NormanH

The thing I find difficult to understand is hatred itself. I have lived a blessed and sheltered life as have many of us born in the UK just after WW2, with the Welfare State and free good education, but I can honestly say that i feel no hatred for anyone, and cannot imagine killing them except perhaps in blind panic of self defence.

We have a very similar situation developing without the posh new development. Our Maire has a programme of 'whitening the sepulchre' by refurbishing the façades without addressing the social issues. I call it 'cosmetic surgery' or in a more colourful image " une vielle p*te qui se maquille pour attired de nouveaux clients sans changer sa cullote" I won't even begin on the plague of AirBnB and how it contributes to the scarcity of affordable housing for low-paid essential workers. As for the word gentrification I think the author is referring to Canadian French when he uses the word " embourgeoisement. In France it is https://www.linternaute.fr/dictionnaire/fr/definition/gentrification/

I sent you an article about him by mail

How the French media saw the match: "le choc des détéstés" https://www.liberation.fr/sports/rugby/coupe-du-monde-de-rugby-lafrique-du-sud-remporte-le-choc-des-detestes-et-rejoint-les-all-blacks-en-finale-20231021_FW4RD4SZRNC7VPETL2SU2PGAJI/

It's not so much that the Education post is low ranking, more that is a minefield from which most Ministers don't escape unharmed...

That route is specific to the event, though most of it would be accessible at any time if you knew where and how.

Do you have this sort of thing in your town? https://laramoneta.com/to-do/beziers-urban-trail/?fbclid=IwAR1NtvNccaT2eoH1U5mdZ0A4ONe-dZvfjACLkvy2_xRbxrdun82Mw_vkV_w

He is certainly an impressively smooth operator, but the Ministry of Education is traditionally the graveyard of ambition for an aspiring politician. Thank you for the link which I hadn't seen. I always enjoy programmes presented by Caroline Roux (I usually try to catch "C'est dans l'air" either live or in replay) but I hadn't noticed that one.

In my experience the installation is free. The line to the house is done by France Télécom (Orange). Au niveau de la rue et de l’immuble, les frais de déploiement de la fibre optique sont totalement pris en charge par les opérateurs agréés (Orange, Free, SFR, Bouygues Télécom, Altitude, Covage, Axione et TDF). Once at the house the rest depends on which operator you have chosen. The fee varies widely. Orange offre un raccordement gratuit, mais propose une option d’Installation Experte à 89 euros (branchements, configuration, conseils, etc.) ; Free propose un raccordement totalement gratuit ; Bouygues raccorde le logement gratuitement si le câble fait moins de 10 mètres. L’intervention est facturée 25 euros, s’il mesure entre 10 et 50 mètres ou 50 euros s’il fait plus de 50 mètres ; SFR facture l’installation de la fibre optique en maison individuelle à hauteur de 149 euros pour un câblage souterrain et 249 euros pour un câblage aérien.

Something to think about if you have travel plans at the moment: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2023/10/20/french-government-growing-impatient-over-bomb-alerts-threaten-prison-terms_6190545_7.html

I had a somewhat different problem with them, in that when I tried to connect to the site ameli.fr it kept coming up in big red letters that my social security number was unknown, un that I was not registered with them. I contacted the helpline, who said that there was a new system by which you had to go further down the page and press a button as an extra security measure and another code would be sent to your email. The problem was I couldn't even get down the page to that button. Fortunately in town we have France Services (https://www.economie.gouv.fr/particuliers/france-services) which is an excellent gatekeeping service with access to all the other ones, such as ameli, the Caf etc. A very helpful chap took me seriously straight away and the great advantage was I was sitting opposite him while he looked at the site with his computer, so he was able to see for himself the problem I had, rather than having to try to explain over the phone to somebody who doesn't believe you. Ne said straight away “ah oui ce n’est pas banal ça” and sent an immediate email via the special hotline that France Services has to each of the other services. At the same time he printed off a copy of an “attestation de droits” in case I had a problem . a week later I had an audio message from Ameli saying that they had had an IT problem and that now everything was in order. I also had a call a from the man at France Services to check that everything was settled. I am one happy customer; and I recommend people to visit their local branch if they have a problem with the administration.

Going back to the original title they are a local speciality here : https://www.escapadeslr.com/produits-regionaux-l-oignon-doux-de-lezignan-la-cebe-374.html

I have an appointment for the same thing.

Has everyone had the prescription for the double Covid/Flu jab?

The French lost and now are playing the game of complaining which is the only one at which they are really the World Champions 🤣

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/100810-000-A/the-heirs-of-the-paris-commune/ It is in French but subtitled in English

That is what I heard too cajal, so it wasn't 'illegal' as such. On the other hand the person charging down the ball is supposed to remain behind the try line until the kicker moves and some people were questioning whether he had. In anycase what's the betting that the Rugby World Cup receives much less attention in the French media from now on 😈

I am no specialist in the finer points of Rugby as I said in a previous post; but just as French commentators are biassed so French sportspeople tend to crow in Victory and whine in Defeat, more especially since the latter is more often the case than the former.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/11/when-bedbugs-move-into-your-home-every-night-we-sleep-in-fear

Apparently a wash has to be at a minimum of 60°C...or you can put things in the freezer for 3 days at very low temperture

To be fair CRICKET commentators aren't too bad. I saw a couple of the Ashes tests this summer and they had a neutral commentator (can't remember if he was Indian or Pakistani) plus one from each country

I'm not sure that 'awash' is quite the appropriate adjective....😏

I know very little about Rugby but as it is a hot topic in Béziers who in the distant past were Chamions of France 12 times (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouclier_de_Brennus ) so I have to seem interested. I find the French TV commentators on France 2 and TVI so totally chauvinist (as they are in the Tour de France) that I triad a hack to ITV.... and there a shrill voices HARRIDAN was going on an on so I had to switch ofv...

It sounds to me as if they haven't given you the allowance against tax paid at source in the UK on your wife's Civil Service pension. They should calculate what would have been paid on that if all had been payable in France then deduct that from your tax bill....

Did you fill in the separate section 2047 revenus de source étrangère et revenus encaissés à l’étranger (2047) which then is transferred across tp 2042.? This is explained here: https://www.impots.gouv.fr/particulier/questions/comment-seront-imposes-mes-revenus-percus-de-letranger