PossumGirl

[quote user="Deimos"] – and I expect France Telecom to be undercutting Skype pretty soon !!!). Ian[/quote] We had (and I emphasize HAD) a great deal with FT: 100% unlimited calling to France/Europe and North America for 79€ per month. Unfortunately, we followed our accountant's advice to change our phone service to our company name, and that lost the unlimited forfait.  We changed it back, but they're not currently offering it, although it's scheduled to return. Still, now that I've tried Yahoo, I may stick with it. I'll check out Google Voice as well. Thanks, Ian. PG

I know several of you use Skype for your long distance calls (either PC to PC or PC to landline), however I've not been 100% satisfied with the sound quality, even though I have a good USB phone hooked up. So, when I saw that Yahoo Messenger 7.0 with Voice was available, I decided to try it.  I have to say I'm very impressed with the quality.  Same deal as Skype: free calls PC to PC (each one only compatible with its own software, unfortunately) and a pre-paid fee for calling landlines.  However, for me, calling to the U.S., the charges are less: only 1 cent a minute. I called my 82-year-old mother in California yesterday.  She has sometimes complained about the quality even when I'm using regular phone service.  This sounded as clear as if I'd called her from L.A.  I tried with another couple of friends and it was just as good.  So far, for a little over an hour of calling, I've spent 32 cents! You can download it at: http://messenger.yahoo.com PG

Actually, I missed that last line, I didn't scroll down far enough. PG

We were supposed to do a comic book workshop at a school outside of Carcassonne and we just had to change it to a date in May! PG

[quote user="Tresco"]".....but sometimes, playing is more fun, n'est çe pas?" So it would seem, and I don't mean you PG. [/quote] I was just going to say this was going over my head, when the penny dropped!!!  Forgive me, I'm a bit slow this morning! PG

I'm not sure about cats, but I was told categorically (sorry about that) NOT to sedate our dog for the plane trip from L.A.  Apparently the sedative effects at altitude are not the same as on the ground and this can be life threatening. Maggie, weighing 23 kg, had no choice but to fly cargo.  I'm sure she was terrified but she came out of it with no problems.  We did make sure we had a non-stop flight though, to minimize risks of them losing her. PG

[quote user="Tresco"] Thats what I thought. It's why I asked if Mimi was French. I must be getting a bit better, so something good has come of mimis post! Thanks PG for taking the time to do that, It would have taken me ages. [/quote] Yes, well, I suppose I should actually have been working on editing the manuscript that needs to be finished (a translation of The Daughter of Fantomas), but sometimes, playing is more fun, n'est çe pas? PG

Okay, the French in this thing was pretty nonsensical in places, so perhaps, it, too, was written with a translation programme that didn't quite "get it?" Anyway, here's a basic translation: If anyone owes anything to anyone, it's Europe, Because all the Canadians and Americans who shed their blood; our uncles and our fathers, did that for those same Europeans.  (This next bit really makes no sense at all, other than to imply that Europeans always find reasons to detest Canadians and Americans, who are the only ones who have had enough "soul" to creat a real country, a unified country). Where is  your Europe?  It will go nowhere because all of its inhabitants are too busy denigrating everyone else. And, what makes them sweat is that they're not capable of uniting to become strong, stronger! And that should make the Americans smile everyday.  Go on. little countries, be happy in your little houses, let your royalty become ever richer from your daily labors.  Don't fight to get a green cards, we understand that it's sometimes just a bitter laugh. (The last line is rubbish and says nothing, other than a sort of "so-long!" PG (who doesn't agree with a word of this claptrap, btw)

As a brief addendum, JM reminded me that if you arrive at the Toulon station, there are buses that go from there to Bandol with a stop in Sanary.  You might be able to find out the info at the Reseau Mistral website PG

I never heard this term before moving here; what is it, exactly? PG

Fulcrom asked: Has anyone any experience of other software translators? In my experience, there are no good software translators for anything more than a word or two.  Word choices depend on many things, and computers just don't have the "skill" to figure out which one is correct.  Granted, some people don't have that either! Just ask the cafe in Limoux which serves a salad with bits of "lawyer!" PG (using her American influence!)

Theres the Ollioules-Sanary gare, but it's about equidistant between the two towns and would be a pretty good walk, especially if you have a month's worth of luggage!  If you're going to rent a car, I would suggest your best option would be taking the train to Toulon and arranging to rent a car there, then driving to Sanary. It's only about 15 minutes or so by car. PG

If you have a PC running WIndoze, you can simply set it up with the English International Keyboard, this allows you to have all the accent characters simply by using the quotation key followed by the appropriate vowel, i.e. áéëçû, etc., etc.  To get the € you simply hit the right ALT key with the 5 key on the main keyboard. To set up the international keyboard on XP go to Control Panel, choose Date, Time, Lanugage settings, choose Add Other Language, choose the Language tab, then under Text Services and Input Languages click on the "details" button.   You can choose the keyboard you want from there.  You can also install multiple keyboards if you want, then switch between them.  However, I find the international option is the simplest. PG

My husband is from Toulon and we always go to Sanary when we're visiting the family. It can get crowded, but it's a nice little place. Also,make sure you visit Bandol while you're there.  And, take the little boat that crosses the harbor to drop you off at the island of Bendor.  There's a wonderful restaurant in Bandol called Le Caveau, the same family has owned it for years and the food has always been terrific. Here are some pictures of Bandol, Bendor and Sanary from my website, there are links there for the official websites of each place as well. Have a wonderful time. PG

[quote user="Chesnelay"]However bizarre it may sound, I read a vets response to this same question and he advised 'ginger biscuits' before the trip.  The owner tried it out and it made a huge difference to the dogs reaction - I only wish the vet had explained why because he could have made it sound so complicated we would all be trying it.[/quote] Ginger is known for it's digestive properties.  I try to always keep essential oil of ginger or candied ginger in the house for human stomach upsets.  I think that would be too strong tasting for most dogs though.  For the humans, just put one or two drops on a sugar cube. PG

I love village life after living in a major city where no one had time to visit or do much of anything except work and drive (or rather sit in their cars on the freeway NOT driving). I love feeling that I'm part of a community. I love driving to do anything and seeing amazing countryside with crystal clear air.  At night, I love looking at the stars that aren't blocked out by light pollution and air pollution. After living in a country where people don't protest much of anything, I appreciate the fact that people in France are passionate enough to protest, even if it's not always pretty or convenient.  I wish America would remember that we used to do that kind of thing too. I don't wear rose-coloured glasses, and see that there are faults as well, but fault for fault, I'll take the ones in France any day of the week. PG

[quote user="SaligoBay"]I guess we're living different lives, PossumGirl! .... TU is right, lack of payrises is nothing new in France, and that's what I meant when I talked about lack of hope.  It's just there, all the time.  Someone must know..........since the war, has France had a golden age, where things suddenly got better and people felt confident about life or has it always been like this?     [/quote] I have to say, SB, that I think we're in a particularly warm and friendly village.  Around the area, when we mention Chalabre, almost everyone has said that it has a great reputation.  And, as sociable as it is in winter, it's even more so in summer, because most people sit on benches or chairs out in front of their houses every night and visit with each other until dusk.  Also, the "summer" people are here, so we've got more of a crowd to boot. As to France having a golden age, it wouldn't matter if they had or had not.  It doesn't really appear to be part of the French psyche to be happy about money or jobs.  No matter how things are, everyone complains.  It's really just the way things are. PG

Neil, I taught myself French and found that reading magazines was a great help. Pick something on a subject that you already find interesting and you'll be surprised how quickly that helps you pick it up. Good luck. PG

[quote user="SaligoBay"]What I don't like is the lack of hope that things will change (I'm talking generally here).  French wages aren't suddenly going to go sky-high.  It's more likely that the 1500-euros-a-year property taxes will go even higher, and that the cost of living will rise, and the cost of petrol will go up, long before wages do.  [/quote] But, SB, don't you think this is a universal problem, not specifically a French one?  Minimum wage in the U.S. is going nowhere fast, while costs for things like healthcare, petrol, food, etc. keep going up.  We, for example, were paying the equivalent of 8000€ per year for health insurance which didn't include dental or optical and had high deductibles for prescriptions, etc. I suppose that for people who come from high-paid jobs, then it is a bit of a shock to really cut back, but we were doing that anyway before we moved.  We're in a rural village that has all services, so I have entire weeks where I don't take the car out at all.  I think we've barely put 2000 km on it in the last year.  We socialize more than we ever did in L.A., but it costs us way less, because we invite people over or go to their  homes and usually we walk.  I can cook way cheaper than we can eat in a restaurant.  We'll spend evenings playing cards (anyone here love Tarot?) or talking.  Lots of our neighbors give us fresh produce in the summer and if I don 't buy prepared foods, it's still less than my food bills in the States. PG

Honestly, I know she's odd, but my dog hates raw food and particularly raw meaty bones.  I have tried several times over the years, and it just winds up getting thrown away.  She'll go days without eating, then will pick at it, but leave most of it.  I finally gave up. PG

Clearly, every airport and customs agent is different, however, last year, when we flew into CDG from Los Angeles, no one even looked at the paperwork or at Maggie. We just walked straight through. PG

I thought the link had worked in that last message, sorry. Just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/recipes4me and follow the instructions to join. PG

Our vet wants me to worm Maggie with Milbemax. I've never wormed her before and wanted to check with any of you who have done so.  Does this usually give them diarrhea or have any other effects that I should watch out for?  Is it better to give them the pill in the morning?  How quickly does it have an effect? Thanks. PG

I don't care much about what color things are, as long as no one decides to go with a dark background and white/light lettering. I find that kind of thing just hellish to read. Does anyone else? PG

We are at present working out how much to spend on a house & how much to keep in savings, to live off.  I was contacted, today, by two different people.  First one said that we would not survive on approx £20k a year & then the other said -  no problem!!  My heads spinning now!!  I know that no-one can tell me excactly how much we need to live on - but I wish someone would!!  My husband and I have been self-employed for close to 30 years.  Because we are writers and are in very little control of our actual income, we have always had to be very careful with our money.  We've found that we spend far less here in France than we did in Los Angeles.  Because we're in a small village, there is very little temptation to buy and we've found that if we use cash for our purchases, we spend far less than when we used plastic.  We don't come anywhere near to earning the amount you're talking about and we find we live quite comfortably, if not luxuriously. PG