Caroline 34

Hello there! I found this site very useful for finding places to rent - was recommended on this site actually!  http://www.petites-annonces.fr/pawebapp/jsp/home.jsp Good luck in all your projects, or as they say here merde!  Another one before you go on stage is: 'boca lupo' and you answer 'crepi lupo' (not sure of spelling).  Basically translated go out there and do so well that the wolf who is scaring you will be so terrified he'll pop his clogs! Caroline

Thanks TU and Margaret, for your positive comments on my posting For a forum newbie like myself its a great encouragement!!   .... and for those like me who avidly read the forum but feel unsure of actually posting - give it a go.  It doesnt hurt!  And even can make you feel better! Thanks again

A lighter look at driving in France - thanks to the riviera reporter website: Basic Rules For Driving In France 1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real French driver never uses them. 2. Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation. 3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit. 4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in you being rear ended. If you want your insurance company to pay for a new rear bumper, come to a complete stop at all stop signs. 5. A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how many people can cut in line by passing you on the right as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange cones. 6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs. 7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the autoroute. 8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and are apparently not enforceable in France, except where the police have placed "dummy" cameras. 9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a French driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot. 10. Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic in Nice. This does not mean that the moron behind you doesn't want you to move faster. 11. Always slow down and gape when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. 12. Learn to swerve abruptly. France is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to the Public Works Department, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes. 13. Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding. See 3 and 4 above. 14. Remember that the goal of every French driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary. 15. Real French women drivers can apply eye makeup at 110 kilometres per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic. 16. Real French men drivers can use their portable phones, argue with the back seat passenger and reprimand the driver next to him in sign language, at 110 kilometres per hour or in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Hope you enjoyed that - scary amount of truth in them!!! - and safe driving! Caroline

I'm afraid I was seduced by the info in UK on french schools and was convinced my kids, then 7 and 9, would be much better off in French schools.  I have learned a lot in the last 2 years, and would agree with pretty much most of the comments made on french schools.  They are endorsed by a friend of mine, a CM2 teacher, who swears she would never send her children to french public schools, and hates having to teach in ways that she doesnt agree with.  The worst for her is that poor results are deemed the child's fault and not the teacher's.   Indeed she is going to train as a Montessori teacher as she believes their methods are much better suited to embracing all children and encouraging them to discover the world around them. So to parents just moved or planning to move to France - please look up alternatives to the local schools - with Montessori, or Steiner for example.  Also in the South, there are the Calendrata, schools bilingual french and occitan.  They seem to have a very creative approach, and would suit kids of 4, to 6 already confident in french.  Sadly we are moving next month back to UK.  My son, aged 9 now has had a very hard time here.  He was told requently that he is a failure.  He has been put down 2 years, and finds the emphasis on copying texts, learning poems and dictation very hard.  The school's answer is that he has a psychological problem, and is seeing the CMPP educational psych, who says that is above average intelligence, lively, friendly, no evidence of psychological problems, only he doesnt like the work he is expected to do in school.  My daughter on the the other hand, in the 6e, her proper year, is top in her class, deleguee de classe, and finds the work - copying and learning for tests - boring and uninspiring.  I know that the schools in UK will suit them much better.  I have no regrets on having come here, tho.  The kids have had a wonderful time here, learned a lot, and are now pretty well bilingual. To echo those with more experience and eloquence than me (and grammer!), I would say to parents coming over with children, please find out as much as you can about the schools in your area.  Is there anyone home-tutoring here?  That might be an alternative, especially where there are a few families with similar aged kids. Good luck to all families coming out here.  And good luck to those like us returning to UK. Caroline

I have just booked on Ryanair on their updated site, and uncoched the the box for insurance.  When an extra #8.50 was added for '9 day european UK resident', I assumed it was a new tax.  Alas no, it was in fact the insurance and the box had somehow  mysteriously become******hed.  So BEWARE! please double check when booking.  A lucrative sideline for Ryanair, but one I can ill afford.  Silly me for not checking thoroughly, though perhaps it was as I double checked the passenger info that the tick reappeared. Would appreciate advice on whether or how to complain, if it is worth it.  Thanks, Caroline

We have done a lot of heart searching, and after doing a lot of homework, much of it on this forum, we have decided to return to the UK.  We have been here for nearly 2 years, and had many wonderful times, and we have no regrets.  But our son, aged 9, already down 2 years, is finding school very hard going.  It will not be easy for him back in the UK either, but it will be easier for him to understand, and fit in.  My daughter, 11, is in the 6e and doing very well here.  She is keen to eventually go to University.  The 3 year rule for qualification for 'grants' means she should do GCSE's there, and therefore she will have one year before she decides her subjects. Also, I did not appreciate when we first came out, the difficulty of supporting divorcing parents and other members of the family's illness from long distance.  When we came, all was fine!  So an english adventure is about to begin.  The kids are now bilingual - almost! and have benefitted from the many opportunities here near Montpelier.  There is no right or wrong path for families to follow, I would just like to echo those more experienced than I by recommending parents to find out as much as possible before making any decision, and to consider what is the best opportunity for their children's futures.