Chrisb
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Posts posted by Chrisb
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A friend found out lots of information about our house by going to the 'Archives Departmental' - you can find the address and phone number for your department using Pages Jaunes on the internet. He was doing research for a thesis on old manoirs and chateaux..........sorry, I don't know whather you have to make an appointment or not.
Hope this helps a bit!
Regards
Chris
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If there is a BAO near you, I saw some lovely mosaic tiles in one the other day.
Regards
Chris
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My husband commutes weekly, but from Cherbourg. He actually finds it less stressful than when he was in the UK as we now live closer to his head office than before. He does have the benefit of usually managing to return home on the overnight ferry on Thursdays, which gives him Friday at home, and often leaves again on a Monday pm/eve. He reckons that only having weekends at home would be harder to cope with.
Regards
Chris
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Dear Richard
We've got one, and great fun they are too, according to my husband and sons!!! (I prefer real horsepower!!). It's a PGO Bugxter - and can be used on or off road - the boys have a track on the one of our fields that they roar round and during the summer my husband used it to whizz down to the bakers in a morning!! I've posted further details below. By the way, when we went to insure it, the insurance company had a problem finding what to insure it under - after several phone calls it was decided that it came under Quads, rather than Karts, cost about 150€ to insure.
Regards
Chris
Le Bugxter de PGO www.euromotor.fr
PGO est distribué par Euromotor dont l' adresse postale est BP 20 94386 Bonneuil sur Marne Cedex Tel 01 43 99 91 40 Fax 01 43 39 40 80 . Email [email protected]
Sur ce site l'internaute trouvera la gamme PGO ainsi qu'une liste par département des concessionnaires Euromotor -
We have used L'Afghanerie de Kabul at Cahagnes, south of St Lo, for our 2 German Shepherds, and it was fine - the pens are in converted barns and there is a large, enclosed, grassed exercise area.
Phone number is 02 33 77 12 20
Regards
Chris
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You can certainly get it up here in Normandy - it just might not be where you would expect it to be! I have seen it between the butter and cheese - logical, but also with the chilled fruit juices - less logical! It comes in both wax cartons and plastic bottles in full-cream (entiere) and semi-skimmed (demi-creme) - sometimes it says just 'lait pasteurise', sometimes 'frais' ie fresh.(Sorry, no accents). It can be easy to miss because there may only be a row or 2, or even only a carton or two, not like in the UK.
Happy hunting!
Regards
Chris
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"as soon as I can get this idiotic PC to work, again, as a fax machine it will be transfered via HIFX to our CA account."
John
Were you aware that you can carry out HIFX transactions on the web now, without having to fax the instructions through?
Regards
Chris
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We have just paid 120€ per corde for 3 cordes, which might just about see us through the winter - now that was a lot of wood to stack, mind you there's nothing like a well-stocked wood pile to make your heart glad!!
Can't help with a supplier in your area, I'm afraid. We asked our neighbour, who asked his boss, who arranged for his neighbour to deliver the wood!! You could also try the small ads in your local paper - I think you'll find that most deliver, but if you can find some on recommendation, you are less likely to get 'short-changed' on the quantity, she says, speaking from experience!
Regards
Chris
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We are obviously spoilt up here in Normandy.
The transport scolaire to college is free and meals are 4,10€/day - for which there is a daily ticket system for college, and in primaire, if they are off sick, you do not pay for that days meal. Both my children love their school meals, and my youngest son, who was a very fussy eater, will eat almost anything now. I do find it a bit strange, however, that the eldest has lunch at 11.30am, 3 days a week, although he prefers the earlier sitting as he then gets a choice of meals. He is pretty hungry by the time he gets home at 5.30!Chris
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Hi............try the following website. There is one in Caen - it is superb, every sort of fabric you could wish for. Just don't ask me how to get there - I have only been once. It is somewhere near Mondeville, I think - there is probably a map on the website, I didn't look!
Regards
Chris
PS. I have now looked at the website and it doesn't mention Caen, but the link to the website was in Pages Jaune by the address - curious!!
Mondial Tissus 5 r Robert Schumann 14120 Mondeville .02 31 83 06 50 -
.................PG tips, Branston's Pickle, Packets of fruit Jelly - can't say I have missed much else!! Oh, and also condiments to go with roasts, such as redcurrant jelly, horseradish, mint sauce etc
Regards
Chris
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Message for Gill - Sorry, can't find your phone number!
Hi there! Yes it was me looking for the Gite - thanks for leaving a message on the answering machine. I think my in-laws are going to go for the ones in Graignes - you can just about see our house across the Marais from there!
I have enrolled for the level 3 class at GRETA this year, have you?
Thanks again for the message
Chris
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Hi.........we were looking at buying some land next to our house, in Manche. The owner (the farmer who we bought our house from), wanted about 17000€ for 3 hectares which made our other neighbours roar with laughter!! "He's having a laugh" was the approximate translation! Apparently he had decided to do us a favour and to hike the price up to ensure that when the land went through SAFER, no-one else would want to buy it - funnily enough, neither did we!
I suggest that you pop down to your nearest Notaires where they should be able to give you an idea of land values for your area.
Regards
Chris
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Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a go!
Cheers
Chris
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Hi there
Does anyone have, or know of a Gite somewhere near Carentan which is available 22nd to 29th December? 3 bedrooms (1 double, 2 singles would be OK)- one of which needs to be downstairs as does a bathroom - husband's granny has zimmer frame.
We have several relatives descending for Christmas, but won't have finished all the spare bedrooms by then, so thought I would make enquiries here!Regards
Chris
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Hello there
We have been here a year now, our 2 boys were 9 and 11 when we arrived, and only had very rudimentary French.They both had private lessons twice a week last year which they found very helpful as they could ask their tutor to explain things that they hadn't fully understood in school. The youngest is continuing once a week this year, but the eldest, now at college, decided to stop going - with the option of being able to give her a shout if he feels he needs any extra help. I feel that the extra lessons have been well worth it.
Regards
Chris
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For me, Wednesday's are a good example of what it's like to live in the countryside.
7.50am Take eldest to bus-stop to catch bus to school.
9.30 - 10am Take youngest to music lesson in town (10km)
1.00pm Pick up eldest from bus-stop 3km away
2.00 - 3ish pm Back into town for Table-tennis
5.00-5.30 pm Back again for trumpet lesson
7.00-8.30 pm and once more back again for Aikido!!!Horse/donkey/dogs/chickens and chores get sorted out in that small window of opportunity between about 10.30 and 12.45!!
We used to live in the countryside in the UK so I am used to a fair amount of ferrying about, especially at weekends, and I don't mind doing it at all, but it is certainly much more of an effort than if they could just wander into town by themselves!!
Regards
Chris
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Well, he has just had the first lesson......and loved it - he thinks it great that in the future he will just be able to pick up a bit of music and sight-read it 'That means I'll be able to play anything,Mum!!'
Regards
Chris
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My 10 year old son starts his for the first time tomorrow morning. I didn't realise that they teach musical notation over here as Do,Ray, Me etc whereas he learned to read music in the UK using A,B,C etc. One of the music teachers is going to take him on a 1-1 basis for the first term to help him switch from one to the other and then he will move to a group lesson. He plays the trumpet, and is hoping to get into the town band in a year's time. Me too, apparently the mayor is very keen on having a youth band in the town and subsidises the cost of the lessons to band members, reducing the cost from 160€/year to just 34€!!
Regards
Chris
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I just wanted to say, don't worry if your children are not Quote:'speaking well after a couple of weeks' - we read quite a lot of comments along these lines when we first moved to France, and then worried that our boys (then 9 and 11) didn't seem to be saying hardly anything even after a couple of months. 10 months on and they are coming on really well now, but it definately didn't happen overnight!
Regards
Chris
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I have a friend who is offering either French or English lessons in Carentan. She is English, married to a Frenchman with 3 children, one of whom she teaches at home. She taught my 2 children French when we first arrived, and has also taught adults 1-1 or in groups for GRETA. She would also be happy to help out with translating,letter-writing etc.
If you would like any further details, please send me a message and I will let you have a contact number for her.
Regards
Chris
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Somewhere in the middle!!
No good with gadgets, don't like sport much, or TV for that matter. I would pay more for a quality product, but have been tempted in the past by advertising. Hate 'fizzy drinks' and theme parks, but love hyper-markets,and just about all cheeses. Don't drive a flash car, but probably wouldn't say no if I was offered one. Try to do my 'bit' for re-cycling, but if the recycling bin is full and I can't be bothered to empty it-stuff goes in the rubbish! Adore good food and wine (that would explain the extra stone gained in the last 7 months!), dark chocolate - YUK, has to be creamy and milky and straight out of the fridge!!
Regards
Chris -
Try your local Notaires - they should be able to give you an idea of the currrent price of land for your area.Were you aware that the sale of agricultural land has to go through SAFER which is an agricultural body safeguarding the farmers. They will offer the land to local farmers who will have a priority option to buy. You could probably guarentee being able to buy the land by offering a sum some way above it's market value!
Regards
Chris -
The Fermette Marbeuf, 5 rue Marbeuf, just off the Champs Elysees, is an amazing place with the most incredible Art Deco interior, and the food is good, too!! Tel No: 01 53 23 08 00
Regards
Chris
Electric Panel Heater Advice Wanted
in House Renovations
Posted
Di,
Your friends house sounds exactly the same as ours - we use no heating upstairs and only a log burner in the kitchen. I only succumbed to a heated towel rail the other day because my mother is coming for Xmas and has already threatened to go home if the house isn't warm enough....I think I will have to put an oil-filled radiator in her room!!
Interestingly, we have had far fewer coughs and colds since we have been living in this house - the downstairs living rooms this evening are about 17 degrees, and upstairs it's about 12 degrees: I quite like being******cooned in lots of bedding, altho' getting up in the mornings can be a bit of a shock sometimes..if I remember, I heat the boys clothes up on an oil-filled radiator for 15 minutes before they get up!!
Our builder was telling me about some ceramic radiators which you wire into each room, which he reckoned were quite expensive to buy, but very economic to run, he can't believe that we are quite happy without heating!!
Regards
Chris
PS That's c o c o o n e d by the way...................how did that get thrown out for bad behaviour??!!