maxsan

hi thanks for the replies thus far.  The plant was originally in the bathroom which has good light. when the leaves began falling, I thought that perhaps the lounge was a better place, as this too is very light and is usually around 20 degrees.  I use a spray bottle with water in to dampen the leaves and I only water it approximately once a week or longer, as directed by the information tab in the plant.  The leaves are falling like mad, and soon the plant will be bald!! I have asked a friend who knows a bit about house plants and she just says that "fig" type trees are notoriously difficult to manage.  Hopefully this is a little more info, which might help people to understand what is happening. I appreciate all your comments, as I said in the original post, I seem to "murder" all my plants eventually  

Hi as someone who generally kills all house plants eventually, does anyone have any idea why the leaves on my "Ficus Golden King" (which I understand is some kind of a fig plant) keep falling off? I have followed the instructions on the tab to the letter, but the leaves are still a falling.   would appreciate any advice

Thanks to everyone who replied.  As we are now residents here, I think the best course of action for me would be to have the booster for all the normal stuff  pava etc referredd to and also to commence the yearly rabies injection here. The only reason that I have considered keeping up the UK pet passport, hence the question posed, was that should we need to take our dog back with us to the UK in the future, (emergencies etc)  then I would need to keep his passport up to date.  As our dog does not travel very well, taking him back would be a last resort, and we do have friends here who are always willing to have him, I am only thinking about short notice travel back to the UK.   thanks again, I shall contact our local vet  

Thanks to everyone who replied.  As we are now residents here, I think the best course of action for me would be to have the booster for all the normal stuff  pava etc referredd to and also to commence the yearly rabies injection here. The only reason that I have considered keeping up the UK pet passport, hence the question posed, was that should we need to take our dog back with us to the UK in the future, (emergencies etc)  then I would need to keep his passport up to date.  As our dog does not travel very well, taking him back would be a last resort, and we do have friends here who are always willing to have him, I am only thinking about short notice travel back to the UK.   thanks again, I shall contact our local vet  

Hi.  I have look through some of the threads and don’t seem to be able to find the answers I am looking for, therefore, I am hoping that somebody might be able to answer a couple of questions regarding pet vaccinations here in France.     I have a small dog who had a yearly booster injection every January at the vets in the UK, which gave him protection against Canine Parva amongst other things. Does anyone know if the equivalent or similar treatment is available here in France and if so an approx cost for such treatment.    Secondly, my dog is due for his “booster” for the UK pet passport scheme in April. (He was chipped etc two years ago and I understand that if I allow it to lapse, he has to have the whole process started from scratch again)  Does anyone know if it is possible for a booster to be done here in France and also if such treatment is acceptable by the UK authorities.  As I live in France, I don’t have any immediate plans to take him back to the UK, but should an emergency arise which necessitates me taking him back with me, I need to keep his passport up to date.I would appreciate any advice.      

probably a bit late but try this one: http://www.diynot.com/  

We had a trois phase 9kva system and when we rewired the electric company came round at our request and turned it to single phase 12 kva. I believe it is 40 amp. We also had a new meter fitted to replace the outdated one. Total cost. zero. you can go on the edf site and work out your electricity needs and, with a bit of wading, you can find the different charges for different levels of supply. our problem with trois phase was that as soon as the hot water heater came on at the same time as other appliances it tripped the lot. Now we have no problems with a full range of appliances.

we must live in a different france to you then Our freinds here have all had the same positive experience too. returns have been no problem to any of them. try this, take a broken pair of glasses into an opticians and ask them to fix them. they will and they won't charge you.  for a previous poster I did actually point out that dabs are a Uk firm.  Sometimes I wonder if it is a question of approach. you know, I am english and we don't put up with that sort of thing.  We had an empire you know.

I have to say that, in the year we have lived here, our experience has been positive regarding customer service.  I have purchased computer parts from dabs.fr and had excellent service (UK firm) I have bought many items from leclerc in terms of hard goods and had absolutely no problems when things go wrong. Castorama messed up an online order but refunded the money no problem.  Deliveries have always been exactly when they say they will be. Staff in the shops here are wonderful and 99% freindly. On the other hand we went to the Uk last october and went into PC world somewhere near London. I wanted to buy a digital camera but no-one wanted to serve me. Indeed when I complained someone threatened to punch my lights out. Customer service in France versus the UK? in my book the french are far ahead of the can't be bothered lazy idle Brits.  The only problem I have found here is the language and for that there is an easy cure. Learn it. 

I may be simple but I fail to understand why, if one is to live in france, one does not abide by the rules. Where is the advantage to be gained by flouting them. Is it a "I'm a very clever boy who has beaten the system" type of thing.  I hope that when beating the system you don't crash into my car and then I find out you have no insurance.  Mind, I would probably take you to court and sue you for every penny including your french home.  When in rome?

I seem to have got my wires crossed (or my eyes) and there is no expiry date on my card. Thank you all for your kind help anyway and I am sure that what you have posted will be of help to all those new people signing on to this forum.  Aqnd it will help me in renewing it.

Before I came to live in France some of the "regulars" on this forum informed all who cared to listen that CA Britline were the pits of the banking world.  I took a chance anyway and I have to say that they are nothing short of excellent. I use the online facility which is extremely good and they are always very helpful when I have a query. They even answer emails quickly!! 

We have a small field which is rented out to a local farmer. There was a written contract already in place when we bought the house.  When we spoke to the notaire about selling it we were told that we must give the farmer first choice on buying it.  I must say I was unaware that the contract was renewable.  When can one terminate these kind of agreements?

I would imagine the expiry date is for those of us whom are still on E106 or similar.  As for taxes etci am still on my last Uk return and have not had the pleasure of the French return yet. Due to a company venture I am starting (or thinking about) it may be more beneficial to keep my UK tax situation going as it will be internet based. we are, at present retired and enjoying the relaxing and relatively stress free French way of life. not rich but gite free. on another forum I am being told to go to the pharmacy and stick the card in the machine. the same applies at most maries I am also told.

This has probably been raised before but a search reveals nothing.  My carte vitale shows an expiry date of the 5th of Jan 2005 but my E106 runs to Jan 2006. Does CPAM automatically send me out a new card or do i have to go in and renew it. If the latter, then what is taken in all the original documents?

It has probably been mentioned before but i can find no trace on a search.  Do you need a licence to hire a mini-digger?

I emailed screwfix asking them if they would deliver to or operate in france and they said that they had no plans to do so at present.  Seems a shame when Viking direct (office supplies) and dabs (computer supplies) both have french websites.  I ordered some stuff from castorama online, a chain saw (after 5 weeks they sent the wrong one) and some loft insulation (after 6 weeks I cancelled). With dabs.fr I ordered a dvd re-writer (no good) delivered and returned and refunded in a week and other things at extremely cheap prices delivered within 3 days.

Iceni, no these were distance glasses that I need for driving and watching the telly etc.  This company also do vari-focals at very reasonable prices too under £50. My last pair of multi-focals cost around £350 in the Uk only two or so years ago and they fell apart last week. It strikes me that the glasses game has jumped on the fashion badwagon in recent years and you now pay more for the name rather than the quality.

Just got my new specs from spex4less today only 6 days after ordering them. complete with case and anti-scratch coating they cost all of £35.00. They even asked us to let them know how long it took the glasses to get here. Customer service or what.

I think you all proved my point quite well. How many of you actually answered the question I asked? How many of you sought to go off into other areas? It is a feature of this forum that if someone asks a simple question such as where could I buy double glazing, there will be umpteen people such as TU who will come on and ask why would you want double glazing. There will be others who will jump in and tell you ten thousand reasons why you should not have double glazing. Why? the person who asks the question only wants a simple answer not an irrelevant diatribe. The passage of information is what is important and I asked for people's experiences to see if others had had a problem. I did not ask for your opinions on whether people should get benefit or should have translators. If I had wanted those opinions I would have asked for them. Get it? No, probably not or you would not have jumped in would you.  I am quite capable of dealing with beuracrats over here in my limited French and I am trying to improve that French. My reason for posting was to try to reach others who might think I had a valid point but they obviuosly don't use this forum as you know alls have driven them away. Fortunately I rec'd more adult answers on other forums and a few private messages on this one.  Now all back in your cages please.

Obviously most of you missed the point of my post. I was asking for people's experiences regarding the whole question of examinations demanded by newcastle. Firstly, despite having been declared unfit for work by 4 GPs (two here in France) and 2 orthopeadic consultants, Newcastle see fit to override that body of professional opinion and demand an assessment for work by someone who is not qualified so to do.  Not only that, but they place otherwise disadvantaged people in the invidious position of having to conduct that interview in a language that they are not au fait with and without the services of a translator. Now, to those of you who so charitably said that it was my choice to move to France therefore why should the Uk taxpayer provide a translator for me I say this; In the Uk when I attended a medical the person before me was Kurdish and not long arrived in the Uk. He was sent out of his medical and told that they would be in touch with him once they had arranged an interpreter. I was also at a magistrates Court in the Northwest of England when a kurdish person was appearing on a minor charge and discovered that an interpreter had been flown up from Kent to assist this person in Court.  I have nothing against these people getting assistance given the awful predicaments they may have been in, in their own country.  I do object when, as I am claiming a "contributory benefit" (i.e. one that I have paid for and am entitled to) that Newcastle should seek to treat me, in a fashion that means that I am less than someone who has not contributed to said benefit. You are right, I probably don't want to hear the rest TU, as no doubt you would query the right of people to have any benefit at all. Once again, I have paid for this benefit for 44 years of honest labour and I am, in law, entitled to it. As for Teamed Up, he was asking a question that I considered irrelevant as a few long established people on this forum do. The whole idea of this forum is that people can find things out about living in France in all its forms, not that someone who has little better to do with their lives constantly offers unhelpful and unasked for comments on posts.  As I said earlier, why not read the post and if it is asking a question and you do not have the answer to that question, why, then leave it alone.  That is what happens on more mature forums For the person who asked how you may get this benefit I would direct you to the Department of Work and pensions web site.  For the rest, I merely seek to gain the experiences of those who may have been through this process, in order that I may raise the issue with my Euro mp here in France, as trying to contact ministers or mps in the UK is nigh on impossible and entirely a waste of time.

As always TU, you answer a perfectly legitimate question with another completely irrelevant question. Why?  Was the question too difficult?  Why not just leave it to those who may or may not choose to answer the original question, to make that choice instead of trying to sidetrack yet another legitimate query?  Why would you think that anyone who paid as much as you alledgedly have for your glasses, should ever be taken seriously?

I am interested in hearing from anyone who has been sent by Newcastle for an examination at Cpam due to their being in receipt of Incapacity benefit.  My reasons for this are that I feel that the Uk government are treating people on incapacity benefit very badly by insisting that the documentation is all in French and that examinees must provide their own translator amongst other things. If anyone wishes to send email or private messages that is ok. I merely wish to build up a body of evidence to tackle them with.