Clair

I doubt your landlord will know enough about technology to ask too many questions, so you could innocently let slip that you are using computerised cameras to keep an eye on things whilst you're away. You could mention they detect movement and send everything they film to your mobile phone or computer... You could also actually use one of these nanny-cams to keep an eye on your drinks cabinet... [;-)]

Does a landlord have right of entry? No, a landlord cannot enter a rented property at will. The rented property constitutes your residence and this entitles you to your privacy. More details HERE (translation) and HERE (translation) - note the point about the keys... This page (translation) explains the circumstances under which the tenant must allow a visit by the landlord. An interesting legal point HERE (translation). The ANIL website is your point of reference for any tenancy question. There is a branch in each département (ADIL).

Ooops... sticky fingers!

For me, despite being able to understand the dialogue in both languages, The Tunnel doesn't have the same impact as the original! I watched 3 or 4 episodes and didn't get gripped by it. I barely remember the original plot, just the pleasure of anticipating each new episode... but there's none of this with The Tunnel [:(] There's a US version of the same, with Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir, also called The Bridge, which takes place on the Texas-Chihuahua border.

[quote user="NormanH"]... if you go on a course or attend a meeting where people don't know each other this sort of 2 minute postage stamp of who you are is expected to say in front of the whole group.[/quote] Quite true. I've had to "present" myself (in English, which was more of a foreign language at the time than it is now) more times than I can remember for job interviews and training courses... I did it for United Airlines, trying to get a job as a flight attendant (they offered a place on the training course, but I chickened out), I did it for Kodak at the start of a 7-day training course at Hemel Hampstead and for various refresher courses during my working life in England... I do a bit of English conversation with a few youngsters in the village, and I ask them to speak about themselves for a couple of minutes, as a way to assess their fluency and to get them used to speaking without a text to refer to. We do variations (family, hobbies, carreer, lottey win...) and they get more comfortable and less self-conscious about ad-libbing in a foreign language very quickly... Could it be that a teacher has suggested your daughter is not ready for the exam because she's not yet ready to speak in front of her peers...?

That's the one! And it looks scrumptious! I'll definitely try making that!

Sorry for my late arrival on this thread [:)] A priori, la neige, en novembre, ça ne devrait pas surprendre, mais je ne pensais pas en voir ce matin, même si la météo avait prévu une légère couche... [blink]

Thank you, GardenGirl, for posting this. The original thread which prompted me to offer the sample letter can be read HERE.

Mr Clair has been dutifully recording and transferring dozens of episodes of 'Allo 'Allo on our network-attached storage (NAS) and had a hair-raising moment of panic yesterday when he thought he'd deleted the lot by mistake! As a result, I am now looking to automate a back-up system to cover both our laptops (his Mac and my Windows). For Mac users: As I understand it, Acronis does not support Mac, though I have read about "Acronis Backup & Recovery for Mac", which requires additional files tagged on to Acronis. Does anyone use this and if so, does it work with the latest Acronis (True Image 2014)? As the backup facility included in my version of Windows 7 does not allow backing up on a network drive, and considering that the latest Acronis may not work with a Mac, I may well go for a free automated backup system for my Windows laptop, and I'd be grateful for a comparison from Acronis users. How does Acronis compare with SyncBackFree and Macrium? Am I overlooking something else? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the clarification Betty and Frederick. I don't have the time right now to revive the sample letter I produced a few years ago for those non-residents who do not have a TV to send to the relevant French admin... I'll look for it in a bit and post a link...

Info HERE. FREE possible prevention/solution HERE.

In this house, he is known as Humpty Dumpty (look as his face!!) Just about everything that has been implemented seems to have been done as a knee-jerk reaction to whoever last shouted in his ear and has soon been amended to reflect the pressure put on by whichever third-party feels more aggrieved. Even the people working in the mairie in my very left-wing village have expressed their exasperation with the many unpractical and nonsensical policies and changes they are asked to implement. No need for any right-wing propaganda when they're the ones being asked to deal with the consequences...

For what it's worth, I'd say: "La douleur passera, mais la défaite restera avec moi pour toujours." Future tense makes it sound more solemn; défaite would be better than échec in this instance as it balances the sentence better (longer word); défaite is also used for sporting failure.

Betty is right. The payment (or non-payment) of the redevance is not linked to your usual residence, but the ownership of a device (whichever form it takes) allowing you to watch or receive TV programs. That's all the Trésor Public people are concerned with. The redevance is automatically included in the TH (taxe d'habitation) form, unless the owner has ticked the no-TV-here box on his/her income tax declaration. I suspect from your post that you do not complete one of those, therefore the redevance is automatically added...

I've had a similar problem with my iPod on a couple of occasions; it was so bad I even looked into getting a replacement battery... By a strange coincidence [blink] the problem disappeared after I synced the iPod with iTunes. It happened twice and the sync solved the problem each time. Worth a try?

Current news coverage: Carol Sheridan missing France

[quote user="Patf"]It often surprises me how different french expressions are from english. And why? One example occurred to me this evening, saying to someone that it's dark early tonight. Is it really correct to use "noir"? Surely not "foncé"? Is there a french word for "twilight"? [/quote] Twilight = crépuscule (it's a bit literary.) Foncé wouldn't work in this particular "light vs dark" context. You could use sombre though, as in "Il fait sombre tôt ce soir!" [:)]

The thread title says "vegetarian", whereas the article says "végétalien"... A régime végétalien is more extreme than a vegetarian diet. It excludes not just animal flesh, but all foods produced by animals: eggs, dairy products (milk, butter, cheese...), honey, etc...

[IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q296/clair46/Spring%20Forward%20Fall%20Back/imagesqtbnANd9GcRHbtv0UOK9zc91yH-VF_zps56000abf.jpg[/IMG] On Sunday 27th October, we get a do-over: at 3am, it will be 2am again... [:-))] Read more about it!

[quote user="vette"]As for spare light bulbs, some vehicles, including Renault, require the front wheel and inner arch to be removed to replace a headlamp bulb. One of my cars requires the front bumper to be removed to replace the bulbs. In other words, for most folk, it's a garage job. Makes no sense does it. I'm sure the Gendarmes do have some common sense though.[/quote] I totally agree. But as things stand, if your car is found to have faulty light, you will most probably incur a fine (68€ reduced to 45€ if paid quickly) and you also run the risk of having the car impounded at the roadside, a possibility if Mr Blue Uniform is feeling a bit grumpy... Which would be more inconvenient to you? A potentially long walk home, or carrying a kit of spare bulbs to show your willingness to deal with a faulty light?

One of the local groups organised a mushroom workshop this afternoon. 15 or so of us scattered in the woods with the aim of collecting those mushrooms we don't usually pick, mainly because we don't know if they're edible or poisonous... There's only so many times one can eat ceps and chanterelles without getting bored, you know... [Www] I managed to collect about 20 different-looking mushrooms I knew nothing about and accomplished my stated aim to learn to recognise 2 or 3 new edible ones. My neighbour and friend found 4 beautiful ceps (ceps! how boring!) I now know that the bolet à pied rouge (dark brown cap, red+yellow foot, red underside which turns blue on finger contact) is lovely to eat, but must be cooked. I think I can recognise the pied de mouton and the améthyste violette, both edible. I've just had a plateful of pasta and chanterelles (I think that's what they were... [8-)]), but if you don't hear from me in the next few days, you can point the finger at my former friend and neighbour Josette, who gave them to me.. [:-))]

A quick search brings up this place: http://www.auvieuxcampeur.fr/adresse_toulouse. You can find Merrells in these shops.

For clarification: This is the official list of items required to be carried when driving a vehicle in France (google translation here.) This is the official list of papers required to be carried when driving a vehicle in France (google translation here.) Spare bulbs: not compulsory, but recommended. If one of the lights is not working, Mr Grumpy Gendarme is much less likely to make walk home if you can change the faulty bulb... though you might still have to pay the fine... First-aid kit: not compulsory, but common sense. Fire extinguisher: not compulsory. Spare specs: not compulsory unless specs/lenses are mentioned on the driving licence, but common sense if you wear specs or contact lenses. Official line here and google translation here.

Thank you for the update. It's great news for your friend!

[quote user="Chancer"]Alt gr is like a down shift key which accesses the lower characters on each key where they exist.[/quote] [I] ctrl and alt pressed at the same time (in a left-handed two-finger action [Www]) will also give access to the lower characters on your AZERTY keyboard...