Lyndap

Hi Can anyone tell me if once planning permission has been received, do you receive a visit from a building inspector? i.e to check footings etc. Many thanks Lynda    

I recently received a Devis from our local builder to knock out a very thick old stone wall, put in a lintel and fit a  window. (from memory its about 1800 x 1200) Prix 830.00 plus tva 19.6% 162.68 Total 992.68 euros.   He is also very busy and has taken 10 months to price the job! Hope this helps as a rough guide. Regards Lynda  

Woops!  That should have said.. Thanks Alexis Am I right in thinking then that when requesting any type of planning permission it is always necessary to show where the fosse is? And, were you told that you couldn't build at the back of your house because the fosse was there? Many thanks Lynda    

Thanks Alexis Am I right in assuming that you need to supply your fosse details when requesting any type of  planning permission? And, when you say you are not allowed to build at the back of your house is that because the fosse is there?   Thanks lyndap

We hope to extend our house next year, subject to planning permission.  I have a good idea of all the diagrams that I need to supply to the Mairie, but do I need to show him how close the building will be to the Fosse? Also, does anyone know how close you can actually build to a fosse? When we had the fosse put in last year, we were told by the builder that extending the property wouldn't be a problem near to the fosse.  He could see that we were planning to build fairly close probably within 1metre from the fosse.  This is an approximation as we are not there at the moment, so can't measure up. Many Thanks Lyndap

We did it last year on the way to 85. We went via Calais, arrived in Paris early evening. Traffic was fine and it was midweek. Spent 2 nights on outskirts of Paris in a basic hotel with family room (appx 50pn), 15 mins from Disney. Had a full day there and drove to 85 the following morning. We went via Fontainbleu - which though was lovely ended up as about a 6 hour journey! However when we do a fly drive we normally do the journey in about 4 hours. Anyway it was a cheap way of doing Disney and we had a fab time! Lynda

Although this unfortunately doesnt apply to us, it is so nice to hear about organisations like yours that remember all those people. Your comments about the German war graves, reminded me of our visit the other year to Normandy, specifically to visit the beaches. We made a special visit to the German graves, I think it was called La Combe. Although I felt emotional at both the British and American cemetery, it was the German cemetery that actually made me cry. Anyway I wish we could be there to celebrate, but I guess we will have to watch on the TV instead! Best of Luck Lynda

I wonder if anyone has any cherry recipies, particularly jam, that they would like to share? Last year our lovely neighbours,picked the cherries from our garden and made jam, cherry cake and aperetif (wonderful!!). Of course, they used to give us samples of everything they made, including about 2 litres of the aperetif! But, alas they were too old to keep a large house and moved away in November. Anyway, as we think the cherries may be ripe in the 1st week of June, when we will be visiting, we hope to make lots of cherry cake (for which I have a fab recipe, if I can find it!)and lots of jam to bring back. However, the wonderful cherry jam that our neighbour made was quite runny in texture, and was wonderful with ice-cream, and I only know how to make plum jam which is set. So, does anyone know how to make it runny? Apparently our cherries (gigne) are not sweet cherries and are only for cooking, if that's any help! Best Regards Lynda

Does anyone know how to pickle walnuts, and when they should be picked? We are in 85 and are due to visit early April, 1st week of June, last week of July & 1st week of August. Unfortunately we are not sure of when they should be picked to , and if our trips will coincide with the right time to pick and pickle! Also, once picked, does anyone know how to then pickle the walnuts? Any help will be gratefully received! Lynda (85)

Hi We are arriving in 3 weeks with no loo installed and need an alternative solution until we source a plumber or do it ourself. I've been advised that I should be able to pick up a chemical loo/portaloo in a local DIY store. Does anyone know if any of the main stores eg. M Bricolage stocks them? Any idea how much they are? Any other suggestions welcome! Lynda (85)