Opalienne

We bought one from a gardening catalogue - can't remember which one but something like Willemse.   It works really well and we haven't seen a mole since except when the battery runs out.   If there's an agricultural co-operative near you you will probably be able to find one there too.

Noix d'amazonie are also called - wait for it - noix de bresil!  And they're not too difficult to find (at least in the north)..... Sorry if this was more hi-jacking.

I have never looked, but I guess you should be able to get them in any shop dealing with boats and sailing......

For his health care he needs to get the relevant form from Newcastle and then go to the CPAM,  But don't do that if he is going back to the UK or it will just complicate everything further.......

Maggie,   If your partner is British he can certainly register as a French resident.  And that's what he should do before going to the ANPE.   All he has to do is to go along to the Mairie - it takes five minutes.   There is no longer any requirement to have a job or a certain amount of money in the bank before you can do this.

So the opposite of what UK management-speak would call 'silos'.......

I think there are some very good things about the French healthcare system, but have to agree about the over-prescription.   I get bronchitis four or five times a year.   I go to the doctor because it is normally due to a bacterial infection for which I need antibiotics.   But in addition I get sirop to make me cough up phlegm (two bottles); sirop to stop me coughing (two bottles); analgesics (three packs); suppositories (!) to stop me coughing at night; and sleeping pills.   I have tried refusing these on the grounds that I already have more than enough at home, but the doctor is always insistent that I should take them.   

I agree about Marine Le Pen.  And don't you think she looks just like Miss Piggy (also a rather scary woman)?

We close ours when it gets dark, and half-way (they are 'persiennes' which roll down) during the day when it is very hot - which is rare in N France.   We do have curtains but never use them except for extra warmth during the winter.   When we are away a neighbour comes and raises and lowers them per usual.  I think it's up to you - certainly our insurance company has never said that we needed to have/close them.

It's not just fruit cake which is called 'cake' in France.  I have a French friend who makes an excellent 'cake'  (that's what she calls it) with cheese and lardons in it......  

Bare (sic) it in mind???? Interesting idea...... 

Defenestrate as an English verb is well known by those of us who had to study mediaeval European history for A level - the defenestration of Prague started the 100 years war, if I remember right. I can't remember who threw who out of the window, except that it was clearly at Catholic who got the push, since the defenestrator said "Let your Mary save you now".......

They are not alllowed within a certain distance of fields with livestock.   And the season ends around the end of January, as far as I recall

I'm afraid that we haven't managed to find any good boarding kennels for dogs.  Thereis plenty of choice, but they are all pretty miserable.   In some the dogs don't even have outside runs and sleep on straw....... Eventually we advertised in the local supermarket for someone willing to look after a dog in their own home, and found a great place in the next village that the dog can't wait to go to.  But with three I can see that it would be ratherdifferent.

If you are an EU citizen from the old 15 (rather than the 10 new member states) you have the right to live in France whether or not your spouse is French.   You will be entitled to unemployment benefit if you are actively looking for work.

I spend time in Belgium during the week and this has been a big story for the last two days.   According to the Belgian ambassador in Paris Johnny will continue to live in France so he won't escape wealth tax that way.   Though lots of people do do this - there are almost as many Dutch as Belgians living in the far north of Belgium and they are all there to escape Dutch wealth tax.   The ambassador says that with Johnny it's 'une question de coeur'...........

Fabienne Boutroy at Peuplingues, near the tunnel.   She has the cats in a large pavillon at the side of her house, on a farm where she also does dog grooming.   The cats have large cages with beds, ladders to climb and toys.  There are no other good catteries in the area to my knowledge, though there may  be some further inland.   Fabienne also boards horses (but not dogs), and is highly recommended by our vet.   Boarding is expensive (€7 per cat per day) but worth it.   You can contact her at 03 21 86 25 24.   She doesn't speak English;  if that's a problem let me know.

And Albanians have 20 or so words for moustache!   If people haven't read The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod (available from Amazon) I can thoroughly recommend it.   It contains a French expression that perfectly sums up the most-disliked of our neighbours:  a 'seigneur-terrasse' (someone who thinks he's a big man in a cafe but never puts his hand in his pocket)

You can buy special tick removers at the vets.   They are like small hooks which you use to pull them out.  But make sure to get hold of the bit that is stuck into the cat - if you leave this in the site can become infected

It still happens on farms round us.   There is one only a couple of kilometres away where there are at least 30 cats living wild.   But what the attrition rate is I don't know, and besides, I think they are fed from time to time.  It sounds pretty cruel to me - supposing there is a heatwave and there is no water for them to drink?

We don't have English TV either so didn't see the programme, but I guess it all depends on you reasons for buying.  I was in Budapest for the first time last March, and thought it was wonderful and I think I could lived there quite happily.  But the reason for buying in France was because we felt happy here, and had nothing at all to with with appreciation - not because we are rich, but because we want to stay where we are and not speculate.  Sure, if we sell the house one day and find we have made lots of money we are not going  to be upset.  But that's as far as it goes. If when I am retired we go to live in a country where the cost of living is cheaper, it will be for that reason and not because we want to make lots of money.   Sorry if this sounds a bit holier than thou but I've really had enough of people telling me what their houses are worth in the UK and boring on about where they could buy a mansion with pool for half the price......

OK,tried to delete previous message but it didn't work.   It should have said that  I would never have been interested in cooking if I hadn't read Elizabeth David's books......

But Elizabeth David is still the queen... I would beer have been even interested in cooking if I hadn't read her books.....

For ice cream,. creme fraiche is fine and if there is sugar in the recipe you won't taste the difference

It works both ways.   An English couple in our village, who still speak no French after 18 months living here, have been using local builders to convert their garage into a studio for her father.   It was nearly finished when he arrived and immedately complained that various things had not been done to UK standards.   He insisted that they should be redone, which took some time.   Now he has left (in a rage) and the builders are reluctant to continue in case he comes back and complains again.   The French standards were safe and OK, BTW, it just wasn't what he was used to.   Now he calls the (perfectly proficient) builders "cowboys"...........