Normandie

Hi Dick It's " La foire d'Etouvy" the 2nd or 3rd weekend of October. Hope that helps ...  

Hi Dick Will have to email my French friend about the 'Vire' fair and get back to you as that's what we call it but it does have a proper name which I can't remember. Will post a reply once I hear from him ... Lucky you - a 'free' man - best wishes for your retirement!  

Thanks Catalpa & La G I'll go to the Haras then as it sounds good and it's local.  We've picked up an old carriage at a brocante so this could be the inspiration to start using it - well - get a horse first!  There seems to be a carriage club in our area which would be great to join one day - I imagine there must be safety in numbers on the roads around our way?! The link for the Chateau is great - much more what i meant.  Is it me? I can't see any details of the programme/prices etc online. The lamb/bring your own cutlery is just how the Vire Autumn fair is - very interesting but as a vegetarian I miss out on the food and just drink!  Still, it is a specatacle full of lots of very interesting characters - I try not to gawp!  It seems to be an annual reunion for lots of families which is lovely. Yes I've seen those books you mentioned - must get another copy for the UK so I can plan my trips better.  Gavray is lovely so must try and get to that one year.  So much to see ... Looking forward to it! 

Thank you for your replies. We're missing our local show this year but that's ok we've seen that before but I really want to see the St Lo Haras as they allow visitors on a Thursday afternoon during the summer.  Anyone been there to see the horses? One day I'll take a year out and live chez nous and get to see everything!  It's a bit frustrating but at least there's always something to look forward to 'next time' like being over for the 4th of July one year ...

Hello all We've just been to the Middx County Show today which was a good day out - owls/birds of prey/fly ball/classic cars etc etc and was just wondering if there's anything like that (more that a brocante) in 'our' area 50 around 2/3rd August? I've been to the fair at Vire in Sept which is great - is there something like that in the summer?  Otherwise may look to see if there any any Fetes de la Mer on the coast. Thanks in advance for any replies ...  

Thank you both for your help ... will follow that up asap ... found http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/forum/ too which is interesting ...

Cher Frenchie No real advice but just wanted to say ... Sorry to hear of your situation ... sounds like you're taking on board some of the advice that's right for you and are becoming more convinced of your rights and more assertive so that's good. People can very very jealous of other's happiness and that's probably part of what's going on.  Confident colleagues do not undermine others so this is all their problem but you are the one, unfortunately, that needs to deal with the 'manifestation'... You are in the right. Good luck!  Perhaps you can try to do something that helps you relax - in the meantime - to keep things in perspective. N x

Thanks to all those who replied about woodburners for heating/hot water ... I find that I now need to consider geothermal heating too. Does anyone have some first hand experience of how effective it is? I've got the room for the cabling required. Thanks in advance for any response (I did try a search but couldn't see anything so not sure if I did it right?!). I will of course also look up info on the internet but would be interested to hear from actual 'users' Thank you.  

Ian Don't think you'll regret 2 places, 2 lifestyles.  We live by the Thames, so we can walk into our local town for shops/cinema/retaurants etc and can get on a train and be in Waterloo in 25 mins ... or ... get the ferry and 6 hours later be in France in the countryside living our other life (or will when it's habitable!): rural tranquility.  Lots of space, freedom, views, nature, animals, beaches, peche a la pied, fresh air, 5 hour 'lunches', interesting neighbours! are some of the main attractions, as well as fascinating first experiences of all sorts! especially if you frequent brocantes ... We only go twice a year at the moment but will go 4/5 times when it's 'done' and will be able to let our friends make use of it too as it's too good not to share ... All the best  

Sounds good poolguy, thank you, ... I'm off to look that up.  I also like the idea of the house not getting too cold/damp when we're not there esp once it's furnished.  

Thanks John & Sue and Big Mac I also like the idea of underfloor heating ... it's lovely and also like the idea of programming from home (UK) - and any gadgets are sure to get my OH more interested! Geothermal - not looked into that yet - tho' we do have the space ... Lots of options aren't there but back ups and choices are a good thing so that it really suits what you want, throughout the year.  In our experience (Normandy) we've enjoyed log fires in the evening during August anyway! As you say insulation is very important and we will have new concrete fully insulated floors so I'm sure that will help - having said that there is also the cheaper wood floor option - argh - too many decisions to make!  Still once I start making a few decisions I'm sure I'll feel better - won't I ?! A la prochaine

Thank you Nectarine - that's great.  Like the sound of a warm cosy house!

Thank you for all you replies ... Our house is not yet habitable so we have plenty of time to start 'harvesting' the wood and getting it stored correctly to dry out so that we can start with 4 year old wood! We've got plenty of space to store the wood and enough room in the kitchen for another cooker so I'm sure this must be the answer for us. I know Rayburn is a good make - would I need to look for the French equivalent?  Do you add 'modern' radiators to the system or the old thick victorian type? The main draw back I can see that it's not great if we arrive to a freezing cold house for long weekends but then I guess we'll just have to avoid arriving late at night so we've got the day to get things going. Thanks ... hope you are all having a great weekend!

I'd love to know if anyone has got good heating and hot water from a wood fired system - I think it is the best option for us as we have plenty of wood and would not need to worry so much about the increasing cost of electric, gas or oil. Thank you in advance ...

Sounds wonderful!  Good for you ...  Feb 08 isn't long to go at all - in the scheme of things - so it will all be worth it. Our place is also a labour of love.  A house for me, my husband and new baby, (in the future) plus a separate converted farm building for Granddad! My Dad has done tons of work himself (to save money) as he can turn his hand to most things - wish I'd inherited that gene!  He's just finished the roof on the house - did all the timberwork himself plus the insulation and tiling.  He's back in the UK for xmas for a well earned rest and to recharge the batteries, but to be honest he didn't really want to come back or leave his cat. It was our (me & Dad's) dream too - bit off much more than we intended to - without the budgets/finances in place - but if we hadn't bought it four years ago it would certainly have been out of reach now.  The thing is he is living the life he wants to lead - space, peace, room to have whatever you want without having to think 'where are we going to put it' etc! and having to work out how to build your own 'A' frame etc and all the maths involved in bookeeping/budgeting etc (done manually) means he doen't need any extra brain training, soduko etc! He gets a bit lonely sometimes - his partner doesn't want to live in France fulltime - but that has driven him to learn to cook so that he can return all the meals he's been invited to in the past by his French friends so that's great.  Never dreamt he'd ever offer to cook me a three course dinner! I guess if I had the same property/land in the UK I wouldn't have thought of buying abroad but that would be impossible here so I'm enjoying the French experience instead, and loving it along the way. What a lot you have to look forward to ... enjoy ... Bonne Annee

Lucky you!  I hope that it all you wanted it to be ...

 We hope to spend Christmas and New Year at our place in Normandy in the not too distant future !!! but in the meantime we are at home in England ... Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all ... Can't wait to have Christmas chez nous: room for friends to stay, open fires, walks in the beautiful countryside, fantastic wine, cheese, seafood, free mistletoe and holly in the orchard, etc etc In the meantime we are healthy, happy and near our family so we are grateful for that. Hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas time ...       

I like a simple but tasty, cold, fresh starter ... that can be prepared in advance: Bit 'retro' but as I'm a veg - egg mayonaise for me on a bed of fresh shredded lettuce/salad with a sprinkle of paprika over the mayo and prawn cocktail for the others and if you make more than's needed people have a choice and they can always be eaten later/next day if not all used.   mmmm ... must go and get some dinner together ...

Hi Peter We've had a couple of lovely chimneys put in but I'm afraid we're not near enough to you for a recommendation to be any good - sorry - but what I did want to add was ... when you do find an artisan check to see if he replaces the roof tiles as part of the job.  You'd think he would (or we did!) but that was left for a roofer/tiler to do - not part of the builder's remit.  (Will also be less expensive if you have the stone available). Just thought I'd mention it as otherwise it affects the budget, good luck!  

Hi Christine You reminded  me ... Nigella Express (I don't usually watch her programmes) was very good last week ... She had what looked like a great tagine recipe (but only served (didn't cook it) in the tagine) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/lamboliveandcarameli_87563.shtml and her ribs/chicken recipe looked good too.  I'm a veg myself but I know my OH would have like the above esp as you can prepare it in advance, hence the 'express' recipe. Bon appetit!  

He wants more than 48?!  48 isn't good enough?  Oh no, I was satisfied with that score so I guess I'm going to have to keep playing ... [:@] He's not googling any words is he - or is your OH just dead brainy? How are the rest of you getting on? Will you actually use any of the words that are new to you? Work a conversation round to a subject just so you can add in the new word!!!  

Hurray! Got to 48 at long last!!! The repetition of certain words helps plus does any French/Latin knowledge, and some good guesses (plus no trick answers). Now feel a bit more confident about my brain's ability to go back to work in January ... Hope you all have a great weekend (once you've got your thermals on!)  

For the past couple of years we've had snow in Normandy - in February.  Never been there at the right time to see it though and probably best left to when the place is habitable I suppose! But we saw some video of the fields and countryside around our house and it was so beautiful and QUIET. Looking forward to seeing it for myself ...  

What keeps you busy workwise on the pc for so long?  Is it interesting?

It's a 'social network'.  You can look up friends on it (if they've joined!) but it's a pretty large database so if they have an unusual name it's much easier to find them. Try facebook.com It's great for following, for example, a friend's progress on his round the world trip and keeping in touch with close friends easily and even finding people you may have lost touch with (which I've done). The addiction has worn off now though! I've now found freerice.com which is great for getting my brain exercised a bit more ...