Chouette

Sadly what you are witnessing is all too common in France and it breaks my heart.  I would definitely contact the SPA if I were you and see what they advise/do.  In my village there are numerous dogs and the vast majority of them are just left outside all day, everyday, sometimes without a kennel, sometimes chained and they are never taken out for walks.  Our neighbours regularly go away for weekends in the summer and leave their lovely dog all on his own - his howls are heart wrenching    I think I'm viewed as a bit odd as I take my dog out for a long walk everyday, come rain or shine and I do get some funny looks as if they are thinking there's that strange English woman again   I just don't understand why they choose to have dogs in the first place.  It's not as if they need them for security around these parts as there's virtually no crime.  It's a mystery to me and I've just had to try and harden my heart and not let it get to me, though of course if I saw blatant cruelty I would have to do something   

I think it depends on which department you are in too.  The immobiliere a friend of mine works for has all his agents working on a commission only, Agent Commercial basis.  Another immobiliere though, in the next department down from here has to 'employ' his agents and pay them a salary.  It's all very confusing BTW Val-2, in immobiliere speak, the certificate of registration is known as a 'carte grise'. 

Thanks for all your replies.  I have tried Cantal and other cheeses that are supposed to be like cheddar but have found them a bit disappointing and not quite as tangy as I'd like.  The one we tried at the Expo was definitely called Tomme and had a black, mouldy looking rind.  It didn't have any holes in it and it had a slightly gritty texture.  It was wonderful - I think I'll just have to keep pestering our local cheese shops and counters in supermarkets to see if I can't find this mystery cheese

The sneaky b*******s!  I only recently subscribed to them for a whole year because they had stopped doing the four day forecast   Now I get 10 days, but I really only need to know four days ahead at the most and anyway, the weather can change so much that the 10 day one is not much cop anyway.  I feel swindled I have used www.weatherchannel.com in the past but found that meteoconsult was always more accurate and went into more detail.  

I recently bought a delicious hunk of cheese from a 'Gastronomie' Expo, which tasted and had the texture of a really tangy, mature cheddar.  Foolishly I didn't really pay attention to the exact name of it but I know it was called Tomme (I think that's how it's spelt).  I'd really like to buy some more but when I looked in our local Carrefour the only Tomme I saw there looked totally different, i.e. a lot softer and creamier.  Does anyone have any idea of the name of the type of Tomme I should be looking for?  I know the cheese we bought at the Expo came from the Auvergne region.  It may be that I won't be able to buy it around these parts anyway, but I'd still like to know what it was called.

I am absolutely hooked on this programme at the moment and it's got me really wanting to have a go at ballroom dancing myself!  In France this type of dancing is called Danse de Salon and I've spotted some beginners lessons available in my area.  However, being a bit shy, it's going to take a lot of courage to make the first step and go along on my own as I have no idea what to expect Has anyone out there done this kind of dancing in France and if so what's it like?  Is it only for oldies or do all ages join in.  I'm in my mid-forties and don't classify myself as an oldie, though some (younger!) people may disagree

Hi Mrs O! I'm in dept 36, near Argenton sur Creuse and the lessons I've heard about are held there. 

I am absolutely hooked on this programme at the moment and it's got me really wanting to have a go at ballroom dancing myself!  In France this type of dancing is called Danse de Salon and I've spotted some beginners lessons available in my area.  However, being a bit shy, it's going to take a lot of courage to make the first step and go along on my own as I have no idea what to expect Has anyone out there done this kind of dancing in France and if so what's it like?  Is it only for oldies or do all ages join in.  I'm in my mid-forties and don't classify myself as an oldie, though some (younger!) people may disagree

There definitely seems to be a marked difference in the way British and French parents allow their children to behave and I will readily admit that I rather admire the way the majority of French children seem to be much more well behaved than British children.  As to what methods they use to discipline them in order to make them better behaved I have absolutely no idea Here's a recent example. The other day my husband and I were enjoying a meal at our favorite local restaurant.  At one table there was a French couple with a little girl of no more than four or five years of age and who I noticed because a) she was so cute and b) so well behaved; a little angel in fact.  Later another family arrived with a child of about the same age; this time though, throughout the whole of our evening there, all we could hear was this child's demanding and petulant voice above the chatter of everyone else.  My husband turned to me and said something along the lines of so much for French kids being better behaved, until we listened more closely and discovered that they were in fact a British family.  Vive la difference

I saw them too and watched until they were so far away I couldn't see them anymore!  Great wasn't it.  They guy up at the front must be the one with the map

Bookshops (I buy from Amazon but it's not the same as being able to spend ages browsing in a bookshop) Boots/Superdrug (especially makeup like Rimmel - even supermarket makeup is expensive in France) Pizza Express' salad dressing Mature Cheddar cheese Olde Worlde country pubs with beams and a roaring fire Decent vegetables or side salad when eating out (rather than the ubiquitous bundle of grey french beans wrapped in rasher of soggy bacon, or lump of courgette quiche type stuff.  Oh for carrots, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, a mixed leaf salad with perhaps cucumber, tomato...........:pinch Knickers that fit (french women must be a very strange shape is all I can say) That brings me on to M&S - sigh Brighton's Theatre Royal That'll do I think  

SB I've read The Bookseller of Kabul too and am mighty glad I'm not an afghan (woman especially!) either. If you enjoyed that you maybe interested to read 'Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep'.  It's one of the most moving and memorable books I've ever read.  Didn't enjoy Brick Lane though; got bored and gave up half way through. Might give it another try though. As for feeling glad I do often count my blessings, trouble is I find that the gladness is always tinged with a feeling of guilt because there's so much s**t going on elsewhere in the world

Does anyone out there know of a good cattery ideally around the Chateauroux, Argenton sur Creuse, La Chatre areas?  There a couple in the Yellow Pages; one our vet told in not so many words wasn't to be recommended and when I rang the woman sounded very cagey, which put me off.  Another one we went to visit and it was disgusting and I would never leave my cat there.  I'm hoping that perhaps someone knows of one that isn't advertised but is known via word of mouth or through their vets.  We're prepared to travel quite a distance if necessary. Here's hoping   Seems there's a definite gap in the market round these parts for anyone wanting ideas as to how to make some money.

This is a question for Boiling a Frog re the Freesat card. How exactly do you get one of these?  I've searched on Sky's website, but there's no mention of them on there.  On other sites I've seen that you can get one but have to pay between £65 and £150 for it  We have access to a UK address and already have a Skybox and satellite, so it's just the Freestat card we're after.  Can you tell me where you got your £20 one from, what number you rang etc? Cheers

Sorry if I sounded flippant and I had no wish to offend anyone.  However I do get mad that the dieting industry is making obscene amounts of money by taking advantage of people's unhappiness about their size when, as you say, the basis of every diet is to eat less and move more - you don't need to go out and buy expensive books, etc., to do that.  Mind you I think dieting clubs are a good thing because they help motivate and support people.  Diets don't work because they are normally used on a short term basis and as soon the person goes back to their normal eating habits the weight just goes back on again.  The bottom line is that to lose weight and keep it off takes a total change of eating habits forever.  It's depressing but true.  Atkins definitely seems to work for a lot of people, but I'm not sure I'd want to be on it long term because the possible negative health affects aren't really known yet.  Horizon did a very interesting documentary on the Atkins diet and why it seems to be successful.  The conclusion was that although it doesn't seem like it, when you are on Atkins you are still actually eating less than you did previously, but because the emphasis is on protein, you feel more satisfied by the amount you eat and that's the secret of it's success. There is no getting away from the science of weight loss though and that is if you eat less than you used to, but up your exercise by a lot more than you used to, you will lose weight and if you keep doing that and don't revert back to old eating habits, the weight will stay off.    

The Scottish certainly know about good food, what with mars bars dipped in batter and then deep fried along with pies and pizzas - all available from the local fish and chip shop.  No wonder they have the highest heart disease rate in Europe As for andouilllets Tried some on our barbeque during the summer and the smell alone was enough to make me retch.  Our dog loved em

Throw all your diet books away - the best and only method to lose weight which really works is to eat less and move more.  C'est tout

I truly despair at the human race   Homo sapien means wise man - yeah right! As I said on a previous thread about hunting in the Culture section of this forum, how anyone can derive pleasure from killing animals is beyond me.  We no longer have to go out and hunt and kill animals in order to survive and therefore the fact that people go out and kill just for the fun of it when there is no other reason seems totally sick to me.  People can dress up hunting as much as they like as being some kind of noble tradition, but it cuts no ice with me  

"I'm a tree hugger too... but that doesn't preclude eating meat and if the meat was running through a wood a few days ago, in my view that's much better than buying it from a supermarket." Why?  Sorry but I'm having a real problem understanding how someone who says they are a tree hugger, which in my definition is someone who believes that animals should be treated with compassion and respect and not be subjected to unnecessary terror and pain (in this case in the name of sport), can make such a statement I have to admit to feeling a certain sense of satisfaction from knowing that a few hunters each season end up shooting themselves or others of their ilk in pursuit of their so called sport.  Serves the blood thirsty b******s right

Not surprised to see you haven't had any other replies to your post.  Most people, I think you'll find, believe there is something extremely distasteful about people who get their thrills chasing and killing wildlife. How anyone can find killing beautiful creatures such as deer pleasurable is totally beyond me And yes, before anyone points a finger at me to sneer, I am a 'tree hugger' and proud of it. 

The Tourist Office website for the area might be helpful to you: www.berrylindre.com

I've just re-potted all my window boxes with winter pansies but some of them are starting to die.  The flowers droop, then the leaves go yellow and when I pull them out it's clear something has been munching on the root as it's practically all gone Any idea what little b****r is doing it and what I can do to stop them all going the same way?

Don't want to sound to pessimistic, but unemployment in France is very high and as a result (rightly or wrongly) they tend to look after their own and any jobs that are going will be given to the French.  It works the same the other way round, i.e. if people emigrate to Canada it is extremely hard to find employment unless you have Canadian experience and the relevant transferable qualifications.  Often immigrants arriving in Canada(even highly qualified ones) have to start doing low paid, menial jobs, i.e. working in MacDonalds, and gradually work their way up.  I should imagine that the place you are most likely place to find work would be in Paris and you shouldn't let the weather put you off.  OK it can be grey and cold in winter, but Canadian winters can be even worse - except maybe in Vancouver where the weather is pretty similar to France. If you search on the internet for employment Paris you should hopefully get a few international job agencies details come up.  Good luck

It could be the work of the carpenter bee.  They are quite large solitary bees, mostly black in colour and are known mainly for burrowing into wood used in houses; window frames, beams etc.  

I have always thought of myself as having a cast iron stomach and only suffered food poisoning twice during the whole of my life when I lived in the UK.  Since coming to France three years ago though I've had four episodes of food poisoning   The first time after I bought a ham baguette from a autoroute service station, the second after I had bought a slice of (warm) pizza from Leclerc's at Caen, the third while holidaying in La Rochelle after eating a delicious plate of carpaccio, and the last time after having jambon sec at our favourite local auberge.  Have I just been unfortunate or have others experienced more episodes of food poisoning while living in France than they did in the UK and if so do you think it's because hygiene levels are not as high here as in the UK?