Liz

It was suggested some while ago that posters in France should include their Department Number and those in the UK should put (99). I forget what, if anything, was suggested for those outside those 2 countries. It is useful sometimes particularly if people say 'here' and you don't know if they mean France or the UK as this is often relevant to the reply. Liz (29)

Your Father-in-Law would have to wait until he is 65 before he can draw his UK state pension, AFAIK there is no provision to draw a reduced sum at an earlier age. There used to be a rule also (and I think it still applies) that men over 60 living abroad do not get their pension years made up to what they would be when they reach 65. That could mean, if he does not have a full contribution record already, he would have to pay voluntary contributions to make sure he got the full pension. The Department of Work and Pensions in Newcastle are the ones to ask, I don't have a web site but they should be pretty easy to find. LIz (29)

Not only does it look like the floor above, it is the floor above. My first thought is to give the boards a wash. It could be that it is nicotine staining. It may also be that it has been painted with acrylic paint so you could try an oil based paint, either gloss or matt. This generally blocks stains reasonably well. I am fairly sure that stain blocking paint does exist here but it is not easy to come by and I have brought it from the UK before now. We had a similar problem and although oil based paint was successful, in the end we infilled with lambris and it looks 100% more attractive. Liz (29)

I also have access to another PC with IE6. I am pretty sure that has the Full Monty (I should be so lucky ) Liz (29)

[quote]I want to go either to cherbourg or caen for 24hrs and I would ideally like it for next to nothing! But I can`t find a cheap crossing, any ideas, it seems I have to pay the same (£150) as I would if I...[/quote] is Brittany Ferries no good to you? http://www.brittanyferries.co.uk/index.cfm?articleid=161&CFID=291832&CFTOKEN=94548838 I know their £9.95 is a bit of a come on and you end up paying more but I should think it works out at less than £150. Liz (29)

[quote]I think it maybe your browser compatibility rather than the button itself. Tested the spellchecker on this post and it seems OK with Internet Explorer 6.[/quote] Yes, I think that's right. I have IE5.5 and can't get the spell checker or a few other things like Smilies. Liz (29)

I know what you mean Jill, it is very odd. I notice somtimes on the veg counter a poster that recommends 5 to 10 portions of veg a day (a similar campaign to the 5 portions recommended in the UK I think). When all these veg are eaten I really cannot imagine. Many years ago, when I came on an exchange visit and lived with a family, only one vegetable course was served, separately from the meat (or whatever) and consisted of a plate full of something, usually green beans or other sorts of beans from a tin or potatoes. We don't often get to dine at home with french families but, when we eat in retaurants we always look out for ones that serve vegetables instead of endless chips. These are very rare indeed. It is a mystery to us, since we live surrounded by fields full of cauliflowers, artichokes and shallots, where these all go. OK the shallots, I know, go to Tesco and occasionally turn up here with a Bavette. I think I once had an artichoke heart and I think I may have had cauliflower in a sauce but it was so over cooked it was difficult to know for certain. I know a small place that specialises in stuffed artichokes, but that is for tourists! We even have around here a special vegetable Route Touristique and I daresay you can see the goods growing, but where you get to eat them I have yet to discover. Liz (29)

Loopy Lou, Have a read of http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=296&MessageID=170547. It sheds some light on your question. I can't help but agree with everything that has been said so far although I would err on the pessimistic side when it comes to the number of weeks let. Liz (29)

If you want a lot of bark you can get 'le Big Bag'. I saw it in Gamm'vert but no doubt available elsewhere. Much the most econonomical way of buying if you have the transport. Why they can't call it 'le gros sac' I don't know! Liz (29)

[quote]Where can I get hold of a copy of the French equivalent of Yellow pages for the Thouars (79) area? I realise that it's available on the web, but I suspect like in UK, businesses have to pay extra to g...[/quote] Yellow Pages printed version comes with the phone book annually and they are being distributed about now in this Department at least, but I think the timing is roughly the same nationally. We have had, over the years, Yellow Pages combined with the phone book and issued separately, again it depends on the local arangements. I would suggest you ask at your Agence France Telecom and/or La Poste. Both these bodies have been involved in the distribution in the past. I think it is the case that if you have Minitel (or the previous occupants had it) you will not get the printed version. I have never had any reason to suspect that www.pagesjaunes is not complete! Liz (29)

In my view,no. A gite (or stictly speaking a gite rurale) is a country property let out for holidays through Gites de France. The word has been taken over, mostly by the English, to indicate any holiday let. Does it matter? - no! I don't believe there is a best web site. Some things work for some people but not others. Have a read through this section of the Forum, there are brickbats and bouquets for a number of sites. Look at the sites mentioned and see if you would be attracted by them. Are they easy to navigate or do they just make you want to switch off. I found that those that mention France or French in the title were generally more effective than those that offer rentals in other countries and other kinds of holiday as well. Having said that I found Holiday Lets and Holiday Lettings worthwhile. Check the search engines, which sites come up first? Look out for free introductory offers, you have nothing to lose and some of them do work. Also, as you have an appartment, look for sites that have a reasonable number of other appartments. Liz (29)

"I also tried to load my old Windows '98 Lotus Smart Suite with disastrous results. The whole system went pear-shaped and after spending a day trying to fix it, I ended up reinstalling the whole system." I'm very fond of Lotus Smart Suite, or at least parts of it. I had the same problem when I loaded the whole thing onto XP. It just took over and I quickly uninstalled. The next time I just installed the individual components that I wanted, Lotus 123 and Wordpro, and it is fine. Liz (29)

I'm the same Peter. I get all the mail and my husband gets nothing. Either FT sell lists or people can just go through the telephone directories and pick out the English names. Fortunately I only get very few unsolicited mailings, compared with the UK it's no problem to sling them straight in the bin. Liz (29)

Tiling over tiles is standard practice and tiling over plaster is entirely acceptable provided it is sound. In most areas of the bathroom the walls won't get very wet anyway so I would confine waterproof grout to within the shower and possibly the splash back of the basin and bath. Beware, though, waterproof white grout and ordinary white grout do tend to have a slight variation in the shading. We've done both in several bathrooms/shower rooms with no problems at all. I suspect your plumber is just looking for a bit (or do I mean a lot?) of extra work. Liz (29)

[quote]I'll never lose it, in spite of my best efforts. Today I had to go out and there was a woman in the waiting room with me and very bavarde she was too. I went in for my appointment and she was waitin...[/quote] I met a woman from a neighbouring Department recently. She told me that although I had an English accent she also detected the accent of my Department. 'We speak quite differently' she said. So, I wouldn't mind betting, TU, that you already have the Savoyarde accent yourself but the woman's accent was so strong she didn't recognise it. Where, by the way, is the 'best' french spoken? Liz (29)

My only experience at all similar to this was when we picked up a dog that had wandered off from home. We took him to a vet who read his chip and phoned the owner. I doubt very much if the police would be the slightest bit interested in a cat but a vet would probably be able to check the tattoo if you wanted to. We once had a stray cat, not in such bad condition as yours, who gradually moved in with us. We then found out that he had only come from 2 houses away and had moved himself out because he didn't like their dogs. We spoke with the owner and said we would look after him for her as he clearly wasn't willing to go 'home' and he lived with us for many years. The cat we have now came from a house nearby when the old lady died and her husband had no concept of feeding a cat so we again offered to take him on. I seem to remember from reading a poster in the vets that cats over a certain age have to be tattooed, so it may be that it has happened as a matter of law rather than a caring owner. I find people here very casual about cats, giving them as gifts to people who don't want them etc. Cats choose their humans carefully so I would be inclined to do nothing. If he wants to be with you he won't settle at his previous place anyway. Liz (29)

If it's verni, no problem. Sand down to provide a key and paint in a matt finish oil based paint - very widely available. I have recently taken to using a small fine roller for this sort of work and it gives an excellent finish with much less risk of runs, you'll have to use a brush in the grooves though. Liz (29)

I think you will need a Certificat de non Gage. This shows that there is no claim or outstanding debts. The last time I went to the sub prefecture they had an automatic comnputer thingy to obtain them. I think you would have to contact the SP for the area the car is registered. Liz (29)

[quote]Had once thought of moles as nice fluffy little creatures with big feet, but I am now at my wits end. OK our garden is nothing like a croquet lawn, but the moles are popping up all over the place. S...[/quote] I am afraid moles are a fact of life and the thought of blowing them up I find quite disgusting. I always remember advice on BBC's Gardeners' Question Time in reply to this sort of problem - none of the so called remedies actually work in the long term so don't waste your money! I find moles come and go. We have none at present, last year I counted 50 hills of earth at one point. Rather than take the soil away which helps the ground to collapse under your deckchair, I rake it into the surrounding grass. It soon disappears and hopefully refills any unused runs. Liz (29)

Hi Robert It would probably help you find somewhere if you can say how many you are and which part of Brittany you are interested in, it's a pretty big area! Liz (29)

[quote]Hi, As a beginner in French but had a bit of experience in communicating with speakers of other languages, I would be happier to find a way of making that initial contact in a more suitable (to me...[/quote] I don't think you have a problem here. Always open a conversation with a stranger with Bonjour Monsieur/Madame. Your accent will be sufficient to alert them that you are english speaking. In my experience as soon as you hesitate for more than a milli second in trying to speak French the locals will respond in English if they possibly can, you don't have to ask. If they don't it is because they can't speak it, so keep the phrase book handy! Liz (29)

It is Verbena and they are nearly always treated as annuals. If you bought them as bedding plants this is almost certainly what they will be. There are some perennials though - one is a rather tall, airy, purply coloured plant that is rather trendy and should come up every year. Having said they are generally treated as annuals I notice mine in a pot from last year has leaves so it might be worth hanging on for a couple of weeks just to be sure. Liz (29)

I think this must be a very localised thing. I use cheques all the time and have never seen anything locally to indicate they will not be accepted. It is only very recently that our local Hypermarket has started asking for ID and our usual DIY shop only asks for ID over 75 Euros. Perhaps they'll invent a cheque guarantee card next! Liz (29)

I think you will find this covered in http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=283&MessageID=152751 Liz (29)

Yes they are quite popular and certainly one of my favourites. So trouble free, the sort of gardening I like! Mostly they are sold in supermarket plastic bags with no particular name just the colour but I have also bought them as named varieties from plant fairs and garden centres. I have one called, I think, California Sun. Mostly they have American names. One I particularly like is called Du Mortier (or something like that - not a hybrid I think) yellow and not very big with a lovely scent. For Hydrangeas you must make a trip to Brittany in late summer, they are the Breton flower 'par excellence'. Liz (29)