Ron Avery

My farmer neighbour has 6 dogs and they are as good as gold, never heard of any restriction on the number of dogs, but there might be environmental legislation in France that could be applied if any number of dogs were to cause a noise nuisance

Went to our local Marie and asked about changing Permis de Conduire.  Was told that in rural France Maries don't do this, we have to go to Sous-Préfecture in town, so armed with UK card, and paper license, the usual residency proof stuff, off we went. Coversation at the S-P Caisse  "Why do you want to change it?  Its valid in France, have the police told you to?" "No I thought that you have to after a year of residence in France and it does not have my correct address on it". After consultation with colleague, form appears,  "fill that in please,  I need three photos, a stamped envelope, proof of identity and residence,  C de J, passport, facture. etc and it will be €46" !!! "But if you wait a week until 1 Mars,  it will be free, that is why I asked you if the Police had told you to change it"!!!!  

[quote]In theory it costs under 1€ per month, with no charge until July 2005. In practice they offer it for nothing from time to time to existing customers, in return for getting a less frequent statement. ...[/quote] "The 1€ charge is very modest but even so the principle annoys me and so I would not pay it. The CA charges more than that" CA used to charge 50cents a month if you accessed your account less than 5 times, which I agree with Mazan was a bit rich as you were helping them by not clogging up the branch, however for some months now there has been no charge for internet access, mind you the monthly charge has gone up........ If people like the caber thrower drive people like marzan away from this Forum with cowardly posts from behind anonymous E mail addresses then perhaps it is time for Forum admin to look at these people and limit their access unless they publish an E mail address.

Great thread you lot, best laugh on the Forum for ages Are you aware that the Postbag is also featuring the every day adventures of a Film producer humble english businessman trying to earn a nan bread in France

If is any help I have taken my out of contract sky card aligned to Scottish TV and put it in my other digi box which does not have a card.  It does picks up the same channels and the Scottish settings of the original box, however I have never left it the second box for a long time in case it loses ITV Ch 4 &5  when it is returned to the first box as I was told this could happen if it was left out for too long.  Might be a myth but I don't want to risk it.

Cat Unless it is extremely warm where you live at the moment, it is unlikely to be rats or mice as yet in your loft,  its too cold, it could be a feral cat, we have one in our loft from time to time , but if you live in a rural community and near woods is highly likely to be "edible dormice", The edible dormouse (Glis Glis), also known as the fat dormouse, is a native of continental Europe.  Do a google search on  them and you will see that they are nothing like a rat, more like a bush baby. The edible dormouse can cause serious damage, particularly to growing timber by stripping the bark from trees and to property by gnawing electric cable in roof spaces etc. HOWEVER,   If it is a dormouse, then you should think very carefully about killing them.  I know this is France, and I am not sure what protection they have here, but in the UK,the edible dormouse is protected under Section 11(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in that certain methods of killing or taking are prohibited unless a licence has been issued by Defra.   Glis glis,  although a growing problem in the UK is on the decline in Europe and is not treated as vermin by any means. The best thing to do with Dormice is make it too noisy for them in the day, they are nocturnal and sleep in the day, after a few bangs on the ceiling every couple of minutes, they will soon shoot off and find a quiet barn to live in.

[quote]Thank you for that. I'm afraid that I misled you. I meant the ordinary plastic down pipes. I have had to cut one to get the old loo out and it looks like I might have to replace the whole three sto...[/quote] When my waste pipes were done, some years ago I would think,  they appear to have used the same process as that for copper pipes, flared out the neck of one I would imagine with a little heat and inserted it over the other and glued it, recommended or not it appears to have lasted OK.  You can of course buy joints in bricco as fridgeman has said, but take along a piece of your old pipe as exterior dimensions can be different between manufacturers.

I have no idea where Nedde is, France is a big country, but the easiest way to find out about Broadband availabiltyis to go to the French Telecom or Wanadoo website and look there, it is done by phone number, not area, (one village may have it the next one not).  You type in your French phone number and they tell you whether you can have Broadband or not, its as easy as that

[quote]So what would you suggest for a jungle ??? I've just acquired a large garden with - what looks like - apple and pears, about a dozen in all, (not to mention chestnut and possibly a cherry or two) al...[/quote] Paul  What i would do is clear around the trees and get rid of the ivy and brambles from underneath the canopy area.  While it is wet, you will have some success also with getting brambles ( ronces) out by the roots, which apart from spraying Roundup around and risking all, is the most effective method of keeping them at least in check. Don't let clearing become a chore, gardening is to be enjoyed, even if you only clear round the trees that will be an achievement and a spur to go on and sort out the rest. I would leave the fruit trees alone apart from cutting off any obviously dead branches and applying a  general fertiliser round the root area and see what transpires, you can do your heavy pruning in the autumn depending on the results.  I have been amazed by the fruit yield from some of our fruit trees that looked dead when we first saw them though the sea of brambles.

Well TU,  followed the instructions, did not rinse and I must say it wasn't bad at all, certainly not salty.  " C'est Francais" I suppose that all over France 000's of French eat hot jambon every day and yet boiling pork is not a common cooking method  Might try a combination of TU's rinse method and a roast next time to see if that makes any difference, but I have a feeling it may just taste like roast pork.

[quote]I agree with your reply Derf but, like most replies on this "forum", it seems to get the plonkers out of the woodwork, to make a "whizzing" contest out of a simple question.[/quote] Another useful post from one of the caber throwers who infest this forum. and contribute nothing. Reply to what?  The question was...... I'll type it slowly so that you can read it slowly ......  Are michelin tyres (perceived to be a French  make), cheaper in France?  and the really helpful answer fronm DEAF for those LIVING in France on a LIVING in France forum  was "buy your car spares in the UK"  So that it as you agree with ?   So if you live in France, you spend a couple of days and £100+  to buy what , if you actually bothered to read the posts from those who make a positive contribution,  ARE cheaper in France.  

This post made me look at my Carte Grise, and it is actually issued personally to me, very much like the V5 in the UK.  So I assume that if I sell it, the new owner would have to register the vehicle in their name.  So, on that basis,  it is not strictly for the vehicle only.  You may not realise it Will but I believe that in the UK,  you now get a discount on road tax for cars less than 1100cc.

[quote]I don't think you will find any make of tyre cheaper in France, the Uk is the best place to buy most car spares/Tyres etc.[/quote] "The Uk is the best place to buy most car spares/Tyres etc"  No offence Les , but if you live in the UK it probably is the best place to buy spares, but most of us on this forum actually live In France.  As we live in France, how can it be better to buy in the UK?   It would cost the price of a tyre just to use the Autoroute one way and that's two tyres for a round trip,  let alone the fare and the time to get to the UK. Tyres on offer, the popular sizes are actually cheaper in SW FRance than in the UK, but it depends on what exchange rate to use, on the old 10FF to a £ they are cheaper   If you have a "Foreign french"  car ie a Left hand drive, the best place to buy spares is at your local garage, not only because some models, particularly diesels are exclusive to the continent, but because they don't stock a lot of spare parts for L/H drive cars in the UK There is also a  sense of community in rural France unlike the UK and we prefer to use local garages and keep them in business, because when we need him for a tow or an urgent job he will still be there.

Had a look in Hyper U today and bought  "Jarret demi-sel avec Thym romarin"  It looks like a cured hock though quite red and still bleeding. The instructions are to "cook without desalting in a pressure cooker for 40-45 mins"  It was only  €3 a kg , I got 0 .78 kg for €2.30, so not too expensive a mistake if it all goes wrong.  Oh well...... in for a centime........ in for a euro:

Pippa Get hold of a european accident reporting form,ASAP. All drivers in the EU except Britain cvarry them with them, you usually get sent one when you apply for a green card in the UK.  Take it to your neighbour and get it filled in.  It is an agreed statement of events, it does not apportion blame, it simply records what happened and where. it also records insurance policy details etc  You only need to complete one copy, it is duplicated, you have both sign it to agree the facts of the accident and you send it or take to your insurance agent.  Get this done without delay.  If you do not have a form, ask your neighbour if he has one or to accompany you to your agent to complete one.  It is not compulsory in France, but it is certainly the normal process in geting a claim started.

How to deal with the French win?  You just say in your best French accent  "Nous avons gagné" and smile.  Next time the French lose, you say "Allors nous avons perdu" Tres facile

In most Autoroute restuarants at lunchtime you can have a nice hot meal with sliced gammon, but despite looking all over in all the supermarkets I cannot find one to buy to cook myself.  So where do the French get it and what should I be asking for?  I bought a "jambon" at Christmas only to be told that this is in fact the name for a leg of pork, so I had roast pork not gammon.  It isn't the cured legs either as I understand it, as they are supposed to be eaten cold, like Parma Ham, so please what should I be looking for and where?  I live in 12 and we do not have Auchan or Carrefour round here, but we do have  Le Clerc and U or is this an item I should be looking for in la boucherie Thanks   

Amazed that in response to this request nobody has mentioned Campanile and Ibis hotels, too far from the Autoroutes?  Both are nationwide and interrnational chains, can be booked on-line and are cheap and excellent value, the rooms are the same in all hotels, doubles with en-suite.  Campanile are also in England. Parking is normally free, on site and supervised.  Have stayed in both groups hotels all over France and not had a bad experience yet staff are very friendly and many speak English if that is important to you.  If you want to go a bit up market try Accor Hotels also bookable on-line.

If the exterrnal walls are showing damp this could be due to ingress from above, have you guttering all the way along above this wall?  If you have, you may need to re point your stones as the old lime/sand pointing does get a bit soft after a while and acts like a sponge,  which in fact is what it is intended to do. As far as I have been told, traditional stone walls do not have a damp course and they should absorb the damp from the ground up to about a metre and that is why they have sand and lime pointing. You can water proof interior walls if water ingress is a problem with a special sealing paint ( designed for " les caves)   from Bricos, but it is not cheap, a tin is about £30 and that only does about 25 sq metres 

Ask at the Marie, if you are in a listed village you may well need permission or be refused, I can't say that I have seen many sprouting from the roofs in any of any of the historoc listed villages round here in 12

Cherry trees can be very deceptive in FRance particularly considering the drought of 2003.  In 2003, I had hundreds of cherries from one tree and few from another, both were overgrown with ivy and brambles, I managed to prune, fertilise and weed one but not the other,  The tended one produced very little last year,  the other one was full of cherries, it appears that some, particularly the red cherries can be cyclical.  Of course fruiting can also be affected by late frosts and wet springs, so before you get the chainsaw out to your cherry trees, give them another summer, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I had the flu jab in the UK courtesy of my employer the last two years I was at work, and I had no time off with the flu at all.  Well worth getting if you can

More drama where the english do not know the planning laws (but have managed to find a builder and a plumber), they want to open for the high season (but have not started work until July 2),......... French artisans walking off site (and going on holiday in August).  Rows with the neighbours (because they dug up their yard to put in a drain)....... Wow can't wait but wait ....  Isn't the producer's name the same as Nigel's????  Could they be the SAME person, any similarity is purely coincindental as is any similarity to real life in France

"Anyway, queen or princes consort"  Who says she will not be Queen???  Informed sources in the UK say that Charlie is pulling a fast one, as it will take an Act of Parliament  to PREVENT Camilla becoming Queen, Charlie is obviously banking on the nation not caring a toss by the time lizzie pops her clogs, its nice to know that "public opinion" in the UK is coming round to the wedding ........  or is that the media or are they the same thing. Charlie wil be waiting with baited breath to see if the SUN,  that US/Australian owned former of popular opinion in the UK gives him permission to wed Camilla.  Personally I could not care less cos after Lizzie goes, the monarchy will be an irrelevance, by then as we all queue up to pay homage at the court of King Rupert of Murdoch.

If you want to use Ryanair then log on and subscribe to their mailing service,  It does not always pay to book too early with Ryanair, I booked before Christmas for January then they had their £5 all in flight offer so I was £25 worse off, still some you win some you lose