mint

i always put the name of the village where our property is in france and so far, none of my cheques have bounced!

i so agree with most of what has been said in the last few posts.  before we bought last summer, we had been looking for nearly 2 years.  there were 3 properties that we made offers on.  we had to withdraw our offer on 2 of the properties more or less straightaway as we found that they were near sewage disposal works.  the third one still makes me regretful when i think about it because it was so beautiful and wonderful value.  however, i was worried about the cost of replacing the roof and the boundary wall (and we were at the top end of our budget) looking back, it was all just as well because we have now been landed with a dog (whom i love dearly but she does tie us down).  so now, holidays are not going to be so easy and we also need land for her to run around as she has been bred to be a gun dog and has abundant energy.  also, i feel we have ended up further south than we ever anticipated (llwyncelyn, i understand why you wish to move) and that is perhaps for the best as heating costs are going up all the time and when i was last in the sarthe region in the winter of 06, i was so cold i had some problem with my asthma. we did have a holiday home in somerset for many years and, while it was a pleasure to drive down at weekends and high days and holidays, the journey gradually became longer and longer as the m4 and m5 got busier and busier.  in the end, we were leaving our home in wales later and later on fridays until we'd find ourselves starting our journey at 11pm and still finding the m5 chock a block with caravans and so forth at midnight! eventually, we sold up because we thought that the cost of owning and maintaining the place cost the equivalent of staying in the best 4* hotels anywhere in the world!  alas, we only had a couple of years of "freedom" before dog, so now we are back to square one we have learned our lesson, however, and we have bought a house that would do for a permanent home once we have improved it. i have heard from several acquaintances who have bought in france that they are now sorry they have bought properties that are too big for their needs (having been tempted by the comparatively low prices).  i must admit i would also have made the same mistake except that we couldn't have afforded anything bigger or better! it's lovely to hear blanche neige say that she is happy with her lot.  to me, that is everything, to be happy with your lot.  i love hearing people say that because it makes me happy for them and admire them for a tremendous attitude to life

mister fluffy would that be asbestos fibres you're talking about? is that the very lightweight stuff they have in the normandy area? i'm asking because i decided against a beautiful house with what looks like this sort of simulated slate roof because i was worried about the replacement cost. i know it's now too late for me but there may well be a "next time" as i do so love normandy

miki i did not not and would not dream of even suggesting that you cannot say something is trite.  if you read my post, you'd see that i said that i personally did not care if it WERE trite. i don't mind something being sugary or silly or whatever.  i simply think that even some eternal truths can be trite.  because something is trite, that's not to say that it can't be true. it's a bit like stereotypes; there is often more than a grain of truth in them, is there not? don't worry, i am in no position to lecture anybody

clair & ruth can't agree with you both more re the irritating ms frith powell.  i seem to keep hearing her voice on the radio or coming across one of her banal articles on french life as experienced in the frith powell household.  it irritates me just LOOKING at her photo in the paper as for being run over by a bus, i have to admit that if that unfortunate occurrence were to happen to me, the LAST thing i'd be worried about would be the state of my knickers

i personally don't care from where it originates.  i also don't care if it's trite.  so what, can something NOT be trite and still relevant? i'd rather be eager and willing to learn than be blase (sorry can't do the accent) and think little old me cannot make a difference

PLEASE don't post things like that when it's not 1 april.  i don't think my constitution is strong enough to cope with jokes like these!

bugbear i love your post.  it also reminds me of something i read once about "living your life backwards".  in other words, live your life by first imagining you are at your own funeral and all your family and friends who are gathered there are nursing their thoughts about you.  as they look down on you, what are they remembering about you? that echoes some of the things you have said and i always find it sobering to think about it........... 

angela you've given me a lovely giggle, thanks!

i am truly glad, anton, that you don't think anyone is past learning after they are 50 because i fully intend to "just do it" as the nike ad used to say! the other dubious gender phrase that comes to mind is "le tour" for the tour de france but "la tour" for the tour eiffel. loiseau, i shall remember "je me debouille".  this is my sort of favourite ploy, ie, learn a few coloquial expressions really well and throw them into the conversation at every opportunity.  for example, "ah, oui alors" for when you want to agree with someone or "ah, non alors" for when you wish to express disagreement.  or, you could smile broadly and say "bien entendu" or shrug the famous gallic shrug and say "pas exactement".  that's a lot of conversation, see, agreeing or disagreeing! i used to do this years ago when i first came to live in wales.  i learned how to say good morning/afternoon, how are you, the weather is fine/rainy/windy etc.  i'd go into the, say, bank and greet people with a few words.  then, my husband would go in the next day and he'd be complimented on how well his wife spoke the "language of heaven" i am a terrible fraud but, i reckon that if i play the part for long enough, i'd eventually BECOME the part! 

bugbear THAT is definitely below the belt!

tresco why is it always catholics that "lapse"?  we don't talk about a lapsed protestant, do we?  or, more specifically, how about a lapsed presbyterian or lapsed methodist, or any of the other non-catholic christians? are there lapsed muslims, budhists, hindus, sikhs, jews?  or even a lapsed atheist? this may not be about returning to the uk, but there ARE any number of these "lapsed" folk in france or (indeed the uk) and, perhaps, they'd all like to return to ...er..their roots and stop being lapsed?

i'm completely with tu here.  i do think some people have a knack or whatever you want to call it for languages.  for what it's worth, i think you need a good "ear" (like a musician) and not mind making a fool of yourself. i also think it helps if you NEVER translate from one language to the other (just try and understand the language and make sense of it in its own right without saying to yourself, "what's that in english?") i speak several languages but only write in english.  i will write in french and not worry about errors but then, so far, i've only written to the bank and to edf and to hotels and so forth and i don't think any of this counts as "writing" as the letters are merely requests! i can't wait to spend more time in france as i want to test myself to see when i can hold a proper conversation without resorting to the dictionary that i carry everywhere.  i do find the french people, on the whole, very tolerant and, if you ask them how to say something, they will go to no end of trouble to help you.  i remember asking a staff member of britanny ferries how to pronounce the french for kettle and she went through "bouilloire" with me serveral times until she was satisfied that i was saying it more or less in a manner that would be comprehensible to a french person! one of the main reasons why i want to relocate to france is that i will then have a whole new language and culture to learn about!

will pm you as i might get ticked off for hijacking the thread and wandering off at a tangent!

lynda what a good, kind, sweet-natured person you are!  if we do come over next month, i shall take you up and come and see you. yes, i know the lady in question.  in fact, i am thinking of buying one of her super-yummy godin cookers!  will certainly investigate this further and, if noel can come and do the cooker at the same time, i shall be one very happy person! we are also thinking of putting in one of those cute godins that look like a studio stove (think starving artist in a garret) in our hall.  it would be good for warming up all of the hall and the landing, i think.  will need noel to tell us whether we can get a chimney in there you've given me a nice warm feeling already, thank you!

albert don't encourage will; he might now just go and snap at their ankles!

lynda did you get your burner from the big showroom in chalais opposite a cafe?  the people who also sell some fancy furniture and nice range ovens? we are not in our french place at all this winter, principally because we do not as yet have any heating there!  we intend to install electric heaters and have a good idea now (thanks to advice from forum members) which ones and how many to get we do, however, have a huge lounge (about 47 sq metres) with a big fireplace in position.  we want to get a log burner and i have been thinking to have it installed, say, next summer or autumn in time for next winter and when we are already residents to take advantage of the credit d'impot. did the installer come out to survey the place before you decide a suitable fire for it?  also, did the shop put the invoice for the fire and for the installation together (i am asking because i understand this is critical if you want to claim the credit d'impot)? thanks, lynda.  nothing like having someone's actual experience rather than just looking at catalogues or depending on the shop to tell it as it is

verviale thanks for the tip.  i must admit we had a beaune at a restraurant near mayenne (it being their house red) and it did taste lovely i keep meaning to do it, but i always forget and that is to make a note of all the wines i do like and try and find them for myself cheers, verviale.  i too like a strong wine; otherwise it's like drinking low- or non-alcoholic beers.  might as well not bother

betty take her her own potty which you can then empty into the loos at the aires!

cassis & tresco many thanks.  just shows i don't read the posts carefully enough!  will be keeping a beady eye as i would like my own pension when the time comes

the old man and i have been apart lots of times in our years together.  it's either me wanting to go away to study or learn something new like swimming or him working away. this summer will be a first.  we should have moved lock, stock and barrel to france by then but i have a work contract for 6 to 8 weeks back in the uk.  he won't be able to come back with me because we have been left a dog to look after. i had hoped to have retired for good but, after reading about the cost of living in france on this forum, i thought i'd better secure a job in case we can't manage to live on the pensions! 

talking about pensions, is it true that they are changing entitlement to 30 years full contribution instead of 44 years?  i will be using your answer to decide whether i buy the voluntary contributions or not

betty i can see a definite advantage to hole in the ground.  you don't have to park your bum where others have parked (and you don't really know how clean or otherwise their bums are)! i personally like not touching with any part of my body anything in a public loo also, betty, as you have lived in singapore, you must be used to hole in the ground?

i agree with you on one and ONLY one point.  i have not found a french wine to compare with the wines i drink from the new world!  i feel a bit embarrassed to say this because our place in france is about 50 km from bordeaux.  does that make me a philistine?

what i want to know about this blame culture is, who is responsible?