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Chouette

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Everything posted by Chouette

  1. While using our swimming pool this last week, we have been visited a few times by an enormous hornet who lands on our inflatable lilo, has a bit of a drink and then buzzes off.  No probs.  But, the other day my little dog was having a float around on the pool on the lilo as she loves to do, when along came the hornet yet again.  It landed on the lilo first of all as usual but then it landed on my dog's back.  Luckily she didn't seem to notice and I was wary of knocking the thing off her in case it got aggressive and stung either my dog or me!!  My dog then seemed to sense something and swung round to chomp whatever she had on her.  I told her to leave it, frightened that she would get stung in her mouth.  With that she decided to take matters into her own hand (or should that be paws!) and jumped off the lilo into the water and swam to the steps.  I was totally astonished and frightened to notice that the hornet was still on her despite it being totally submerged under the water and for a good few moments too!!  As my dog climbed up the steps it finally flew off. This has scared me because I thought that if ever the hornet decided to try and land on me, I would just duck under the water to get away from it, but it seems these bloomin things aren't bothered by water Now, generally speaking,  I'm a live and let live kind of a girl when it comes to wasps and hornets and am of the opinion that if you don't panic and start flapping around these things won't hurt you, but I'm not so sure I could stay calm if ever this hornet decides to land on me while I'm having a swim 
  2. Oops - my last message should have been for Euge not Lizzie!  Apols
  3. Hi Lizzie Sorry to hear about your awful experiences - like I said earlier there are good and bad on both sides of the fence and there are always bad apples who give Agent Commercials working in France a bad name.  My husband works for an excellent, reputable (English) agency who would never arrange appointments for people to come and view unless the properties were still available.  They also try their very best to and match up the client with the right type of property.  Saying that though, there are still an awful lot of people who come over to France with totally unrealistic expectations, thinking they're going to find a detached renovation project, in acres of land, with a view, in the countryside but near all amenities - all for £25K!!   Your 'drip' comment irritated me somewhat, in that it implied that I had no right to complain about the inconvenience my husband is put to by inconsiderate buyers, but I realise your view has been seriously clouded by your experience.  However, whatever the circumstances and from whatever side it stems from I still don't think there is any excuse for lack of consideration and down right bad manners.  
  4. I would recommend www.meteoconsult.com.  I have found them to be very accurate.
  5. Thanks for all your replies and you're are right, there are good and bad on both sides of the fence.  It's just that I personally would never dream of not letting someone know if I couldn't make an appointment or honour a booking, which makes it so hard for me to understand why other people do it, but there you go - it takes all sorts eh? Like Coco said - it's nice to know you can come on here and let of steam when you need to
  6. Thanks Deimos - no, as far as I know they never contact the agency again.  They'd probably get a flea in their ear if they did
  7. Apologies in advance but I'm afraid I'm in need of a rant and to get something off my chest!! My other half is a hardworking, honest, agent commercial who does all he can to help people find their dream in home in France.  It is not an easy way to make a living and he only makes money if he makes a sale, but we count our blessings all the same as it is a job that enables us to live in the country we love, France.  But what really makes me mad is the increasing number of inconsiderate people who make appointments to view houses and then don't show up without having the common courtesy or decency to pick up a phone to cancel the appointment! Today is the second day this week that my husband has hauled himself out of his warm and cosy bed at 7.00am to make the 50 minute drive to his office, prepare the paperwork, put the coffee on in readiness to welcome his clients only to discover that they're not going to bother to turn up   It's not only inconvenient and a total waste of time for him, but due to current demand the agency he works for is having to turn appointments away, so these inconsiderate people that make appointments and then don't show up are depriving other house hunters the chance of an appointment too! So here is a heartfelt plea to all you house hunters out there - please, if you make an appointment with an agent but for whatever reason you are unable to keep it, spare a thought for the bloke who will take time out to do his best for you, who is trying to earn an honest crust and just take a few seconds out of your time to let him know that you can't make it.  Thank you. There rant over
  8. Apologies in advance but I'm afraid I'm in need of a rant and to get something off my chest!! My other half is a hardworking, honest, agent commercial who does all he can to help people find their dream in home in France.  It is not an easy way to make a living and he only makes money if he makes a sale, but we count our blessings all the same as it is a job that enables us to live in the country we love, France.  But what really makes me mad is the increasing number of inconsiderate people who make appointments to view houses and then don't show up without having the common courtesy or decency to pick up a phone to cancel the appointment! Today is the second day this week that my husband has hauled himself out of his warm and cosy bed at 7.00am to make the 50 minute drive to his office, prepare the paperwork, put the coffee on in readiness to welcome his clients only to discover that they're not going to bother to turn up   It's not only inconvenient and a total waste of time for him, but due to current demand the agency he works for is having to turn appointments away, so these inconsiderate people that make appointments and then don't show up are depriving other house hunters the chance of an appointment too! So here is a heartfelt plea to all you house hunters out there - please, if you make an appointment with an agent but for whatever reason you are unable to keep it, spare a thought for the bloke who will take time out to do his best for you, who is trying to earn an honest crust and just take a few seconds out of your time to let him know that you can't make it.  Thank you. There rant over  
  9. Has anyone had this type of system installed who could give me some idea how much it costs compared to installing a gas central heating system?  What are the benefits and potential drawbacks, if any.
  10. Can any of you good people out there recommend an architect.  We are about to start a renovation project (Aigurande area) and will need initial plans drawn up plus someone who will project manage the renovation too.  
  11. Can anyone tell me if this shop is still in business?  I tried to find their website the other day without success and wondered if they have closed down.
  12. As someone said earlier in this thread, sometimes I am totally understood when I speak French and have been told I speak it well.  Other times I just get a blank expression or worse, a screwed up, sucking on a lemon expression that makes me want to thump em because I know they're not even going to try to understand me   I would never be so intolerant of someone trying to speak English and in fact would do my best to help and encourage them, not look at them as if I had something painful stuck up where the sun doesn't shine   I think having a musical ear helps with mastering an accent and it is not something you can just learn.  You either have it or you don't. 
  13. Can any of you good people out there recommend a good and trustworthy financial advisor who specialises in expat investments etc.?
  14. "if you have never been involved in shooting it is you who are ignorant due to your lack of knowledge." Having done plenty of research on the subject and having witnessed it going on first hand, I know a great deal about shooting/hunting thank you - it would indeed be ignorant to base an opinion on something without having done so.  In the same way as I don't know you personally, you don't know me and therefore can have no idea to what extend I protest about hunting or what form it takes.  From the threatening tone of your posting I'm afraid you have just reinforced my opinion about the mentality of the type of person who pursues hunting for pleasure
  15. Mazan - I'm with you all the way on this one When I lived in Normandy, my husband and I used to take great pleasure when walking our dog in the woods in winter, to make as much bloomin noise as we could; even singing on the tops of our voices.  You should have seen the looks all those pathetic blokes, hiding behind trees in camoflage gave us!  In retrospect I guess we were lucky not to have been shot ourselves but it was a risk I was willing to take - I just see red when I see these mindless, ignorant idiots pursuing their so called sport Just recently a woman, in the region we live in now, was taking a Sunday afternoon stroll with her husband and children in our local woods when she got shot in the neck.  Luckily she survived.  But it's not dangerous of course is it - yeah right  
  16. Visited Lyon last year and thought it was a dump!  Granted there is beautiful architecture and interesting places to visit, such as the roman ruins, but practically every upright surface is daubed in graffiti and there is a bad litter problem.  It's also a nightmare of a place to find your way around in. 
  17. Hi Penny29 I agree with everything you say and feel just as angry at those things as you   Why some people get animals in the first place I just don't understand.  Where I live I am confronted everyday with people's neglect of their animals: rabbits (waiting for the pot) sitting in appalling rotting hutches, no bedding, no shelter from the cold and hardly any space to turn around in; ponies (and donkeys) out in fields with absolutely no shelter from sun, rain or wind, sometimes on their own without any companion animals; dogs chained up and out in all weathers, other dogs who spend their whole lives in the same garden who are never taken out or played with; pregnant cats who continue to add to the mountain of unwanted kittens; and so on...................  The other day I saw a stray cat with a very small kitten trying to cross the road.  I stopped my car as soon as I was able and ran back to see if I could somehow help because I feared that they would get run over.  I found the mother cat meowing pitieously but the kitten had totally disappeared, then later that same day I was driving down the same road when I saw what must have been one of her other kittens lying dead in the road.  It was just so distressing As for the chasse, it's probably best not get me started on that one   I am shocked and so sorry to hear about what's happened to two of your cats and really hope your vet was able to save the latest victim of those heartless, mindless s***s who get their kicks from maiming and killing animals.
  18. Are there any of you good people out there who could give me any advice or information regarding property developing in France, i.e. buying land, building houses and the selling them on to the French market?  I am thinking along the lines of modern 'Pavillon' type homes that are so popular with young French families.  We would not actually do any of the building work ourselves, but would hire an architect and act as overall project managers.  Anyone know how much the cost is per square metre to build this type of house and the likely profit margin. We looked into building a house in the UK and at that time you could expect to make up to 30% profit once the house was completed.
  19. "An idea: rather than stopping each time, why not mark the word with a pencil and carry on.  You'll often find that you can get the general gist without fully understanding each and every word.  You can then go back at the end of a chapter say and check the words you've marked." Thanks for that MWJ, I'll give it a go
  20. [quote]Chouette, I found over the years that it felt like two steps forward and sometimes it really felt like three back, but ofcourse it wasn't. The trouble was the more I learnt the more aware I was of how...[/quote] Thanks TU, you've made me feel a lot better because it seems you went through all the things that I am going through.  I'm definitely at the 'two year old' stage, where I can mostly understand what people say to me, but have great difficulty formulating an articulate reply!  You are spot on when you say that more you know about the language the more you realise just how much you don't know Do you think in French now?  I think that's when you really know you've cracked a language.
  21. I've been living in France now for three years.  A year before we came I used to have one, one hour long French class a week (didn't do any French at school).  Since we moved I have continued to go to classes (at present just two hours a week but at one time I was doing 9 hours a week).  I honestly thought before we came that I would be fluent after a year - what a laugh   The best I can say after all the lessons is that I get by, but it is still slowly improving and I am miles better than when I first arrived.  When a French person talks to me I can sometimes understand practically everything they say, yet other times I hardly understand a word.  I still find understanding French TV and radio a struggle and still have problems on the phone.  I have though recently started reading my first French book which I am finding an enormous help, but I need to refer to a dictionary every few minutes I find that you just have to keep plodding away - if you stop for any length of time you just start forgetting everything you've learnt (must be an age thing) and I've now resigned myself to the fact that I will never be fluent.   I had quite a heated conversation with a newcomer Brit the other day who told me he has no intention of going to lessons or trying to learn at home via books, tapes etc because he thinks he will just pick it up as he goes along - yeah right!  It'll be interesting to see where he's at in three years time I'll be honest and say that the language barrier has been the most challenging aspect of moving to France and it has been a great deal harder than I ever imagined.  I still enjoy learning the language though and that's probably half the battle
  22. I think one of the main (or maybe the main) attractions for a large number of British people moving to France is that their £'s go a lot further when it comes to buying property.  As you are no doubt aware, property prices in the UK are ludicrous; as a result of this many people have a nice bit of equity tied up in their UK property, which if they sell up will allow them to pay off the mortgage and buy a house out-right in France.  Then there's the fact that France is three times the size of the UK and therefore there is a lot more space for everyone which definitely makes for a better quality of life IMHO.  The UK (especially the SE) is extremely overcrowded and it will only get worse.  Also (although I know Teamedup will disagree ), there appears to be less materialism here in France and people seem to be satisfied with less and lead a simpler way of life; their priorities are different.  When you live in the UK it's so easy to get caught up in the whole consumerist, materialistic thing which just adds an additional pressure to the already 'rat-race' way of life there.  C'est mon avis.
  23. I recently received an update of this situation from a local French immobilier I know.  He said that Agent Commercials who are currently registered and hold a Carte Gris will can continue to work as before and will be able to renew their CG's, but it will not be possible for newcomers. Bad news for those who hoped to work as an AC in France but haven't yet become registered
  24. Going to see the Cirque du Soleil who were performing in Lyon in February - they were fantastic  They're currently performing in Lille and will be coming to Paris in the new year, if anyone is interested.  I can't recommend them enough and I will definitely be saving up my centimes so that I can go along to the Paris show!
  25. that France has around 500 different types of cheese, but that the UK has around 700!!  I was really surprised to learn that (via a food prog on the BBC the other night).  I think the French would be surprised too, thinking as they no doubt do that all we make is Cheddar and Stilton Stinking Bishop - now there's a British cheese to make your eyes water.  Poooooooooeeeeey
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