Lautrec

With the lack of rain generally, if there is a hose pipe ban, how will we be informed. Local papers? Notice board? TV/radio.? It would be nice to know!

I do enjoy the fine (cheaper) wines in France, but do not indulge to excess. (One half bottle per day!) But here in the Charente; the local delicacy is the Pineau; a type of French type sherry of 17%. For the uninitiated; it is made by mixing fresh grape juice with brandy. Can anyone tell me if they have made any and if so, exactly the method used. What percentage of juice to brandy and how long is the maturing time. My next door French neighbours have given me a couple of bottles of home-made, (delicious!) but I cannot understand his patois French when he tells me how it is done. So until I find out how, I will rely on E.Leclerc to keep me supplied me with the necessary!

Hi there Deemar,Have no fear, Lautrec is here, with the answer to your problem! We thought it was quite cute to see the first mole hill appear. Our district is called Chez Taupignon, but in all our time here, we never saw a Taup. But when they started appearing all over the place, action was called for. I tried sending my wife out to nag them, but that didn't work! It always works for me! So in our local Jardinerie, I found the solution. It is a battery operated sonic repeller, which looks like a big green mushroom and costs just Euros14. Batteries extra. You stick them into the ground and you can hear a high pitched buzz every 15 seconds. Lo and behold; after 24 hours the mole or moles moved on! One repeller covers an area of 500 sq metres. Batteries last for 3 months.  So shame on you Chrissie for blowing up the poor little blind creatures! There is enough killing in this world already without adding to the toll!

You say that you have to book a bed six months before the baby is due! That's nothing, back in the UK you will soon have to book at least ten months before the happy event.

The long hot Summer of 2003 is just showing its downside! A large number of mature Leylandii trees, which form our boundary with our neighbours, are going brown and dying. For privacy reasons, they have to be replaced. I wonder if some knowledgable gardener will answer some queries. 1. Before replacing with new trees, is it possible just to cut the to the ground and leave the roots, or would they have to be taken up? 2. Small trees would take too long to give cover so does anyone know the approx price of a 160mm tree and would they be sold in any Jardiniere? Or maybe a specialist tree retailer! There is already a chain link fence there behind the trees and another poster suggested in another topic that fast growing evergreen creepers would soon grow and form a sight barrier. This might be the easier and cheaper option. Any suggestions on the type of evergreen which could be used.? I would be very pleased to hear from any green fingered poster!

I talk regurlaly to the UK using the free phone system, I have used Skype and Windows Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. I find the most efficient to be Yahoo. Sound quality is good and I use my PC loudspeakers and a small microphone, which I bought in the UK for about £5. When the internet is in the 'rush hour', you do get a voice delay, but at quieter times it is very good indeed.

Don't buy a TV in France as your name and address will be taken and you will get a demand for a TV licence. You must pay, even if you only over here for a few weeks every year.

A  GOOD AGENT?????????????????????????? Ha !Ha! Definitely the best joke of the week. Beware of the 'three card trick! This is when they show you two dilapidated old properties, that are really so bad that really makes you shudder and then when you are really down, they show you a half-way decent one, which you jump at;  then you are hooked. So beware, it happens all the time!

How about youth, bags of energy, good looks and a sexy wife? . . . . Well, that lets me out!

I insured with a French company over the internet before moving to France. As an earlier poster stated, you can keep your UK insurer using the Green Card to overlap from one to another.Once you have settled in France and re-registered your car to get the Carte Gris you will then receive your policy to replace the cover note that they issued to you!

Can anyone recount any anti-Brit experiences they have had in Brittany or in any other area if it comes to that! I personally have had shown nothing else but politeness and kindness by my neighbours and shop assistants in my area of the Charente. I suppose it could be down to making a big effort to speak the language; even if you do it badly!

Lautrec back again to add a postscript to this thread that I had started! I have learnt so much from the input put in my everyone and come to the conclusion that this one hell of a Winter! To compound my misery, this morning I got my Electricity bill in and as we have an all electric house, maybe you can understand my shock. It is much much more than last year at this time.So what better than forget your worries? A nice evening dinner and a bottle of Bordeaux Superior; relax and enjoy the evening, with a suspicion of a thaw in the weather. On my second glass and halfway through the first course; a scream from ma femme dan le cuisine; there was a burst pipe and water was inches deep on the tiled floor! Yes! the anticipated thaw was upon us!I found that a pressure joint had come apart and one hour later;  leak mended;  soaked to the skin; I gave up on eating and after a nice hot shower and coffee; and a large glass of brandy; things did not look so bad.OK! All agreed that this is not the best of Winters, but at least it will be one that I won't forget easily. The only happy note was the knowledge that Mr Tony Blair had sent me my £200 heating allowance to help lower my costs. It sometimes pays to be old!  

Could it be that I am getting older and feeling the cold, or is this Winter colder than many we have in the past few years? It seems endless!

I have been very gratified by the the very helpful response my query has generated. Thanks again to Chris Head with whom I have exchanged e mails. Also Thedunnes for also recommending a Router. I will investigate prices here, as  Dick Smith has pointed out that they might be a little expensive to buy if I do not make regular use of them. I did not know there was such a thing as shutter kits and I must thank Zeb for this information and I will look into the Bricolage and 3MMM's today and investigate further. Finally Dick Smith for the address of the web site which have given me some really explicit plans on the construction. Very helpful indeed. I did toy with the idea of buying custom made plastic shutters at a shop in Angouleme but as I did not have an arm and two legs to spare; this was when I started to think of making them myself. So with both arms and legs intact and tools at the ready, I will start work on the shutters shortly, just as soon as the ice starts to melt in my workshop/garage. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Roll on the printemps! Cheers, Lautrec.          

Calling all DIYers, Trying hard to keep expenses to the minimum, I am going to build shutters for two bedroom windows. It does seem a quite straight forward project, but would appreciate it if any one had detailed plans for this DIY. Your help would be appreciate! Thank you!

Hello Gas, Go back to the Health main page and look at the thread I started titled CPAM - Carte Verte.This might answer some of your queries!

Lautrec update. Went to see the local CPAM rep today asked asked about the Carte Vitale. He told us to to come back and see him again and bring our Birth Certificates, He said that with these documents, he would press on our behalf to get this form issued to us. We shall do this next week and see what transpires. We live in hope!

Many thanks for all your helpful replies; they were very illuminating. But regarding our working to get into the system, this will not be possible as my wife and I are both ancient Brits and our working days are over. Although we can get prescriptions, our local village Pharmacist; a dear man, said to ma femme, (in your actual French!) "Not having the carte vitale does give me a lot of extra work in the processing, but as it is you dear Madame,(with a wink) I will do it!" Anyway, I will try phoning the telephone number that was suggested and see if we can move forward on this.  Once again thank you!    

We have been in France for over a year and registered with the C P A M, Although we have the Attestation we have waited in vain for the Green Card. After many enquiries, we have been told by mail, that the Green Card is no longer being issued to immigrants. (I thought we were all EU citizens!) This leads to complications when we go to the Pharmacies for our prescriptions and have to pay at the time and then send the receipts to the C P A M for reimbursement. Has any one else had this problem lately and found a way to solve the problem and managed to get this important document?

Hello Fitzie,All the information you require regarding Vines and Winemaking is easily found by a Google search. Just type in Vines etc and all the details you require will be revealed. Saves money on buying a book!

Hello Diana, We bought a new hob last week and it comes with a spare set of jets. As we were using bottled gaz, I easily unscrewed the original natural gas jets and replaced them with the others supplied. No problem!

Our UK machine became US when the door flew off and disintergrated during a spin. If you have the muscle power and an estate car, you take it to the local decheterie (spelling?) Like a idiot, every village has one! If you can't carry it you will have to get a friendly neighbour to assist you! Good luck!

Any Internet users in the Nanteuil en Vallee (Charente) area might be interested to learn that Broadband will be introduced here if they can get 100 signatures on the petition. If you are interested and wish to sign, please call on Dr Annie Billard in the village to sign up!

The TV programmes such as 'A place in the Sun', 'No going back' etc ad infinitum have been fueling the rush of Brits to find their  dream home here in France! I do think, that all these programmes should carry a official health warning stating, "That seeking the right house and settling in, can damage your health!" The prices quoted for the houses featured are so sadly out of date; the series quite possibly having been made up to two years ago! We came over to France a year ago and thought we could by a house needing no work on it for 100,000. euros We were soon disalusioned. Today, you get what you pay for and paying ,pin money' sometimes brings you a whole load of worry and work! But having said all that, I would not change our situation and ever return to the UK. The house we bought is now beginning to be a comfortable and good looking home. But at the expense of some hard work and the outlay of some extra money. So people thinking of making the move, don't be put off. Our old humdrum UK life is now much more exciting and offers a new challenge every day!.

Hello Helen, We have corresponded in the past and I know that you live not far away from where I live. I would be very grateful indeed if you did come up with the address of a local Acurpuncturist or possible an Osteopath. You should know this district much better than I do as we have only lived in this area for a short while. An early poster suggested that I trip down to Angouleme. I am prepared eventually to make this comitment if need be, but I must bear in mind that a course of treatment would mean 5 or 6 visits so it would be to my advantage if I could get treatment locally. A big thank you to all those that have added to this topic!