st degree (BA, BSc) BAC+5 = Masters/MBA/Doctoral degree

Heston (Blumenthal) reckons that, having spent more than a few quid on the fish (turbot - about £25-35 a throw, or more) and having created the perfect batter and the perfect chip, you should then put some 'onion juice' in an atomizer to spray the room (or even the chips) with in order to create the perfect ambience. The man is completely mad (in the very best sense of the term) and I love him and The Fat Duck.

Effectively the French tax system is, for everyone, employees and 'self-employed' alike, like that in the UK for those who are self-employed. Unsurprisingly, the tax authorities here are jealous of the PAYE system (grab the tax up front, a year or more in advance) and there are rumblings that the system may soon be 'harmonized' ...

I think that changes in cuisine in the UK reflect changes in education, but about a generation behind. In my day, only about 2.5% of the population went to University and maybe 0.1% of the UK population had any idea of good food. Today roughly 50% of the UK population (age group) goes to University and perhaps 2-3% of the population has some idea of what good food is like. I wonder what % of the population of Glasgow or of Birmingham have ever tasted something like chicken braised with pumpkin. I am absolutely certain that it is infinitesimal in comparison with the % of Aveyron peasants who have had some decent foie gras or who could discourse on the relative merits of the varios producers of Roquefort. In France I am convinced that (at least outside the big cities) an absolute minimum of 50% (probably more like 90%) have a good idea of what good food is like (even if they can't always afford to put it on their table).

A bit late to the discussion but I can recommpend the Oustal del Barry in Najac - it doesn't vaut le voyage but it is well worth a bit of a detour. Otherwise, in Villefranche (not in the town centre, just off the bypass), the Relais de Farrou is good - they were closed for a long time because of a serious flood from what normally looks like a tiny little stream flowing alongside the garden. Where did they end up eating and what did they think of it?

It must mean something when the UK's favourite dish is Chicken Tikka Massala. This is not an Indian dish. Legend has it that a Bangladeshi chef made it up when a British customer demanded gravy with his chicken tikka. A very large percentage of the 'Indian' restaurants in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s were opened and run by Bangladeshi peasants with no expertise in cooking. cf The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/apr/19/netnotes.sarahleft I remember only too well how poor most English/British cuisine was in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (aside glorious examples such as Le Gavroche). Since then it improved steadily - thanks to Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Spanish, French ... influences. On the other hand, the legend that French cuisine was only born after the arrival of Florentine cooks with Catherine de Medici in the mid 16C is knocked on the head by a quick glance back to Guillaume Tirel (a.k.a. Taillevent, hence the name of the famous restaurant in Paris) in the mid 14C.

The relevant Marcillac (where the vines are) is Marcillac-Vallon (to give it its full title or Marcilhac del Valon in Occitan). Oddly the airport of Rodez-Marcillac is neither in Rodez (Rodés) nor in Marcillac-Vallon but in the commune of Salles-la-Source (Las Salas Comtals).

Hmm ... some of the vinous comments aren't unreasonable, but the geography is rubbish - Gaillac N of Marcillac?? Gaillac Latitude 43.90 Marcillac Latitude 44.46

Reading what remains of the 'hypothetical question' thread (it is in the Health section), I note that, at least hypothetically, one could end up finding out what it is like to faire de la taule a.k.a. to do porridge.

[quote]but you English, you have burnt Joan of Arc.[/quote] Only because the French* sold her to the English for 10,000 Livres. * blame it on the Burgundians if you like.

You can use the tax calculator at www.impots.gouv.fr - it offers a calc for the year 2006. A simple calc at €45,000 income shows that you would have had some €6,910 to pay (in 2007-8 - French tax is paid in arrears, like self-employed in UK). Did you fill in a tax return in 2007 for your 2006 revenue? If not, then you can't have paid any tax whatsoever (the deductions made by the company would only have been for your cotisations = NI, very roughly).

Nous avons environ 13 degrés, les pluies orageuses, l'éclairage tremblant, les coups de tonnerre ...

Excellent film. If you go via www.home-2009.com you can also find it with an English (or Spanish or German) soundtrack. However, if your French is good enough, the sound balance is much better on the French version (the English and Spanish versions are almost at whisper level, drowned by the music). I do not allow RealPlayer anywhere near my computers (Real are worse than Microsoft for fiddling with your machine without your say-so and probably without your knowledge). A good way of saving the film is by using the Firefox browser with the DownloadHelper add-on - that combination should allow you to save almost any video from almost any source. If you want to play .ra and .ram without RealPlayer then download RealAlternative. Odile, was the woman Isabelle Delannoy?

Having found the text "le montant total de vos dépôts sur votre livret A peut aller jusqu'à 15 300 €, intérêts non compris." I am not sure: - is this the historical total of all monies introduced (withdrawals being ignored) or - an effective maximum balance. I guess it should be the former but we have exceded that sum on my wife's LA, albeit with a maximum balance of no more than about 12 000 €, in the course of last year (and even more this year), all of which was happily allowed by our bank's internal virement par intenet system (we have been using the LA as a place to park lump sum transfers before feeding them into the current account). The bank's software has not spoken, nor have the relevés de compte, so I'm a little confused (the sizeable booklet that was eceived on opening the LA makes no mention of the 15 300 maximum). Anyone know for sure what's what and perhaps able to point to a more detailed and fully authoritative text?

[quote user="just john "]The sun is still shinging[:)] [/quote] Another truly wonderful typo - we need this word, a combination of singing and shining. Conratulations on creating it.

Odile, Mes sincères condoléances. C'est toujours difficile. Nous avons perdu trois de nos parents (tous agés de ca. 80 ans) au cours de 14 mois il y a 11-12 ans (et la quatrième il y a 7 ans). C'est peut-être encore plus difficile quand on devient conscient d'être dans la tranchée de première ligne ... Quant à moi, je suis plus optimiste maintenant parce que toute la tuyauterie externe a été enlevée et les choses sont presque normales.

In order to declare online, you need to have: No. télédéclarant No. Fiscal RFR plus a valid email address. You can't have that lot without having received your first Avis d'Imposition, which, in turn, you can't get until you've made your first return.