nectarine

Quillan, excellent advice and a very logical solution. Well done.!

Email is wonderful for keeping in touch. I've found, as I get older, that the idea of a long catch up telephone call is just too hard .... plus, as I'm chatting, I find myself looking around the house and garden and thinking of the things I should be doing there. But I have friends from school that email regularly - we probably only see each other once every two or three years, or speak on the phone three times a year, and yet it's like we spoke yesterday since we keep up with daily news by email. However, I'm a fast typist ... I can see that others who aren't so fast on a keyboard would find it more onerous. And woolybanana, think of your lovely friends on the forum whose day you brighten by your surreal postings!

can't it be established at which border they entered into France and just drop them there? Although the border country (Italy?) might not receive them, of course, but in my experience you can just drive straight through. But yes, a problem for the residents of the surrounding areas and it's a problem that isn't going to be going away easily.

ha ha wooly, you always brighten up my day!

Sunflower's advice is good, that's exactly what I do. Make the reservation for someone, pay for it, log in and download the boarding pass as a .pdf file then email it to the person who's flying.

thanks Alan, I'm guessing that as well. Infuriating, can't find a reference anywhere ...

I'm reading somewhere where a young man is described as 'un tatou' .... which my dictionary and a Google search tells me is an armadillo? That's clearly not the sense used in this book and later on there's reference to girls who like muscular 'tatous'. So I'm guessing it's something like a young man, lad .. Can anybody enlighten me? Or are we all too old and don't understand 'yoof' slang? Thanks all

I suggest you contact the mayor immediately and also get a geometre expert in, he will define exactly the boundaries of your land. A notaire will have details of someone available, but the geometre's word is pretty much law and if the building is on your land then this will be clearly stated. Good luck! I wish I could offer more constructive advice but this is the first route I'd take, immediately.

I've used them twice. Good rates, excellent customer service and you can check the progress of your transfer.

Mr Nectarine always parks in the further corner of any car park, well away from any neighbouring vehicles, so that his car won't be bumped and banged by opening doors. Most times, we return to the car to find another, absolutely next to it. Just those two, in that corner. With millions of empty spaces all around. But, on the same point, we went to the cinema the other week and were the first in and got some seats (at the back, on the end ... not a popular spot we thought.) The next people who came in looked around at the empty cinema and came and sat immediately in front of us! I have a horrible feeling we are being stalked !!!!

[quote user="HoneySuckleDreams"]sweet I think the conversation over croissants went like Henri: allors Francoise...regarde..les rosbifs de l' underground vont greve Francoise: pour combine des jours Henri: les 2 Francoise: pffft , nous pouvons show them a thing or deux ... tout le monde dehors pour un month [/quote] ha ha ha ha excellent! Made me splutter my coffee over my keyboard this morning!

I go to the local Terres Du Sud/Gamm Vert and buy a big bag of corn, and also a bag of 'poule pondeuse' mix. If you want more information about keeping hens, I also belong to a poultry forum which has a lot of French members who can help with where to source things locally/named of things, etc. PM me if you want more details.

an extremely worrying case ... and I wonder to whom she was able to complain. I mean, normally you'd complain to the police but they seem to be the culprits in this case. PS: good joke, Norman .. !

Is there any French equivalent of a Banking Ombudsman that you contact? Good luck with this,

thanks tinabee !

wishing you many happy days in your new barrel, Norman, and with your lovely garden view ...

I'm having a paperwork sort-out (oh, the chaos! the mess!) and want to buy some cheap cardboard 'concertina'/expanding files, a bit like this: http://tinyurl.com/p55zxkj However, every shop or online supplies depot in France seems only to have fancy plastic ones that double up as a portable briefcase. I'd like to buy about two or three ... does anybody know of a place that sells them? Big thanks. PS: how does one get a URL to act as a hyperlink on this message box? I don't seem to have anything other than smilies to add to this ...??

oh I wish my garden were as tidy as that photo ... !!!!

not last night but today the internet suddenly died on us! I saw the Livebox light change from green to flashing amber. However, we did have a telephone line from our fixed line. So obviously it's (a) livebox or (b) network error. Restarted Livebox, still the same. Rang FT/Orange and asked "is the network down in our area?". "Ah" said madam technician, "have you changed your computer settings?". I explained I hadn't, that I'd changed nothing, that I'd restarted both the computer and livebox and still no internet signal. So perhaps it was a regional network outstage? She ignored that, and took me through restarting my computer, restarting the Livebox, entering my password, re-entering all my parameters, restarting the Livebox again and finally, after 25 minutes, she consulted a screen and told me ....... that the network was down in my area. Groan. (About 2 hours later it came back on again).

I was always told to never bring wine to a French household, since you're telling the host that his own choice of wine is suspect so you're bringing a better bottle! However, I once brought a bottle of Stones Ginger Wine which was received with great enthusiasm, with everyone tasting it and remarking how wine could be made with ginger ( couldn't reply, I have no idea how it can be made!). English biscuits, in pretty tins, are always popular. Good luck.

Rob Roy - I can't offer any advice about the driving licence situation (dear Norman seems to be on top of this, well done!!) but I just wanted to send best wishes to your husband for his recovery. That must have been a shock. Hope it all turns out OK.

What an excellent idea ....! I know some people moan about FB but it has its merits. I'm going to suggest a 'community' page for around here ...

I've had many over the years (merging several houses meant we had endless pillows and duvets!) and ones that I bought from a UK supermarket were the best, and are still squashed and deflated. The cheaper ones have often leaked and only stay deflated for a few weeks. Yes, I learned my lesson not to put them in drawers! We have them in the top shelf of cupboards on on the top of wardrobes, with suitcases on top. A word of warning though - thoroughly air and dry anything you are going to put into the bags. A recent checked showed an old duvet covered in mould which had to be thrown away ... so make sure everything is spotlessly clean and dry.

Just a warning to all. I regularly look in the 'junk mail' section of my email to checking nothing legit has got in there, and found an email from EDF Blue Ciel entitled 'Paiement Refuse'. "Cher(e) EDF Client(e) : Votre paiement a été refusé par votre établissement bancaire en raison d'un problème technique sur le systeme de prélèvement automatique. Dépassement du plafond journalier, Erreur de saisie des données bancaires, Erreur de la saisie du nom du titulaire de la carte de crédit. Pour éviter la pénalités du retard, nous vous donnons la possibilité de payer en ligne. Afin de régler votre facture N° F03674.9278.5417.3681, cliquer sur le lien ci-dessous : ‹‹ Régler votre facture ›› Lors d'échec de régularisation de votre situation, nous procéderons à la suspension de fourniture d'energie, Cette intervention vous sera facturée " Now the 'Regler Votre Facture' link takes you to a website "paiement-impaye.com." which Google blocked as a phishing website. A quick Google search shows others receiving supposed-EDF emails that take them to this site where, presumably, one would have to enter one's bank details to 'correct' the payment error. Naturally, it's a con! I thought I'd share this in case others receive similar emails.

Davina McCall - screechy presenter, now on beauty and hair ads. Those slow-motion swishing-your-hair-about sections made me want to throw a chair through the TV. Bill Nighy - echo earlier comment. That deadpan face worked well in one film ... and now it's just lazy. Act, man, for goodness sake! Vernon Kay - there is something of the sleazy lounge lizard about him. Can't put my finger on it, just creepy. And a billion of those Essex girls and boys with inflated lips, boobies, false hair, fake tans .... Is room 101 big enough for all of my choices?