Millymollymandy

I think it was a new one, in their new hour long format. They "did" Normandy several times before in the half hour format, which have been repeated endlessly. As usual the usual rubbish information, such as "you can get a gardener for £5 an hour". The colombage house looked like a new build, had no old poutres at all. What a waste. That is what they eventually bought.

Scooby Do - another thing to check. Is your oven running off a 20 or 32amp fuse? That I believe is the norm for an electric oven. However, until recently we were renting and had no option but to plug the electric stove into a 16amp circuit (even tho' we had 9 kVA supply). Then we had problems if we were using the electric hobs at the same time, or other appliances that were linked to the same circuit. It might be worth checking that your house is earthed too - we owned a house for 18 months before an electrician discovered the earth had disappeared! Anyway, welcome to the wonderful world of French electricity!! Think I'll go post some of my plumbing problems now!

I hate the slippers here! I really want sheepskin ones that I used to get from M&S (many many years ago). They don't sell em here. The stupid ones I have fall off my feet as they are made for people with extra wide feet (and welly clogs too). Moan Moan Moan.

Don't think the internet existed when I came to France.

You are obviously on a low power rating (kVA) coming into your house. Check your electricity bill to see what you are on. If it's not on that, EDF will tell you on the phone. Check out their website at edf.fr - it tells you about the different tariffs. We've had to upgrade in several houses. We find 9 kVA suits, we don't heat with electric but have 2 electric hot water tanks. You pay more yearly charges the higher the rating you go. You could look at the options for off peak too (heures creuses). I don't think triphase has anything to do with it, we are on triphase as we are in a zone agricole.

Re: pond plants There are several water gardening specialists around France. You need to get a copy of L'Ami des Jardins or Mon Jardin Ma Maison and look at the small ads. Off the top of my head, there are some in Rennes, Nantes, Reims, several in Ain (01), Paris etc. There seem to be more than there were a few years ago so I guess ponds are becoming a bit more popular. If you can't get a copy of the magazines, let me know and I'll get off my butt (cat on lap at moment) and tell you the addresses.

aha! I had a bite on the inside of my arm this summer, and it was just like Pat describes above. Itched like crazy for about 2 weeks, and I knew it wasn't a mozzie bite. At the same time I had a bite on my face that swelled up a fair bit and kept coming back itching every few weeks or so. In fact it flared up again a couple of weeks ago. Could this be the dreaded chigger too? We live in Brittany and were renting a farmhouse at the time literally surrounded by wheat/maize fields/cows. So harvest was going on all around..... looked on the net for chiggers, what a disgusting critter.

Thanks for the link - looks an interesting site. Even have purple sprouting broccoli - and lots of chillies!! However, don't think I want to GROW the crosne! Just wanted to know whether they were worth eating. Look a bit like hard work to prepare such little things.

I've remembered, they're called CROSNE. Has anyone tried eating them?

No, not tamarind. Much smaller! Smaller than a peanut shell. I wish I could remember what it is called in French.

We were freezing in a rented house without c.h. until this week when we moved into our new property (Ille et Vilaine). Now we're either too hot or too cold, struggling to understand the heating system here which is underfloor c.h. on the ground floor and radiators upstairs.  Too many different things to programme which don't appear to work right.  Previous owner was hopeless/helpless to explain as he didn't appear to understand a thing about how his house worked (haven't found the stopcock yet...). I guess we'll get there in the end but we're certainly keeping very warm during the day unpacking boxes!!  

The topic on Jerusalem Artichokes has reminded me of a vegetable I see every autumn in the shops that I have absolutely no idea what it is. I can't remember the French name either - not very helpful, I know! It looks similar to a miniature peanut in its shell, but smaller and more knobbly bits. It's about 3cm long and about 1/2 - 1cm wide. It's brown. I used to live in Ain in Rhone Alps. Maybe it was something native to that region. Haven't seen any yet in the shops where I am now in Brittany. Anyway, I've never seen mention of them in the French gardening magazines (where incidentally, I see Curly Kale, Parsnips, Purple Sprouting Broccoli - all stuff I grow because you don't see them for sale in the shops!). But never mystery veggie. Do you have any ideas? If you know the French name I would recognise it, just can't remember it.

Do you know your neighbour well enough to ask? Because if he/she grows them, one presumes they eat them too (unless it's all a wind up of "le voisin etranger"! - no pun intended!!). Anyway, I'd have thought that if anyone knew the answer, it would be the French country folk. Or perhaps they just have cast iron stomachs. You could try asking subtly, "I'm not sure how to cook these...".  In any event, I will watch this thread with interest because I too adore the taste but just won't eat them any more!!

Yes you can put the wood ash in your compost heap, we always do. Just don't put the ash from barbecue charcoal in.

Is the buttermilk left after churning butter thick and creamy (and sour?). Because some people say that Lait Ribot (the Breton thick creamy sour milk) is buttermilk. Anyway that's what I use in recipes like soda bread which call for buttermilk, and it works perfectly. As for the Breton fresh milk - we found that the semi-skimmed tasted like full cream long life. It made me feel sick. So we switched to semi-skimmed long life and that's much nicer, plus it's miles cheaper if you buy boxes of it in places like Netto and Lidl. I do miss real milk though. And "real" milk is what I have come across everywhere (UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, other parts of France, Australia, NZ) except Brittany!

Can't see picture either. Is it hosted on a web site? Could it be a newt?

Our Communauté Universelle states quite clearly it only covers our "biens"  in France. That is, the house, the car, what's in the bank and our belongings. In the event of divorce, everything is split 50/50. There is no Inheritance Tax to pay when one spouse dies - the other inherits tax free and the house won't go in part to our in-laws (we don't have children).  I presume when the surviving spouse dies, the house would go back up the line to any parents, brothers or sisters still alive - who will have to pay a lot of Inheritance Tax. Now I don't think any of our family in the UK would appreciate being lumbered with a property in France they would have to sell in order to pay the inheritance tax, but I don't see any way out of that.  

It's appeared now in my Carrefour at Fougeres (35). However it's really expensive at over 2 euros a bag. Think I'll try it mixed with their cheapo white flour at 31 cents!

France is not without its faults, but then neither is any other country. We were recently faced with the necessity of selling our house (in france) due to unemployment and a high mortgage. We could have moved anywhere within the EU. But the thought never entered our heads, France is our home, so we just relocated to another region. So YES WE ARE VERY HAPPY IN FRANCE.

You phone them, at least a week ahead of the day you are buying the property. Otherwise you may well find the electricity and water are cut off - this happened to the people who bought our last property as they didn't contact the utility companies in time. You should be able to get their numbers from their websites. You should be given your new telephone no. over the phone by FT - so long as there is a connection at the house. On the day of buying your house - visit it first before signing at the Notaires to check all is OK and read the meters with the vendors, so everyone is clear, then phone those readings thru to the utility companies. Don't forget also to put YOUR name on your mailbox as soon as you are there - if you don't, you may well find your mail being taken back to the Post Office. This happened to us.

2 metres from the neighbours house wall. BEWARE of this. I've seen a neighbour have a beautiful "abri" contructed by artisans, only to see it come down again a few weeks later. I later found out that the neighbour had constructed it too close to my boundary. It certainly wasn't bothering us! ALWAYS check with the Mairie. If they say it doesn't need permission, get it in writing from them.

Who tips? You're already paying 10% service charge. I used to tip, unaware of this. Now I leave a few coins - if I was happy with the meal. Slow and surly waiters I've only come across in the restaurants where there are too few waiters for the amount of customers.

I was unable to add to the above message for the last week as, although I could see the posters names on my own PC, I found that I could not log on and therefore post!!!! So I've been ignoring this website until today, when I found all is working again! Thank you.

JALAPENO PEPPERS! Strangely, all French supermarkets stock loads of Mexican stuff from the Casa Fiesta range (or the other brand which I've forgotten), but never Jalapenos. Can't live without them!

No sign yet in my Carrefour - but glad to hear it has finally come to some shops...