Sashabel
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Posts posted by Sashabel
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I think you may need to be a bit more specific - the Poitou Charentes region is over 160 miles long and 100 miles wide.
Also, being that much further south than where you are in Northern Brittany, we get a lot less rainfall, so the "what to do on rainy days" question is not such a problem. We were over working on our house the week before Christmas and our neighbours invited us over for lunch which we ate outside in the sunshine. I just couldn't believe it was the middle of December!
Sasha
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It's interesting when you compare the Ikea prices in France with UK. The prices quoted to buy the identical range of units (as shown on their website) makes kitchens in the UK much cheaper. For example, the Adel range in cream costs 1243 euros in France and only £519 (equating to around 730 euros) here in the UK.
We bought our kitchen over from England - units from MFI and beach worktops from Ikea. We have got a substantial kitchen for a little over a thousand quid and that includes the oven and hob!
Sasha
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Just taken the following from the Parcelforce Website regarding goods ordered from non EU countries:
"Goods with a value exceeding £18 (for commercial items including internet/mail order purchases), or £36 in the case of gifts between private individuals, are generally subject to Customs charges. Normally charges are calculated upon the declared value (plus postage for commercial items). Further general information can be obtained by contacting HMCE on 0845 010 9000 or at www.hmce.gov.uk."
Seems the secret is not to order too many in one go and you won't be charged by the customs. Especially as they don't just charge you the duty, but you also have to pay a fixed fee on top to cover the time and trouble they have to go to to open your parcel and check it's contents - a real rip-off!
Cheers
Sasha
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The website for donations being mentioned on the TV in the UK is www.dec.org.uk
Failing that, yesterday I went into my local Asda and they had donation buckets on every till.
Sasha
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A friend of ours who trained as a nanny in one of the posh colleges gave us an invaluable piece of advice which worked like a dream (no pun intended)
She said - When doing night feeds, keep the room as dark as possible and don't talk to the baby or play/cuddle her. Just feed her, change her and put her back in the cot. If she doesn't settle, hold her until she does. But do not talk to her, put the light on or sing to her. Obviously, during the day, you do all the usual cuddly, eye contact stuff you normally do as besotted parents.
We spent the first three weeks with both our two doing just this - stumbling around in the dark (ever changed a nappy blindfold?), but it worked brilliantly.
Apparently, the theory is that babies soon learn to distinguish between night and day a learn that when it's dark it's not playtime.
On another tack altogether, our health visitor told us that in no way should we put our daughter on solids before 12 weeks as she would end up overweight. Due to colic, we ended up giving her a spoonful of baby rice a day at 6 weeks old . She is now 5' 9" tall and as thin as a rake!!
Hope some of this helps
Sasha
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Hi Renate
I've been trying to find out more about this as well. From what I can gather, it wont be much of a problem for us as the line is to the east of Sauze Vaussais, running alongside the N10.
You can find out more on www.rff.fr
Have a great New Year
Sasha
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We live in that 30 mile radius of Manchester Airport that "Bones" mentioned and, along with many friends and family, would love to see more budget flights to the different regions of France. The Manchester to Bordeaux route by BMI Baby is much better than travelling down to Stansted for the Ryanair Poitiers flight (Poitiers being much nearer our French house than Bordeaux). It is just unfortunate that BMI Baby only operate this flight during the summer months.
Manchester Airport is enormous now (Isn't it the third biggest in the country?). Surely a little space can be found to open up more routes from existing operators such as BMI Baby, Ryanair Flybe and Jet2.
Sasha
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According to my grandmother, it's jelly in trifle for a childrens party and without jelly (but lots of sherry) for adults.
I have just looked up a recipe for "Old-fashioned Trifle" in a VERY old cookbook (so old, it even has a whole chapter on how to cope if you have to entertain without a maid!) It goes something like this...
1 pint Cream, 1 pint Custard, 6 penny Sponge Cakes, 12 Macaroons, 4oz Ratafias, Strawberry Jam, half pint of Sherry, quarter pint of Brandy, quarter pint of water.
Sponge cakes whould be stale. Mix sherry brandy and water together. Spread a layer of jam on the bottom of a glass dish. Cut the cakes in half, dip them into the alcohol and pat one layer on the jam. Then dip some macaroons and ratafias on the alcohol and put them with the layer of sponge cake. Pour some good thick custard over.
Now put more jam, soaked cakes and custard, letting the cakes pile high in the centre. Whip and flavour the cream, put it into a forcing-bag having a large rose-pipe, and force this out on top of all. The top of the cream can be ornamented with crystallised fruites, sweets or anything that may be suitable and convenient. This trifle should be prepared some hours before it is to be served, except the cream with goes on at the last minute.
By the way, I don't have a clue what Ratafias are, but with all that alcohol, who cares. I haven't tried this recipe out, just thought it might be interesting - it's at least 80 years old.
Sasha
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Latest BMI timetable for Manchester to Bordeaux for 2005 just been added the the website. They run from 27th March to the end of October. Hurrah!!
Sasha
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Hi Nev
We have got the same plasterboard walls in our kitchen and share your problem. The way we tackled it was to have no actual wall hung cupboards at all - instead we have got a couple of tall, floor standing larder units (over 2 metres high) in the corner of the kitchen with one of those long glazed display units that sit on the work surface next to them. We bought the kitchen in MFI here in the UK and are hiring a van to bring it over.
Sorry I can't come up with anything more imaginative to solve the problem
Sasha
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This mornings North West News have just reported that Ryanair will be announcing new routes from Liverpool's John Lennon Airport later today. Let's hope they include some of their French destinations!
Sasha
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Thanks for checking Clara. We'll be relying heavily on this service next year, so if they pull the plug on it we'll be looking for an alternative.
Sasha
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Hi Ian
Did you pay by credit card? If so, you may have a better chance by following this through with them.
Sasha
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When I first wrote this thread, I didn't mean to alienate the Scottish contingent by excluding airports such as Glasgow. If you go back to the original thread, there is an "etc." after the three airports mentioned - I wasn't just referring to specific airports in northern England.
It would be just lovely to see Ryanair offering direct flights to Poitiers, La Rochelle, Pau, Limoges etc, etc, etc, from some of the other airports it flys out of.
Sasha
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No need to try answering you, Rubberduck. Have just read through your other postings and realise you are just on this forum to stir the ****.
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The lack of demand argument is pure rubbish!! If Ryanair only offer flights to France from airports in the South, then that is where passengers will have to go to use the service. Just because we travel to Stansted or Luton to catch the flight, it doesn't mean we are all Southerners.
In our little corner of the Poitou Charentes, there are people from all corners of the UK with houses (both holiday homes and permanent residents). My husband recently took a hired van over from Glossop with the firms name printed on the side and was greeted at nearly every stopping point by someone who comes from or near that area.
To avoid all the hassle of getting to Stansted for a flight to Poitiers, I use the BMI Baby Manchester to Bordeaux route. Manchester Airport is easy to get to and the drive to our house is only 2 hours north of Bordeaux. Unfortunatley, this service is only available between March and October, so in the winter months a cheap ferry crossing is probably easier than messing around with Stansted.
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It's all very well adding routes to France from Luton Airport, but when is Ryanair going to realise that there are plenty of folk living north of Birmingham who are just fed up with being ignored!!
The journey down to either of these airports adds a lot of time and expense. If you drive down you have to leave home at least 6 hours before your flight and then pay to park your car for the duration of the holiday. And if you use one of the internal flights to get to Stansted, it can add even more time (and expense) as you have to get to your first airport at least an hour before the flight and then can end up waiting at Stansted for another 2 - 4 hours to get the connecting one to France.
Come on Ryanair!! When are your going to offer direct flights from Blackpool, Manchester, Newcastle etc. to France?
Sasha
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Hi Sue
We are coming over at the end of July. I can easily pop some in the back of the car for you - just let me know. We are near Sauze Vaussais/Lezay.
Cheers
Sasha -
I have searched the archives and cannot find any information on the following, so am spreading the net a little with the following:
Does anyone know what the position would be regarding tax for a couple living permanently in France where the husband works offshore on an oil rig in the North Sea? It would work out that he would spend approximately half the year in France and the other on the oil rig, getting paid in Sterling into a UK bank account.
Any "snippets" of useful information would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Sasha -
Hi Ian
The people are lovely, food is excellent, it's not too overcrowded in the Summer, has brilliant weather...... I could go on, but I think the main reason the many Brits living in the DS are keeping so quiet is that they don't want what they have got to be ruined by a huge influx of Brits, Dutch and Parisians.
It used to be one of the best value for money regions to buy property in - not any more. The prices are soaring.
If you like the area, go for it.
Hope this helps
Sasha -
Would be interested to know if a well qualified and skilled English hairdresser could earn enough to live on as a self employed mobile hairdresser in France.
I have never seen any vehicles around on the roads advertising themselves as mobile hairdressers and just wondered if they were popular, or if there was any call for them.
Any information would be helpful
Cheers
Sasha
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Hi Karen
Have left a message in your in box.
Cheers
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A few bowls of salt dotted around here and there helps (as long as the problem is not too big). We have friends who buy a few cheap washing up bowls and put about 4 inches of salt in each and leave them around the house before they lock it up - seems to work quite well for them.
Cheers
Sasha -
Hi Karen
Reply in your in-box
Sasha
Permis de construire - 170 sq.m rule
in House Renovations
Posted
When we looked into this for our renovation project, we were informed that any room space with a ceiling height of less than 1.8 metres did not come into the 170 sq. m. rule. So if your barn is not a very high one and you are using some of the roof space to convert into bedrooms, you may have some floor space lower than 1.8 metres high - this can be deducted from the total amount.
In our case (renovating a traditional longere) the overall floor space would have taken us over the 170 sq. m. ruling, but as the upstairs walls were only 1.5m high, we managed to lose just the right amount square metres to bring it below this figure and all we then needed was the permit.
We also submitted our plans showing the room sizes and not the total floor area. With some of the internal walls being nearly a metre thick, we lost quite a few more square metres here as well.
Hope this helps
Sasha