Norman

hmmmm..... maybe not such a good idea after all. Norman.

Welcome back to normandy Dick, hope you have a good week. The weather has been rather wet for a while now........ not likely to see much change before..... urrrr.... april...... Norman.

Did anybody watch this programme yesterday afternoon.... I`m afraid I had to contend with small person pretending to be a monkey and a dog yapping, but did I hear them say 500,000 northern europeans or 500,000 britons now have a property in France? http://lachaine.tf1.fr/lachaine/programmes/info/0,,1539630,00-reportages-.html (sorry can`t make it clickable in firefox for some reason) I had to laugh at the old lady hoping to sell her house to an english person when she quoted an old proverb.... L'argent n'a ni odeur ni couleur..... French friend I was watching it with had a rye smile on his face. Norman.

Yes I agree coach tours are not everyones cup of coco, our customers are nearly all troisième âge who benefit from everything being well organised and they don`t have to worry about anything..... apart from where the toilets are and when is it time to eat?!! They don`t drive, mostly, and they get to natter to everyone and make friends..... for a lot it`s a social thing rather than what they might visit..... I thought it may appeal to retired british folk who may also be missing a bit of good social company, a chance to do something different and not have to worry about the language problem of booking hotels and restaurants etc. MYB..... I know coach tours can be a bit rapid but even I`d have a job fitting all that into 3 days..... they are just possibilities of things to do......la accompagnatrice is always welcome in my coach ;) but the pretty ones don`t always help the concentration Norman.

I would appriciate your views on the viability of offering a short break holiday to the british community living in the normandy region. I am an international coach driver working for a french company based in normandy, and have done so for many years, but I have never had any british people on my coach. Is it because this type of holiday just does`nt appeal to you, you prefer maybe to keep independant? or is it the thought of it all being in french and you won`t understand what the ekk`s going on? It is the language barrier question that got me thinking that perhaps there are people out there who would enjoy this type of holiday if only it was in english! This post is simply to try and find out if such a holiday was available would you be interested? This is the sort of ideas I have discussed with my boss: An all inclusive 3 day/2 nights short break coach tour of the normandie region. Hotel and all meals and visits included. Possible visits: Caen memorial..... normandy beaches.....Bayeux tapestry.....farm visit, tasting of local produce.....Le mont st michel.....Granville...Honfleur....St mere eglise.... with of course a british driver...... speaking english! All thoughts and ideas welcome. Norman.

Sleeping policemen, chicanes and other types of speed restriction measures are being put in all over the place in villages and towns. A lot of money is being spent trying to reduce vehicle speed in built up areas and make things safer for pedestrians and motorists alike. France changes all the time, maybe at a different pace to the UK, but it does evolve. It also has, and has had for many years, very similar problems to those faced by the UK and other european countries, unemployment for example. I believe, though I maybe wrong, that the rate of change could increase quite substantialy over the next five years but it will depend on who gets the presidency....... I`ve got a funny feeling in me waters about that one...... mais c`est à voir :) Norman.

Dick wrote: Did you know that 'to scout' (v) comes from the old French 'escouter' - to listen? And the noun from the verb of course. I did`nt actually, thanks for that.... Love your autumn look Twinkle by the way...... always have believed in faeries ever since I saw some in my grandmothers garden as a child, they were fireflys of course, but I was convinced, aided by gran who had that wonderful gift of describing the natural world in such a magical way, difficult to describe but much like the difference between maybe an old sepia photograph and a modern day digital one, if you get my drift........ Norman.

ummmm.... yes good point, maybe not, maybe someone with children in the scoots over here could tell us. I do hope health & safety has`nt gone too over the top........ oh my god! what about whittling a tent peg with your trusty penknife!!! I`m afraid I`m rather old school about stuff like that. I believe there are things in life that need to be experienced at a young age to make you a "better" person. Cuts, bruises and knocks are part of that experience...... I know not everyone agrees with me :) Norman.

Yes Rosie scouts and guides exist in France and many other countries all over the globe. I`m sure your children will love it as much as I did many moons ago, I think it`s a great thing for kids to get involved in..... making camps, campfires, getting your badges for this and that, adventures with your mates.... Norman.

Dick Smith: I've got: Pastis (51), Suze, Whisky, Pineau de Charentes. Red wine, white wine, creme de cassis (for Kir). Good selection Dick, but I`d add a bottle of Pommeau to that as your in Normandy, can`t hack it in summer but winter time in front of the fire it goes down a treat. Norman.

.......and thanks very much to Hugh as well who PM`d me, both very helpful.... Norman.

Cheers Albert, that`s just the job! Norman.

Hello Rachel, well the good news is that your chosen area has the lowest unemployment in France! Here are some links that might help you or at least give you some ideas: http://www.centremploi.com/une.asp http://www.limousin-emploi.com http://www.manpower.fr/interim/Region/LIMOUSIN/ (sorry for some reason I can`t make them into live links) I think your right to start thinking about your future work, it`s all very well people saying it`s sunny and the folk are charming, but their probably not charming enough to pay your bills, (or maybe they are in the Limousin!) Could perhaps any of the people who responded saying "what a bunch of negative nellies" actually tell us how they are earning a living, or what they plan to do once the pot of gold has run out? because as far as I can see the "rose tinted people" are just spreading around the same type of unreal expectations as those TV programmes. Norman.

Could anyone please give me some help on my "bright idea" for a staircase. I want to create something a bit different with the rather simple wooden staircase that I have at the moment by putting in a stone half-turn at the bottom, if you see what I mean. It would be about 2m x 1m x 1m high..... couple of questions..... would I basically build a stone wall round and then fill the void with rubble and cement and then finish off level with flat stones? and, where the wooden part of the staircase joins the stone, can I just build round it so actually the lower end of the stairs goes into the stone and cement, or would it be better to attach it to the outside of the stones and if so how? Hope you understand what I`m getting at, got a bit lost there myself! Any advice or other tips most welcome.... Thanks Norman.

Hello Val, having lived in a yurt myself, summer and winter, I personally think your idea is a very good one although I`m a bit weird like that and if your going to stick at it you`re going to have to be a bit weird like that too.... :) Of course I don`t mean that in a nasty way, it`s just that living that close to the elements takes a certain type of person and a completely different set of priorities comes into play. Esthetically they are a wonderful dwelling and feed you spiritually in a way you would never get from a modern caravan. Practically....... well ...... it will test your metal. Temperatures inside are quite a challenge to regulate satisfactorily, I always seemed to spend a lot of my time trying to sort out this problem. Another time consuming task I recall was trying to keep nature out :) ...... principaly MUD! but also gods little creatures who think it`s a great idea to live in your yurt too. People might think it`s all very hippy laid-back and groovy, but actually you have to be quite disciplined in your daily chores otherwise life will quickly descend into a rather messy mess...and then there`s the toilet issue! As I said at the start I think it`s a good idea and I admire the adventurous attitude your taking , but as with most things a little out of the norm in France your likely to come up against some opposition, especially deep in the countryside, so be prepared for a lot of explaining. The success of your ideas will depend a lot on the community that you find yourselves in, and obviously some will be more open to you than others. Unfortunately this is`nt always that obvious at the begining and is likely to fall into place more by luck than judgement. Hope you don`t find this reply too negative, I`m not an expert on yurts but if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help you with don`t hesitate to e-mail me. One last thought, why not get in contact with the people in the article and get some feedback from them, I`m sure they`d be happy to pass on any useful information that they have gathered. Best of luck Norman.

Hello DC, Yes it`s that time of year, middle of August the tax man does his rounds.... :( The "impôt sur les revenus soumis au barème" is how much tax has been calculated on your income. Décote means in this case a tax rebate. If you have nothing to pay then that`s it, file it and keep it safe. If you have something to pay then it will be quite clearly marked at the bottom of the form and a date which is the date they must have received your payment by. Hope this helps a bit, we`ve all been there. Norman.

Will said: "No wonder we have a reputation among the French for being cheapskates." Have`nt heard that reputation very often Will, but maybe that`s because I`m the poorest person I know. Most french people I know don`t tend to spend more than they have to either, money is tight and in the general scheme of things saving some centimes each month is a necessity to get by. I don`t want you to get the violin out just yet, but some of us have cheapskate down to a fine art although it`s not generally applied to food buying, in our house anyway. I have french relatives so I`m afraid my girlfriend just could`nt stand the shame of putting a cheapskate meal on the table...... you know what their like. I`m not complaining. Norman.

It`s his passion for change that has me a bit worried. We all know what happened earlier on this year when a fairly small change was attempted to introduce a new working contract, what`s going to happen if he attempts to do something more significant? It`s a very old "coutume" over here....... minister or government come up with radical idea and try to impliment it....... people, or at least enough of them, don`t like the idea, go on strike, march about a lot shouting slogans...... government gives in. If he does become the boss, I fear a Mrs Thatcher type of presidency and revolution, (or is he even craftier than her?! ) Just realised Nicolas has yet another book coming out next year! blimey he`s really going for it..... Norman.

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d65/interval10/embrouille.jpg[/IMG] This is not the front cover by the way, just one of my favourite photos of the guys having a laugh. So Nicolas Sarkozy has released his second book, 280 pages of political and private thoughts, and social comment on what he thinks the french people want, and certainly, if he gets any further up the ladder, what they can expect he`s going to do for them........ and us of course. Quote: "Dans un monde qui bouge à toute vitesse, l'immobilisme est la posture la plus risquée pour notre pays comme pour chaque Français." In a fast moving world, opposition to change is the most risky position for our country, as it is for every french person.  He wants to start to change France and is known to be influenced by Anglo-Saxon political thinking. I know in this situation we have no vote, but I`m interested to know what people on here think about him and the possible direction he may wish to take France. Any thoughts? Norman.

Albert the InfoGipsy wrote the following post at 14/07/2006 11:01: I've been browsing a number of French (francophone) fora recently and noticed that many of the participants use 'tu', even when responding to obvious first-time posters (i.e. total strangers). This has always been the case Albert, and is an accepted part of french netiquet, sauf! l'Académie française and other such french language dedicated sites. My thoughts on the initial question are, from what I`ve experienced, that it is happening and seems to be coming from the younger generation upwards, viewed I imagine as a rather old seemingly outdated and unecessary part of their french language. I`d like to point out that I don`t happen to agree with them.  Certainly I see a lot more informality between children and adults than before, say around 10 years ago, and a teenagers text messaging and forum interaction on some websites, entre eux, barely even looks like french...... One of my elderly neighbours still can`t after 20 years tutoyer her daughter-in-law, and she was brought up in a household where children vouvoyer their parents, I guess old habits die hard. On the other hand, a work colleague and friend in his thirties "tu`s" everyone, and his feeling is like it or lump it! he never seems to get any grief for it from anyone....... maybe he`s blessed........ or maybe it`s cos ezzz a big mec. I think these changes take place naturally in all modern languages over certain periods, I mean did`nt we all used to "ye yee oldy worldy, thou shalt and thee" in a time not so far away, and in the forties and fifties everybody spoke awwfully nicellly don`t you think? I think it would be a shame to lose the vous form from everyday life, and I think it says a lot about the french and their society, even if the politeness, of which I see on a daily basis is not always from the heart, it is there, and that deserves some recognition and helps in some small way I reckon in keeping all us savages ....... civilised. Norman.

"For the Labourites, not really had any real feedback to know the fuller picture BUT, the point I was making, was that many prospective MP's, especially those that gain seats in landslide victories and who entered the political arena with more hope than certainty, will have, for the greater part, wished to enter the commons to make a difference to peoples lives and truly believe that." I`m sure that`s very true, but I think what we see all to often is after a certain amount of time with their feet under the table, that initial wish gets somewhat diluted and instead of wanting to change the world it turns into a damage limitation exercise, and for me some of the worst culprits are not polititians but civil servants. Writing that, my thoughts fill immediately with images of Humphrey (Yes Minister), great stuff if only it was`nt so blimin true ;) Norman.

Miki wrote: "in 1997 I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to meet several new MP's of all 3 parties and I can say now, that all that I met, told me the same thing and from their answers and their body manner, all more or less said they stood, as they were there to become honest parliamentarians and to help change things. I also met some that won and were there as it had long been there ambition and their life's work to enter the Commons." Don`t they all say that at the begining? would`nt do much for there case if they said otherwise. So after 9 years what`s the verdict, have they remained true to their word? Miki wrote: "and for those in France, well what do you read to get information ?" For british politics I tend to listen to the "Today" programme on radio 4, if only to hear a proper robust interview, unlike the "softy, don`t ask too many difficult questions or I`ll sue the arse off you" type journalism you get over here. If people think politicians are dishonest in the UK then the world of french politics is going to give you nightmares! Miki wrote: Why not write to him ? On second thoughts, you would not believe the reply and there lies the rub, at the end of the day, it is once again, as is normal, simply  a case of showing displeasure at the party one does not like. I think that`s fair enough, if your goverment is`nt doing what you thought it said it would do or you don`t like where it`s taking you and your country, then I think you still have the right to moan. It`s something we do quite well.... non? Miki wrote: what does make me laugh though, is how so many say I ain't going back, I am here to stay...well to them, get over the UK, thats for others in the UK to worry about, is it not ? And now get on with French politics.. I agree, but with only a right to vote at municipal level we don`t have much of a say, and I wonder sometimes just how many expats can even be bothered to do that. If our local communauté des communes is anything to go by, you`d be hard pressed to find a bigger sack of squirmy weasels. Norman.

Hello Patrick, you may have already visited the website: [url]http://www.lacitedelamer.com/uk/default.asp[/url] I enjoyed myself and thought it very interesting, but I`m easily pleased. I`m sure they`ll love it. Norman

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d65/interval10/Fuckerbus.jpg[/IMG] I apologise in advance for this if it`s to much just delete it, but this german bus company is real, no trickery involved. Trips to britain must be a nightmare for their drivers. Norman.

Don`t mean to sound picky but I think Fortuna is a spanish cigarette brand, is`nt it Wallis et Futuna? Norman.