Maddie

If you are really worried about this there's a very simple way around it.  Just ask your French vet to tattoo the dog.  He will then do the tattoo and will complete and send off the necessary papers.  No two sets of chips to worry about either. Mine have both UK chips and French tattooes.  Both sets of details are on their EU Passports and pedigree registration documents so I'm covered in the UK and France.  My animals are easily recognised as "owned" animals not strays as it's easy for any member the general public to check for a tattoo in the ear but it's not so easy to check for a chip, especially a UK chip, as it'll be in a different location to a French chip and how many have scanners (apart from me but then I'm sad!!!) at home??!!! Cost was €55 per animal which included all paperwork, general anaesthetic and the tattoo. Not a huge amount for peace of mind.  

My sister introduced me to IKEA about 20 years ago when she first moved to Paris. She fitted out her entire appartment using IKEA furniture!  You could furnish and equip an entire home from IKEA then and now.  I've furnished much of my own home and my letting accommodation with IKEA furniture and have found most of it to be decent quality, simple and functional in design.    Many of my guests have commented favourably on the quality and sturdiness of the furnishing, especially the fitted kitchen. You just need to ensure you mix and match your accessories with stuff not from IKEA or you end up looking like the interior of an IKEA store! For pots, pans, kitchen equipment, glass and china, linens and rugs I don't think you can beat it, especially if you're working to a tight budget. (My whole life, it seems, runs on a tight budget!!!) Check out their websites www.ikea.co.uk or www.ikea.fr (BTW I found the kitchens to be cheaper in the UK). Even my parents (in their late 60s), who previously would only ever consider buying antique and period furniture, have funished their new home a lot of stuff from IKEA!  My Dad has become a recent convert and is now quite an addict!

I can't really help you on the techincal stuff but we "found" 13m deep well with 11 m of water in it.  It turned out to be the rainwater from the roof which is all directed into this well.  A landscape gardener recommended we harness this unexpected source and we have installed a submersisble pump which runs off the mains electicity and pumps water from the well to two taps each about 10m from the well.  When the water pressure was tested the reading was around 6 bar (on one tap, less with both taps) enough to run two sprinklers 30 m away!  With possible hose pipe bans in place in some parts of France it would surely pay to invest in something. Ours costs (including the pump, electrical installation, digging trenches with digger for new pipeworks, taps etc) were about €1,600 including tax for a professional to do the lot.  Not sure if that helps much, probably not!

[quote]If you fancy a stone worktop, the cheapest place to acquire one is at a 'Memorial Masons' the people who do headstones. Honest. Great selection of finish, colour, etc.[/quote] EXACLTY what I was going to suggest!  I keep telling MOH I'll do that and get the underside pre-engraved (with his details) for later use (ommitting the latter date of course - wouldn't want to give anything away after all)

Both of mine have UK chips.  It caused some confusion at the french vets when I enquired about reregistering them so I decided to have a tattoo done.  It did not cost a lot, the dogs are registered on the French database, and now both the tattoo details and the microchip number are on their EU passorts.  Problem solved.  The general public in France are more familiar with tattooes than chips so if either get lost and someone finds them and sees the tattoo they will at least know immediately that they have an owner somewhere.

[quote]Cost of fencing? The price for a 200m length of 7 or 8' high fencing, installed, in 24 about 3 years ago was 15,000 euros. And it's not a quality job by any means. If your dog is anything like ours ...[/quote] Ours cost around 6,000 euros to fence in 13,000m2 (a lot of metres of fencing) with posts every 2 metres and sheep fencing (wire squares) of about 1.5 m high.  Neither dog has tried to jump of dig under and nothing has dug under or jumped in.  Not a bad job either - we were pleasantly surprised.  As someone else said, have you considered a fenced run?  Would be worth it in the short term if you're planning to move.

[quote]As others have similarly posted, negative reinforcement is not the way to train any animal, particularly a dog. No way would I even consider subjecting my dog - a cocker spaniel - to such inhumane tr...[/quote] Here, here!  Robbie, Astrid and Il have made very valid points and I can't add any more to the debate other than... if you intend to live in your porperty for any length of time (ie as a resident) and want to keep your animals safe (and passers by and neighbours livestock) and secure the only way to go is decent fencing. We fenced in our entire 13,000m2 with sheep fencing and split chestnut paling and it has been the best investment we've made since we've been here.  Our dogs are safe, passers by are safe, next doors chickens, sheep and cows are safe, we don't have to worry about other dogs getting in or ours getting out!  It seemd like a lot at the time but it does the trick perfectly!    

[quote]mrs mogadon woman do you have two dogs then?[/quote] Touche!  Yes and "I,m here in France" too

[quote]Mrs MDW, You have a lovely dog! What breed is it Mrs? I have a dog![/quote] Thanks Furryknickers (great name BTW) The piccie is Milly, allegedly a labrador/retriever cross but I've got a choccie lab too.  Just need a black then I'll have a complete set! Nicola

I'm all for lively debate, don't get me wrong, but only if it adds value to the original post/question.  It's fine to disagree with someones opinion after all it'd be a pretty boring place if we all agreed with each other but some just need to watch the way it's being phrased.  After all, sometimes it's very difficult to tell what someone means using just words on forums like this.  After all successful communication is made up of different things and only 7% is actually from words.  Easy to misinterpret what's being said without the other bits too. Anyone been watching "Desperately Seeking Sheila"?

but I thought forums like this were for exchanging information and ideas and not for making a whole heap of derogatory comments.  I am, quite frankly, pretty horrified by some of the posts I've read recently, some have not made any useful contribution at all to the discussion in hand and have been fairly insulting to all and sundry.  I'm off now before I offend anyone by saying anything more. Yours truly Peace-loving, pooch worshipper PS Anyone know what's happened to the "voice of reason", Pucette?  I hope she's okay.    

[quote]Crepi, the material very often used, seems to get a very bad press on this site. Yet it can easily be coloured - so that it doesn't need painting, it allows the substructure' to breath, it repels mois...[/quote] What's wrong with Crepi then?  It can be applied in different colours and textures.  We only painted on top of new crepi as we could not get the two parts of the house to match and it was cheaper to paint the whole lot rather than strip the old render off and get the whole lot done again.  

[quote]Just wondering if it's worth the 400km drive (each way) and 25euros motorway tolls (each way) for a weekend?[/quote] I would probably say no, it's not worth a visit unless you are of a particularly devout religious persuasion, want to tell someone you've been, in need of potential healing, like being in the religious equivalent of a British seaside town.  If you can imagine a seaside town full of B & Bs and souvenir shops?  Well imagine the same seaside shops but chokka full of religious stuff - fluorescent virgin Marys (poor woman), bottles of water, inflatable St Bernadettes etc - all quite scary really.  Not a tasteful item amongst them, a huge shame considering.  Sorry if I've offended anyone, don't mean to but I found the whole experience totally horrifying when I went.  A real let down.  I'll qualify that by saying it was several years ago and now that I live 75km down the road I would not visit again.  Bear in mind too that Lourdes is heading todwards it's "peak season" (Easter) so likely to be very crowded and possibly difficult to find somewhere to stay.

Turn all the heating off and replace their snuggly winter duvets with summer ones when they are not looking!  Feed them the same food every day (preferably soup of some description).

[quote]I am still chuckling...now look you pommie retros this was all eplained in bazza mackenzie (not your generation??) The kangaroo pouch was developed as a place for carrying the fosters for this we have...[/quote] Good on yer!  An Aussie with a sense of humour - ripper!  Welcome to the mad house! Or should it be Yep, as Quillan says, we do the pooh bag thing here. Mind you they think it's mad to have our dogs on leads never mind picking up last nights dinner!!!!  It does warm your hands on a frosty morning though (from inside a plastic bag, I hasten to add) - far better than gloves

[quote]How about stocking up on some of those blank cards that have space for a photo and taking local pics, I'm sure something original and personal would be impressive and easy !( Try ebay if you cannot ge...[/quote] Ooo, jacquilawson.com, a great favourite of mine as many (but not all) of her cards feature pooches.

[quote]:whistling Hi aren't there enough of these resource munching 'barquers' in France already?? the place is riddled with them...France is also a dog excrement nightmare for pedestrians...Hey why don't ...[/quote]   Such comments from one who comes from a country where people do not realise that you can actually buy fly repellant rather than walk around with daft corks hanging from your hat!!! Tee hee!!!

[quote]Cor racist tic's. Only joking, I think somebody is having a laugh at your expence.[/quote] What tosh! Quillan is right, someone is definitely pulling your leg!  I have 2 GB dogs living happily here.  Both have monthly treatment for fleas and ticks and have also travelled to and from the UK under the PETS scheme.  One has even had the tick disease (piroplasmosis) despite the monthly tick treatment and was sucessfully treated and is now as right as rain.  Even French dogs don't have immunity to French ticks!  I know several dogs French born and bred who've had piro and are okay after treatment.  Just remember to keep up with the preventative treatments (Frontline or whatever), keep an eye on the dog for strange behaviour (often a sign of piro), groom regularly and maybe even have a vaccination against piro (which is about 80% effective, so they say) if you are really worried. Nicola  

I have a "pretend" 4x4 (ie not a land rover, land cruiser, shogun etc) - a Renault Scenic RX4.  It's always absolutely plastered in mud and a godsend now the weather has turned nasty and we live on very windy, hilly roads.  Having said that, I've seen a lot more here than in the UK and mine has been the only one smothered in mud!

[quote]It all seems a very grey area and Im not sure whether to go down the route with the authorities on the grounds of 'not receiving a signal' (even though we have a receiver that doesnt pick up) or wheth...[/quote] If I were you I'd just pay up and forget about it.  You don't want to draw anymore attention from the authorities to yourselves than you have to.  It's just not worth the hassle. You'll be billed for it next year as part of your taxe d'habitation anyway, regardless,  as I've been told TV livences are being phased out.  We did the same, bought a cheapo portable, and ended up with a bill.  They'll catch you anyway.  We have a friend who bought one while staying in a hotel, they moved twice, once to rented and then bought a house and the bill still reached them at their final permanent address.   Big Brother is watching you!! It's the that you have a TV even if it's only for videos rather than whether you receive a signal or not that triggers it, much like in the UK.

St Gaudens - weekday morning maximum wait 5 minutes.  Probably due to the fact that there was no-one else waiting and also that the patient's face was swollen up like a balloon and he could hardly breathe due to an allergic reaction! It just had to be my Australian brother-in-law who got sick staying with us last summer with my poor sister who was 7 and a half months pregnant at the time.  I don't think the staff knew who to give priority to - the non-French speaking man not beathing or the fluent French speaking woman with him who looked like she was just about to give birth!

Here's an update... Today we've had all our papers that we gave to the CPAM sent back (original E106s, RIB, birth/marriage certs etc).  They have asked 3 questions. What is our residence situation (I assume primary residence is what they want to see - it is the case for us anyway)?  Is Mr MDW on placement here and is working for a UK company if so they need an E101 (he's not)? Is he working for a French company (he's not)? They've also sent a green form for him to complete so I can be his dependant. No mention of name change etc and all docs still addressed to the name he uses not the one on his birth cert. A question for you guys?  Is it normal for them to sent the entire file back and when we respond do we send the whole lot back again? Nic

[quote]Miki, what sort of girl do you take me for?! No need for undue concern, they say it even when hubby's around! And I always take is as a compliment, Mrs. MDW. And you're right in that Tourraine Fren...[/quote] My poor Tourraine French accent won't last long if my neighbours keep correcting it to the accent of the SW! 

[quote]I've said before that some Frenchmen get quite turned on by an Englishwoman's accent. And personally I love being told I sound like Jane Birken. M[/quote] Gordon Bennet! (With apologies to anyone called Gordon Bennet, of which there are certain to be a few.)  I am always being told that too!  As I only know of Jane from the 1970s rather breathy song context (!!!!) I wondered whether it was an insult or a compliment!  In my day, it was Tourraine French we learnt rather than Parisian. 

3103 gives you details of any messages and any previous callers and tells you how many times they tried to call.  I've got caller display too which is quite handy if you can't bear the thought of speaking in French but do want to chat to your buddy! Changing to onetel is easy - just fill out the form and send off an RIB.  Leave your FT RIB active as they will use it to collect line rental and any select services you use.  Onetel will write to FT telling them you are with them and then FT will write to you telling you they're sorry your chose another supplier! Onetel is good as you can easily see the cost of calls by setting up an online account (useful if you have visitors you need to charge bills to).  If you want to cancel onetel you need to write to them along the lines of... Date : …………………….. Référence compte client N°: …………….. N° de Tel : …  …  …  …  …  …  … … …    Objet : Résiliation du contrat    Madame, Monsieur,   Je vous prie de résilier notre contrat ainsi que la connexion de ma ligne téléphonique ci-dessous connectée chez vous avec un effet immédiat.   En vous remerciant d’avance, je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de mes salutations les meilleurs.   This was the wording given to us by another phone company when we were considering changing form onetel..