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Hi It is ridiculous that the spa is doing this as Bilclarie says, how irresponsible to rehome one pregnant one in season dog!! Panda

This question comes up quite a lot and I always think about things like the big wooden houses made and erected by Germans all over Europe.  What is the difference?  There is one somewhere in this area apparently which was shipped in and erected by a German team working in France.  I think the free trade agreement must cover the ability for English registered companies to carry out work in France.  There are loads of polish workers (don't know about their employment status but they drive polish vans) here in the charente at the moment and the ones I've encountered can't speak any French so it's fun standing behind them in the builders merchants as everyone is using hand signals and tries every language to try and find a common one!  No one seems to be making any fuss about them, they are on a local small building site erecting houses at break neck speed.  It's interesting actually as another builder (French) is doing a new house about 2km away and he is just up to roof level whereas these polish guys are on their third house,!! There were also a crew working on a local equestrian centre and they worked everyday and every hour they could, definitely pas normal!!  [:D]

Hi There is somethining in this as I was told when enquiring at an estate agents about a particualry beautiful very run down property that such properties can be sold by the mayor when in this state as the town wants them renovated.  I got the impression though that this was only in the case when the owner could not be found/contacted after a number of years.  Panda

Hi Trizzy My son is already talking in class in some detail about reproduction in general terms and is only 8.  He can tell you all about it, which came as a surprise actually!  As I've said on here before his teacher is definitely non-standard she has been teaching in other countries and does not have the rather blinkered approach to the curriculum of others I've heard about so perhaps that's why. Panda

Hello Our policy kicks in when the tenant misses 3 payments, action is then initialised and we get the rent paid, including the back rent, we did have a non payer and ended up losing less than one months charge.  The bailiff was engaged and paid for by the insurance too so there are some good ones out there.  We pay 2.2 % for non payment cover.  We use a natioanl agency so I assume their rates are good and the cover good as it's their business, renting is all they do.  I don't have the time to research tenants myself and certainly don't want to be involved in rent collection so this works for me. Panda

Am I right in saying that a companies like a Hotel, B&B, Gites can't use the cheque d'emploi service or have I misunderstood,?  I only ask as I thought you were setting up a business Jon and I seem to remember someone saying that the cheque d'emploi is specifically for services for a household.   EDIT Separate point but Tony if they are 'properly registered' they wouldn't be paid by cheque d'emploi would they ?? Panda

Hi This subject is coming around about once a month at the moment but in answer to Celestine, you are right the 45% is percentage of 'taxable' income.  In the case of micro's you get a large allowance for costs (upwards of 35% but business/trade related) you deduct the allowance from your gross earnings and the 45% is the approximate level of cotisations applied after the deduction.  Tax is negligible in most cases. It is different case by case but for me it works out that I pay about 25% of gross earnings in costisations and tax which as I always say is about the same if you add tax and NI as I would in the UK. Panda

Hi You are not alone, this is a bad year for bookings for many, over supply and under demand seem to be the issue as others have pointed out. I would advise spreading your net as far as possible, get friends and family in the UK to spread the word around at their work and social events, you may have to give some big discounts but better that you get something. Panda

Hi Gluestick Sounds awful for him, and I agree with the sentiment, why do bad things happen to good people, and then you hear of the rapist that won the lottery recently etc..  

Hi Sandra Good advice from Tegwini, also post some pics, you may get some home offers!  What does the mum look like? Panda

Did anyone respond to the question Georgina?  Surely it's a wind up..

Hi End of school proms have been big in the UK (the bit I came from) for about 10 years.  As Twinkle rightly said it's a bit naff with stretch limmo's and the like, the girls love it as they get to wear a very posh frock.  There is even a Prom Planner magazine  it's big business now in the UK. I don't think they happen over here, can't imagine it somehow.   Panda

Hi I'm with you on this Catalpa, I know they are a pest in as much as they undermine the bank of the waters they are living around but I quite like them.  In the 5 years we've lived in France we've always had them somewhere near.  We had a family living on the island in the middle of our last lake and now that we've moved we sometimes seem them coming out of the wood and crossing the lake .  There is the odd issue with the bank but not enough to cause any panic.  I asked the vet about the infections they carry and they said it wouldn't be any than worse for the dogs than a rat or the like and we are bound to have a few (hundred) of those about. so we have left them alone, when we first moved in they were on the house side of the bank but they have now moved away (probably because the house in now inhabited) and we only see them at dusk as they swim across the lake to the grass to feed from the far bank. On the things you can do with ragondin front, my neighbours has offered to rid us of them and provide in return the pate he makes from them, YUUUUK. Panda

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Hi I don't think your own qualificatins would be an issue, I would think you could go along to a riding stables and be accessed and as you have a lot of experience you would be rated accordingly.  You may have to take one of the Gallops exams but that wouldn't be a problem for you.  The issue is with the horses which must registered to compete.  I also have a friend who can not compete with one of their horses as they do not have the breed papers. Panda

Hello Can either of the ladies that did the fabulous job of the knitted coats come up with a pattern.  As I said before my MIL would love to help but would like some guidance, I too could have a go if I had someone more experts notes to follow.  She lives in the UK and has firends also that knit so we might be able to interest more people, we just need something for them to follow. When are you going to Spain, just trying to think what I can donate to your great efforts? Panda  

Hi It is notoriously difficult to get a long term rental in Bourg Saint Maurice due to it's proximity to the the big Alpine resorts and the lifts which link the town to the slopes, large ski companies have head offices there and so take up a good chunk of accommodation.  House prices are very high too for the same reasons, not good news for you, have you looked on the local Century 21 site, they have the odd let. EDIT EEK, just checked the Century 21 site and they have a couple one is 400 euros per month for a 17 meter squared appartment, hope you don't have a cat that wants swinging! http://www.century21.fr/trouver_logement/location-maison_appartement-73700-rhone_alpes-1_2_3_4_5_pieces-1_9-1_9-0_0_0_0_px-page_1.php [Www]

Thanks all, as I said in the original post, he forgot his book so it was never a case of doing it for him, so I did ignore the other responses, sorry! I went and saw his teacher about it this morning as he was not alone in forgetting his book, (I had tried other kids for a copy first).  They are now going to revise in class before the controle as a result of this so no problem after all! He gets worried if he scores anything less than 20 out of 20, as a teacher Dick can you recommend a way in which I can reassure him that a prefect score whilst nice is not everything.  He is top of his class as he gets 20 for the majority of things.  Am I being pushy do you think that could be the the issue here, I do go through his devoir with him and also always ask how he got on when picking him up on the day of a controle?  He's 8 and in CE2.  

Thanks Pads, this is his first introduction to opposites and we couldn't come up with any that he felt were the ones he studied, I was after some inspiration!  

Hello Can any of you help?  Son has left his book at school and needs to revise opposites (contraire)  for a control, can't think of many, anyone got a handy list ??? Grand  -   Petit

Hi When we sold we went for the opposite and whilst we had a conforming security cover we stated that we could not guarantee that it met current legislation and the the purchaser should carry out their own investigation and act accordingly.  We supplied a leaflet (which did state it was legal at time of our purchase of the cover) and sales receipt and left them to it. I would suggest you try to do something along these lines as you do not want to be held responsible if anything happens in the future.  

Hi I'm confused by this as I have often seen people complain that there kids are away from the house from 7am until 6pm when at college??  

Hi It really does depend on the school and the teacher.  My son's current teacher is great, she's young and outgoing and has them doing all sorts of unusual projects, so much so in fact that I've heard the odd gumble from the French parents about it being very 'out of the norm'.   He plays rugby, goes orienteering, makes things out of wood, cross country,hand ball etc. all in the school day so no real shortage of sport here.  This is our second primary school having changed areas and the first was less 'sporty' although they did have swimming lessons every week as there was a pool in the town.  So chose the area and school carefully, they will ony use facilities that are very local to them as transporting kids around costs money they don't have.  As per the othe response if sailing was available here, or ski-ing or whatever they would do it, if nothing was here they would do nothing. On the teasing element, this does certainly happen and even though my son has been here for 5 years and is totally fluent he still gets teased on occasion, he told me just the other day that one child (bit of a thug) told him to go to the back of the line as the french should be first in France!  It doesn't help that he is generally top of the class and in France results or notes for tests are made a big thing of so the whole class knows who was top and who was bottom. Panda

[quote user="J.R."][ Why is someone in their 30's searching for a younger girl a "dirty old man"? [/quote] The clue is in the question... young girl to me means less than 19.  If you are in you mid 30's and are seeking totty (I hate even typing it!) you are definitely a DOM in my book! No one said anything about age difference being an issue here though for me a 30 year old with a 48 year old, no problem, 17/18 year old with a 34 year old would turn my stomach [:'(]whether she understood irony of not!!

I expressed my dislike of the term in the orignal thread!  It's an expression that I've heard often, my reasons are different for not liking the sound of Euro using it.  Where I come from it's something that a teen or early twenty something could only get away with and even then come across as a certain type.  Once you hit 30+  using the term would make you appear as a dirty old man as it implies the search for a young girl.