chessfou

[quote]remember it is a faux ami - on fait des affaires avec quelqu'un (business) mais on n'a pas une affaire avec quelqu'un (une liaison!)[/quote] La liaison. Does that mean that les homards have less "fun" than les hommes ... ?

cela fera bien l'affaire - that'll do nicely or that'll come in handy J'ai ton affaire - I've got exactly what you want c'est une autre affaire - that's a different kettle of fish en voilà une affaire - what a complicated business! It is indeed without a good dictionary - my recommendation is the big ("Senior") Robert & Collins (I have the electronic version on my main PC and two copies of the book - one upstairs, one downstairs ... well, it's heavy!): http://www.lerobert.com/dictionnaires-bilingues/anglais/le-robert-collins-2.html NB the option to "feuilleter" some of the pages.

Interesting question and I haven't found much by way of answer. Here's a little bit: Les volets extérieurs dits contrevents ou persiennes (on les trouve à partir de 1750 chez Mesdames à Versailles et à Compiègne en 1755), sont toujours peints en blanc. Ils sont nécessaires (surtout dans le Midi où l'on emploie aussi les jalousies faites de lattes de bois mobiles coulissant verticalement) et se rabattant contre le mur extérieur nuisent quelque peu à l'architecture des façades, à moins qu'on ne les aient prévus à l'origine comme au château de Guiry-en-Vexin (Val d'Oise). Pour remédier à cet inconvénient, à la fin du siècle on les fait quelquefois coulisser dans le mur, comme à l'hôtel de la Préfecture à Besançon (Doubs). [http://www.boiserie.fr/c.pingeon_maitre_ebeniste/Historique_des_portes.htm] I can't say I recall seeing all that many painted white, though. Round here (at least in the country) they are usually of plain wood. Some fascinating snippets in English here: http://www.allaboutshutters.com/shutter-history.htm

Plus "quand bien même" - even though, even if e.g. quand bien même tu aurais raison, je n'irais pas even if you were right, I wouldn't go

[quote]I saw just how badly treated the average 'immigrant' is, both in terms of the disgraceful conditions in which the whole business operates, and in the attitude of the officials[/quote] Yes, we (generally) white-skinned, well-off (at least comparatively) West European immigrants have it easy in comparison with the rest - I've met some Hungarians and Lithuanians who have had a tough time here but I can't begin to imagine what it is like to be a poor immigrant, skin "bronzé" from the Maghreb or Senegal. Les Anglais ne sont pas des Arabes comme les autres: http://www.la-bas.org/article.php3?id_article=1239 http://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/em/labassijysuis/index.php?id=59647

[quote]I would be happy to pass on any info[/quote] What would you estimate was the total cost of the process? We have two years (+) to go before we can apply - the intention is to do so but maybe we need to start saving up ... NormanH, the odd thing about the blog you link to is that the woman seems to be a million miles away from mastering the language - from what she says ("the brick wall that has become my ability to progress with the French language" and "an attestation from my French teacher stating that I have indeed made an attempt at butchering studying the French language since moving to France"), one would guess at a level of B1 CECR at best.

[quote] Actually a "typo" l and m next to each other[/quote] Yes, indeed ... "coquille" = "typo"

[quote]An absolute lust have[/quote] Quelle jolie coquille! must-lust-convoiter-convoitise ...

I don't know if there is any difference between the rates shown but I suspect the impôts would prefer the figures be taken from the Banque de France: http://www.banque-france.fr/fr/poli_mone/taux/change.htm You can download a csv file with even more detail (e.g. end of month figures for the entire history of the rate back to Jan 1999).

Not my kind of music but I thought the twinning story was amusing. Here is the story from Le Parisien: Carlat veut épouser Bruni

[quote]It is well worthwhile changing the plugs particularly for items like Washing Machines which use a lot of power.[/quote] Does the kind of plug really make any difference to power consumption? Or is there some other compelling reason?

[quote]Much of Inland France, particularly at altitude is colder than the UK in Winter.[/quote] Yes but it seems less cold - I think it is a combination of the much longer days* (and therefore substantially more sunshine) and a comparative lack of humidity - above all it's much less grey down here (except in many of the river valleys which can be horribly depressing - damp and foggy). We're at 500-600 metres on the South side of a hill, which is excellent; admittedly, we wouldn't want to be much higher (above 900m it gets really cold) and absolutely not on the North side of a hill where the sun may not be seen for several months. * the OP doesn't say how far North but, for example, today's hours of daylight: Newcastle - 7h 21m Luton (N of London!!) - 7h 58m Toulouse - 9h 2m so that's well in excess of an hour and a half of extra daylight (or an hour vis-a-vis "Southerners"), which is worth a lot during the winter (the hours are the other way round during the summer but who needs midnight sun in the summer?).

[quote]Anything goes then?[/quote] Almost but I would suggest some at least half-way decent wine after the initial aperos (unless you're going to serve bubbly stuff all the way through).

Oh dear,I know that "on ne devrait pas les nourrir" but ... [quote]A lot of those who have got themselves into a mess are those who have not considered worst case scenarios*[/quote] So what is the worst case? 50%+ inflation (p.a.) as we have effectively experienced here in France over the past 14 months or so (from 1.50 to 1.03 exchange rate plus a bit of "normal" inflation) or 3.25x106 %/month of the Weimar Republic in 1923? Then again, since that has happened (and not far from here, either in space or time) the "worst" case must be worse than that ... and you've allowed for the worst case ... [quote]we (our bank) are working on a recovery[/quote] More Scooby-Doh than Scooby-Doo but what would you expect from an American pooch, aside from the obvious dejections? *PS don't forget to factor in an influenza pandemic and a major asteroid strike, both of which are inevitable (10,000 years? tomorrow? next year? 100 years? next week? next month? 1000 years?).

Yes, another bit of the minefield. At one extreme there are the Labeyrie & Delpeyrat battery farms. At the other extreme lies the "natural" gavage (spotted by the ancient Egyptians and Chinese) of ducks and geese preparing to migrate. Somewhere in the middle of the continuum lie the artisan producers. You pays yer money ... [I am not a vegetarian but would not dream of touching anything from a battery farm, which probably leaves me somewhere in the middle of that continuum]

[quote]"Le Feu" by Henri Barbusse.[/quote] Available free here: http://www.ebooksgratuits.com/ebooks.php along with lots of other wonderful books, all completely free. It can be just like reading a real book if you get something with "e-paper" & "e-ink" such as this: http://www.bookeen.com/ebook/ebook-reading-device.aspx I have one of those for the bedside table.

[QUOTE]If anyone is wondering about the wallpaper thought I'd best mention that we haven't got round to redecorating the lounge yet [/QUOTE] That's not proper French wallpaper! Is it on the ceiling as well??

[quote]I have trouble finding it France... any tips?[/quote] Vivavin have many. The only snag is their minimum order - €2000 - albeit that doesn't buy a huge amount of Amarone. www.wine-searcher.com is always the place to look (for anything from anywhere- you can select the wine and then filter merchants by country). Being a cheapskate, I use their free version but the paid version (which will find you the cheapest price) will soon pay for itself.

Many thanks for the suggestion - sounds ideal, albeit Cordes/ciel is a bit of a journey but it's such a lovely place (out of season) that I could make a day of it!

Puzzled, It's certainly a bit of a minefield (at least as tricky as cheese or wine). I'm not sure I can tell which is which between the two (duck and goose) when it comes to foie gras (although the roast/grilled meat is totally different). If you just want to try it, I would suggest that you can't go far wrong with the smallest (100gr) canard entier from La Drosera Gourmande - it'll set you back €13.50 (which sounds much better than €135 per kilo!): http://www.la-drosera-gourmande.com/produits.php They do mail order. That way you will find out what it ought to taste like (irrespective of whether you like it or not).

[quote]How can you make a prediction of "Probably won't be too bad but unlikely to be very good "?  Why not just buy some, try it and then give your opinion after![/quote] No, ta; have you ever found an industrial foodstuff that was a patch on really good stuff? If so, please divulge what. The closest I have ever found is Nespresso's coffees (some of them). There's also the question of what kind of foie gras - oie ou canard, frais (cru even, though I've never tried that), mi-cuit or cuit and also "entier" or "bloc avec morceaux" and then there are parfaits, médaillons, terrines, galantines and mousses, having generally less of the good stuff as you progress down the list. I'll stick to the best foie gras I know (entier/frais/bloc): La Drosera Gourmande http://www.la-drosera-gourmande.com/presentation.htm and the stuff my wife prepares (raw ingredient from our local butcher), although I have found that the stuff from Godard (in Figeac) is far above average and there are, of course, loads and loads of very good producers here in Midi-Pyrénées. (There's a man who has tasted something like 4,000 Champagnes; I sometimes dream of doing the same with foie gras [:D]). The Labeyrie simply won't compare with those, so there's no point (for me) trying it (it doesn't even come top of the "industrials"). If you're happy with industrial stuff, there's a comparison here: http://www.linternaute.com/comparatif/categorie/111 and another here: http://www.ciao.fr/Foie_Gras_37239_5 (can you believe "Crumble"? Is that really meant to be a dessert?)

[quote]I used to go to one in Sévérac le Château, but I'm not sure he is quite up to the standard you say you need.[/quote] It's not exactly a question of standard, more that though I can happily natter away nineteen to the dozen, I have enormous difficulty keeping my mouth open for a dentist without gagging, so they need to be talented in a particular way (as well as doing a good job) - the main thing is probably that they need, as a minimum, saintly patience. NormanH, If you think the one in Sévérac might fit the bill, do please give me the name and address. Nickel, Thanks for the Figeac suggestion - do you think she still fits the bill (given the extra info above)?

[quote]Labeyrie ( within my price range) any good?[/quote] Never tried it; probably won't be too bad but unlikely to be very good - they're always advertising on TV so it's obviously not artisanale. Having said that, Nespresso are always advertising on TV and most of their coffees are rather good.

I absolutely hate going to the dentist but I really must do so soon (2.5 yrs now). Does anyone have a recommendation for an exceptionally good dentist? Language irrelevant (assuming, not unreasonably, that he/she speaks French). Location almost irrelevant - anywhere in Aveyron ... even bryond ... Albi or Figeac ... maybe even Montpellier or Toulouse if absolutely necessary. Otherwise it may be Ryanair back to my dentist in the UK but I'd rather not do that - it would be inconvenient and he would give me such a hard time for not having been to a dentist for so long.

I blame TF1 for their reports on the lunchtime news. This year I can see three houses with external lights (two lots flashing) from my study window _ it's the first time ever in our village..