samdebretagne

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] So, what is their contribution (if any) to the priorité a droite rule?   [/quote] They don't have any regard to the priorité à droite rule, they are just marking the fact that there's an intersection, which may or may not fall under priorité à droite.

[quote user="ErnieY"]Paul: That sounds palausible. The UK would have a similar issue would it not yet I have never heard of any "Priorité à Gauché" ever existing there. Anyone else ? Re the white and red posts, if SD is asking what they signify then presumably there is nothing in the Code de la Route about them which means that they probably have no legal standing at all (no pun intended). I agree with Ron and P ZFP that they are useful for drawing attention to side roads but that uesfulness is somewhat diluted by the inconsitency of their deployment. I haven't made a study of them so wouldn't say that they are used exclusively in Priorité à droite areas, but I get the impression that they are perhaps more prevalent. [/quote] The white posts with a red band do not indicate priorité à droite, they simply indicate there is an intersection there. As an FYI, the white-only posts indicate a curve ahead, and the white posts with a red top are indicators for the areas that get a lot of snow, to help you stay on the road and not end up in the ditch.

[quote user="Will"]But more seriously, this person's carte vitale should have ceased to be valid as soon as the reason for issuing it - i.e. employment - ceased. I suspect that if he tries using the card he will find it will be rejected. If he has used it in the last three years then his CPAM has surely made an error. [/quote] After my first job here ended, I was told I would be covered by the sécu for four years, even if I never worked another day.  It sounds like this person could be in the same situation, since next year will make four years for him as well.

Any of the Harry Potter books - I read them when I firsted starting learning French and they were surprisingly good!  It's not something I ever would've read in English, but it works in French.

[quote user="Clair"]Can I sugest this as an alternative: Ce soir, on mange de la soupe, de la viande avec des P d T, des PP et de C, puis du fromage avec du pain, et des fruits. On boit du vin et on fini avec un café. [/quote] Just one small correction, which I'm 99.9% sure is just a typo since Clair is a Real Virtual French Person :-) - it should be des carrotes, not de carrotes.

[quote user="Pads"]Many thanks for that So I would reply with the nous rather than the Je ? oui? [/quote] Normally, you'd reply with "on", but you could also use "nous".  You wouldn't use "je" because in this case "on" is collective and refers to more than just yourself.

Having just visited an l'Ile de Gavrinis, I can tell you that both are used in French.  A cairn is any mound of rocks, whereas a tumulus is a mound of rocks covered with dirt (and sometimes covered again with rocks).  So a tumulus can also be a cairn, but a cairn cannot be a tumulus.

Is no one going to tell me what a horsepipe is???

I am with them as well, and only have good things to say about them so far (it's especially nice that they have a native English speaker on staff).  I may register one day, but for now, it's a great way to check out the market and let someone else take care of all of the registration/paperwork (not to mention the benefit of being eligible for chômage later on down the road)....

[quote] ltf wrote:If you want to borrow your neighbour's hosepipe, do not ask for a pipe. Same goes in Australia. When I first moved over, I asked my Aussie wife where the hosepipe was. She didn't have a clue what I was on about. [/quote] I have no idea what a horsepipe is either...

Have you tried actually stopping by the agency?  Sometimes you get a lot better results that way (ie. you're harder to get rid of, LOL)! And I wouldn't go the independant plumber route - the agency will be in no way required to reimburse you afterwards, as a lot of times, they have deals set up & only work with certain repairmen.

It all depends on how much you get in chômage in the first place.  If you are hired on for a short-term or part-time job for example, and will not be earning as much as you previously did, you are sometimes still eligible for chômage, just not the whole amount.  Let's say Mr. X was getting 800€, and was then hired for a few hours a week to do some yard-work for 200€ a month.  He then still has the option of getting 600€ from l'ASSEDIC.  They've started doing this more and more recently for a few reasons - one, so that people won't be afraid to declare their odd-jobs for fear that they'll be kicked out of the system, and two, so that they won't turn down a part-time job for fear of losing all of their chômage.

Actually, most often the eye sight tests are done at the opthamologist's office, and then you just bring your prescription over to the opticians after.  I think there are a few opticians that can do the tests however...someone else will likely know exactly which ones can.

[quote user="Lollie"]My understanding is that schools are not affected by this strike, as they have different retirement schemes to the transport workers.   Lollie  [/quote] But some of the hard-core unionists will still strike out of solidarity - I'd say about 20% of the teachers where I work are on strike today.

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Not exactly a Faux amis but one that catches me out la moule = mussels le moule = mold I'm pretty sure I've ordered a nice bowl of mold before now [+o(] [/quote] Don't worry, it's not THAT kind of mold - it's mold as in the sense of it's something that's used to mold something into a certain shape (such as a cast, cake pan, etc).  Plus, you'd never really order just one mussel anyways (which is what just plain old une moule is), so a way to get around is ordering moules, with an S !  That way you avoid having to decide if its masculine or feminine.  *S* The other kind of mold is known as moisissure.

[quote user="woolybanana"]Wait til the day.[/quote] Seriously, what a doomsday prophet. You're acting like France has never been on strike before!

[quote user="woolybanana"]BIG STRIKE DAY: no public transport, no schools, no nothing as the "old" France takes on the future of France. Just the private sector paying for their lifestyles.[/quote] Be careful when making blanket statements like that - both busses & the boats will be running in my town, and about 80% of my colleagues at both the local lycée & collège are planning on coming to work.  So you can't really go around saying there will be no public transport whatsoever and all the schools will be closed - it's really going to depend on the area and whether or not each worker decides to strike.

One of the most important ones - never forgot that préservatif DOES NOT equal preservative!!  ;-)

[quote user="ErnieY"] Do the French police routinely bag everybody who's been involved in a road incident as happens in UK I wonder ?   [/quote] When people have been injured, yes.  I believe they often test for drug usage as well. 

Don't worry, you should be able to find soy milk at most supermarkets, and both soy & rice milk at health food stores.

This is only my experience, but we are currently renting a gîte during the off-season (Oct-May), and the owner gave us quite a substantial discount, which I definitely expected.  We are currently paying per month what someone in a similar-sized regular logement would pay in this area.  Do not forget to ask them for a deposit though (usually two months rent). Surely you cannot expect people to pay what you normally charge in the summer for six months off-season?  That would cost a fortune!

[quote]I've never heard of anyone having their Tax Habitation reduced, only waived and  I stand corrected. At what point is it reduced? I ask because this year I have had a low income and wonder if I might be so lucky. Aly [/quote] From what I understand, your region, department and/or commune can all decide (or not) to reduce their portion of the taxe d'hab for those with low-incomes.  I believe they also set the level of what is considered to be a low-income, so it's definitely not something that will be the same across the board for France (but then again, when is anything ever? *S*)

Someone else might know for sure, but I'm not convinced that you will be allowed to have a full-time & part-time job, though maybe things have changed since Sarko became president.   Another thing you need to know is that 99% of part-time jobs don't offer the same kind of flexibility that you find in the US.  There is really no changing of shifts, and one day working at XX time and another day working at YY time.  You work the same shifts week in and week out. And honestly, the first thing that came to mind after reading that is that there is really no incentive for you to even do that - the more money you make, the more taxes you will have to pay on it.  And if you say your husband has a good job already, you have two jobs might push you guys into a higher tax bracket, which can be a big hit to the pocketbook. Also, lastly, you don't say how good your French is, but that will be an important factor in you finding a job if you want to do something besides teaching English.

[quote]An income of 11,000 euros for a couple with no dependant children is not considered low enough to qualify for exemption in your habitation tax. (There is no such thing as a reduction). You would have to be under the current ceiling for RMI, currently 661.29 euros per month. Sorry, but in France you income would be considered perfectly adequate. Aly [/quote] Are you sure about that?  I'm pretty sure that the years where I only worked part-time, our taxe d'habitation was "allégée" because my annual income was fairly low...

Try asking at the mairie - they usually have a list of language classes available in the area.