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val douest

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Posts posted by val douest

    How is the new Ryanair Cash Passport Mastercard ?

    in Travelling to/from France

    Posted

    Regarding still being able to use a prepaid Mastercard for Ryanair flights originating outside the UK, does this refer to Mastercards in £s, bought in the UK and attached to a UK address?  Or does it have to be a euro card bought in France?  Ryanair's terms and conditions are somewhat ambiguous about exactly what is valid....

    >>Dans le cadre de l'offre spéciale destinée aux titulaires de la carte

    Ryanair Cash Passport (résidents anglais) et Mastercard prépayée (excepté MasterCard Prepaid en UK), Ryanair, ne facturera pas de frais de gestion aux clients utilisant ce mode de paiement.>>

    Does that mean there is no exemption for flights booked/originating in the UK or no exemption for prepaid cards bought there?

    Val

    Debenhams UK - on-line ordering ?

    in Shopping

    Posted

    Hi Chessie

    I had exactly the same problem as you are having when I first tried to order.  I was using - or trying to use - a UK credit card but with delivery to France and the system just wouldn't have it.  This was a couple of years ago and I am trying to remember how it was sorted out.  I know I 'phoned customer services and I think the rather convoluted answer was something to do with my never having placed an order to the UK address (where the card was registered) before, so they were loathe to send stuff off to France (no, it didn't make sense to me either!).  I think I ordered something fairly cheap and cheerful and had it sent to the UK address (where our daughter now lives) and then a week or so later I was able to have an order sent to France.  But you shouldn't have to go through all that hoohah; there must be lots of people now setting up accounts in France with either UK credit cards or French ones.  I suggest phoning customer services and asking to speak to someone for advice about setting up an account for delivery to France.  I would also tell them about the unanswered e-mails.  If you add an item to your basket, it tells you on the 'basket' page whether it is available for international delivery so you can check you are not trying to order things which can't be sent.

    Once you get into the system it seems to work quite well and their delivery charges are very reasonable.  I was also able to have something sent to my son in California - more expensive than to Europe but much cheaper than normal parcel post.  So it's worth persevering even though it's so frustrating.

    Good luck!

    Val

    PS If/when you manage it, it might be useful to post exactly how it's done!

    Brian the cat urgently needs a loving home (Lot, Cahors)

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    That's really good news!  Our first cat has always resented our second cat but hostility eventually gave way to disdain (the second cat was an amenable sort, much younger and was always hoping - in vain - to get the older cat to play with him).  Now they ignore each other most of the time but like you we occasionally find them curled upon the same bed - not really together but at least sharing a space without arguments.  It sounds as if some kind of truce has been reached in your household too, probably because Brian is an easygoing sort of fellow.  Long may it last!

    Val

    Brian the cat urgently needs a loving home (Lot, Cahors)

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    Just bumping the lovely Brian up to the top again.  And also - with the changes to the DEFRA regulations making it so much easier for Brian to travel after Jan 1st, would it be possible for your partner's daughter to adopt him as a companion for her little cat Lico?  At least she would be sure that they got on well together!  I know it means a couple more months of hostilities for you to cope with but if no other home is forthcoming it could perhaps be an alternative solution.  Maybe a co-voiturage could even be arranged for the main part of the journey across France.

    Val

    Good home waiting for male Teckel

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    Sorry, Merlin, to have given you such an upsetting link but if your lady could take on one of the poor creatures advertised (particularly one with no papers and of slightly mixed parentage and so probably of less general appeal) then that's one who will have a far better life than he would otherwise have had.  The vast breeding business is horrendous but very hard to tackle except by helping one dog at a time...

    Val

    Good home waiting for male Teckel

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    Hi Merlin

    There are lots on www.leboncoin.fr at the moment ranging from thoroughbreds at huge prices to a young 'mostly teckel' at €50, and even a teckel/jack russell cross; quite a few in Aveyron too.  Some of them are young dogs needing a home because of change of circumstances and others are puppies from breeders.  I hadn't realised until I looked how many types of teckel there are, from smooth-coated to rough-coated chaps with square faces!  Anyway, hope your friend manages to find a companion for her little dog.

    Val

    Godin Instructions

    in House Renovations

    Posted

    I can't find an e-mail address in our (admittedly old) catalogue but there is a company in the UK dealing in Godin stoves and maybe they could direct you to the information you need.  They are

    Morley Stove Company Ltd.

    Marsh Lane 

    Ware 

    Hertfordshire 

    SG12 9QB

    Tel:01920 468001

    Fax:01920 463893 

    [email protected].

    Val

    Roof fillers to keep out fouines?

    in House Renovations

    Posted

    Many thanks for all your replies.  We have decided that galvanised wire wesh rolled into balls and pushed up the gutter tunnels will probably be the most effective barrier along the length of roman tiles.  Not easy and not quick, but from reports it seems to have been the most successful method to date.  We did think about the electrical route but apparently the leakage to earth would be a problem where it would need to be sited.   Fouines are in fact protected a protected species in most parts of France though the locals round here don't seem to pay much attention; they never have much luck catching them though.  And as Anton pointed out, if one lot goes, another lot just move in.  I'm sure there is a fortune to be made by anyone who can devise a cheap, easy-to-use, and effective method of keeping fouines out - until then we'll have to do it the hard way!

    Val

    Roof fillers to keep out fouines?

    in House Renovations

    Posted

    We are about to start a concerted effort to block up all the places fouines can use to gain entry to our roof.  It's a huge task but we are determined to do something to keep them out next year.  Napthalene mothballs, ammonia-soaked rags, high frequency devices, loud music and baited fouine traps have so far failed to work; they just kept moving to different areas of the roof.  They have now decamped for the summer but the youngsters - who are very bold and if caught in the sensor-operated lights simply stare at us, and if approached growl and swear - still spend the day in the roof from time to time.  They fight between themselves and make a dreadful racket, though not as much as the whole family did while being raised by their mother during the spring.

    Anyway, one part of the roof is covered with tiles which instead of being flat have a rounded section (Roman tiles?) which means there is a tunnel with an entry point where each row meets the gutter.  I know these are often blocked off with concrete but apart from not looking very attractive, I wonder about the resulting lack of ventilation.  I am sure I have heard of special fillers (foam? )which can be pushed into place to stop wildlife getting in.  In the new section of the house the builders inserted rolled-up chicken wire to block off access to one part of the roof but this would be a very time consuming process for each 'tunnel' in the area we have to deal with. 

    Does anyone know more about these fillers?  Or have any other helpful ideas and suggestions?

    Thanks,

    Val

    Pip - tiny, old and now alone

    in Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection

    Posted

    Merlin -  your posting brought tears to my eyes, too.  It must be heartbreaking for you to realise that although Pip has made such progress, this is as good as it is going to get, and not for very long either.  But he is an old dog, probably well into his teens, and he is now comfortable, safe, well-fed, much loved and increasingly relaxed and accepting - not a bad way for any dog to end its days.  Thank heavens you saw him when you did and were able to take him in:  even if he is only with you for a very few months that time will I am sure erase many of his bad memories and he will be aware instead that life - even as it slips gradually away - is pretty good really.  I know you have a special place in your heart for the older ones who have suffered and they all come with bad experiences which you can only do your best to replace with happier ones for the time they have left.  It's a hard path to follow but you are caring for the ones who get passed over or forgotten and so what you do is especially valuable.  I guess sadness comes with the territory but when it does just remember that the work you are doing is making a very real difference.  As it says at the bottom of Christine's  posts  " Saving the life of one animal may not change the world but life will surely change for that one animal".  And it certainly has done for little Pip.

    Val

    Changes to the Pet Passport Scheme

    in Pets

    Posted

    It seems from the link that tick treatments will be dispensed with entirely and that the tapeworm treatment will have a 1-5 day window - much easier.  And hopefully now the waiting period after the rabies shot will be so much shorter (plus no need for a blood test) there will be fewer animals abandoned by people moving back unexpectedly.

    Val

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