MrCanary

Thanks Clair... nous vous manquons (you miss us) vous nous manquez (we miss you) I think I will just put it down to one of the quirks in the language bcause, in the latter, as it is 'we' (nous) who is doing the missing, one would perhaps be forgiven for thinking it is 'we miss' (nous manquons) but I will just have to accept it as the other way round

Thanks... But why isn't it 'Vous nous manquons'?

Spot on Kathy...

When I was having French lessons, I wanted to write, in French, "We miss you"... I assumed it would be "Nous vous manquons" because as it is 'us' (nous) who is doing the missing, surely manquons is the correct verb for nous? But our French teacher (French herself) said, "No, it is 'Nous vous manquez'..." She said it was 'you' who the 'missing' related to and manquez was correct. This still bugs me and free translation sites always give 'Nous vous manquons' as being the correct answer. Please, is there a Professor of the French language out there who can throw any light on this one? Or, on reflection, did our teacher say it should have been "Vous nous manquez"...? Thanks...

And from today's Norfolk paper, the Eastern Daily Press... http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED01%20Jan%202010%2017%3A32%3A36%3A907

Bit of a long shot, but does anybody know anything about the Courtyard Paris Defense West - Colombes Hotel?

Sweet - please don't apologise for bringing this subject up because it is important to talk about issues such as these - very important! Nobody is right and nobody is wrong. What goes on behind a few closed doors in France will be no different to what goes on behind a few closed doors in Germany, America, the UK and so on and so on... Wife-beating, husband beating, rapes, murder and many other things are illegal in most civilised countries and, in my opinion, it is right to talk about them.

Patf - so are you saying he beats her up and that makes it right? Presumably nobody forced him to marry her? And presumably he did marry her knowing of her inheritance, and perhaps saw some benefit for himself?

Théière - yes, I've given up flying too - I just cannot be doing all the crap that goes with it!

In my many years as a cop in the UK, I have attended more 'domestics' than I care to remember... I am pleased to say that 'wife beating' as described above was very rare, but it did happen. Sadly, I attended more rapes than beatings and I do not mean just husband/wife rapes, but stranger rapes as well. I also attended a couple of 'husband beatings'... But as has been said above, men who beat their wives (or anybody else) in this way are a disgrace to the human race and invariably cowards. Where a man has a superior strength to his wife/partner etc, he should use it to protect her, defend her and provide for her. The police in the UK take a very serious stance on violence and/or rapes, please, somebody tell me that the gendarmes are similar?

Théière - I would guess about 6 or 7 round trips. Some were more expensive - Newhaven/Dieppe, a couple were the much-missed (perfect for us) Dover to Dieppe and a couple Dover/Boulogne... But they were all trips I was going to make anyway and just for the sake of joining the scheme for free and remembering to include my membership number on all the bookings, hey presto - a free round trip!

After one year's membership, I have just booked a return trip between Newhaven and Dieppe, fare £150 - actual cost to me - FREE! That was 8500 loyalty points.

I've just booked a peak-time return trip between Newhaven and Dieppe which should have been £150 - got it absolutely FREE! Why? Because about a year ago I joined their 'Frequent Travellers' club and I had accumulated enough points for this free trip for my car, my wife and me. Excellent scheme!

Nothing wrong with the drive, it will be comfortable and easy-going... ...until you get to England!

Christmas in Steeple Bumpstead in Essex... New Year's Eve in the Murderer's pub in Norwich...

Wonderful and so funny it is probably true!

My wife wears rubber travel bands on her wrists that she bought from Boots. She swears by them! As for me, I just love it. Rough seas make boring crossings interesting!

I've just visited the Le Monde website... They are holding a poll asking: Do France deserve to be in the World cup finals - vote 'yes' or 'no'... Currently, 11.7% of the readers have voted 'yes' and 88.3% 'no'. That is refreshing to see!

Thanks Pickles - that's what I do and hopefully will continue to do so. The good side to it is that if and when I am ever able to move across permanently, I am already paying the full wack!

I confess I have not studied every post in this thread, so forgive me if this question has already been asked, but... ... I thought there was a reduction in one or more of the taxes for a maison secondaire? But I certainly don't see that on any of the forms I receive and blindly pay!

This is a very interesting one as well... http://saltdean-ais.co.uk/AIS_Google.htm

I currently have a house in Norwich and a house in France. We spend most of our time in Norwich, so that is 'home'. But when we are in France and go out for the day, we talk about getting back 'home' in the evening and we are referring to our French house. And my wife and I so want to make that French house our permanent home...

OK, so there is lots of good evidence there of the excellent bargains being enjoyed by so many people... But how the heck do they make their profits?

HSBC have told me they have had no reported problems from France. However, they do often make security checks on the use of their customers cards in France (or other countries) when they have not been notified of travel plans. HSBC also said they are aware that Nationwide have been updating their systems over the last week - as all banks do from time to time. This can sometimes (but rarely) cause problems for customers both in the UK and abroad.

This thread is now causing me to telephone my bank, HSBC, before I set off for France on Sunday... I will report back!