Gardian

Chris ............. Lapeyre do a couple of types in wood in the height you're looking for. Max width is 3.5M though.  €899 & €930 respectively. If you're prepared to go white pvc or ali, they seem to do 4.0M ones. I've bought and fitted their gates (much cheaper version) & they're fine. There's a branch in Poitiers, though depending where you live in the departement, there might be a closer branch elsewhere.

Just looked at the receipt which was still lying around - €4.53 for a 12 sachet pack. That was in Cora, which I think are a bit few and far between in France.

Two have ours have been beaten up in the last couple of months and the suspicion was a fouine in the 1st instance, but most recently it was a neighbouring cat. The latter is domestic (we think), but the difference is that out here in the country, the cats are pretty close to being feral even if they're 'owned' by someone. Anyway, we impose a dusk curfew now. Re the Felix, we bought a new pack of pouches last week which we hadn't seen before: Effiles en Gelee, with the slogan on the pack 'Aussi bon que beau'. Just gave the 3 of them their 1st try of it and ......... completely clean bowls, which isn't always the case. A sort of shredded meat consistency. Must say it looked quite tasty!  Maybe that's the stuff? All that reminds me of a bloke who was in the local paper when we were back in the UK. He was the official pet food taster for one of the firms and described in graphic detail which flavours he liked best etc, etc. What do you put on your CV if you've done a job like that?     

Many thanks to all: even to a complete layman like me, that starts to make sense. We're in the NE of the Gard, with the Cevennes to the west / north west (though some 50kms away) and the Ardeche Gorge to the N / NW.  I think that I'll pass on trying to explain all that to my neighbour though!

Strange phenomenom around here. For most of the day, it can be quite still: no wind to speak of. Then, around 17.00, we'll get quite a breeze spring up for maybe an hour, always from the west.  Our neighbour remarked on it shortly after we moved in and we thought that it was just one of those 'old wives tales' - but of course, he was absolutely right. Other than when the Mistral is blowing (which is in truth, relatively rare and when it does, it supplants anything else), this occurs more or less daily. Has anybody got any idea how / why this should happen? 

Much the same sort of reasons as the other folks. Work no longer viable because of age / health: realisation that it was financially viable: if you're going to re-locate, why not to somewhere you'd like to live? Knew the general area, researched it, recce'd it, and were lucky to find a good property. Glad to have left the traffic, the variables of the weather, but not much else. We prefer to think in terms of the positives here, rather than the negatives of the UK. Over here, climate, never felt healthier, genuinely friendly people, affordable, a different lifestyle after 40 yrs of working life. It's not a crime and one doesn't have to apologise for doing it.  There are infuriating things of course, but you'd be naive not to expect some. You need to step back, shrug your shoulders and tell yourself that there's always tomorrow. Business life was never like that. Friends ask, "When are you coming back to the UK for a visit?" or "When are going to go on holiday?"  The answer is "Why?" 

Dave ...... Good news.  Worried to death last Thurs, all (more or less) sorted within 2 - 3 working days.  Pretty much a world record I'd say. Very much hope all continues well - sure it will. 

I read AA Gill's ST critique of the Sharpe 2-parter and he was right. In short, it was an episode too far. Pity. The Grail / Thomas the Archer trilogy was a really good read. How long before they make a drama / series out of it?  

Abim ........... Despite any impression I may have given to the contrary on another thread, I'm not a complete culinary Philistine. Try this. Bone out a leg of lamb, cut out all the fat and rubbish and cut in to 1cm thick steaks (don't get hung up on the size of them). Marinade for a few hours or longer if poss in a bit of red wine, olive oil and some herbs (fresh rosemary is best, but dried h de p is fine). Five mins before service, sear off the chunks in a really hot pan and slice in to medallions. Serve a sauce, a gratin and your choice of fresh vegetable.  Lamb is probably pricey if you're catering to a commercial budget, but you can make one whole gigot go quite a long way (and the little bits that you can't use for this can be set aside for a lamb curry). 

No gravy, but glad you mentioned the onions: a highly desirable extra. I probably do have a cast iron stomach; it goes with a thick skin. A pal of mine always says that if you ever get (shall we put it politely?) stomach problems, there's nothing like a good curry washed down with a few brandies. Kill or cure.  

Just a timely reminder / suggestion to all those who may be planning a trip over here this Summer: don't, whatever you do, leave home without some form of breakdown or assistance cover, whether AA, RAC or whoever. For years, we'd paid our AA premium, which had incessantly crept up in price, but never made a claim. In Autumn 2004, we had a nasty prang in (of all places) a hypermarket carpark and our car was badly damaged and subsequently written-off. Bizarre eh? Especially as we were in a C5 and the other car was a Peugeot 106, but that's another story. Most importantly, no injuries on either side. Anyway, the 'wrecker' arrived in minutes, took us away and generally calmed the situation. Lovely people. Contacted our UK insurers: completely hopeless - didn't know what to do about a problem abroad. Rang the AA number in Lyon: after a 10 min delay (presumably to check our cover), rang back to confirm that a taxi was on its way to take us the local Hertz office, that a hire car was waiting for us, and that the wrecker's bill would be guaranteed by fax immediately. Totally efficient. Subsequent regular telephone updates on their progress with our insurers over the state of play. If we hadn't had cover, we'd have been well and truly in the proverbial mire. Oh, and if you do have an accident, stand back, take a deep breath and fill in that form in the most minute detail - it'll help when it comes to any subsequent dispute. 

Kathy ......... on a barbeque? Possibly, but I doubt that even the culinary-challenged Michel is that daft, and his wife Jacqueline certainly isn't. Just wasn't for them I guess. Gluestick ..... Ummm: not everyone's cup of tea I know, but I love it. Best with a good dose of brandy sauce. As for suggestions for a British feast, my favourite pub meal at a place I used to frequent: Liver & bacon, chips and baked beans.  All washed down with a nice pint of bitter.  Just the job!  

........ and contact us again when you get up to 'Dotty99'.

Christmas Pud - not served though: we brought a couple of mini ones back for our neighbours after Christmas. Not loved either: they hated them!  Probably tried to cook them saignant. 

Yes please Dick: particularly anything specific to the South.

Build a concrete block wall first (just like the UK, they come in all shapes and sizes) and then clad one or both sides of it with your pebbles or rock. You can use some cement sparingly to bind the whole thing together and thus give an almost dry stone wall effect. A purist or pro will perhaps gasp in horror, but it has worked for me and looks quite good and for something only 2' high, it'll be quite robust enough.  

Everybody else's post has been a bit more cheerful than mine, but nonetheless. Visited our village church the other day: memorial plaque for the 1914-18 war, which listed some two dozen names, and this from a village which today numbers no more than 400 souls. Then it was probably a few less, and 24 dead men from the 18-40 age group must have been devastating - many 'duplicated' surnames. Sadly, no different to many other villages in France (or the UK), but one can only begin to imagine the effect it must have had. Then moving on to WWII, and the Vichy era. I wonder what it was like down here around that time? One presumes small German garrisons in the big towns, but village life? Did the local population basically rub along with the occupying forces, or was there an active resistance?  The post has made me want to find out: it may not be too easy.  

Dave ........ The estate agent business is a bit different over here (or at least in this part of the world). Smaller businesses, lower property turnover, much higher commissions (normally payable by the vendor). There are others who view this site who are in the profession and might correct me, but I don't think that I'm far wrong. The point is that a serious foreign purchaser who is 'ready to buy' is probably as good if not better than anybody else as far as they are concerned. Do as you would do in the UK: require them to take the property off the market, whilst reassuring them of your bona fides and readiness to proceed, assuming that that is the case, of course. If not, don't: the legal process is happily quite different here. It may take a little bit of time, but if you're happy with your proposed purchase, then it'll come good faster than in the UK. If not, you'll find out a lot sooner. Let us know the good news. 

Twinkle - I reckon that Mr Smith is winding you up. Anybody who I now see in the supermarket with a melon in their hands and their fingers at all angles will, I know, be one of his fans.  Don't do it! 

Cerise's post was graphic - the only bad thing about it was that it reminded me a bit of my former business life. Except the ending. Better. The move from a nun to John Prescott was lightning fast. When you think about it, she will never have heard of him, but would treat him as a 'friend' if (in the somewhat extremely unlikely event) that he or the like of him should ever fetch up on her doorstep. Puts all the nonsense of the last 24 hrs into perspective. By the way, she told me very proudly that they've been awarded a 'Medaille d'Or' for their jam at some Salon in Nimes, so like wine, chickens and foie gras, their produce will have an appropriate label on it. Maybe I should volunteer to act as their selling agent?   

I met a nun today. There's a monastery nearby housing a Greek Catholic order of nuns (it should be called a convent I suppose, but there are allegedly long-bearded monks there too, so maybe ....)  Anyway, they make very good jam - 10x better than shop-bought stuff, but pricey with it. We were virtually out of stock at home and visitors always want to take some away with them, so we went to get some. Delightful young sister, sold us the goods, took our money and virtually blessed us as we bade our goodbyes. Seriously, she made me feel good for the rest of the day.  Then I got back to Clarke, Prescott, Hewitt etc ...... By the way, this monastery is in the deep countryside and they're having what I would conservatively estimate to be a €1M+ renovation / extension done on the place. They must sell a lot of jam.

We have a place called 'Mejannes-le-Clap' close by. Also, neighbours with the surname (in big capitals on their postbox) of 'PONCE'. I have a job keeping a straight face when I say to him, "Bonjour Monsieur .........". 

No worries, but the removal firm we used is nowhere near you. Perhaps someone else may be able to help? Any advice you might need re the actual move, don't hesitate to ask either through the forum or via email. Best of luck.

Yes, got that, but where from in the UK?  No use me suggesting a possible removal company if you live ****** miles away.

UK location?  (ref removals).