acritch

Hi there, our eldest daughter was 16 when she started at school here last year, and she hasn't looked back. We have just had her report and she is currently third in her class. Her marks and the comments from her teachers are fantastic and we are so happy for her. She only had a C grade GCSE when we arrived but managed to get into a school that offered the European option which has helped. In fact she is doing better marks wise than our younger two (who are aged 16 and 14 now). She is in 1 eme this year so age wise had to go back a year, but she looked upon that as taking a gap year at 16 instead of 18, and is so glad she did. She is now starting to look at university courses (she is keen on economics/politics) and feels the courses offered here offer more options than those in the UK, especially with all the uncertainty over higher education in England at the moment. It is never easy moving with teenagers, and they are all so different, but if she is keen then you have won half the battle.

We are going to UK for a week and suddenly wondered what we do for health cover there if we should need it. We live and work in France full time now. Is it the same system as for people coming to France from England, ie there is a reciprocal arrangement and we would be covered in UK, or must we take out personal health insurance for our stay there. Thanks for any advice Val

Our nagging must have had some effect as we have just received the latest copy of the magazine, at least a week ahead of the normal time! Hope it wasn't anything to do with the Jubilee weekend though!!

I broke a tooth this morning. Unfortunately, although we have lived here quite a few months we haven't got around to finding a dentist yet. I phoned 4 in Carentan this morning but every one told me the earliest appointment was the middle of May, even though I explained that it was not for a check up but for urgent treatment. Does anyone know if there are places you can go to for emergency treatment (clinic etc)? Literally half my tooth fell out and I really can't hang on for another 4 weeks like this. Any suggestions gratefully received. Thanks

Don't know if this will help as our children are all teenagers (13, 15 and 17). We moved to Normandy in June 2001 and the children have now been at school for approx 6 months. Our middle child is dyslexic. We were obviously worried about the move, especially as the children hardly spoke any French. Our experiences though so far have only been positive ones, and in fact, have far exceeded our expectations. Rachel (she is dyslexic) has always hated going to school but the change in her attitude since attending school here is remarkable. She and her younger brother actually go off in the morning laughing and joking. The school have provided extra help for them with French lessons, and they have all said that although it is hard they would not want to change their life at the moment, and certainly don't want to go to school in England. I think the thing to remember that it is your child who needs help and the best person to provide that is you. We still do paired reading, something her primary school introduced us to and which we have found works well. The advantage of doing it here is that we also get to improve our French. We have always been positive (even though there have been really bad days when I have despaired of helping her) and have never let her see her dyslexia as an excuse for not doing things. I can honestly say she has never had as much confidence as she has gained here in the last 6 months. Suddenly she is the centre of attention. The local children love talking to her as they are keen to improve their English. She averaged 19 in English last term, and she deserved the mark, as she did some great projects. I really think the attitude of the parents rubs off on their children. They are very perseptive (at any age). If you have doubts and are not happy this will rub off on your children and they will react accordingly. We have always talked and made time for ours, and they know they can come to us anytime. They are very precious to us and I believe we owe them the best we can give. I think if you read back through the various threads very few people regret making the move and educating their children in France, even if they do have the disadvantage of having dyslexia. Only you know your child and how they will adapt but if your remain positive and encourage them along the way they will cope okay - so will you! Val

It is now the 7th Dec and we still have not received the December issue of Living France. Can someone please explain why? My son subscribes to another British magazine (computers) and received the December issue, here in France, through the post, the last week in November. Although we can access Living France on the internet it is not the same as reading it, but why does it take so long to get here? It would be quicker to get a friend to buy in UK and post it to us than to get from subscribing so what is the point? Does anyone else have this problem?

WE had no choice in choosing an area when we moved to France 6 months ago, as my husband was offered a job in Normandy, but since being here I wouldn't change for anything. We live close to St Mere Eglise/St Marie du Mont. There are quite a few houses in this area priced between 350,000ff and 500,000ff. We used the Notaires in Carentan and St Mere Eglise. Both speak little English but were so helpful and efficient. It took 6 weeks from the time we made the offer to completion. There are a few English speaking agents in the area. La Haye du Puits is one place we also looked at and has a helpful English agent there. The things we have found great about the area is that although we have a farm (4 bedrooms,on 2 acres, 5 km from beach, bought for 550 000 ff)and are secluded we are only 15 mins by car from the nearest town. Cherbourg is only 40 mins away which is great for collecting friends or popping across to UK, we are not tired by the time we get there and it was great when the fast boat was working to Portsmouth. We found we had no problems getting our carte de sejour. The office at St Lo were also helpful and efficient. The area south of St Lo might be a good one to look. House prices seem to be slightly cheaper there, it is so pretty yet still close to so many places and offers easy access to ferries. It also seems to have quite a few English couples in the area. If you need any help with more specific queries (phone no's etc) let me know. Val

Not sure where you stay but I got Evening Primrose and Starflower from Auchan in Cherbourg. There is a section there within the supermarket, that sells all sorts of oils, essences, tablets etc. I had also bought large bottles in Holland & Barrett in Portsmouth last time we were in UK. These come in 180 tablet size (6 months supply). A web site was posted in this forum a few weeks ago but when I tried I couldn't access it.

Does anyone know how you arrange to have a mammogram done in France? Do you have to go to your GP first for a referral or are the clinics you can go to? We are paying social security in France but haven't had to visit a doctor yet!

Haven't tried these but had success with ordering some furniture from the La Redoute site - www.laredoute.fr