Stew

I don't know if Bourru is a Charente only thing. Beaujolais Nouveau is last year's wine, so it's very young. BOURRU is last week's wine so its VERY young. THe damn stuff is still cloudy and has crud at the bottom and tastes like alcoholic grape juice. The caps have a hole in because it is still fermenting, so if you lay the bottle sideways in the fridge it leaks everywhere. It is very nice chilled on a warm day. The French all say it gives them upset stomachs. Lucky for me, it only gives me an upset head. Some labels say 11% and others say 3%-11% by which I presume they mean it was 3 when it went in the bottle but could be 11 know because its still fermenting. Stew

Oil fired chauffage is well understood, much used and therefore there is good infrastructure for purchase, installation and maintenance. Also called fioul, or mazout. There is a huge choice of burners, including burners that can run fioul or gas (worth considering as crude oil prices are pushing up the price of heating fuel) When pricing up, remembre its not just the cost of the chaudiere you have to consider (even chaudieres differe greatly in price depending on whether they are stainless steel, cast iron, CH only or CH and hot water) but also the cost of the burner, the fuel containers, the pump, the expansion vessel, the valves, the flue, the copper pipe etc. and of courese the radiators. A lot of this, rads, copper piping etc will have to be purchased anyway, regardless of system. I'm a plumber in the Charente, too far from you, and I've installed a few fuel based CH systems. I suppose like many plumbers I install what I know and feel comfortable with. If you want more info, send me a mail and we can exchange numbers. Stew

Use your PC and internet connection to look at: http://www.junkscience.com http://www.john-daly.com http://www.co2science.org http://www.nhes.com to try and get a handle on how over-hyped global warming is. Stew (after a week and a half of rain - bring on the global warming!!)

An additional outlet to an existing fosse shouldn't be a problem - if you're still the same number of people do the same amount of poo! Coz its the volume of solids the fosse has to deal with and it doesn't care if four dumps come from one wc or 1 dump from four. Even ahve gusest for a week or two wouldn't overburden it too much. But if you double your householders permanantly, then you may (only may, coz ideally the fosse will be large enough to be normally be say, only 40% under load) have to reconsider Stew

[quote]We have installed one of these upstairs. It was very easy. Do not forget that you need electricity for the pump. You may also need to fit an aerator valve to prevent suction removing the water in th...[/quote] The aerator valve is called a Clapet aérateur here and the come for a range of pvc pipe sizes. They're nifty for allowing sanitary systems to suck in air but not let any smells out. Make sure they are installed higher than the highest u-bend. But theye are very small and can be hidden inside the bath cowling or boxed in the corner with the other pipes. They are also useful for stopping your pipes from going "Glug glug glug" when you pull the plug out of the bath. And if the stupid plumber hasn't installed a vent stack for your conventional wc it won't flush properly, causing you to blame the fosse septic and all sorts, because it simply wouldn't occur to you that a plumber would install a new system and not have a vent stack. I mean, really. Stew (Its obviously something that I've got to let go . . .)

For certain types of installations, they are great - small pipes can be neatly ducted about, and so its handy if trhe wc has to be for eg. the opposite side to the house from the fosse or the mains sewer. The noise isn't so bad, I serviced one that had a 3 tone whistle like when a captain is piped aborad ship. (It wasn't meant to it just did!) The rules about not chucking stuff down the wc counts double for these. Poos, wees and paper only. I have had to unblock a few that had tampons and condoms and ear buds and god knows what down them, and us plumbers don't come cheap for those filthy kind of jobs! Stew (eeuw! I have to go wash my hands now just remembering it!)

Its a medeival form of french. the verb "honnir" - to hold in contempt so kind of "contempt on him who evil of it thinks" my 1066 and all that brings to mind a Henry plantagenet who in court, when a garter fell from the leg of a lady in court, picked it up and strapped it on himself (first recorded incident of cross-dressing?) and to stop all the sniggering said - "Honi soit qui mal y pence" being thta the court was french and spoke french. Since then - the order of the garter and its motto Stew (a long time fan of women in garters)

I used to be an analyst programmer, working contracts in the Thames Valley. The mid to late 90s were very good to us. By 2002 tho, there was a downturn in the market and contracts were getting harder to land and my rates were being forced down to compete. I could see a time coming when I would be out of work, and I couldn't face having to learn yet another programming language. Also, aged 40+ it gets harder to be taken seriously in programming, everyone thinks only kids understand the net and java and flash. Ironically, if you're over 40 and hold a spanner in your hand, everyone thinks you are vastly experienced! So I retrained as a plumber and planned to move out into deepest rural England, because despite what over excited journalists think, a plumber can't match the income of a computer programmer. But at least I'd be employed and living in a part of England where my mortgage was lower than the Thames valley. Having thus already decided to move away from friends and uproot the kids from schol, it wasn't a huge leap to think "If we're going to move away, why not move the hell away?" France was logical because I could speak some French, and we liked what we had heard about the education, healthcare etc. A quick recce April 2003 to the Charente convinced us, and we emigrated September 2003. No regrets, even though life here is harder and more physical than the UK. We've found a sense of community and neighbourliness that has largely disappeared in the UK. Every country has its good and bad, we are lucky enough to have had the freedom to choose to live in a country that best suits our current needs. I hope it continues to do so for the rest of my life.

Dick is right. When you curdle milk with Rennet (or other acids - never try to make an orange milkshake!) it seperates into the solids (Curds - which can be easily pressed to make cottage cheese or pressed further and stored, and contaminated with bacteria to make 1000 other cheeses) and a liquid (Whey - remember little miss muffett?) When you churn cream long enough it seperates out into its fat content (butter) and a liquid (buttermilk) Curds & Whey doesn't take much physical activity, heat the milk to blood temperature, ad the rennet and hey presto. Butter on the other hand requires a shed-load of agitation to get it tocome right, and then you still have to smack the butter smartly with paddles to force more liquid out. Then into the cute molds. I've made cheese a few times, and once you can get over the trust barrier that yes, this stuff is the same as the stuff that comes shrinkwrapped in the shops, its quite a satisfying hobby. Stew

[quote]Just read on the BBC web site that life expectancy in France is, 75 for the men and 83 for women. Whereas you blokes get another 'average' year in the UK and us ladies lose 2.......76 and 81. I had ...[/quote] Every day with "Charente Libre" our dept's local daily, I check the births deaths etc. This is partly because we live next to the church and I hate being taken by surprise by a local death, but I mainly check the deaths because I'm astounded at the age attained by people here. People dying in their 80s and 90s is common, but at least a few times a week there are folk in their 100s. No epedimiologist me, but my ameteur guess is that if the French manage to dodge the big C or heart disease in their 50's they've got a good chance of hitting mid 80s and beyond. Also, in the countryside you see old folk still working the fields, I know farmers still working hard physically in their 70s, whereas my folks, in their early seventies struggle a mile walk. Stew (adopting all of the French vices but none of the virtues)

[quote]Yes, so true, or is it?????? Also, I don't know what Derridas thoughts on death were, but it's occurred to me that at the moment he's experiencing the ultimate in deconstruction. I know thats in...[/quote] Absolutely, I tip my metaphorical hat to you. The blackness of it reminds me of another current(ish) issue re: Christopher Reeve. Barry Beelzebub in his weekly column (do a google search, its worth it) remarked he was "surprised how long Kryptonite takes to work" Stew

[quote]I don't think that buttermilk is fresh cream. I thought that it was the whey that was left when making dairy products. It is called petit lait in France, I'm pretty sure about that........... but if...[/quote] yeah, I quoted the wrong blessed topic. Buttermilk is the sour thin stuff left after churning butter. An acquired taste. Makes good biscuits tho Stew (8 years as an analyst programmer and I still can't get to grips with b*st*rd computers)

Curses! I was going to quote the Liddle article, but you beat me to it. Liddle seems to have grown up of late. Learned a little humility. So much of philosophy can be deconstructed with a well placed comment of "b()ll()cks, mate" I'm currently re-reading "The Far Corner" by Harry Pearson. In it he describes an encounter between a philosophy PhD and a thug from Darlington, whilst on the train - "Perception and sensation. Reality and illusion. How for example would you prove your existance to me?" The youth studied his can of larger for a moment. It was one of those cheap, generic brands they sell in corner shops. The ones with spurios Teutonic names (Pilsner von Pist) whose advertising slogan would be 'Beer - it gets you mortal'. After a few seconds he looked up. "Why would I bother, like?" he said. Nice - I was expecting to read that the Darlington youth clocked him one, thereby proving his existance. This was much neater. Stew (big Pirsig fan)

[quote]You can get crème cru as well, not so sour as fraiche. Kids have been brought up drinking semi skimmed, done them no obvious harm. Went to England once, they had a pint of ordinary english milk and wo...[/quote] That's very useful coz I've been doing some plumbing work for Dutch clients and they were saying how they can't find buttermilk. I'll tell them. The Dutch also pour condensed milk into their coffee and dring glasses of fresh milk at lunch. So that's where all the fresh milk in the supermarket goes - its the bloody Dutch nicking it all! Stew (now having to be trilingual to accomodate the dutch - lekker, smaaklik and hoe kom?)

And another thing (seems to be my phrase of the moment) Compilation shows. They never stop We've just had the 100 best french songs on M6. I'm sure it was only last month on channel 1 they had the 100 top tubes and before that they had a compilation of top 50 love songs, top 50 summertime hits etc etc. And anytime there's a video gag out-takes type prog they have a panel on who disect each clip and discuss its merits. AAARGH! Just play the stupid clips for chrissakes! next thing I'll start to miss Lisa Reilly. Stew (I actually love it here its just that I like a good whinge, me)

[quote]It is because of her hair. Bunches. Couette. As in cover for a bed too.....[/quote] Ahhh! merci. as to the judicious placing of young babes in the audience - they're always in the front row and packed in tight behind the presenter so there are always babes in camera shot. Not that its a Bad Thing ... I'm also impressed with how easily pleased the audiences are in the variety shows. Whenever there's some 60+ crooner schmoozing out some number, all the audience of 20 somethings fgo all goo-ey and wave their cigarette lighters. Stew (watching snowy television coz the rainclouds are between the parabol and TelecomB)

Noddy in French is "Oui Oui" which is really crap coz as far as I recall from my Enid Blyton childhood he's not nodding his head to indicate "Yes" And why, in French, in the Rugrats (Razmoquettes) do the babies call Angelica "Kwet Kwet"? And I've never seen "Nounours d'Infer" except in French and I suspect it is equally crap in American. On the other hand "Ma Famille d'Abord" is quite good. Here's another French TV thing - why do chat show hosts (and their guests) in France LOVE big hand held microphones? Something Fruedian going on? Surely the little clip-on mike technology hasn't passed them by? Stew (look I've hurt my back laying a cement floor, otherwise I wouldn't be watching all this telly)

Our hardware had always behaved fine with each other, the most irritating thing was that french tapes had no colour ( or were orange & black) and, par contre, our UK tapes won't work in french vcrs. All to do with PAL and SECAM and different vcr standards. So we bought a Samsung from Conforama and were assured it would read all types of tapes. And it does! You bung a tape in and the clever machine figures out whether its UK, US, French or Mongolian and plays the blessed thing. Cool, so now our kids can swap vids with their friends, we get to watch Lilo & Stitch etc in French and they get to watch Bob the Builder in English. Stew

Our neighbours had a hornets nest in their chimney. They didn't realise quite what an infestation it was because the hornets all came and hung around in our trees. Watching these monsters flying around we could follow them to their nest. When we pointed out to our neighbours that they had a nest they replied "Ah, that explains why we saw hornets around last summer." This was only about 2 weeks ago. The pompiers came & destroyed the nest. So I got the impression this was the same nest of hornets from the previous year. Apparantly when these brutes sting you, you stay stung! A friend was zapped and was in agony for a few hours. Our neighbours all say if you get 2 or 3 stings from a frelon its off to hospital with you. The good news, they are not very aggressive and are most satisfyingly swatted mid-air with a badmongton racket! Stew

And here's another French Dairy Paradox ... cream. Given that there are huge dairy herds, and given the French culinary tradition, where is all the cream? In the UK you can buy single cream, double cream, whipping cream, sour cream, slightly thicker than single but not quite double de-caff low-cal vegetarian cream. As well as creme fraiche and the like. Here you can only find TINY little cartons of creme liquide. Whassup with that? Stew

I've got an Airborne titanium road bike that has ALWAYS had a bottom bracket noise. or maybe a seatpost noise, or maybe crank/pedal noise. Bloody annoying anyway. In UK I did a lot of Audax, cyclotouring and I did Paris-Brest-Paris last year. North Charente is very lumpy, cycling wise, you can't settle down into any kind of cycling rythmn. I'm still trying to find a local cyclotouring club. There are lots of them, but I'm trying to find a mob that suits my pace. So far they're all comprised of very strong cyclists who cycle a fairly quick pace on the flat but DON'T SLOW DOWN AT ALL when going up hills. I'm about 20k away from you towards down the N141 Stew

I hope its worth the wait - A. Serge. (Serge Amaitroteau - C'est jamais trop tot) OK - you start Stew

I remember reading an article in Charente Libre, that sensibilities had been scandalised when a farmer used one of the black cutouts to mount a sign. "Vente Pommes" kind of thing. Which shows that for some people they have outlived their effect. Stew (I'm always tempted to paint eyes on them)

Any idea if I also need a Controle Technique for amotorbike before registering like you do with a car? And what was the cost of the Carte Grise for the bike? Is it the same as for a car? Stew

Good news! of all the parties we've been to here there is VERY little organised in the way of games etc. What tends to happen is the kids all go off and play and the adults all sit in the kitchen and drink a glass of wine or coffee. It's true! Occasionally you have to sort out the kids with shouts of "Doucement!" and "Benoit - arrete!" Many parents will drop their kids off and come back in 2 hours or (whatever's been organised), and then stay for an aperitif and a chat. Cake and candles and "joyeuse anniversaire" is expected. There was one party where the mum had organised a treasure hunt, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Party bags have been seen, but nothing elaborate, some sweets, a balloon, extra cake, smarties a "matchbox" car for the boys, pretty hairclip for the girls. Its all round a much more relaxed affair Stew