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Hi Roger Like P-D, I'm a person-centred therapist and a member of the AFP-ACP. I have a small practice here which is part of an Association Loi 1901, which works fine for me as my health contributions are covered elsewhere. Up until now, I wouldn't have found it viable to register as a profession libérale because of both the phenomenally high cotisations and the very sporadic nature of the work, but as P-D says the new auto-entrepreneur system is going to change all that (at least until someone realises just how much of a good thing it is ...). If you're looking to work exclusively with English speaking people I think the primary attitude that you're going to come up with is whatever attitude to therapy your clients have brought with them. You won't get referrals from doctors; I'd be very surprised if any médécin traitant even broached the subject with their patients (and if they did, it would be for what I call 'medical' psychotherapy, which is a whole other ball-game here and has a big bias towards pychopathology). Basically, your clients will be self-referred, which means you've got to have a good network. You've also got to face the fact that le pouvoir d'achat is a huge issue for many expats here at the moment, especially those with fixed sterling incomes, and that, frankly, counselling and psychotherapy is often seen as a luxury that's amongst the first things to be shelved when times get difficult. (I offer some sessions as part of an 'energy exchange' or barter system - bit like a LETS scheme - but that wouldn't work for you as a way of getting into the system). What I haven't caught up with yet is whether under the auto-entrepreneur system there will be a minimum amount of cotisations that have to be paid in a year to ensure health cover. I can't believe that there won't, otherwise it seems too good to be true. Feel free to email or pm me if you want to talk some more.

Hi Dale If you're thinking of living around Castelnaudary or the Lauragais, there's one thing you really do need to be aware of - wind! The Autan wind is a real feature of the area - it blows from east to west, channelled along the 'dip' between the Montagne Noir and the Pyrenees, hard and often for several days at a time. We lived near there for nearly nine months (winter/spring/summer) while we were househunting, and we're by no means weather wimps (lived on the north Norfolk coast before we came to France and you can't do that if you're wind phobic) but boy were we glad to leave .. I do have to say as well (and nothing to do with the wind this time) that we didn't really take to Castelnaudary - it's a very traditional town, based on industrial-scale agriculture, rugby and abbatoirs, is very conservative both in its outlook and in its town life and doesn't seem to engender much joie de vivre amongst its inhabitants, who come in to town to do their business and then go home. For example, we were amazed that the cafes didn't put out their outside tables until the end of May despite the fantastic weather we had in April. The walking is okay (though not a patch on Ariege where we are now) but not inspiring - the views of the Pyrenees are good though. All in all not quite our scene - though its horses for courses I guess. PM me if you want to know more. Regards Kalba

Have a look at lastminute.com - their 'Top Secret' hotels are always a good deal for posh places at non-posh prices. We've done this a few times, and have ended up at The Selfridge Hotel for £65 a night, at the Thistle Marble Arch for £60 a night, and the Kensington Tara for £68 a night - all something like 30% of thee normal rates. They're all 4 or 5 star and though they won't tell you where they are until you've booked they will tell you the location, and you can usually work it out! Kalba

Okay, go on then - if you don't want them for free, give me a fiver for them ... K

What, nobody wants them? I think LF should be told ... K

Tough. A contract's a contract. I'm going to send them to you anyway ... Okay, only joking. Kalba

Can anyone use two free tickets for Vive la France? I won them in the Living France giveaway, but now there's unfortunately no way we're going to be able to get to London next weekend. I'll send them to the first person to reply. On your marks ... Kalba

A long shot I know, but is there anyone out there who is travelling from the UK to SW France in late January or February and has some small space in their van/car/whatever? We're moving from north Norfolk to a rented house near Castelnaudary and although most of our worldly goods will be in store until we buy somewhere, we need to transport a few bits and pieces that we can't live without but won't fit into the car! Basically we're looking at something like a couple of boxes and maybe 4 or 5 suitcases. Happy to transport to where you are (anywhere in E.Anglia/SE England/Midlands) and collect from you in France, and obviously will contribute to costs. Any suggestions/offers gratefully received! Thanks.

Many thanks to those who've PM'd me - we're now (fingers crossed) sorted. Kalba

Hi Dick Thanks for the welcome. No, we're definitely not looking for work (have just finished 8 years of 8-and-a-half day weeks as restaurateurs!); we're simply looking for somewhere to hang out while we house hunt. However, every time we've ever rented for a month or two in France (and believe me that's a lot of times) we've ended up doing all sorts of odd bits of work on the house/garden/dog to make it function better, so I just thought I'd throw that bit in to make us look like Good Tenants! But hey - that doesn't mean I want everybody with a ruin to fall over themselves with offers ... Kalba

Hi all After several false starts and more than the usual amount of nail-biting trauma (don't ask), we finally exchanged contracts on our UK house yesterday and are now somewhat urgently looking for a long(ish) term let, ideally 6-9 months, from January, February or March 2007 while we search for The Perfect Home. Our preferred areas are 09, 11, 31 or southern 81, though we'd consider going a bit farther afield. We are two - er - middle-aged adults, until recently the owners of a small restaurant with rooms in north Norfolk and so I guess you could say that we're pretty well house-trained! We're happy to look after gardens/chickens/do bits of decorating/whatever ... No pets or children, and we don't smoke or have any other unsavoury habits. We'd like a phone (or at least internet access), some outside space and a couple of bedrooms, but otherwise are quite flexible. We'd be delighted (relieved/ecstatic) to hear from you if you have something you could offer or know someone who has ... Thanks! Kalba