Panda

Agree totally with the above, how stupid of the adoptees to take the poor dog into that environment so soon after adoption and to allow the young child to approach when he had already warned off another. My rescue was a nightmare the first few weeks and had to be watched constantly and she was possessive and snappy around what she considered her possessions.  It takes a while for them to get used to being in a loving environment and to drop the feeling of threat from all angles.  She's now a totally different dog and loves attention but I still wouldnt leave her with small children, as others say for her sake as much as theirs. It's funny as I've always felt that dogs in kennels in the France have a much higher chance of adoption since they dont go to the lengths that the UK charities do to vet and sometimes over-vet homes but then again things like this can happen. I want another dog and have been scouring the local dog homes web site for dogs than can be homed with another dog and with a 12 year old child but they are few and far between, only yesterday though one came up so I'll be hot footing over there to check it out, these kind of stories will never put me off, if common sense had been added to this mix if woud not have happened IMO.

Thanks all for waiting until I've moved back to the UK to have a meet up not 30 minutes from my house!! What a shame I would have loved to have come. I'm with Rose, sulking!

And I agree with Idun too.  Getting lots of bonjours means nothing, its all very superficial.  I had a very nice neighbour in my first house and a hideous one in my second.  The first was happy to have a neighbour and we helped each other out and exchanged food and without them I would have left France years before.  The second was just awful, a drunk who drove under the influence, noisy, rude and just painful to live near.  If you read french fourms generally you will find that many people have issues of noise, lots of hunting dogs barking etc and feel as they are 'expats' they cant complain and if they do then nothing happens and trouble follows soon after. In genral though in my first town in interacting (hairdressers to school gates) I was asked daily 'why I had come to France' and had a general sense that people were not that impressed with the influx, only a couple of times was this hostile but as my french improved over the years I came to realise that many french have an opinion about what the english are doing in France and this said after a smile and a bonjour to their friends thinking I didnt understand.  When living on the Charente/Dordogne border the english were seen as a cash cow  and therefore had our uses and so were more accepted because of that. To the OP, renting is the way forward, make sure you know an area really well before you buy as making the wrong choice can be years of pain as you cannot simply sell up if the neighbours are horrendous as its taking a good year+ to sell these days.

Get back in your box Simon, or perhaps under it!! There are a few of us who returned to the UK because of the need for some life after a number of years in France, I for one still like France and think I may return when I want a very,very  quiet life.  I still have property there, still have people I consider friends there and on here, so return ocasionally to see what mischief they are up to! I moved back to my birth town and I love it, I am out every day and back in a social whirl, none of which I could do in France.   My son is happy and loves school again (the main driver). I realise I made the move at the wrong time in my life as my son's education is the most important thing to me, so my reason is that,not any of the others since, I had work, can speak french and was OK financially. I will continue to snoop and post on here as I hope will Idun, who's been there, done it and has the t-shirt!  

It goes further than protecting jobs for the French.  I worked at a private ski school during my time in the Alps and my boss was born and bred in the area, had qualified as an instructor and set up her own private ski school which was in competiton to the ESF.  They were totally awful to her constantly,  the maire would not allow her to advertise by placing a wooden sandwich board in a frequently accesed area, they did everything they could to discourage her from being in competition to the very protected ESF.  The ESF have had it too good for too long, many are awful with little children often seen dragging kids up button lifts and leaving them to scream. I hope this goes through not just for Brits but for the sake of everyone who wants to earn a living and offer a service where it's necessary to deliver on your expensive promise to survive rather than do a cr*p job as no one has a choice of who to go to.    

Somehitng on the Simpsons just made me think of this thread.  The dialogue was something like Thank you for choosing XX low cost airline The saftey instructions are ....................2 dollars If you would like wheelchair assistance......................you booked with the worng airline HA, HA. Just about sums it up!  

Sounds good and Ive been in school holidays and it was not that busy, nothing like the huge resorts.  Did you take a look at the neighbouring resort (La Joue De Loup??), its much prettier but also very quiet, might go back there myself now as you have reminded me of its pull. When I said about the drive I was thinking you were after a short run, 3 hours isnt too bad though, whne I visted I came across from the Charente and it took me 11 hours!!

Hello I spoke with Les Chats de la Rue, they are all over france and when I went to the vets I told them that the charity had said they would pay(no evidence was requested), he said fine and that was it, I didnt pay.  I posted before that the charity were not the most sypathetic (they wanted me to trap and have the kittens PTS) but they def. do subsidie the spaying of otherwise feral cats.  I had mum 'done' and rehomed the kittens to homes who agreed to have them spayed at the approprate time (they were too young to be done immediatley),  Mum is still in France with a friend as she never took to the indoor life but has the life of riley as a well fed stable cat!   http://leschatsdelarue.jimdo.com/

Hello I agree with the words on Chamonix, I hated the travelling and waiting too.  I really like Sainte Foy which is near to Les Arcs, Val D'isere and La Plagne but it is small and quiet in comparison.  I have never had to queue for more than a couple of minutes even in school holidays. I can also say a word for Superdevoluy, I liked it there too for the same reasons, it's  small resort and quiet at night but I loved the ski-ing on empty slopes, it's really important for me with a child in tow as I always get worried in busy resorts that some idiot will knock my son over whilst taking too much speed.  I stayed at the resort on the other side, La Joue Du Loup, really nice and quiet and pretty (Devoluy is not particularly pretty as it has an old block of appartments central to it). I would have thought it would be a killer drive from Geneva though as it's way in the southern alpes. P

We have 19cms of the white stuff here in the Cotswolds, I feel like Im back in the alps but sadly as I now do not have snow tyres I dont thin I can risk driving so I need to walk the 3 milers to my horse to feed the poor thing! As has been said above, I could be some time!

I have to agree with the doubters of your stats above Q, these are not reality. 175 childcare 'whether you work or not' is not valid for inclusion as income, vouchers can only be given ot carers so can not be misused (great system), the others are income based so for example 54 tax credit would only be for the very lowest incomes.  I can assure you that the above numbers are not doled out (pun intended) regardless, otherwise lots of working mums would be sitting at home! I work with a number of them and they would laugh at these numbers.

Ahh yes missed my K otherwise I would also want at least 10!!

Following on from this I see that house prices in Ireland have dropped through the floor, might be worth an investment for retirement. I can get a 5 bed farmhouse with 5 acres and room for my pony for 195 euros hmmm

[quote user="Alan Zoff"]I agree with the sentiment, Judith. Pity though that in reality a lot of kids will not get the chance of either university or a job. In my day (leaving school at the beginning of the 70s), we really did have a choice.[/quote] I left full time education in the mid eighties when the job situation was much bleaker than it is now, there are jobs around today but those leaving Uni seem to have developed an idea that the job they have studied for will be waiting for them, that is sadly just not the case of course and many don't want to do just 'anything' to get some cash, which is what I did and I've never regretted it. 

But when you do your tax return in France place of birth is requested isn't it, or have I dreamt that?  I know I was always being asked to fill out my place of birth.