BJSLIV

I accept that any improvements in the standard of school meals must be welcome. However a few thoughts cross my mind. 1 Despite all the uproar, the food that is so criticised by JO is virtually identical to the stuff that many families eat, by choice in their own homes. 2 Has JO ever claimed to be anything other than a paid figurehead. All these programmes go through so many production companies etc etc; It would be interesting to know who really had the original idea. 3 Despite all the comments from Michael H, the biggest single cause of the decline in the quality of school meals, was the drive to contract out the service into the hands of outside caterers. Oh and while they were doing it they also abolished the standardised nutritional requirements. All this by Mrs T’s government of which he was a part. Incidentally the same privatisation that destroyed in-house cleaning of hospitals.

 www.frenchpropertylaw.co.uk/gitespdf Should be www.frenchpropertylaw.co.uk/gites.pdf   seems pretty comprehensive.

Some more pin-ups of termites http://www.expar.fr/parasites/termites.php

but would like an identification http://www.termites-info.com/        ???????????

Teleshoppoing used to have some charm ten years ago, a kind of rolling Ideal Homes show. But the novelty has worn off now that there are about twenty channels on Sky, 24 hours a day, offering ever more ludicrous styles of presentation. In my opinion it  was never the same after Pierre Bellemare left / got the push. Incidentally the son of the said M Bellemare is now one of the main presenters on the M6 shopping channel. Who said France isn't a small country.

Iceni.....Of course not I see , you mean make your savings in other ways. I thought for one horrible moment that  you were joining the "why should we be worse off than those who have spent it as they went along? , so let the state look after us when we have nothing left when we retire!" gang.

saving for a pension is not something I would recommend anyone to do was as true then as now. Are you really recommending that people should plan to manage solely on whatever the government happens to be handing out when they eventually retire?

There is a disease which is attcaking the leylandii in many parts of France, do perhaps god dislikes them as much as many people on earth do. A couple of quotes from gardening discussions Effectivement, il existe une maladie du thuya depuis quelques années. Il s'agit d'une bactérie, quelqu'un mentionnait le "didymascelle". ça commence par faire brunir sudainement une branche et petit à petit c'est tout l'arbre. En aucun cas il peut s'agir d'un manque d'eau si vos thuya sont planter depuis plus de 2-3 ans en pleine terre. pareil chez moi. Aucun rapport avec la canicule... il s'agit de notre ami le didymascella qui se traite par du Bayleton 100 (en vente chez Casto, Maladies Thuyas) 1 fois par mois pendant 5 à 6 mois (printemps été) + arosage aux gouttes à gouttes... ca marche pas mal... par contre, je coupe les branches qui commencent à noircir au fur et à mesure pour éviter la prolifération... de toute facon, pas de retour arriere possible... The general opinion is that it is better to replace with a different type as the disease is hard to eradicate.

In most parts of France away from the biggest towns the normal way is to buy a plot and then to tour the local developers to see what they have to offer. Most areas have a number of builders who offer their interpretation of the local style, and will quote you a more or less inclusive price for the package. its worth watching the more or less bit, as the extras can soon mount up.Its an interesting way to go about things, and the additional costs are far more controllable than with a renovation project.

I suppose a "permis de demolir" might provoke a revaluation of the rental  value and a change to the taxes payable.

I assume Hoverspeed is also OK as they have their own berth. Does this mean that only P&O are affected? As Baz said in the first post, some of Seafrance's sailings are affected as a few of their ships use the shared berths at Calais.

It seems to be a fairly open secret that P&Os plan is to slim the operation down to a viable level and then sell it off. It is after all their last "Ship" business apart from a shareholding in one other outfit. So as soon as they can get it vaguely profitable it will be goodbye to P&O for good. Perhaps Sven Speedferry could put in a bid and see how he copes running a truly comprehensive service.....

But given the political hostility to the operation will the new boats ever arrive? Its a Socialist council that is in control now, and it was their predecessors who set up Transmanche. They have  made it clear that they would prefer to spend money on social affairs rather than perpetuating losses on the high seas.

If its more than about 30 Euros you will at the very least have TVA to pay.  

I'm not surprised that Transmanche have dropped the idea of chrtering a Hoverspeed craft. I understood that their new political masters were less than enamoured with the whole idea of being in the ferry business, and had higher priorities on dry land. It will be interesting to see if they complete their orders for their own fast-craft, or just drop the whole idea. So its Transmanche only for now, but for how long we will have to wait and  see........

Yes the cost of all postage went up from 1st March and as Tourangelle said its 53 inside France, and 55 to Europe, but the "priceless" basic stamps remain valid at whatever price you paid. We still have some from before the last increase.

As far as the email is concerned many small communes don't use email and if they do they only check it infrequently; and may then reply by La Poste anyway! Short of calling in person or by phone I can't think of how you could find out. I assume that you have tried google.fr with Mairie and the name of your village. For your heating ,from our experience, if you are only going to use heating during the warmer months, then the most economical will probably the one that requires the least outlay in purchasing new equipment. IE Use what is there already. Which would probably be wood topped up with occasional electricity.  

It is supposed to be one  day of (in)action

cancelled due to industrial action!!! Presumably part of the National strike planned for this week.  

Air FRance LHR to Toulouse ended in May 2004

The classifications / requirements  you refer to  are the ones shown in the document that I mentioned earlier for the Aveyron Region and refer to the national grading standards for furnished holiday lets which have neeb around since 1993. See Pages 29 plus in http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/meuble.pdf They have a similar document which defines their approach to Chambred D'Hotes which does not have this detiled spec, but does refer to the six bed maximum. http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/chambres.pdf Their advice to those aiming to sell into the UK market is also interesting / amusing http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/demande.pdf http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/offre.pdf http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/caracteristiques.pdf

There was a bit of a ripple on here at the time. I think someone who weekly commuted was a bit put out, if a recall. Wasn't there also some concern about Terry Wogan's travel plans being disrupted?

all prepared in huge municipal kitchens Worse than that in many places it is contracted out to some of the usual suspect mess, sorry mass private catering companies who have a very direct interest in keeping the cost of their inputs as low as possible.  

This link http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/fr/pro/meuble.pdf Is quite interesting, being a pack produced for the Aveyron region giving the local rules of the game. They may vary from region to region, but there you don't have to register, but if you want promotion from the local tourist offices you register with GdF, Clea, or The Prefecture. It also gives some useful stats about occupation levels, a possible business plan, and furnishing requirements. Don't forget the pressure cooker!  

I wouldn't read anything into it but they DO provide email contacts on the French site.   Adresses e mail : Direction des Affaires Générales et Sociales - Candidatures & demandes de stages: emploi@brittany-ferries.fr Information Réservation Voyages en Groupes: resagroupe@brittany-ferries.fr Services proposés à bord des bateaux: services-a-bord@brittany-ferries.fr Armement & Technique: cyrille.fabry@brittany-ferries.fr Administration du site: alain.hervy@brittany-ferries.fr