Dave

[quote user="Hoddy"]I'm not quite clear exactly what information you're lookng for, Dago. *** they planning camping overnight on the river bank ? I think the stretch between Badefols and Lalinde might be quite to difficult to negotiate in a canoe. Hoddy [/quote] This was a reply by Hoddy answering a question I had posted about canoeing the Dordogne...I have found out that the stars are hiding the word 'Are'  answers as to why on a postcard please...[:)]

Hi, you should ask him to start with 'Wind of my Soul' it's really nice.[:)]

Sounds really good fun, innapropriate dancing is what I am best at.....Is the Zenith a good venue, we always keep an eye on concerts there, I guess staying the night nearby is the best option.

There was a flurry of postings by one 'Malcolm Armsteen' on lots of threads within a few minutes, it was very strange! It's a shame really. If you didn't see his posts before it went down he even had a pop at Dick..

Hi Hoddy, we really want to know if there is a decent guide to the Dordogne by canoe, if such a thing exists, I have spoken to several French friends about the chance of getting away with 'camping Sauvage' and their thoughts were that in September as long as they kept ther overnight base clean and tidy that it would be OK, I was hoping that I may be able to find a French Kayak/Canoe assosciation or something like that where I could make some enquiries. I will pass on the info about the Lalinde stretch though, thanks.

Hi, does anyone have a link to a good informative website about canoeing the Dordogne, or maybe could recommend a good guide book? Our son and a friend want to do a canoe trip in September starting near Liourdres and finsishing close to Bergerac, I have done a search on Google but mostly only find links to canoe hire or holiday rentals. They are experienced canoeists and will be bringing their own canoes. Any pointers will be welcome. Thanks in advance Dave

Ah...last I heard Victor was living in Southern France somewhere and I thought that maybe that's where your OH had had a pint with him. [:)]

Is that right that he lives down your way?

No, poor David is only sad, Victor really had the blues...

dwmcn...are you THE David McNickle from Hertfordshire?

Silence is golden.........[geek] Intel Inside....Idiot Outside

I had a joke sent to me on the subject: Q:   Why is John Prescott like MFI A:    Because "two screws in the wrong place and the whole cabinet falls apart" boom boom

Hi All, Sue and I moved here to Le Mas, a very small commune of Degagnac 15 minutes from Gourdon in 46, came here originally with our Springer (English not Welsh) joke....but alas she is now buried in our wood where she was at her happiest. By the way I am the only FAT Sod in our village......not genetic either.....Our French neighbours when learning that the UK had won the 2012 Olympics proudly told us that Paris had won the Gay Olympics....I tried to explain that we had always referred to their capital as 'Gay' Paris but for different reasons......We have no hang ups about peoples preferences here in Le Mas.....mind you some of the locals some of the locals look a bit 'sheepish'....I guess the Welsh among us would have an opinion on that...LOL. "Keep on keeping on" best regards to ALL Dave in the Lot

Hi All, The Situation:    Our Kitchen is on the first floor. The Plan:           Is to place the Gas bottle to supply the hob on the ground floor in the Utility room The Reason:      The reason for this is to save us having to carry heavy bottled gas up the stairs....... The Question:   If the distance between the gas bottle and the connection to the hob is around 3.5 metres, will there be sufficient pressure in a bottle to give a good enough pressure at the hob, or do I need to raise the bottle onto a platform in the Utility room? thank you all in advance. best regards Dave in the Lot.[:)]

Hi all, I have tried to search to see if this is old news but as normal the 'search' feature is misbehaving today.... My French neighbour showed me an advert from 'La Vie Quercynoise' newspaper, it boasts earnings of €1000.00 per month for assembling jewellery at home at no cost to you.....already i am suspicious! On taking a look around the internet I found that they have a web site with NOT a lot of info on how you actually get paid but how YOU pay them for a box of jewellery parts which you assemble and send back to them for payment...! I searched further and found several 'forums' around the world....German/Vietnamese/French and all saying that this is a con...no suprise there then! Don't take my word for it, have a look and decide for yourself.....just be warned......"nuffink is for nuffink" as my old Dad used to say. All the best. http://www.kevenchris.com/euroanglais.htm Dave

Hi, i agree with all that has been said, just make sure that you keep your receipts, one pan i bought from Brico was mis-shaped and we would have slid off it if fitted....they changed it without question but had a laugh at my mime of slipping off the loo. Also we inherited a pan that never flushed completely, we looked around at others (very interesting!) and dicovered that ours had a large 'throat' at the bottom of the pan and the water just did not get the neccesary whoosh...? to take the waste away...moral is look for a pan with a narrow 'throat'. Not sure of my terminology but hope you get the picture. Good luck best regards

Hi, in our first year in France my wife and i presented ourselves at the Hotel des Impots office and with the help of a nice helpful man filled in a declaration, we explained that we would be living off capital from the sale of our house in the UK (not much left after renovation costs)for the first year and then in the second year i would need to work and register. I eventually did register and am paying heavily into the French system. when the declaration was due for the second year we were summoned to the Impots office again and asked what we had been living on since moving to France as we had declared no income, we explained and had to fill in a form detailing all investments held elsewhere and were warned that if the powers that be did not like our answers then they had the right by law to access ALL our accounts in the UK and would do so. My point is that if you come to France and set up a B & B or whatever but show NO source of income (when you have money invested in the UK)how can you avoid the attention of the authorities here? is it that people just do not exist here ...on paper anyway. I also read somewhere that we now need to apply to CPAM for a card so that when we travel back to the UK we can receive 'Free' healthcare, can anyone shed any light on that? I would just finish by saying that we are very happy to be living in France and paying into the system (we also like to complain along with our French neighbours at the high charges...!) don't know if this makes any sense but at least I have it off my chest Dago

Hi, you could go to www.skype.com and download their FREE software. it enables you to talk to other users via computer or you can buy €10.00 worth of outgoing call time and call ANY landline from your computer and talk via your microphone, i made a call to the UK of 18.11 minutes and it cost me €0.323 for the WHOLE call. You can also pay a €10.00 charge for 3 months worth of incoming calls, this enables you to choose a number (UK number would be best) then your friends can call that number, if you are online you can answer it, if not then they can leave a voicemail message, even if your computer is switched off. you really need to have a broadband (ASDL) connection but i only have dialup and so i do experience a bit of a time lag during calls. There are also USB 'Skype' phones available at not bad prices. And if you are a business traveller then you can make these calls from anywhere in the world at the same rate, and it will be the same for your friends and family...they will always only be phoning a UK number....it works and it may well be the future? best regards Dave Goodwin

Should have reviewed that......should have read...."treat yourself to a cheap DVD player, most will play MP3's......LOL

Hi, I have usually found the problem with rubbish sounding 'burnt' cd's is caused by burning at too high a speed, try burning at a slower speed. A very good alternative is to treat yourself to a cheap DVD player, most will play DVD's, i just bought one from LIDL cost 34.99 euros, i have made a DVD of MP3's amounting to over 1000 tracks and it plays fine on the DVD player, you can scroll through the tracks on the TV screen, it even tells me Artiste and track title....great. Good luck...keep on burning..another thought, a friend has a very expensive CD player and it does not like 'burnt' cd's at all...skips and jumps.... Dave Goodwin

just took the time to page through ALL of the posts in this thread..........my my....Born_to_Fish....you really have stirred up all the 'righteous' folk on these forums. He only asked for advice...not condemnation.. regards Dave Goodwin

I wanted to buy an Air Rifle for getting rid of some rabbits at a house i look after, went into a gun shop and was told that an Air Rifle was not powerful enough and was shown a fully silenced Beretta? .22 rifle, the owner told me that with this there would be no mistake, telescopic sight, bolt action. The idea of it being silenced was so that you could pick off the animal/bird without scaring off the rest of the flock....price....around €550.00 NO permit required. He also told me that lathough you would be shooting on your own land you were still NOT allowed to shoot outside of the hunting season....this was in Riberac, northern Dordogne so this may be different from place to place. Before anyone attacks me as a 'killer of animals' i am posting this info as someone who actually gave up fishing because i thought that i was hurting the fish, that said i am NOT anti Fishing/Hunting either. just to add, i recently read of a guy that went into his local Intermarché with .22 rifle...killed his girlfriend then himself, so who knows how long a rifle of this type will be available without a permit? Perhaps you could use one of those bird scarer guns that just make a bang automatically now and again?......Anyway happy fishing... regards Dave Goodwin

Hi, i have just bought a VW Transporter Double Cab Van from Holland, i have had a CT done....fine, sent off for the Certificate of Conformity from VW France, they will only issue a 'Partial' certificate as their records show that the van was converted to a double cab after original manufacture.......we now have to make an appointment with DRIRE to get an Atestation to say that the modification complies with French rules, does anyone know what we can expect at DRIRE...we are very worried having read lots of other negative comments in other threads on vistits to DRIRE...please someone give me some 'good vibrations'..... regards Dave

Hi, I have just been to holland and bought a secondhand van, everything was done for us at the van sales office there, they put temporary export plates on the van, provided two weeks insurance and provided all the paperwork for export to France. We have had a CT done, re-insured it (still on import plates)with our French insurers, been to the local Hotel des Impots and got an attestation to say that no duty is owed on the vehicle, now the fun part begins, we have applied for a Certificate of Conformity and the it's off to get our Carte Gris...hopefully we will not have to visit DRIRE judging by others experiences with them..all over France. bon courage Dave

Thanks for all the replies, i guess i already knew the answer.....still we are not giving up, we have just filled in a form that hopefully will give us a reduction in our outgoings so fingers crossed, just have to work longer hours than i had wanted...c'est la vie. if this is to be the cost of peace & sanity in an incresingly mad world then...onwards and upwards, must go .....got to get back to watching those reruns of the 'Good Life' Thanks again all. regards Dave PS. €140K...if only....