Blanche Neige

Grs / Graham, my reply was supposed to be to your posting and not Ian's, apologies to both.

"Do I understand from your reply that there are lots of brits in the village? " If this is a concern then check your local telephone directory and see how many are listed.

Ian "Mercier" in Pons 17 have a showroom with a good selection of stoves but this may be too far for you to travel. There's a Godin showroom in Saintes 17 as well. I am sure Angouleme and Cognac must have similar places.

    "......................and now the missus is moaning I dont help as much as I should with the kids!!! We have 4, the youngest 10 days old - do women realise we actually work too!" Motoro'................I take it that this comment was just an aside and not serious? [^o)] ever tried your hand at being a nursing mother with 4 kids to care for? Bon courage with the renovations, with a family like yours I think you should go with the more modern options. Water from the well could be a bit of a no, no!

I too have quite a collection of cookery books. Elizabeth David lives in my French house, well her book does! I find this one useful and it is an interesting read but yes, her comments about English cuisine are scathing; however she was writing a good many years ago when food and veg in particular were not imported, lots of things were just not available in the U.K. I have bought several paperback, cookery books in French, one on how to cook fish, another on using vegetables from the markets and so on, all quite useful. Recipes from Super-U publicity leaflets have been good and worked for me. I have two books by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde, they are simple to follow and I have cooked recipes from these with success. The pictures are lovely. Rick Stein's book  has been ordered for me and is due to arrive anyday now!  

 Hi   Just a couple of thoughts on this subject.  I'm a stay at home Mum, my two girls are at school Now the girls are at school would it be possible to go to a local language school for formal lessons ? you would also have the support and cameraderie of other students there. Perhaps until you have settled in to the course and got a bit of confidence, you don't even need to tell your family ! Some people like the Michel Thomas tapes so perhaps the more advanced ones would be helpful. You could alway study these while tackle those boring, daily chores such as washing the floor or washing up My husband is French and I've tried learning from him but have failed - miserably!  [^o)] This sounds like the "husband teaching the wife to drive" syndrome, not usually a good idea! Bon courage, do let us know how you get on.  

I too enjoyed your story, maybe you should post it on the Post Bag forum under the Incredible Story posting. These stories are just what we need on Winter days.

Language: According to Classic FM radio the Independent are today offering a free "Learn to Speak French" CD. The book to go with it will be with tomorrow's copy of the paper. Seriously, an intensive language course or better still total immersion i.e. living for a while, with a French family who speak no English,  would be the ideal solution. Re. Vineyards: We have good French friends who own vineyards and they say there is always far more work to do during the Winter months. Today we received a New Years card from them and a photo from Sud-Ouest newspaper showing a lonely worker, dressed in thick trousers, heavy anorak with hood up, cutting back the vines in a very frosted / snowy(?) field , the comment from our friends was " it is not always mild in this region". (17) Bon Courage!

We have just bought a vineyard in South West France.....does anyone have any tips for us on running it?? [^o)]Imagine a French (or any other nationality) person crossing La Manche, buying a farm in the U.K. and asking a similar question; I would suggest they went on a suitable course a.s.a.p.

" I also checked the web site 'Teamed Up' suggested " me too.............and it looks as though in the Charente-Maritime 17 they end on 21 February, so when we go to check on our building / renovation work I might just catch the end of the sales.[:)]

 I watched Lorraine Kelly's review of diets last night - what a waste of time, the final insult was giving GI to a carb addict who said she hated it and put on 2lbs !   Gay, glad I gave T.V. a miss last night as I probably would have watched that and got disillusioned[*-)]. Instead I went to the cinema and so long as I walk straight past the sweets and popcorn stand I am not tempted by anything to eat while engrossed in the film. ("Mrs. Henderson presents" good film) Thanks Naps for details of the Boots website, I noticed today that in their shops they have lots of helpful leaflet which are free, so I brought a few home to study. bon courage a tous[:D]  

Don Others have posted useful replies, in addition you could do a search for the Godin and Olliger websites. If you tell us where are you based we might be able to give you names of suppliers with local addresses, Western France covers a wide area on this forum.

Secondly does anybody know anybody that is looking to sell a b/b?? Dave, check carefully and find out why the people are wanting to sell a B&B business.. Research, research and research is my advice.   good luck and bon courage.

One summer I chatted to a lady in our village (in 17) and told her I was off to the Limousin for a week as I sometimes  teach at a summer school there. She asked whereabouts and I replied that it was not far from Limoges, she then wanted to know where exactly. When I told her it was C........... it turned out that she had been evacuated there from Caen for some time during the war and she and her family had  lived above the abattoir. That old abattoir is in the garden of the house where I stay ! Apparently this lady went back at the end of the war, visited the family who befriended her and then stayed on with them for another 4 years while she finished her education. This time she lodged in the house and slept in the same attic room that I sleep in when I am there.   Life is strange and certainly full of coincidences.   Clarkkent, I love the holiday story, I bet your daughter had quite a shock!  

Like the man in Spain seen eating a Roast dinner and drinking bitter by the pint who said"I didn't come here for the food or the beer,I came for the weather!". Ah well JC ...........................each to his own[:|]

"From the number of posters on this forum and other forums who are English or should I say British there must be a growing demand for UK type convenience stores in France."   Why?   Surely one goes to France to experience all things French?

[:)]Joyeux Noel! Have a great day wherever you are.

".............notice the lack of convenience stores in small villages throughout the areas I visited. There seemed to be lots of small shops in villages which had been closed down" I think you will find that as in the U.K., many of these little stores just cannot compete with the big supermarkets. More and more people own cars and it is just more convenient to drive to the nearest Supermarket and buy everything under one roof. The bar / epicerie in our village is supplied by Casino who also supply the mini supermarket in the next village. Our store sells newspapers, bottled gas, it is a bar and general store and has a daily bread delivery but I do not know how the owner makes a living. I think you need to do some very careful research. Bonne Chance  

"Why do all the good old things have to disappear..." I agree, I think it will be a sad day when we see this change take place.  

Our beds came from BUT and they were "flat pack" and fairly reasonably priced. We (and many others) have slept in them over the years and to date we have have had no complaints.

Re P.M.s If I received a new PM message on the old system, there was a notice at the top of the page to let me know. I happened to look in my P.M. box today and there was a new (unread) message that had arrived yesterday. Am I missing something here? or should I just check my PM box every time I look at the LF forum?[*-)] Gill

Ron and Diemos have given the answers in a nut shell (or two) "I had to sign something that stated that the house was more than two years old and that it was my main residence.  I don’t know if this a general requirement or just something these two are doing." Deimos, signing the slip of paper is normal procedure but the property concerned does not have to be your main residence.  As has been said before it is the property that qualifies, not the owners. The properties do have to be over two years old for the work to qualify for the 5, 5% T.V.A. rate. Yes,  it is worth remembering that you need to book work well in advance with the builders, plumbers, carpenters et al,  however they have always come to our aid if there has been an emergency such as a leak in the roof.  We have been very pleased and impressed with all the work that the local French artisans have done on our house.[:)] Gill

  Wanted B+B/Gite business in 24,46,47 We are looking for a small B+B/Gite business ideally with room for expansion, with a limited budget. If you know of any in the 24,46 or 47 departments please send me a PM. Katrina I suppose you have seen this, posted on the other forum. Your place looks lovely BTW

There has recently been some discussion on this topic, see the following posting http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/588099/ShowPost.aspx

I am not quite sure who to congratulate though - Royal Mail or La Poste   Peut-etre les deux![:)]