babcock

Surely the addition of £5 for online booking affects the "headline rate" on which the busines model of Ryanair is based. If a cost is unavoidable it should be accounted for in the claimed cheap rate.

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] The taxable event occurs on the day that your pension provider pays the money into your UK bank account - not when you eventually get around to transferring the money to France. You can either use the actual exchange rate applicable on the day the money arrives in your UK account or the composite rate for the year as approved by the tax office.  You will find further details on this [url=http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1663218/ShowPost.aspx]recent thread[/url]     [/quote] Using the rate on the date it was paid would be fun. My husband has three pensions paid monthly on different dates. I have three, one paid monthly, one paid four weekly and one paid six monthly. We've never had a problem using the year end rate but will probably query the local tax office.

I would definately recommend Darty. They are part of the Kingfisher group and seem to have the same (British) view of the customer and service.

I wouldn't mind if it was " I've tried it and French is better" But the the "I don't want it if it is not French" attitude is just stupid. So they will allow any old rubbish to be foisted on them as long  as it is French? How can a French producer (of wine or anything else) be pursueded to improve a product given this attitude? It will serve the country right if the wine industry has to cut back. I believe (correct me if wrong) that the export market is very important to the French wine production market.

Be aware that there are a lot of different watch batteries. I thought that I would be clever and replace one watches battery with another. I have now got two watches that don't work.

I'll admit that there is a lot of bad driving in the UK. The French road with nothing to be seen in front of you and nothing behind ......... except that car so close up behind you that you can't see the number plate. Why do they do that? Are they trying to use your slipstream to reduce their petrol consumption?

[quote user="5-element"] In the year 2007, no less than 100,000 drivers in France were found not to have a valid driving licence. A number of them never even took the test. Of course, it also means that the 100,000 were the ones were caught. How many more, who have never been caught?  [/quote] That is scary

I bought a copy of Vie Pratique today. Among some interesting recipes was one that required "2 pots de farine tamisée" So what is a pot?

Today the weather has been bad. Lots of rain, possibility of aquaplaning, poor visibility etc. We went to Brive on the A20 ( approx 20km) we were tailgated, overtaken at more than the speed limit . I saw a car on the opposite carriageway which must have spun as it was up against the barrier facing the wrong way. Cars with no or insufficient lights. What is wrong with these people?

Try a mahonia. The variety "charity" is particularly spectacular and even when not in flower it looks good. There are other varieties of different heights and flower structure.

At least  they are cheap. We thought that a break in Jersey might be nice. St Malo Jersey return between £230 and £187. So we considered leaving the car at St Malo and going as foot passengers. £88 return for 2. It also seems impossible to find the charges for parking at the ferry terminal. It is only an hour and a quarter sail.We may just drive to San Sebastian instead.

They do indeed freeze bank accounts in France. Various companies offer an assurance that pays an amount while you sort out the joint finance stuff.

We always check the litre or kilo price. Frequently the larger packs are more expensive per litre/kilo than the smaller ones. Even milk in standard sizes can be dearer for 2 litres as opposed to 2 x 1 litre. MOH was an accountant so it is not easy to get anything past him. If odd sizes still have to have the litre/kilo price quoted  - no problem.

Interesting. I used to live in Charente and I recall that there were loads of cowslips, some bluebells, asphodelles (sp) and other flowers. I don't know if it is a function of the soil type or the agriculture but here in Correze with locally heavy clayey soil there are few wild flowers. I can also recall the most wonderful wood in Yorkshire which changed from multiflowered to being overrun with dog mercury in the space of two years.

Again I ask , where can you see such a variation of flowers. Cornwall and the gower penisular are renowned for their spring flowers and French farmers are the worst in europe for their use of nitrites.

[quote user="Dog"] You are lucky our Snakes Head Fritillaries aren't out yet. It is fantastic to see so many wild flowers in France.  UK pesticide use had nearly killed off many meadow flowers. We should soon be getting a five pointed blue flower that appears evry year in the meadow near us - I don't know what it is called though. [/quote] Oddly enough I was just remarking to MOH yesterday how few wildflowers there are around here.  This is cow country, mainly pasture and orchards. Where are you two that there are so many flowers?

They have been very good. However at the moment they are changing servers and are in a bit of a state. Headless chickens. Once that has been sorted I would recommend them. Having an English speaker to help with tech problems is great. FT 's support could not explain in words I could understand things like "attenuation" and the fact that our phone sockets were not wired correctly.

I tend to think I will remember what this package is like you rather than religiously labeling everything. One time a friend was house sitting and he prepared a pie from the freezer for his dinner with pots and veg. Unfortunately when he cut into it - it was rhubarb! I can't remember if he had gravy with it.

I think it was last year when a search for the 'best' village in England dismissed one village because as well as "the old schoolhouse" etc it had "the old red lion". There was no commerce and no village as such just a collection of fancy houses. I lived in Farningham in Kent when it had a superb bakers, a butcher whose sausages were so good they went to London and Brighton, a chemist, a veg shop etc. Now if it is not a house it is an antique shop.

I thought that these days one had to pay "the market rate" to get people who were good at the particular jobs? So no lower pay in lieu of a better pension

This is France, not politically correct but there you go. There is also a mushroom called the same. Chill

Oddly enough I had a very similar experience in Weldom in Sausse Vaussais a couple of years ago. However, I did open the box and it was not a used item but a lesser velue one that was inside. At Castorama in Limoges we bought a chainsaw and when we got home guess what - there was no chain and no oil in the box. 140 km round trip but at least they replaced the missing items with no bother. Moral - don't buy anything in a box that has been opened. On the other hand if you get an item home and it does not work you have no automatic right to a replacement. I would love to have the nerve to demand a demonstration that said product is intact and in working order before completeing the purchase.

My OH  woke up at 3 am with an anguished cry (Ok one of the cats had sneaked in and attacked his toes which were poking out from the duvet) but it could have been something serious. Question is who do you call in such a circumstance? The only time I have called 15 was when he had pneumonia and was feeling very bad. This was about 5am in the summer. The operator asked me my address and then gave me a number to call that was actually our own doctor. OK he got here in about 20mins but suppose it had been a heart attack or stroke would the procedure have been the same?  Has anyone any experience in such a case?

I sometimes make my own yoghurt. Dead simple, warm some milk (UHT will do) to about 50°C then mix in a tub of live yoghurt, put into a vacuum flask and leave for 24 hours. Strain through a fine sieve to get the concistency of Greek yoghurt. Unfortunately it still does not taste as good as Total. Perhaps someone could enquire of  Total as to why they don't export to France?

Super U do a passable greek style yoghurt but nothing is really like total. I have seen French feta, French gouda, French gruyere and of course the ubiquitous and tasteless French emmental. No French cheddar though. Strange as it is the most copied cheese in the world.