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>Has anybody got any information at >all about micro enterprises please Look at the Running a Bed and Breakfast (Chambre d'hote) forum further down - lots of good information there that has been posted recently which applies to micros in general. >? How to set >one up. etc . >Thanks Depends what sort of business you are planning - I didn't have a clue 18 months ago so I wrote to my local Chambre de Metiers explaining what we hoped to do and they passed my letter on to the local Chambre de Commerce who wrote to me explaining what documentation we needed and invited us in for a chat. Good luck....helen

LAST EDITED ON 13-Jan-04 AT 12:57 PM (GMT) Glad you liked the warm salad Judy, the addition of feta sounds delicious. I was going to suggest chicken casserole but for comfort food, you could try paella using the chicken portions and eat it in front of the telly with a glass of wine. Just cut/break them in half. Brown them well on all sides in olive oil, add onion, some garlic, red pepper strips, mushrooms etc, a little turmeric or saffron (for colour), sliced choritzo if you have one, tin of chopped toms, 1 cup of rice and 1 pint of chicken stock and seasoning. Bake in oven 180 degrees until rice has absorbed water. Oh, and chuck some of those peas in. Did this at the weekend for unexpected guests as I didn't have much in. Luckily they brought their own fromage! regards....helen

Arrange melange of crispy salad leaves on plates. (You can add small spinich leaves or watercress) Fry lardons until crisp in their own fat at high heat - turn down heat and gently fry small button mushrooms (6/8 per person), (or better still, selection of mushrooms pieces) in around 4tbsp olive oil with couple of crushed garlic cloves, some parsley and black pepper, until soft. Remove mushrooms and lardons from oil with slotted spoon. Add couple of tbsp of tarragon vinegar to the oil and boil rapidly for a couple of mins to reduce a bit. Put mushrooms and lardons on salad beds and spoon over the warm tarragon sauce. Serve with chunks of bread. Enjoy!

>HI > >Does anyone in dep 19 63 >24 or 15 have a >second hand snowboard which they >are willing to sell?? > >I have 200 or 284 euros Hi Russell, Have you tried http://www.ebay.fr ? I typed in planche (maybe it was planches) and a couple of snowboards came up. good luck...helen PS Daughter went snowboarding at Chamonix this week....not much success though - she fell off the lift twice and had great difficulty staying upright on snowboard - fell about giggling mostly - but had a great time!!

I got this for Christmas (by John Burton Race) and I would like to try several of the pudding recipes which look yummy! But....where does he get all the double cream from which many of the recipes require? I didn't see any of the programmes as we don't get Channel 4 but I presume this was the guy that came in for a lot of criticism from LFers a few months back? helen

I know that quenelle is a light dumpling served with sauce but does anyone have, or can lead me to, a recipe please for a vegetarian version? regards....helen

LAST EDITED ON 25-Dec-03 AT 11:41 AM (GMT) I am now the proud owner of a sexy iMac and have relegated my old Time computer, bugs and all, to its cardboard box where it should have stayed.......! But.........can I use my old scanner and printer with it? The connections are different! And.........have reinstalled AOL but it's much slower than on the old pc and it wasn't very fast then! Is it because it's Christmas? And where is the forward delete key? regards.....helen

LAST EDITED ON 19-Dec-03 AT 01:23 PM (GMT) This week's reading matter at chez nous Maison & Travaux Art & Decoration Bricomarche and Weldoms junk mail Savoir tout Faire (a French DIY book with pictures!!) instructions on sous couche, cire pour parquets, and the new DVD player Charente Libre Confolentais (local paper) Dictionary Harraps Verb Tables Harraps Grammar The Times (guests brought it over and left it here - I try not to give Murdock any of my money) Hello and Cosmo - (guests again!!) My Little Friend by Donna Tarte Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould French sub-titles on a couple of films and this week - lots of LF!!! regards......helen EDIT - oops, sorry SaligoBay - I've just failed that test miserably - much of the above isn't French!!!!!

LAST EDITED ON 18-Dec-03 AT 02:37 PM (GMT) LAST EDITED ON 18-Dec-03 AT 02:36PM (GMT) >Is anybody out there running their >own property management business (changeovers, >cleaning, security checks, garden maintenance >that sort of thing)? > Hi Glyn - we found that with the high cotisations changeovers, cleaning and security checks wouldn't keep us in the style to which we have become accustomed - garden maintenance on a large scale might but we are registered for property maintenance as well which keeps us in full-time work!! We have enough work to take on another pair of hands but, unfortunately, employing someone in France, leads to more cotisations. We are registered as a micro-entreprise by the way, so not even sure if we could employ someone else under this regime as there is a ceiling on earnings!! best of luck........helen

LAST EDITED ON 18-Dec-03 AT 12:44 PM (GMT) >Is there anything else I can >do or should I just >sit back and relax? >Any tips for relieving the stress >or improving the gite from >you gite "vets" out there? > Just sit back, relax and enjoy your own Christmas Em! We rented a cottage in St Ives one year with friends and took Christmas (in the form of food, drink, decorations and presents) with us - had a super time and I'm sure your guests will do the same!! Best wishes......helen PS - Where did you buy the crackers??

>Back in the spring when we >were discussing, I think the >Olive Farm, someone mentioned Dirk >Bogarde's, A Short Walk from >Harrods, I recall so clearly >they wrote, "I was in >tears when I got to >the bit where he had >to leave France". Strange >how some phrases just stick >in the memory. We've >had a copy on our >book shelves for ten years >but I only picked it >up yesterday, and discovered it >was unputdownable. > Yes, I've always been a great DB fan - watched all his films several times and read the whole set of books long before planning our move to France. Loved a Short walk from Harrods but, as a gardener, I always think of DB's partner whenever I'm asked to use pesticides on people's rose-bushes!! He seemed to spend hours spraying his roses - I think he was obsessive about them - which probably led to his terminal illness (this may have been written about in an earlier book). So be warned folks!! regards......helen

I'm finding changing forums so slow today. I just haven't the time to go through the postings 'cos it's taking for ever and I have to go to work!!! Is anyone else experiencing this? Is it anything to do with being shut down for "maintenance" yesterday? regards...........zzzzzzz.......Helen