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FairyNuff

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Posts posted by FairyNuff

    PAYG mobile phones/SIM

    in French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone

    Posted

    [quote user="Clair"]You pay €14.90 for the SIM card.
    You get €11.50 worth of credit.
    You pay 11x €1.50 (€16.50) to keep your credit and your number live for 12 months.
    Then you buy a €5 top-up to carry your existing credit over the 12 months.
    You carry on paying €1.50 per month...
    [/quote]

     

    We have LeClerc PAYG sim cards in old phones. Clair outlines the system above, but for us the E1.50 a month comes off our phone credit. They send you a text message to say it's happened, and we check the amount left by dialling 950. If needed we top-up the credit on-line, but use our French bank's Carte Bleu.  Generally we keep the balance at between 10 and 15 euros.

    Hope this makes it a bit clearer.

    FairyNuff

     

    Forgot to say - The first E1.50 comes off a month after you register the phone.

    Loire Tour help

    in Central (Centre, Limousin, Auvergne)

    Posted

    Not forgetting Valençay with it's château and two AOCs, one for wine and one for goat's cheese. Although it's classed as a Loire château, it's a slightly tenuous link! The town is also the site of a memorial to the SOE agents killed during WW2, and has a motor museum, if you're interested in that sort of thing, mainly French vehicles but with a BSA motorbike.

    FairyNuff

    [kiss]

    French accents

    in French Language

    Posted

    A simple way I've found to do this on a lap-top with no numeric pad, instead of toggling between functions is this:

    If you're in 'Word' go to Tools, then Language, then Select language, you can select French as a second language, provided you can find it on the list of languages on your coputer. After that, when you're typing a document, after a few words it detects than you're typing in French and will underline in red the words that it thinks are wrong. Correct it, and Bob's your uncle! [geek] If it's for a post, copy and paste into your post, easy-peasy!

    FairyNuff

    Dishwasher Materials

    in Shopping

    Posted

    I've had the same problem with Sun basic dishwasher powder. I assumed it was because I didn't have the salt dosage right and changed that, but the it's just as bad. I'll be buying some branded tablets before the cheap stuff is finished, which as a good Yorkshire lass I don't normally do.

    FairyNuff

    swiss chard recipe

    in French Food and Wine

    Posted

    I've a pile of the stuff, thanks to OH thinking that half a row isn't enough. It's good with eggy and cheesy sauces, and is good in a quiche. Just fry the stalks with an onion, add the chopped leaves until wilted down, turn out into a blind-baked case and cover with beaten eggs with a bit of grated cheese in it (I've used gruyere). Bake in the oven until set. It's one of those recipes which isn't too strict, and is a variation on a theme! If you Google "Swiss chard recipe" quite a few pop up.

    FairyNuff

    good quality overnight hotels

    in Sport, Leisure and Pastimes

    Posted

    We've used Etap for many overnight stays, but I'm not sure how I'd cope with a baby in one of their rooms. They're more of a budget option than the Ibis, in the same Accor group, are always very clean, with an en-suite shower "room" and toilet. They are usually outside the town centres, and you won't eat an evening meal there, but there's generally something like a Buffalo Grill nearby. Breakfast is help-yourself "french". Unlike Ibis there isn't someone on site all the time, but generally about booking-in time. In short we've always found them good value, if a little basic - avoid Formule 1 - awful!

    FairyNuff

    Carrying a penknife

    in French Legal Issues

    Posted

    Thank you for so many replies. As I only carry it when I'm in uniform for a first aid duty it's hopefully highly unlikey that the gendarmes are going to stop me and search the car (or me!). Generally it stays in my pocket, unseen by anyone. I feel that the whole situation is rather elastic, having seen all sorts of blades and weapons for sale at brocantes and vide-greniers with what seems to be apparent impunity.

    FairyNuff

    Thunderstorms warning

    in The Complete France Post Bag

    Posted

    Last week's widely predicted storms didn't arrive here until last night, when they were spectacular. We had a very hot dry wind in the afternoon, then about half past midnight paparazzi-like lightening and rumbles of thunder that seemed to shake the rafters. At least the potager won't need watering to-day!

    FairyNuff

    Carrying a penknife

    in French Legal Issues

    Posted

    Does anyone know the rules in France for carrying a small penknife? I have been told that as long as the blade is shorter than your palm it's allowed, but someone else warned me when they saw it - "Attention aux Gendarmes!" I carry one occasionally, so I'd like to know the possible problems.

    Many thanks

    FairyNuff

    Le Tour - how soon to arrive to get a good view?

    in Sport, Leisure and Pastimes

    Posted

    [quote user="LyndaandRichard"]We saw it arrive at Issoudun last Tuesday and despite getting there about 2 hours before the race ended and it being Bastille Day, we were only 300 - 400m from the finish line and got a very good view of the last corner, although disappointingly there were no crashes.

    Here's my write up and pics of the day if you're interested.

    [/quote]

    I was in Issoudun at 11 in the morning last Tuesday, there were already people installed with picnic tables and chairs near the finish line even then! They were in for a long wait. What is even more amazing is how quickly the whole thing is dismantled, about 3 hours, and the streets are being cleaned of all the plastic water bottles.

    FairyNuff

    Carbon monoxide test strips for the home

    in Health

    Posted

    We have a combined smoke/CO alarm, which works very well detecting smoke (when OH is cooking), I hope it works as well with CO.

    A thought occurs to me about the respiratory proplems, perhaps it's because the air becoes too dry with the wood-burning stove. I always find that a very dry atmosphere affects my "tubes" and I sneeze and cough much more, without having an infection.

    FairyNuff

    Dripping tree

    in Wildlife/Nature/Environment

    Posted

    [quote user="ErnieY"]I wondered what this thread was about and had my bread and salt ready but oh the disappointment [:D][:D][:D]

    Seriously though I think virtually all trees drip to some extent or another don't they ?

    Pines must be amongst the worst and what horrible tenaciously sticky stuff their sap is too !



    [/quote]

     

    In fact Ernie the stuff that drips off willows is very watery, not sticky at all, and not a bit like the honeydew from aphids on lime trees.

    FairyNuff

    Dripping tree

    in Wildlife/Nature/Environment

    Posted

    Hi everyone

    An update -we were back to the same place yesterday, when it was about 30 degrees in the shade [8-|], and the dripping trees do seem to be willows, both weeping and upright. It really is quite bizarre standing under the tree with it dripping on your bare shoulders. The earth beneath the tree was positively soggy compared to the rest of the field. I don't know whether the weeping willows you see in gardens drip or not, these particular trees are close to a river, perhaps that's relevant?

    Thanks for everyone's input

    FairyNuff [:)]

    Blue number plates

    in Driving in France

    Posted

    I seem to remember a thread a while ago about red number plates, which I think were for cars registered for export in less than a year. Recently we saw a car with very pretty [8-|] blue number plates. Does anyone know the significance?

    Thanks

    FairyNuff

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