Battypuss

Moving house to be in a "better" cachement area for UK schools may be a possibility for some; it certainly was not for us! We had enough trouble scraping up the bus fare to go shopping. I would have had to move a bloody long way from where we were too... On the whole, I am more satisfied with my daughters education here in France that I was with the options available to us in the UK. That said, there are several aspects that I dislike, but the children seem to be perfectly happy and generally speaking, do as well, if not better than their contemporaries. There's still plenty of time outside school to 'educate' them otherwise; I have always been a goat rather than a sheep and they appear to be following in my footsteps! So I suppose they have fallen into a sort of double education; one lot at home and one lot at school, but I can assure you they are never bored. Lacking any after school clubs and not having any transport means that we have to make most of our own entertainment, not something I consider an overwhelming problem. Aged 10 and 11, (the eldest is now 20 and lives elsewhere in town), they frequently astound me with things I never knew they knew, if you see what I mean! I received one of the best educations money could buy in England until 'O' level and loathed every second of it. Then I had a ball for a year in a Turkish College, was offered a scholarship (rejected) to Harvard and trotted off to work as a copywriter. My education didn't make a blind bit of difference to my ability, or lack of, to succeed at that. Obviously, some careers require specific educational training, but there are many others that do not. I applaud the French attitude towards apprenticeships - might as well learn from day one that, unless you are very lucky, the world is hard place to live in. Eldest daughter survived 2 years OK and is a trained chef. Sure, she moaned about the long hours, but was well warned in advance and told by her nasty mother to shut up and get on with it... Second daughter wants to work with horses. Third one hasn't a clue yet!

Yes, there's at least one person who did precisely that (among many other reasons); ME. Faced with the local schools in South East London, after my daughter having ben privately educated to that point, I was horrified. I knew her friends of course, all local, all at the schools and used to do their homework with them as they and their parents were patently incapable of doing it themselves. I ended up with a small, free after-school school for which I received no thanks apart from that of the kids who actually wanted to learn. Their parents couldn't have given a *hit. Finally, in utter desparation, I homeschooled my daughter for two years, then moved to France. This was not a case of long term planning. Arriving age 8, daughter got********d into the local primary, speaking not a word of French. She survived, as did her two sisters, following ten years behind. French Education is not perfect. Nor is anyone's elses.

I understand they are phasing out cursive script in favour of something simpler. When, though? I don't know...

Your local health food shop should have it cartons, along with various other kinds of "milk", ie oat

BSR is a Brevet de Sécurité Routière. It is taken at College in two parts, a year apart. Alternatively, driving schools do it. Daughters classmates are studying it this term, except daughter, who falls under the age barrier and is highly annoyed. She doesn't actually WANT a scooter, just wants to be the same as the others!

Can anybody please recommend a hotel in the Boulogne sur Mer/Abbevill area, double room, not too flash, available next week for one night only?

I misread the title of this post and thought it said "Gay record prices in Quimper". In the Navy, perhaps?

[quote]Am I the only person who didn't like Princess Diana ? ( but credit where its due - she was a wonderful mother)[/quote] No, you aren't the only one!

Eldest daughter has travelled via ferry three times with a CDJ. Think it was P&O.

I just heard it for the first time this morning. I agree about Sardou!

Has anybody bought this single, made by 60 French artists, all profits for the tsunami victims? Cost about 3.70€

Glad to hear there are camels in fields somewhere in France; I saw some grazing opposite the nearest large supermarket and thought I'd had too much wine...

Hope you are correct; I missed the news last night!

I didn't pay mine, because on my tax return, there was the number 23 in brackets, which on the reverse, explained I was exempt. I sent a photocopy of this to Rennes and heard nothing.....except every nastier demands for money, incresing each time as they added of a surtax for late payment, another for late, late payment and so forth. I wrote again. I still didn't pay. Eventually, I got a snotty letter saying that, as a special one-off favour, they were letting me off the bill. I don't pay taxe d'habitation, so wonder what they'll do next year?!

You can even take empty packets (don't ask me why)

[quote]I have seen, shall we say a very near relative, to Le Creuset pans in Carrefour, slightly different name but very similar product.........We also have some good knives with an insect on the handle, (a...[/quote] the kives are'Lagouille' and Lidl sells them at knock down prices fairly frequently. same beast, believe me.

dd3'S school is celebrating Chadeleur/Carnival this afternoon; home comes a polite note (as it does every year) - please would I make some pancakes? Sure. So out to the kitchen I trot, whip up the batter, can't find the pan! Tried a different one, everything stuck like Araldite. I've beenmaking the damn things for years, so it really WAS the pan. So thismorning I shall buy some ready made ones at the Boulangerie...

I'm pretty sure you need a second number plate on the back as for a trailer. Most 'cordonneries' do them, often located next to a large supermarket. You can tell if tey do; they have number plates in the window, along with the shoe polish and laces!

I think it also depends on the chold; in my experience, a gregarious child will integrate faster than a shy one. My eldest two dinf't/don't have problems, apart frpm laziness (!= but the smallest is a pain in the neck, being as stubborn as a mule! She's the same at home, incidentally. Her teacher told me she was worried about the standard of her French being insufficient...well, she corrects both sisters and myself and is normally utterly correct to do so. At school she daydreams and can't be bothered; not she CAN't do the work, just can't be bothered. Oddly her 'bad' marks are the same as 2/3rds of the class, and they are all French. The kids all speak French to each other.

I hope they have got the right person. Mentally ill, or otherwise, nobody should be left roaming about if this is the kind of thing they get up to... As to proving himself innocent, if he's mentally ill he probably won't be able to. This could drag on for years. I hope irrevocable proof is forthcoming, one way or the other asap.

Croydon? Don't get me started. I had the misfortune to spend my early childhood there and really wish I hadn't. I wandered back once, aged about 20 (we're talking a long time ago here) and certainly won't bother again...

The BBC has quite a variety of stuff on its boards, French being one of the languages. There are several different courses and they are free!

Oh boy, am I glad I only have a balcony now! It nearly killed me planting over 500 seed potatoes. No beetles, Thank God, but various sorts or rot/mould God knows, I am not a gardener... The results were delicious, but never again...

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/6_221.html

Living in France appears to have ******ed your spelling, outcast. I always thought it was I'm, not I,m. Still, who cares?