splishsplash

I am surprised by this posting as I have sent  dvds to both France & the UK with no problem. I just pop them into a small padded bag & ask for them to go "normale". So far, no-one has even questioned what is in the package & I can usually send a dvd in its case for around  Eur1.20

I feel for you Dragonrouge, but at least your old friend has an owner who has the courage to end his suffering as he can't do it for himself. It's a kindness to him although it won't seem like that for a long time. All of our thoughts are with you.

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]Can you get bubble wrap and special colissimo boxes at small post offices? Have several ebay items I need to post and have discovered that the million sheets of bubble wrap I had stored have disappeared just when I need them. Typically, they will reappear once I have finished posting.[/quote] Bubble wrap is everywhere.  The Bricos have it as do the Office Stationery Suppliers.

Wish I was closer, we need loads!

My mum takes these & in the UK her Doctor always advised her not to take Grapefruit Juice. She has a brilliant Doctor here, but he has never mentioned it & when we have the flu jabs he nevers asks if we are allergic to eggs either!

We love Mona Lisa, yellowy, waxy lots of flavour & great for any kind of cooking, including chips!

She looks so sweet Christine, lets hope she gets a nice home very soon.

[quote user="DerekJ"]Perhaps you could try the Tom Mabe approach [/quote] [:)][:)][:D]

We used St Junien black metal paint for our balcony railings & I think it's better than Hammerite. It's available from most Bricos & not overly expensive.

I'll never watch Brief Encounter again!

Not much we can say ValB, except that we feel for you & your dog was very lucky to have such caring owners. It won't make it any easier for you today, but I hope that you'll have many happy memories of her & one day feel able to share your life with another four legged friend.

Forgive me if this has been posted previously, but I have only just come across it. It's the official portal for the French Government / Civil Service & has many useful links.  In several languages including English http://www.service-public.fr/etranger/english.html

Tell her you are thinking of becoming a Buddhist, as they reckon the real day of true love is Makha Bucha day. This is celebrated on the full moon of the third lunar month. I thought I had cracked this for you, but sadly, this took place on February 9th this year, 5 days before St Valentines day...... still there's always next year eh.

Sorry to be late with my thanks, but I am grateful to all of you who replied to this question. We have changed our Mutuelle this year & now have up to 200% cover for all hospitalisation & up to 70 euros a day for a private room. The main reason for my question was prompted by something that happened to my mother. She fractured her spine & because her Doctor sent her as an emergency, she attended a private clinic rather than the main hospital. Not her decision I hasten to add, she wouldn't have cared one way or another as she was in so much pain. The Doctor however said that as an emergency, she would be fully re-imbursed. She was sent home to stay in bed for 6 weeks, but I wondered what would have happened if they had admitted her & the specialist treatment was carried out by a Consultant who charged more than the Tariff de Convention?  If she was only covered up to 100% of the tariff, I assume she would have had to make up the difference, or as she was admitted as an emergency, would all of the follow up treatment have been fully re-imbursed regardless of the Consultant's charge rate? I'm still not sure!

I agree, these are fantastic black & gold coloured birds. We had four of them all last summer & they make a very distinctive noise. Great to see. Image deleted by the moderators for copyright reason.

Good French bread is one of the last things I would give up.

[quote user="Belle"]Sounds quite interesting this Paris trip, can you recommend somewhere to stay there, or did you come back later the same day.[/quote] We always return early evening. We do however get the early morning train at sixish, so that we can be in Paris for 9am & get a good day's sightseeing in. We plan what we want to see on each trip, last time it was Les Invalides & the Tomb of Napoleon. Sometimes we take a picnic & sit in the gardens under the Eiffel Tower or on the banks of the Seine. If the weather's not good, we have a walk into the back streets & find a small brasserie to have lunch. I would highly recommend the Batobus though as it's so convenient. It travels up & down the same stretch of the Seine all day & if your feet get tired, you can just hop back on at the nearest river stop & sit there until you are ready to go again. We generally book the return train for around 5.30pm which gets us back into Limoges around 8pm & then we pick up our car from the station car park & are back home by 9pm. I would like to do a Sunday trip & go & see the big flea market in Paris, but I reckon it will be heaving with people on that day & we really want to go to Orleans for a day as we passed through it but didn't have time to stop & it looks fabulous. Our next trip in early Spring will be to the Louvre, but as it usually has long queues for the tickets, I will be booking them online first. Should you want to stay over though, you'll find loads of small hotels online.

Thanks Craig It does seem early, but we had them last year & they sound just the same, steered off course by the gales perhaps!

LES ULIS, France — When their local bakery in this town south of Paris raised the price of a baguette for the third time in six months, Anne-Laure Renard and Guy Talpot bought a bread maker. When gasoline became their biggest single expense, they sold one of their two cars. J. B. Russell for the International Herald Tribune Anne-Laure Renard, a teacher, and Guy Talpot, a postal worker, sold one car and bought a bread maker to cut expenses. Prices have risen four times as fast as salaries in France in the last year. Their combined annual income of 40,000 euros, about $62,500, lands Ms. Renard, a teacher, and Mr. Talpot, a postal worker, smack in the middle of France’s middle class. And over the last year, prices in France have risen four times as fast as their salaries. At the end of every month, they blow past their bank account’s $900 overdraft limit, plunging themselves deeper into a spiral of greater resourcefulness and regret. “In France, when you can’t afford a baguette anymore, you know you’re in trouble,” Ms. Renard said one recent evening in her kitchen, as her partner measured powdered milk for their 13-month-old son, Vincent. “The French Revolution started with bread riots.” I wish I had their income!

Perhaps this article will appeal to everyone! http://www.france24.com/en/20090214-french-banks-announce-completion-merger-february-caisse-epargne-banque-populaire ..... and for all you French & English Eco warriors out there.... http://www.france24.com/en/20081002-eco-friendly-cars-debut-paris-auto-show-industry

How about bringing back the stocks!

Thanks Claire Seems really early though, still I pleased they are here.

I always get the utility grass seed from Bricomarche. It's in the garden centre & is around 23 euros for a 25 kilo sack.

[quote user="chocccie"]I'm looking to book a ticket from Limoges to Paris .. I guess the sooner I do it the cheaper it will be? I can get an upgrade to first class for not too much more money ... is it worth it?  If anybody has travelled first class on this line (if indeed it differs from any other line) how does first class differ?  Is it just a slightly more comfy seat or is there anything else on offer? Thanks [/quote] We have done this trip several times from Limoges to paris. As the previous posters have said, if you book it in advance (we do it on the net on the SNCF site) & then put our credit card in the yellow machine at Limoges station to get the tickets. you will get the Ist class seats at the same price of the second. It is well worth it, very comfortable, reclining seats, footrests etc. The trolley does the rounds with the drinks, food etc a couple of times during the three hour journey. You have to cancel your ticket  in the special machine before you board the train & again at Austerlitz station for the return journey. If you are sightseeing, it's well worth turning right out of Austerlitz station & walking down to the Seine. If you then turn left & walk along the river bank, you will come to the ticket office for the Bateau Bus. You can jump on & off the boat all day long for twelve euros & it stops at all the most popular places. Have a good trip.

I'm sure we heard these this morning. Do they migrate for the winter or will they still be around from last year? [IMG]http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww127/splishsplash_photos/hoopoe.jpg[/IMG]