Tay

I would imagine that they are doing this offer as they are experiencing financial difficulties.  Last summer, they had well over one thousand properties on their site, last month down to about 900, and now have just 665 properties listed.  It's a cheap offer, but is it worth parting with any money if they have problems?

I must be one of the few females on the planet who doesn't have a handbag.[8-|]

We bought a tv after being here for 6 months, and only have French tv.  The reception here is appalling, so we can't get 5/Arte or M6, and Fr2 is pretty bad too. We didn't watch much tv in the UK, but do here.  We didn't want to get a digibox and have English tv as this wouldn't help our French at all.  I think that now, we understand virtually all of what is said, and have learnt a lot of slang and everyday phrases which you don't get taught at school. TF1 evening news is dreadful; but I agree with the comment about the lunchtime programme.  Plus belle la vie is a typical soap, but we watch it (for educational purposes!), A prendre ou a laisser (deal or no deal), Millionaire, Le maillon faible, Inspecteur Barnaby (although never watched it in the UK), Urgences, La Methode Cauet, Questions pour un champion, Des chiffres et des lettres, Thalassa, Des racines et des ailes, NYPD Bleu and the Friday night Julian Corbet programme (forgotten the name), are the main programmes viewed.  I think that the game shows are very useful when trying to learn/improve French as well as Des chiffres et des lettres. I do miss some British comedy (CH4), documentaries and nature programmes; here, they revolve around killing creatures, not preserving them. I'm also pleased that so little sport is shown, as football often dominated UK tv.

Hi, I have replied to this thread on the other forum (TF), but have posted here too as it may be of benefit to others who don't forum-hop. Is it possible to try to set the Livebox up on another pc? My reason for asking is that someone I know last year had been happily using an Orange dial-up package for a few months, then they went on holiday. When they returned, it was impossible to connect; the messages they received told them that their password or username were incorrect. They hadn't changed them. I tried to connect with their details and received the same message. They contacted Orange and was told there was no problem. They couldn't get any further with Orange, and couldn't get online. I was asked to help... Once I got through to a technical bod, I was told that there was no problem with the username and password and that it must be my pc. We argued, and he was insistent that my pc was to blame. I had been pretending that I was their client, so told them that I have another pc, and that the password and username didn't work on there either. The engineer changed the password whilst on the phone, then I tried to connect using this. Bingo - connected first time. I explained to my friend, gave them the new password, and they have had no connection problems since then. Either Orange have a flaky system, and their passwords become corrupted preventing clients from getting online, or the passwords are changed deliberately to make their clients phone the expensive helpline several times. Or they are simply incompetent. I will never use Orange. I implore others not to use their 'services'. Call them back, lie, tell them that you have another pc and that you cannot get online on this pc either using the password/username combination. Get them to change the password. I'd be surprised if you have problems after they have changed the password. Please post back and let me know how you get on.

The mosquitoes and flies here have been present all year around.  Which is most unfortunate for me as they are still biting.  I think that mosquitoes should be put into Room 101; the creatures that eat them surely eat other creatures too?  Give that the little b*stards enjoy dining on the palms of my hands, soles of my feet, scalp and eyelids (to the point where I can't see due to swelling), they deserve to be banished forever.  If that will be detrimental to biodiversity, then I'll have to enlist the help of the Roslin Institute in Scotland and get them to create a new species of super-bat which prefers living in a house (mine) to a tree or cave.  If that fails, I'll become a troglodyte.

It must just be this particular area of France.  The majority of Brits here are retired, or have retired early.  Of the few families that are of working age, they either work in France, or the wives return to the UK.  Actually, I have just remembered one man who works in the UK; but he is planning to be pensioned off due to 'ill health'. 

I don't know of any families here where the husband returns to/stays in the UK for work.  However, there are a few wives who have left their husbands here, while they have returned to full time, permanent work in the UK.  They come back to France for holidays.  In these cases, everyone seems happy as the men can't stand the thought of returning to the UK for any amount of time, whereas the women are keen to work and see friends and family.  In fact, very few men seem to go back to the UK for a holiday; I know 4 who have refused to even consider the idea.

Cheryl, even if the pc is pretty new, it could be a reasonably old model.  Go to the website of the manufacturer, and you should find updates for the motherboard on there.  You should only need to type in the model number, and then you can get access to the updates - if they exist. 

Well, it's just 5 minutes past midnight here, and the first supermarket (Casino) advert has been aired on TF1.  As I type this, an Intermarche ad is on!  Didn't take long...

You are both right.  It seems to be that in both Indre 36 and Creuse 23, a corde is known as 4m x 1m x 1m to some, and 3m x 1m x 1m to others.  We have only been offered the 3x1x1m corde for sale here; perhaps because we are so close to the borders with 86 and 87 that the more universal 3x1x1m measurements are favoured.  It is both a good idea to check what you are getting before buying, and check afterwards as well.  If you don't know the supplier well, when the wood is delivered, get the delivery person to stack the wood into a row one metre in height.  There have been news reports where the delivery driver unloads the wood into a heap and then leaves the buyer to stack it.  It is only then that the buyer discovers that they have been 'done'; the amount of wood delivered is considerably less than what was paid for. 

[IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/taymar_photos/PICT0081alt.jpg[/IMG]

[:'(] Poor woman.

My husband has said the same thing as Dick; that men protected women from splashes created from passing coaches.  Katie's comments do ring true though.  Back in Kent, quite a few men walked in front of their women.  I can only assume that they did this in the hope that their ladyfriend would be distracted by a tempting shop window, and they could then disappear into one of the numerous pubs...

[quote user="Tresco"]Come on Tay. It was a bit of fun! [/quote] Indeed -  I didn't say otherwise!  It was quite amusing to see it develop, and certainly had some fooled at first.  I think that Clair will be a great Mod, but I see your point about FurryKnickers.  Perhaps he would like to offer his services?

Well done Clair for your new role as a Moderator.  I just saw that you had locked a duplicate post, so assumed that you hadn't decided to join the others pretending to be Moderators.... I think that you will have a busy time ahead of you.  Bon courage!

Walnut

Trebuchet

318.7 so far. For those who haven't seen the 'smack the penguin' game series before, and for those who aren't squeamish, try [url]http://www.lethalpenguin.net/host/29/[/url].  769.3 best score.

Maybe the robin was drunk.  Perhaps a neighbour had put out a beer trap for slugs and the bird had been drinking from it?  That doesn't explain why his beak and eyes were gunky though, unless birds have different reactions to alcohol than humans.  Good to hear that he survived his ordeal, whatever it had been.

Thanks Cassis.  We don't seem to be blessed with many sunsets around here either, and whenever a stunning one does occur, the camera batteries die just as I have focussed.[:@] Most irksome.

A few sunset shots taken from our garden. [IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/taymar_photos/PICT0088.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/taymar_photos/PICT0230.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/taymar_photos/PICT0085.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g266/taymar_photos/PICT0221.jpg[/IMG]

The regulations regarding buying a .fr domain have been relaxed,so you don't need to prove that you have a siret - 1and1 are cheap providers.  UK2 charge a release fee should you wish to change hosts, but this can be 'by-passed'.  Personally, I wouldn't recommend them and wouldn't use them.   As Eslier said, .eu domains can be a good option, but the only drawback is that they aren't well-known yet. 

Hi Julie I successfully transported two rabbits to France from England.  We used SeaFrance as the ferry company, and they charged about £5 extra per animal.  They had to stay in their carriers in the front of the van whilst crossing the channel and they weren't allowed on deck.  At the time, pet passports weren't available for rabbits, but it was due to happen in mid-2004.  I haven't looked into it since as we're here now. All I needed to do was get the rabbits 'jabbed-up' for myximatosis and VHD before-hand (they were due anyhow), leave it for two weeks in case of side effects, then see the vet again.  He wrote out a certificate for each rabbit saying that they were fit and healthy and signed and dated it.  As far as I know, this certificate has to be written no more than 5 days before departure. We were quite lucky (had a hell of a time trying to get information from Defra and others on how to transport rabbits to France) as our vet used to work in Dover, so was used to people trying to get the ferry with rabbits and being refused; then told to go to his practice for the necessary certificates.  Just to note that vets won't sedate rabbits prior to the journey as it is risky.  Just make sure they have old bedding (so it smells familiar), food, water and hay, and they should be fine.  I think ours survived the journey better than we did! Even though SeaFrance knew we had rabbits with us, they didn't check on them.  We avoided 'customs' once off the ferry by accidentally taking the bus lane instead of car lane (huge queues!), so have no idea how customs would have handled the rabbits or the certificates.  The bus lane trick can be useful...[;-)] If you need any more info, just post back or PM me.

As far as I know, and unless MSN have changed this, you could only read your Hotmail emails via Outlook/Outlook Express/Thunderbird etc if you pay for this service (Hotmail Plus?). 

Cassis, Yes, many perfumes do cause migraines as they contain orris root extract which some people (including myself) are allergic too.  How I used to enjoy getting the train to work each morning and being trapped in a packed carriage with women wearing the 'wrong' perfume.  I'd often be back on the train home within a couple of hours, unable to work due to the resultant migraine.  [:@]  Aftershave has never caused me to have a migraine; perhaps the perfume-wearing women should start wearing that instead? Or preferably none at all!