Monika

I have just bought a book "Tune up your French" with lots of good, everyday advice. However it surprised me how you call a waiter to your table. What would you say?  

Sounds lovely, I will put it on our "Have to visit list", we don't live far away, just at the foot of Roche d'oetre and we have to make a visit to Briouze to shop for our new Woodburner.  

Thank you, that is indeed great news!

Now, now, boys that is not very kind (you are usually so well behaved!!), it's very easy to make mistakes, they seem to be invisible at the time of typing and only appear as soon as posted!! (I bet I have a typing error in this reply!)

My father died when I was 18 months old. In those days the body was kept in the front room of ones house for three days. I remember cleary that my sister and I were  lead into this room and that we both had to say good bye to our father. I was not afraid at all. I can even remember what I wore. My mother though maintains that it is impossible that I can remember, and that it is my imagination as she had talked to us about and the knitted dress I have seen on photos?

He is obviously trying to play "Devils Advocate".  But over 3000 members proof the success of the LF forum and its Moderators!

The same with us: as you can see we have only half a roof!!!

All I can say is, thank god for Moderators, otherwise I would never use a Forum again, it would be to frightening and intimidating if somebody just can come along and offend people.  

Will we know today: About TVA?

We have a lot of "naughty boys" on this forum?? And what can be so bad nowadays to have to give your crown back???

Do we really have to pay a fee when the house is finished (I have read that on various postings) and how much? That really worries me, because it will be precisely then when we run out of money????

My sister in law who is English lives in Winnipeg. She finds everything much cheaper over there and praises the Health System (well perhaps she has to, she is a nurse). But says it is difficult to make friends (she has been there 30 years) and her only friend is another English girl. Further education is very expensive, her daughters had all sort of jobs for four years to earn enough money to go to University. She drives everywhere, so do her daughters. She loves coming back to England and can't wait until we take her to Normandy next time she is over. I think she will love it. I am so glad you kept a house in Normandy and you will be one day back there. But perhaps in the mean time you might come to love it.

And they said the Swiss did not have any sense of humor, but then come to think about it, he/she must be British,  only they have the gift to laugh about themselves.

I agree with you Mikki that Carol Drinkwater's book are very much her revelling in her love life and sometimes reading it I felt like a "Voyeur". Writing a book I could never expose myself like that, but perhaps that is the actress in her. The third book has a really horrible hunting scene in it and it spoiled the whole book for me.

James: how do I access the blogs, will I be made aware of them? Mikki and Teamed up: What do you think then about Carol Drinwater's three Books about the Olive farm, do you find them contrieved? I just think Peter Mayle's account could be true, it's amazing some of the strange characters we have encountered and what "adventures" we have had etc. since we have bought our house in France and we have only lived there for a few days at the time, I think I could at least write one chapter (don't worry I will not!!)  Is there not a saying "the truth is stranger than fiction"?

I loved  Peter Mayle's "Year in the Provence". I count it amongst the better books about life and tribulations in France because I think it is pretty honest and not patting oneself on the back "oh we are so clever and good"! I also liked "Two Steps backwards" from Susie ...... (?)  Again very honest. Where are you building your New House? (I can't see your profile on my computer!)    

[quote user="La Quercynoise"]a bob is a un carré  (an caray) and layered is dégradé (daygraday).  Hope this helps.  Just watch out if they want to do un touching rather than un brushing![/quote] Qu'est ce que c'est un touching? Thank you so much for your answer.

I want to go to our local hairdresser. How do I ask for a longish Bob slightly layered? Not even my french swiss friend knew! I hope one of you can help!!

Great, I look forward to read your "continuing saga" of a "New Build". Something is missing on this Forum and that is an interesting story, hopefully not too interesting for your sake!!                  

We have had the written promise of assistance to pay for the fosse (50%) by the commune, but I think by now have misssed the deadline because our renovation/building project is so behind shedule. We had to arrange it all through the Mairie (i.e. we had to fill in a form and send a devis from an entrepreneur).

What a good question, this will be great for discussion. Although we have not moved permanently to France as such and our Renovation project will be our Maison secondaire I don't perhaps qualify quite for this discussion. But buying our holiday house in France, we have not regretted for one minute, and we can imagine ourselves living there one day. A Renovation project is a very slow progress especially if you have to rely on just everything being done by Artisans (and you have no time to do it, or some of it yourself). But if you can relax about it and wait for it and enjoy the whole process with its ups and downs,  then we think it is well worth it and the good thing is we have not run out of conversation for the past 2 years!  

I live in Dorset, we have a maison secondaire in the Suisse Normande and I visit my mother at least four times a year in Switzerland where I originally come from. (It was great to see the Hoi and Gruetzi!!)

[quote user="Val_2"] "the builders around here all fear the worst".....  yes and around here too, us included. We have had potential clients on the phone offering us the full payment now ahead of any work just in case but we have refused because we have to explain all payments into the bank as to where they have come from and I don't think the tax man will be too pleased to find he has been losing out on income due. [/quote] We are paying on account to our project manager (which by now is 88 % but only about 60% of the work being done). What would our position be? And do you think Val, that due to this threat of the TVA going up, we are finding that our build/renovation is so slow, because the builders have so much work prior to it?

Thank you Paul, very useful and informative. Especially as on "Total France" is the wrong information and I was just going to share it with this Forum!!  I think after the French succeeded in keeping their farming subsidies (inspite of all the "fighting" talk of Tony Blair and Co.) I think you are right in thinking that the French will hang on to the 5,5 % TVA inspite of protests of member states and just pay the fines.  

With global warming etc. there is more and more talk about going off grid and carbon rationing and the plans/devis  for our house in France are full of totally environmentally not friendly stuff, like heating the water by electricity (we want a bath), and electric panel heating (plus a wood burner). How can we go more environmentally friendly, we are having a site meeting in January. Advice much appreciated!