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battypuss1

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  1. Lidl have it. Amazingly, marked 'non bio'........
  2. Try www.epicerieanglaise.com as they will find you anything you like from the UK, even if it is not on their 'normal' list of stuff and the prices are not exorbitant. They will post it to you too.
  3. Actually I meant 'fun' as in interesting projects, drama, creative writing...
  4. I never noticed 'fun' being a concept that the French grasped in relation to schools. You went, you took yet another controle, you dragged yourself home, did 2 hours homework, ate your dinner and crashed out to be at school for 8am next day...this was 6ieme last year. My two daughters loathe sport and participated as little as possible the entire time they were at school (maternelle through 5ieme), despite my explaining until I was blue in the face that getting 1/20 dragged the 20/20 in English down to below the magic 12! So on paper, they were lousy students, in practice about the same as everyone else (except for sport!). I am afraid to say that I took very little notice of the sarcastic (frequently) comments on their bulletins and praised or berated them according to how well I perceived they had done, given the work they were set. I was not bothered that they weren't top, or even near it, neither plans a career in anything sportive, so to my mind the marks was immaterial. Perhaps I am just a lousy mother! Funny though, after 3 weeks at a new school here in London (fished out of first one due to bullying), daughter 2 is now top of the class...and yes, this is the same child that had scorn poured on her non-stop at College in France...........
  5. Though I am now back in London with my two younger daughters (both bilingual) I have had many years experience with French schools and Colleges, both public and private. Private schools are not expensive, by the way. It would be impossible to categorise schools unless you have made a close study of all the ones available in your area - and be warned that the public schools only take kids from their catchment area unless you have a convincing argument to send them elsewhere and can explain this AT LENGTH in good French to whichever official deals with it...in our case it was the Mayor, but could be the Head of the College. Be prepared for a long battle, though perhaps you'll get lucky; I hope so! So, depending on your area and the number of other 'foreigners' around, and whether the school has enough funds, you may or may not get extra help in French. And whichever it turns out to be, you may well not get the same answer next week. The College you choose might have an International option, where the pupils have more English lessons. Obviously, your son will not need these, so he might be able to do extra French instead without cutting into time set aside for other subjects. French schools are very regimented in general and the children are expected to fit neatly into the appropriate boxes. My two, being of a rather independent and obstinate mien, did not fit AT ALL (!!) and were constantly in some scrape or another, not academically where they were fine, but becaus they chose to voice their opinions rather than just repeat stuff. That said, the education is good on the whole, my daughters think England is a breeze compared to France, so this might work against you the other way round. I wish you the best of luck, act positively and sound confident and your son and daughter will probably be fine.
  6. It depends how much you're paying before I consider a martinet...
  7. Be very careful here. The CAF in theory will chase payments for you, but in practice they don't do a damn thing, even when furnished with the correct address. I was awarded payment for my three children by a French court, but ex-husband refused to pay a penny and the court did nothing. The CAF paid me a small amount instead, but now say they want all their money back - backdated for 8 years!
  8. Be careful!!! I don't mean about Chandeleur either, rather than getting a bit of paper asking you to make crepes for the school - normally primaire! Anything less than 20 is considered really mean but of course only three people ever do it anyway. Often they work it out so that chandeleur and shrove tuesday coincide.
  9. Can't speak for your area; I was in Normandy. One daughter in privee and one in publique. They both (teachers, not kids) went on strike....but NEVER at the same time! So strike monday for one, thiursday for another, oh the fun.
  10. try www.epicerieanglaise.com   if you get stuck; they sell veggie stuff. And no, I don't work for them!
  11. Don't drink milk anyway. Love very raw beef, a good vet should be able to bring it back to life! Sometime OH likes his steak cockroach brown all the way through; in testaurants I used to ask for it 'carbonise' which made the waiters fall about laughing as they understood the joke; he did not since he does not speak French....
  12. Should you, for some reason, not pay your FT bill, they will cancel your contract on Orange. No redress, even when you DO pay...all credit gone.
  13. There are tons of scouting groups. My daughters joined for a year. Word of warning, be prepared for EXTREME snobbery, considerable outlay on uniform  and fees, plus camps in the middle of nowhere with inadequate backup; my daughters caught bronchitis twice. Maybe we were unlucky. Only a couple of little thugs appeared to enjoy themselves in their group (about 40 kids), the rest were there because their parents obviously considered it a Good Catholic Pastime that got them extra marks at church. Be prepared for it not to be the same enjoyable experience as in England and make absolutely sure your son is wearing the latest trainers and speaks 100% fluent French, at least if you are in Normandy.   www.scoutsdefrance.com will tell you all you need to know, otherwise ask at your local Mairie.
  14. [quote user="St Amour"]I would have thought 6,000 was incredibly low when you consider there are supposed to be about quarter of a million throughout France and Normandy is one of the more densely Brit-populated areas.  About a year ago there was an article in our local paper saying that there were 20,000 Brits in Manche alone but I don't know whether that was permanent residents or second home owners and whether it was houses or actual people.[/quote]     sadly, there are now only 19,997 in Manche...
  15. [quote user="Jc"]Twice in France I have been served CHIPS(big English style) not frites;they had a different name which I cannot remember nor can I remember where they were served.Can anyone help?A French or English teacher,possibly.[/quote]   They are called 'Pont Neuf', though why a bridge in Paris would have a bearing on the shape/size of chips is beyound me!
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