Scooby

It is possible to prevent someone who is very drunk from driving away from your house in that condition.  We have some old friends staying with us (ironically while we were in France).  In hindsight it was a big mistake as their relationship was breaking down but we thought it would help and that it would be good for their son to play with our two boys (change of atmosphere and all that).  On the first evening they both got very drunk (read a couple of bottles of wine each followed by brandy).  A fight ensued (glasses thrown and broken etc) and she grabbed her car keys adamant she was driving back to the UK.  Our children took their little boy out of the way to distract him.  Her husband was no use whatsoever - in his (very vocally expressed opinion) it was good riddance and he hoped she killed herself en route to Paris.  I literally had a physical fight with her to get the car keys.  In the meantime, my OH had pulled his car across the driveway to block her exit.  Ok he was probably over the limit and so technically not in a fit state to turn the ignition, but the two things together prevented what could have been a tragedy...not just for my friend but for other drivers in her path. I agree with the comments on here re the french at fetes, out for meals etc.  Those near to us never seem to bother.  The only 'care' they take is to go by the 'safe' roads (i.e. the back lanes where there are less likely to be gendarmes.)

[quote user="brianagain"] I don't have a problem with tax avoidance as long the individual or organisation uses  a tax relief in the manner for which it was intended. Brian (again) [/quote] If parliament doesn't intend legislation to be interpreted in a particular way then it is their responsibility to ensure it is properly drafted.   

[quote user="liz"]To get a holiday without paying accommodation costs why not try a home swap?   There are a number of web sites that provide listings of people who want to do this all over the world and you can also swap your holiday home.  A modest fee will give you a listing for a year.  The only down side so far as I can see is that you have to get your own house in a reasonably tidy state beforehand[+o(]. Liz [/quote] As I've posted before, we've done this lots of times with both our main home in the UK and our second home in France.  This year we spent Easter in New York (6 bed 4 bath brownstone in a very smart part of Brooklyn just 15 minutes from downtown Manhattan).  July we are going to Prince Edward Island in Canada for just over two weeks - again a very nice 6 bed 3 bath house.  The NY trip cost us the £240 each return flights plus spending money, the Canada trip is costing us £500 return plus £388 for 16 days car hire. Next Feb we are off to Rio for 10 days for carnaval for just the cost of the flights (staying in a lovely 3 bedroom apartment 5 minutes from both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches).  Summer 2010 we are swapping for a 4 bedroom villa with a private swimming pool 5 minutes from the beach in Aruba in the Carribean. We also have swaps 'banked' for a beach house on a private island off the cast of N Carolina and a lovely spanish style house in Southern California.  For both of these we will probably agree other swaps so we can see the area properly (our first retirement wanderings!). Previous swaps have included: Iceland, skiing in the CZ Republic, Portugal, Galway and the Burren on the west coast of Ireland,  a 6 bed maison de maitre by the sea in Britanny, a beach house in Spain... The other alternative is 'couchsurfing.com' which we also do...to allow our older kids to indulge their wanderlust!

We're going out for a week on 17th June and paid £1 each way (no luggage, no priority boarding, no card fees - paid with electron).  I guess this will be the last at this price given the new £5 each way mandatory check in fee...

Seems pretty straightforward to me - markets work on supply and demand.  If factories are overstaffed (read goods are overpriced) then they either cut costs or close.  Strikes, industrial action etc just increase the operating costs and the losses of the business and accelerate the inevitable.  Criminal acts (removal of power supples etc) justify criminal sanctions.  

For our fete we don't buy desserts, instead all the 'girls' in the village bake.  (250 covers usually!!)  I've found that anything chocolate always goes first.  Last year I did a victoria sponge but filled it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and that went down well.  For cake bakes in the UK I often do muffins as they are i) very quick and easy to make ii) they are easy for the servers to sell (no slicing / plates etc necessary) and iii) they make a good return compared to the cost of the ingedients.

Yes please Jo

With the exception of things like the cheap glasses, kitchen storage jars etc we really don't like IKEA stuff so can't comment on delivery charges. However, we are really surprised though with the number of people furnishing their houses with modern IKEA furniture.  Do you all live in modern (new build) housing in France?

[quote user="POB"]Scooby: Our last home in England was 4 Kms. from the centre of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.  We now live 5 Kms. from Marmande.  We sold a four bedroom detatched, with small garden for £169,000 and bought a four bedroom detatched bungalow with about 30% more floor space and 2000 metres² of garden for €140,000.  Our cost of living is little different but we do now eat more healthily. [/quote] Same here.  We bought a lovely 5 bed 3 bathroom house in a large garden in a pretty village in France for £165k at a time when our 4 bed 2 bathroom house in the UK was worth £450k.  The difference?? In the UK I am near a large city with unlimited employment opportunities, in France finding employment nearby (even for the French) would be a challenge!!

He doesn't make many comments but those he does seem to be frank, accurate and to the point.  Probably won't score him points with the airy fairy brigade but hey.... Ditto re GS - though reading them is a bit like being back at work sometimes [Www]

[quote user="POB"] The things we love about France derive from its size geared to the population size resulting in relatively cheap housing, quiet roads and a lot of area to explore. [/quote] I think the above hits the nail on the head!  Most of the 'we love France' comments can be distilled into a rural v city divide.  The only difference being that due to the relatively small size of the UK, UK rural is usually commutable to a big town so expensive whereas France rural usually means 'out in the sticks' and cheap.

Thanks RH and Pudding!!

LOL - Chris - I was in two minds whether Quillan was on a wind up or for real!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8076848.stm

LOL I'm not the slightest bit bothered what they think of me, Christine!!!  People take me as I am.  If someone doesn't like me then that's their problem. The point about expenses was valid - it's a good example of one of the one sided views on here.   Btw from conversations with neighbours etc, I think 'watching what others wear, how they are, what they do' is a classic rural french pastime...and they're all much better at it than I am!! [:D]

[quote user="Quillan"]Now now Scooby calm down, you will be coming out with comments about rose tinted glass's next and I shall have run and find my mods hat as I am told by a current member we ain't doing enough moderating these days.[;-)] Remember only say nice positive things NEVER tell the truth, people don't want to hear it. Didn't you know all British politicians are basically honest  . See that, two spaces before the full stop. Sorry, I'm happy, no meal tonight, no cooking, first time in 16 days yipeeeeeeeeeee. [:D] [:P] [:D] [/quote] Grin [:D]

Not critical Christine - frank and honest.  As I said elsewhere France and the UK both have good and bad and trying to pretend that France is some sort of nirvana filled with altruistic superheroes is just plain rubbish. For example, all the criticism on here about UK MP expenses (not saying they are wrong or right) but not a whisper about the corruption in French government.  Remember Chirac????

[quote user="Quillan"]Well Chris it seems you are sadly out of touch because between 87% and 94% (depending on which point you specifically mention) of Brits living in France feel this way. [/quote] I'm guessing it's the (comparatively) wealthy Brit retirees, in their pretty stone cottages who haven't got much in the way of French language skills.....

[quote user="Quillan"]French women much more sexier than English ones and much better dressed [:D].[/quote] You haven't met the women in our village Quillan - most are size 20+, they do a great number in a certain shade of 'red' hair (I think the local hairdresser gets a bulk discount..) and their dress sense...!?! With the exception of two ladies (both of whom lived most of their life in Paris and moved in good social circles) is...aherm interesting!  One large lady in particular wears diaphanous gowns with spindly white hairy legs protruding out.  Her dresses seem to have arm holes that are too big - so that you can see the thin, too tight bra strap cutting into the rolls of flesh...and the hairy armpits![quote user="Quillan"]There are far higher standards behavior. Children are better behaved and retain their 'childhood' innocence longer.[/quote] Our neighbours' child is a complete nightmare and has been expelled from two schools. [quote user="Quillan"]English children living here become better behaved the longer they stay.[/quote] My (very well behaved) English children hate coming to France because the neighbours expect them to babysit 'Damien II' (as they have nicknamed him). [quote user="Quillan"]There are far stronger family values than in the UK.[/quote] Do you mean they eat together...and eat late.  I've often seen very young children kept out at restos, fetes etc with parents when they are so tired they can hardly keep their eyes open.  Hardly fair or considerate towards the children. Or is it they look after their elderly parents?  Other neighbours look after elderly parents...because it's cheaper than a nursing home and they get paid an allowance for going and bathing, feeding them etc.  Another neighbour took care of her in-laws for similar reasons to the above and it was openly known she hated the sight of her and joked about the different ways she could bump her off.  Yet another neighbour charges her octogenarian invalid mother 20 euros an hour to cut her lawns and weed her flower beds. [quote user="Quillan"]Far less crime.[/quote] I'm assuming you are talking about rural areas and not the banlieues? Even so, our house has been broken into (we now have screw on steel bars across all the window and door shutters as well as the double mortice locks) and before we bought the house (when it was unoccupied) the son of one of the neighbours was found dead of a heroin overdose in the front downstairs bedroom. [quote user="Quillan"]Much less stress.[/quote] Is this why alcoholism, depression and suicide rates are so high in France? [quote user="Quillan"]More healthier.[/quote] See above [quote user="Quillan"]Eat better.[/quote] We eat as well in the UK as our neighbours do in France - if not better. Fresh meals cooked everyday, local and no convenience foods, less red meat, less saturated fats and vegetables not cooked to the point of grey mush. [quote user="Quillan"]Cook more.[/quote] See above [quote user="Quillan"]Healthier.[/quote] See above [quote user="Quillan"]Take more exercise[/quote] Is this the size 20+ ladies, or the gentlemen with their well developed guts from the pastis and wine?  My OH and I look far healthier and slimmer than most of those living near us! [quote user="Quillan"]In general the quality of life here in France is between good and excellent.[/quote] A massive generalisation.  Some of our neighbours manage on a tenth of our income - in fact we don't know how they do manage....and I'm sure those of North African extraction in the banlieues don't feel they have a quality of life 'between good and excellent'. France is great if you are retired, have a good stable income and can get away and travel in the boring winter months. PS nothing personal at you Quillan, just a difference of opinion...unless your post was meant to be sarcastic of course [:)]

I thought french plaster was quite different to English plaster and dried more quickly making it difficult to get a good finish?

General rule is for more flowers use a fertiliser with potash, for lush green growth (at the expense of flowers) a fertiliser with nitrogen.  Tomato feeds are high in potash (as is 'blood, fish and bone', wood ashes from the fire etc (hardwoods have higher ash content than softwoods)) so will encourage flowers. 

Gold injections used to be used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (which is quite different from osteo i.e. wear an tear arthritis).  Gold injections are not the same as hydrocortisone injections.  Glucosamine is used for the treatment of osteoarthritis and can help even when the arthritis is severe.  As far as I am aware there are no double blind trials that prove the effectiveness of magnets - any beneficial effects are thought to be psychological (i.e. a placebo).

We spent yesterday having a lovely lunch (under a tenner) at a pretty country eatery by the canal watching the canal boats moored up.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in the garden, the stunning countryside painting a wonderful backdrop to a pretty border of geraniums, irises, campanulas and climbing roses clambering over wrought iron archwork and framed by the honey coloured stone of a centuries old cottage.  Where were we?  In England, our home.  France is pretty and picturesque in places too but, like the UK, it has many problems. Jon, not everyone has the tunnel visioned view of France or dislike of the UK as you appear to have. 

It's still standard formatting for the (very large) business I work for.

[quote user="woolybanana"]Mr Antia wants to have  revenge, the money and the custody of the kids, no? But yes, PD, your take is about right.[/quote] Agree completely.  It does make you wonder if another female would ever risk getting involved with him.  His nastiness and infamy may follow him to his lonely grave.