Gardian

You're absolutely right, Sprogster, but it's a truism, isn't it? My French (incl accent) is reasonably OK, but most other things in life .................. Certainly not music, and though I like what I like, I could never play it. For most, "Learning French to a high degree of fluency etc, etc" isn't realistically achievable. Works the other way too. There was a French guy on the Today prog yesterday morning - he was interviewed because he wrote an article last week about French life (strikes etc). He could speak English, but was virtually uninitelligible. Just one of those people: a mumbler. 

KKK seemed to be 'fishing' for a role! If she were to be proposed by some poor unsuspecting soul and there were to be a vote - how many? Nul points? No, I'd vote for her - wonderful chaos would reign. Just an (inflammatory) thought.

This has got sfa to do with the original thread, but it has just a hint over the 25 min turnrounds & seat allocations. Friends travelling back recently. Scrum had duly taken place and everyone mostly settled. Loud Brit, wife, babes, pushchairs and all the usual excess cabin baggage - late boardings. "I demand to be seated!" (meaning, "We want to be all together, despite turning up close to the wire") Result: poor Ryanair F/E's trying to cajole people to move for this cretin and his brood. Late departure. In truth, it probably wouldn't be any different with the so-called flag carriers & seat allocation, but don't you just hate people like that?

The 'normal' deposit is 10% I think, but as with all things in life, this is negotiable. We said that we would put up 5% and there was no quarrel (but doubtless because we were buying from another Brit and he probably trusted us). The question really (as the politicians would say) is how much the property is, that you are buying. Remember that you lose that deposit if you bale out after signing the compromis, so it's a balance: minimise your deposit (just in case), but make it big enough to demonstrate intent. The other thing is timing. If you've got borrowings to arrange, there can be delays (equally and more so if there's a property to sell in the UK). Try to agree a 'long' date for the Acte de Vente, just in case. You may not need it, but ............  Negotiate: there's nothing set in stone.

"One X-ray, then an injection to make him sleep, then a plaster on his leg, to stay there for a month." What a way to treat Mr SB, just because he'd been on a few trips!  

Apologies 'Sprogster'. You're quite right - just had a quick look on the Ryanair website & the Flt Info shows them as operating in & out of France, but there is a separate list as long as your arm of the cancelled flts, including ones which appear in the other bit as 'on time'. 

I have a feeling that the actual impact on Ryanair's services down here today was less than initially broadcast. Their website suggested that (by mid-afternoon) only a handful were being delayed or cancelled. Certainly, the effect on the Nimes services over the last week or so has been zero. The tower is run by the French Navy and the ground staff employed by the local Chamber of Commerce. The latter know, given the threats to the continued operation of the airport, 'which side their bread is buttered'. Provided Ryanair can get an ATC slot down through France, they will always get in to Nimes. Usual media over-dramatisation I suspect, though there will doubtless have been some problems.

Going back to your original question, we gave our 2 removal guys £120 + €50. Doesn't seem like a lot to me for people who were involved with our move for 6 working days. They made life very easy at a traumatic time. As someone said, it was a small fraction of the total bill. 

Chris' post is reassuring & informative. Have seen one grass snake emerging from our bedroom one Summer morning - wife less than ecstatic! Our neighbour says that in 10 years of living here (and he's retired, so out and about all the time), he's seen just one adder. Commonsense says not to walk around in the long grass / undergrowth in 'bare' legs. Truth is that you've got more chance of being injured on the rural roads by a Parisien now that we're in to the tourist season, than by one of those guys. 

Not the happiest outcome, but from the initial sounds of it, sadly inevitable. You did the right thing. Best therapy - find another (or 2!) young cat(s) to cheer you up. You undoubtedly will.

Sorry - not long distance flights, but UK down to Montpellier when we moved down here 18 mths ago. We consigned our two16 year olds to a professional carrier prior to the house packing process. Five days in the cattery, then 'club class' (the aircraft hold actually) down here, and picked up by us from the cargo area on arrival. Cost a bomb, but better for us and them. Best way. Cats v p***ed off on arrival, but like all cats, they didn't bear a grudge for more than about 6 months! Still going strong.

Thanks for the cheery thought Gay. Still, at least the grub in a Care Home here would be better than the swill served up to my poor late M-in-Law.

My wife needed treatment for 'hard skin' on her feet - probably nothing near as troublesome as the other problems posted here, but needed dealing with nonetheless. Our GP recommended a podologue in the nearest local town (who was also in the Yellow Pages), rang for an appt, visited, superb.  Spoke good English, though we didn't especially need it, was charming, and charged 20-ish euros for half an hour. Moral of the story - get a recommendation, pick up the phone, see someone, chances are that they'll be at least as professional as anyone you'll find in the UK. If not, try someone else. No different what you'd do in the UK. All the best.   

Steph ........... Thanks for the info. Glad to hear that they're keeping you amused in (what I presume is) your 'leisure time'. Just thinking about it all must be a logistical nightmare. Since I placed the original post, they seem keener than ever. The local church, which we're ashamed to say we've never visited, is apparently "perfect". Imagine the problems of accommodating 100-ish guests in a rural area (their idea of numbers, not ours)? Who's going to get involved in organising it all - you guessed? Problem compounded by the fact that our local Maire has been suspended (pending appeal, I hasten to add, lest I contravene any libel laws) for some financial malpractice. Thus, the only person I can talk to is the Secretaire - whatever the opposite of charisma is ............she's got it ! One day charming, the next .......... The good news is that they're talking about 2008, not next year is we had originally understood. You never know, they might have gone off the idea by then.   

Well, it's north west-ish from here. Whatever, you're in another world. Our neighbours' eyes glaze over when we mention visitors coming from the UK - it might as well be Mars! As far as they're concerned, foreigners are people from 'Pont' (Pont St Esprit), just 20 kms up the road. Long may it continue. Going back to the eyes and toes, reckon I saw something similar on the deli counter today. Tasty!  

Tresco - must admit that I read this last night and wondered whether it was real or an excess of the old CDR on my part. Wonderful story & couldn't have been made up. Is that what you folks in the NW do all the time? (as in chopping off toes, etc?) 

Do let us know how the 'old chap' makes out. It happens to us all when we get a bit elderly. Doubt that I'll get as good treatment / tlc when I get a bit, or rather more, infirm. Ours has made a full recovery by the way - been sleeping blissfully in the Southern sun this p.m.  It's a cat's life! 

No direct help I'm afraid, except to endorse the previous post. One of our cats was poorly yesteray evening and we rang at 22.30, spoke to the vet at his practice (he was the local one 'on call'), drove the 15kms and had the little chap treated within the hour. A jab, a bucketload of pills and plenty of reassurance, all for 79 euros at that time of the weekend! Would never have got that in the Thames Valley. Best of luck 2moro.

We're not a million miles away from you. The weather conditions can make it very flakey: You just have to shrug your shoulders and accept it. Just hope that it doesn't happen when it's something impt.

Thanks v much Val. Much to think about over the coffee & brandy!

Thanks to you both. Any more advice would be gratefully received..

Our son announced his engagement at Christmas and the two of them have been making plans for a wedding in 2007. They're over for a long weekend and have just sprung the suggestion of having the wedding over here. On face value, it seems like an idea worth pursuing: apart from anything else, the cost of a reception is likely to be significantly less than the astronomic cost in the UK. The legalities though. They are both UK citizens, work there and would remain there as UK residents. The reference book that I've got gives information on the need for a civil ceremony, posting of banns etc, but in principle, are there any issues / insurmountable legal hurdles to a wedding in France? Does Inheritance Law come in to play? For the record, they were both baptised as Roman Catholics. Apologies if this one has been covered before - if it has, a pointer to the thread concerned would be much appreciated.   

Having lit the blue touchpaper 24 hrs ago, thought that it would be appropriate to say: The thread certainly wasn't aimed at you, Tresco. Have never (in my brief existance here) found your posts 'tiresome'. Miki's comment about this being the most tiresome thread of 2006 was well-aimed and appropriate! Loved 'Christine Animal's' menu - we have friends for the weekend & am thinking of serving it. The original post went typically, but pleasantly off-thread.  Point made?   

Can't speak for your neck of the woods, but around here I'm pretty sure that in mid-Sept there was a Departmental 'edict' which officially terminated the arrete (so to speak). A week or two before that though, there was a tacit understanding that it had become OK to re-commence watering, re-fill pools, wash cars etc. It had become a bit rainy, so it was blindingly obvious anyway, but I hasten to add that we're in an area where, although bloomin' hot in the Summer, we have a natural water source which gets quickly replenished as soon as rain starts. Bottom line is that there's almost certainly no ban just now, but it could come on at any time. according to where you are .......... and it can vary in it's degree from commune to commune, e.g. in this commune, you couldn't re-fill a pool, but 10kms down the road, you could. Your Mairie ought to know - but don't hold your breath!   

I'm going to light the blue touch paper and retire immediately! Is it me, or is there anyone else out there who finds some of the recent threads somewhat tiresome, if not offensive to each other's posts? Anyone arriving new to this forum might wonder what on earth is going on here. Just a thought: could the Moderator(s), one of whom has already rapped knuckles, either zap the thread, or better still, introduce a new column called the 'Bowlocks Rating'?  If the latter, then with a tick in that column, we could all ignore it. Having said that, I still find myself tuning in to the latest blast of vitriol !! .