Squirrel

Will - your doggy is adorable!

[quote user="Gluestick"] Well, if you read the whole text of the Anglican Communion's wedding service and the alternative, you will see that the "Obey" bit is an optional vow the bride renders to the bridegroom. It is an archaic form of the service and dates back to when the wife was in fact a chattel of the husband. In common, statutory and cannonical law. There is no reference to husbands vowing to "Obey" their wives. And if one reads the whole service and its associated texts and prayers and understands the ethos, then it is precisely all about a partnership. However, the form really applies to when people married and then had children: rather than the kids being pages, bridesmaids etc! The wedding tended to come before the christening............................ Me? I'm just an old fashioned Anglican, I guess.[:(]   [/quote]   Oh I knew it was optional - nowadays anyway.   We had a register office wedding and a blessing in a Unitarian church in the USA. Not because either of us had been married before, just worked out easier like that visa-wise. Unitarian church is about as easy-going as you can get. Hubby jokes Unitarians burn question marks in your lawn, lol. But twas a nice white wooden New England church - good for the photos ;D

Did those of you who are in 'wedded bliss' vow to obey your husband/have your wife vow to obey? Do they have that in the French marriage vows? I know in CofE there is one old-fashioned version where they still have obey in there. Me - no way! I believe marriage is an equal partnership.  

I'm cracking up at you guys, you are hilarious!

[quote user="Christine Animal"]  But Modigliani was the Belle Epoque Twinkle http://www.montmartrenet.com/article.php?id_article=116   Picasso too, I loved his early paintings before he went "bezerk" http://www.montmartrenet.com/article.php?id_article=115 The Bateau Lavoir ! and now I'm going to bed.! [/quote]     OMG it's Robbie Williams!

I saw trailers for this and when I saw the dead animal I decided not to watch it. I would not let a child of mine do biology if vivisection were involved.

I've got to admit, I am oh-so-partial to Tresco's rabbit magician :D

With all the time travel going on in the new series of Doctor Who got me thinking: If you could visit France in any time period in the past, just for a few days (and could come back to 2006 after), what time period would you choose? I think I'd really love to visit the Courts of Love in Aquitaine during the Middle Ages, esp the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II king of England (and previously King Louis VIII of France).      

What is EDS please?

I agree that ID cards are a stupid waste of money. What good will they do except give the police something to do asking to see them? Just one more thing to lose and so much hassle (and expense) to replace. The 7/7 bombers would all have had ID cards so how will it help terrorism? I'm wondering if when the UK gets them it will just apply to UK citizens. My husband is American. If it does only apply to UK citizens then the laughable situation will be that you'll have foreigners walking around ID-free completely legally and Brits in their own country having to prove their ID! Nobody has mentioned foreigners having to have ID cards. They say they will issue them with UK passports so it seems those with no UK passport will get away with it.

Just curious with all this talk about ID cards in the UK. I know in France citizens have ID cards but do non-citizen residents have them too? Or does the carte de residence act as your ID card?

[quote user="JohnM"]I think you would have had an "A" in your O level. It was use less able folk that could get 1 2 3 4 or unclassified at CSE! (I got 3 in French[/quote]   Correct. If you did CSE and got a grade 1 that would be equal to a C grade pass at O level.

There's a very good interview with Johnny Depp (yum!) on the DVD of 'Arizona Dream.' The French director conducts the interview entirely in French, he can understand her apart from one or two odd words, but his replies are completely in English. Johnny said something funny once about living in France. He said at first he couldn't understand anything and it was refreshing to just be able to sit there and no have to speak!

I think in the Cote d'Azur there are English-speaking banks and I believe (again forgive my ignorance if it's not true) that the utility companies have English-speaking phone numbers you can call. I know what you mean though. [quote user="Jo53"]   I can function pretty well on a day-to-day level (how DO you insure your car, fill in your tax forms, etc. etc. if you hardly speak any French? It's a mystery to me how people get by). IJo [/quote]

OK, I'm sure this has been discussed before but I'm new, so, pardonez-moi.   I did O level French for 5 years (passed grade B), one year of A level, and recently had just over a year of private French lessons at home with my hubby, an American who had had lessons at Boston's French Institute as an adult. Come to think of it, French is about the only thing I can still remember that I did at school. Got an A level in Latin, and O level in Spanish and can't remember hardly a word of them (well not exactly much call for using Latin is there?) ;D  As for maths, forget it, my knowledge that I still retain is from junior school, no further!

Tresco I adore your avatar!

If it's not true there is no need to be sarcy. That's why I qualified my statement with 'I have heard but have never worked in France.' [quote user="Teamedup"] Really Squirrel? That so?   I shall have to tell my son that little blague. Thinking about it, he won't really find it funny. [/quote]

I have heard (I say that as I have not worked in France) that they at least don't expect you to work yourself to death. They certainly believe in home/work balance (ie the 35 hour week etc)

Lol the US system efficient? I am married to an American. Believe me, it's anything but. Try the fact that they charge around 10 x the true cost of treatment/drugs etc purely because they think that as the insurance is paying for it, people won't care, nevermind that it makes premiums huge. They say a huge chunk of the annual health budget is spent on billing and insurance claims processing. The insurance companies have a stranglehold and they know it. Well, I guess nowhere is perfect. I did think the €160 I was charged for a doctor call-out on a Saturday was expensive, but I got €110 of it back on insurance (would have got the whole lot if I'd remembered my E111, d'oh)! Believe me, I do not think France is perfect. Nothing will ever be as good as the NHS in terms of lack of form-filling. Btw They say US social security is going bankrupt and the same has been said of the NHS!   [quote user="Will "] I am no stranger to private medical treatment in Britain, though I have no experience of the US system (but do know it is almost entirely private, funded through private insurance, so ought to be relatively efficient compared with a state scheme). [/quote]

I'm sorry I spoke. I realise I'm only a visitor to France and obviously an ignoramus. I do however wonder why if you all think it's so bad you live in France or have homes there. I never said I thought everything was perfect in France, I said what I liked and asked people what they liked about France. I didn't realise this was such an unfriendly place, I assumed people would, while not thinking France was perfect, would on the whole, like it, rather than have joined to slag it off. Seems like you're all having a good laugh at me for my naivity.   Just to clarify; If you think France is expensive try tripling the cost to get what private care costs in the UK, then times by four to get cost in the US. And actually according to the Worlds Health Organisation, France does have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Doesn't mean it's perfect of course. I like animals so the idea of wild boar (which I love) is great though I really hope they don't hunt them to extinction. Would be strange considering there is a strong movement in support of wolves. And I like seeing dogs in restaurants. None have ever bothered me or slobbered on me. They are very well-behaved indeed. And France does have forests which barely exist in the UK now. Of course I'm sure in the country people don't dress up, but in the larger cities, the ones I've seen do. In Paris and Nice, for example. You should see some of the ladies walking on the Promenade des Anglais on a summer evening. Much better dressed than your average chav. OK, maybe the cheese isn't cheap, but it's nice. We like it anyway. My mum loves the cheap wine, she doesn't care that it's not the best, she's just amazed how cheap it is. I meant Cote d'Azur when I said beach and mountains in close proximity, of course I never meant every beach in France was near ski slopes, I'd have to be stupid to think that. I love the French language. Again, you don't have to, but in my personal opinion it's lovely. There may of course not be brilliant public transport right in the stix, same as most countries. But you have to admit, the trains are cheap. €6 return Nice to Monaco isn't bad.   Maybe someone could start a thread on things they hate about France if that's what you want to discuss. I'd be happy to point out the things I hate (like the lack of picking up after dogs have done their business, the strike mentality etc).    

What are the things you like best about France? Here are mine (I don't live in France mind, just visit frequently). Very good healthcare, and cheap compared to USA and UK. Beautiful language. Gorgeous countryside, from fields to mountains to coast. You can be on the beach one hour, skiing the next. They still have forests and wild boar whereas we wiped ours out hundreds of years ago. The cheese, bread and wine are amazing. And cheap. More reasonable property prices. Good public transport particularly the trains. Dogs allowed in shops and restaurants and pets accepted in most hotels. Women aren't afraid to dress like women. In fact both sexes try to look good (of course it's a pain if you feel grotty and just want to pop out for a baguette!)          

Does anyone know when the work on the tramway in Nice town centre is due to be finished? Everytime we go there it looks the same, Ave Jean Medecin is a shambles! I know the French are not known for effeciency. ;D

Thanks that is good news (I have high blood pressure too). So it's kind of like the UK where you don't pay anything for the meds. If I had to pay 35% for just the antidepressants it wouldn't be too bad. Thanks for replying. Oh they recommend a flu jab every year here in the UK too (and pnemonia).   Humm another thought... think if when I'm tested next month the 500mg haven't done the trick I will ask the doc for 1000mg. He did talk about other medication too...

Not that I live in France currently, but I have just found out I am type 2 diabetic. If we went to live in France, do you know the sort of costs that might be involved in managing my condition? I currently take METFORMIN 500mg 3 times a day. Would it be reimbursed 65% or less? And would top up insurance refuse to cover pre=existing conditions? If I had to pay part of the cost out of pocket, are prescriptions meds expensive in France? (I know my antidepressants cost £50 a box but of course I don't pay anything in the UK because of medical exemption for the diabetes, but I was only paying £6.50 every 2 months anyway). Do they do anything similar to the UK's £93 prepayment certificate in France that would cover all meds for a year?   Sorry about all the questions!

Well have fun choosing!