Phil & Pat

[quote user="pagnol81"]Prices have been high here for houses for a long time, but two falling down sheds! [/quote] Can you wait for a year or so until the vendors need to pay for them to be demolished, then 'help them out' with a reasonable offer?

Around here (in the north) the flies bite.  They look just like small houseflies but they certainly do bite my ankles.

[quote user="Pumpkin"]Thanks so much for that reply, I will go fully prepared tomorrow!! Thanks again.[/quote] Pumpkin, please tell us what the Gendarmes said when you showed them Article R222-1.

I don't think you can "flush out the system" any more than you can flush out a tap, the jets are all connected to the mains water.  The jets on ours are all of a rubber/plastic material so removing any limescale is just a case of wiping over with a cloth.  The nozzles flex and the scale falls off. Cleaning is the same as for any shower, just more of it. EDIT Ignore the above, on re-reading the original post you are almost certainly talking about a spa bath/jacuzzi and not a shower cabin with hydro-massage jets.  Sorry.

[quote user="Alan Zoff"].... Although why it should run for weeks on an end when no one is using the building seems just plain daft. [/quote] Probably the same reasoning that required a fully-automated (no occupants) warehouse to have full access for the disabled, them's the regulations.

Wikipedia thinks different; "Most gold medals are gold-plated. Notable exceptions, made of solid gold, are the Lorentz Medal, the United States Congressional Gold Medal, the olympic gold medal, and the Nobel Prize medal." Any gold medal holders out there willing to give it a scrape?  [:)] Also check out THIS, sorry too much time on my hands!

Someone told me that when an electrician commissions a VMC system he returns the product bar-code to a special EDF office.  He then gets a commissioning fee and an annual backhander provided that no on-off switch has been fitted.

If I asked nicely do you think they would add a Petit Julien to the range?

If they are buying LED lights with a projected lifetime of only two years, someone must be having a laugh.  [:D]

Sorry, should have said that we were all UK residents at the time.

[quote user="Russethouse"] Where you must live You cannot take a test or get a full licence unless you are normally resident (live) in this country. This means you must work here (and pay tax) or have close family here. However, if you have moved to the UK from another European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) country, you should not take a driving test or get a first full licence unless you have lived here for 185 days in the last 12 months and are still living here at the time you apply for your licence. The test centre may ask you to provide evidence of this. Hope that won't be a problem ? [/quote] That's interesting 'cos it doesn't work the other way round.  Our daughter had a 6 month placement in Martinique while at Uni, she took driving lessons and passed her test there.  Came home with a French licence.

[quote user="Russethouse"][quote user="Sunday Driver"] I only have two flies in the house at the moment - they sit on my arms/hands and watch me using my laptop.  One of them even chases the mouse around the screen. I haven't the heart to zap them...   [/quote] they sit on my arms/hands and watch me using my laptop - while they s**t - what a lovely picture. Gross ! [+o(][+o(]  [/quote] So that's what it is, I thought rather a lot of pixels had died!  [:D]

To have a well, no, never heard of such a thing. To sink a new well, I'm sure your  Mairie will be happy to tell you what you need to do. Good luck.

Possibly a Garden Tiger moth caterpillar.  Have you seen the moths in your garden?  They are quite distinctive.

As far as I know... 1.  If you are resident in France you are obliged to declare your worldwide revenue (whether or not any tax is eventually due to the French authorities). 2.  If you are over retirement age you are/might be entitled to health care via an E121 from the UK. 3.  1 and 2 are not interdependent. Let the debate commence.

John, Have sent you a PM. Phil.

Perhaps it was the same chap who ran the EDF sub-office in Falaise.  The published opening times were Monday and Friday afternoons only.  I turned up on a Friday only to see stuck next to the opening hours in the window "Fermé exceptionnellement vendredi".  It wasn't until I turned up again the next Friday (Monday was inconvenient) that I realised that the fermé exceptionnellement was on a piece of paper every bit as old, wrinkled and faded as the Horaires, they never had been open on a Friday.  [:'(]

I have heard that lupin flour is sometimes used in Europe but less often in the UK. Just one link HERE. Good luck. (Flower?  Where did that come from?)

Thanks for all the advice, what a restricted driving experience we have here in Normandy. I can only remember one night with a sharp frost last winter.  Last time I was caught out in the snow (about 50mm) we got home without trouble, no one else had driven on it and traction was no problem.  Next day though, after thawing and freezing, even tractors were having trouble in the village. We'll manage with just the summer tyres and stay home by the fire if it snows. [:D] Thanks again to all.

Thanks Pickles and Ernie. (and Bugbear) THIS web site seems to have comprehensive advice which is relevant to France.  It appears that as long as I choose tyres the same size, profile, construction, load and speed rating as originally fitted, the maker and model of tyre is my choice.  Is this what you meant by "sizes which are homologated for your car" Pickles?  There is just the one size listed in the owner's manual. Interestingly, the same web site describes the original/currently fitted rubber as 'summer' tyres.  Searchng for 'winter' or 'all season' tyres comes up blank, none available for my size.  I  know some of you chaps living up in the mountains keep a spare set of snow tyres at the back of the garage for winter use, but is it normal to change from summer to winter tyres and back again?  I've never come across it myself.

I'm considering buying 2 or 4 new tyres during my next UK trip, they seem to be a lot cheaper over there.  Assuming that they will all still be serviceable in 10 months time when the first CT is due, are there any restrictions on my choice of tyre not covered here. Many thanks.

KO.

[quote user="powerdesal"] Correct Sid, if filled with nitrogen there would be absolutely no air to loose [:D] ot lose! or lose even  [:P] [/quote] Sorry, I'm just breaking in a new set of fingers for an idiot.

It must be true, it's in The Connexion; "... obligatory to carry red warning triangles and yellow fluorescent jackets in cars." No excuse now, is there?

[quote user="sid"]Oh well, it's been worth a tenner to read all these replies [:D] I must admit I was swayed by the claim that there would be little or no air loss. The last lot of tyres seemed to always need top-ups. Time will tell. Sid [/quote] Correct Sid, if filled with nitrogen there would be absolutely no air to loose [:D] or lose!