benson

Hi I have had no experience of TPS but canal is excellent value formoney in my opinion and yes all programmes can be viewed in their original language even cartoon network!! Alternativley have sky installed

 Why is it that when I speak french I have no french accent at all but when speaking english I can do a pretty good french accent?!?! Round here we ask for  a 'grand creme' in the cafe if we want a large white coffe but in Paris they had no idea what this was 'cafe au lait' is what was required!

Driving home from the local bar one night at around 9pm my friend spotted the Gendarme flagging him down.  He was completely sober but wasn't wearing his seat belt so as he pulled over he quickly put it on.  He was asked the usual questions such as where he was going and where he had been but they didn't mention the seat belt.  When he told them he had come from the bar they asked him to follow them back the the station. No problem he thought I've not had a drink and they don't seem to have noticed the seat belt.  So off he went. At the station he was given a specimen jar and asked to provide a urine sample.  He was a little surprised at the request but as he had nothing to hide he obliged.  This done he was asked to wait at the front desk. As he was waiting there was an almighty commotion as some officers brought in an extremely drunk and violent man.  The officer behind the desk was called over to assist with the taking of the man to the cells. My friend was left alone.  An hour passed and still no-one had returned.  Had he been forgotten he wondered??  Another 1/2 hour passed by and he knew that by this time his OH would be getting a little worried and annoyed.  So he made a decision.  He was off! Just as he was leaving he spotted his jar on the counter and in a moment of madness he grabbed the jar and legged it!! He drove home, parked the car and went indoors to explain the nights events to his wife.  About 1 hour later they went to bed. At around 3am he was awoken by a loud banging.  He went downstairs and opened the door and stood on the door step were 2 gendarme officers. He invited them in and it transpired that they had been driving around patrolling the area and had spotted his car, he had left the lights on and the kindly officers had decided to wake him up to let him know.  How nice!  But then as they turned to leave their gaze fixed on something.  He turned to follow their stare and there it was on the kitchen table his specimen jar. To cut a long story slightly shorter he got away with the seat belt crime and he wasn't over the limit and so couldn't be charged with drink driving but he was charged with something totally unexpected he was charged with............................................. ....................... .........                                                              .....taking the p**s!!!!!   my apologies if i've got this slightly wrong??

Well well well we do seem to have opened a can of worms here don't we!!  I hope this doesn't put the original 'newbie' poster off to much but this is a discussion forum after all. I tend to both agree and disagree with some points raised in all the posts.  People are just giving personal experiences which is the best information one can have  and everyone's experinces are different to a certain degree and it is best to see both sides of the coin so to speak.   We live in Dept 23 my 2 eldest children are both in Primaire and when we first arrived they were in different schools due to the age range. Both children received extra French lessons within the schools although the teacher was brought in from the local college.  We didn't have to pay bus fares.  They attended these schools for 6 months then we moved to another part of 23.  Now they both attend the same school.  For the first 4 months my eldest child and the other 2 english children at the school were offered extra French lessons at the local college twice a week where children of all ages needing extra lessons were taught. Parents had to take and collect.  After that it was decided that the lessons were no longer needed for my child (as she had already had 6 months worth of extra lessons in her other school) and so the teacher from college came to the school once a week to continue teaching the other children.  This teacher also covered the extra french lessons in many other primaires in this area.  My younger child does not receive any extra lessons as he is to young and they say will be fine on his own.  We do not pay for buses here for primaire either but you have to pay for the bus to college. All of the parents i know with children of school age in 23 have had very similar experiences in fact not 1 of their children in any of the different schools attended has gone without extra french lessons. i am by no means saying all schools provide this service just the ones that I have had direct or indirect dealings with.  I'm sure there are people in 23 who will now reply with totaly different experiences.    

back in the UK I paid £1.90 per day per child for fish fingers and chips and such like the idea of healthy option food was a couple of slices of fruit as an optional extra.  often most of the food was gone before all the children had eaten reducing the choice even further. Here in France my kids love dinner time 3 courses  masses of choice and healthy too all for 1.75€ but they are forced to eat at least one bite of all the foods offered even if they say they don't like it.  Cruel??  The plus side to this is my fussy eater son has tried many foods he previuosly refused to eat or even try and now likes virtually everything. Both my children of school age have been weighed, measured poked and proded for the last 2 years at school and I find it reassuring that possible problems that may have gone un-noticed will be picked up on.  It is of course then left to the parents to decide wether or how to act on the findings. Yes exercise plays a big part in being healthy and now we live here with more 'garden' space and it being much more safe for my children to play outside thats what they do. No more computers and T.V!!! well almost!!!

''Thank you for those kind words.  2 responses out of over 170 viewings does make one wonder if it's worth the bother.'' Come on !! you had LOADS of very happy reader replies when you posted your stories last time round!! ''I did actually try to get my articles compiled and published once, but the publishers to whom I wrote didn't bother to reply.'' couldn't you DIY ( the book i mean!) Im sure you'd have loads of buyers well 1 at least thats me!!!!!!!  

Hi all I thought i'd post this usful info here as most people don't seem to hear about this till it's too late!  There is a grant avaliable for anyone who has moved perminantly to the Limousin from anywhere in France or abroad and started or taken over a business. This grant has to be applied for within 1 year of arriving and starting the business. Apply for a form from:                 Florence GRATIAS                Conseil Régional Limousin                27, Boulevard de la Corderie                87031 Limoges Cedex or telephone 05 55 45 00 26 Good luck  

Hello and welcome Some replies will be positive others negative. we do not live in the area that you are moving but we have friends who live near us with a daughter who was just coming up 14 when they relocated she was extremely shy and nervous and the prospect of entering college in a foreign country and didn't speak any french at all. Now just a few months down the line she is doing well very happy and intergrated the school had a few other english pupils and also gave extra french lessons. There are still a few 'moments' when she doesn't want to go but the biggest problem is with the parents struggling to help with homework!!!!! Once again every child is different.  good luck

[quote]Although you have obviously done some homework on this, I think you definitely need to take specialist advice. The basic principle of French law is that you cannot disinherit your own blood line, an...[/quote] Also consider your wife adopting the children (most lawyers seem to think this is still possible even after the age of majority, though some lawyers disagree). This may not fulfil all your conditions but it would certainly make things simpler and less costly in tax terms   Will do you have any further info on the adoption process in France??

Hi We live 10 mins outside of Aubusson. Have been here since last July! Although we have lived in France perminantly since October 2003.  Have heard there are loads of Brits around here but haven't met many yet! but we are in quite an isolated area. Look forward to hearing from you.

Hi Does anyone have any information or advice regarding the procedure in France for the adoption of children by a step parent.  More details available if required.

are shield bugs also called 'leaf bugs'? and the fire bugs are they what the french call 'Gendarme'? On to a different creature, Whats the biggest beetle you have ever seen? Last summer I saw a beetle that was as long as my foot (size 7!!) No one else believes me but luckily my daughter was with me so I know i'm not going mad! Any ideas on what sort of beetle this was? It gave us quite a fright!

 When my husband recieved his first tax form I took it to our local tax office so they could help me fill it in. They asked what regime he was under (micro as advised at the CdM)and his total earnings before deductions. As he had only been working for 6 months they doubled what he had earnt so far but they were not interested in any expenses ie material costs wages for sub contractors fuel etc. Does this mean we will now be taxed on the full amount not what he actually earnt and at what % or rate is this? I was under the impression that each person in the family/household counted towards deductions in the %/rate of taxation. No questions were asked concerning the number of people in the household. (Or is this for a different regime maybe??) I am concerned that the amount declared is wrong because of the above mentioned we would go over the threshold of a micro and into real individual regime will we then be penalised or taxed even more or at a higher rate? Is there a way I could work out what I think we should be paying so that I can compare this to the bill we receive? If they do tax us on the wrong amount is there a way to rectify this? thanx

I never would have imagined that I would spend Mothers Day (the U.K date) building an igloo!! Anyone else got any snow pics? hope to insert picture here

After trawling back through the relevant posts I have ended up even more confused.Could any one put me straight on just a few points please. So a carte de sejour is no longer required when you live perminantly in France. You can still be issued with one if you really want one. Is it worth it (pros and cons) What are the necessary documents required if you decide to apply. Can you use it instead of a passport. (my passport is in my maiden name which I was told would be OK in France as French women tend to keep their maiden name anyway but my French cheque book is in married name(joint account) and is always refused as I.D when I write a cheque and my husband has to produce I.D instead) Thanx  

We have an orchard with an apple tree and about 15 other trees of 2 different varieties and I don't even know what they are.  They did fruit but this didn't really help except to rule out several known possibilities!! These trees were very neglected so we have done what everyone else appeared to be doing and lobbed off loads of branches. I presumed this was to encourage new growth and more/better fruit production but it looked pretty severe and was slightly worried we would never see fruit again (did I do the right thing?) We bought a couple of cherry and peach trees (small) and planted these just in case. I decided to keep the orchard entirely for fruit and encouraged by our first steps into the gardening world we purchased strawberry plants, raspberries and grape vines (just a couple of each to get us started).  Now we would like to expand out into our adjoining field and plant potatoes, sweetcorn, carrots and peas etc. So here come the daft questions (1) If we kept chickens in the orchard would they eat the plants and not just the weeds? (2)How large a plot would we need for the veggies ?(we are a family of 5 but are not aiming for total self sufficiency) (3)Can you buy seeds for parsnips in France? (4)Which variety of potato is most similar to king edward or maris piper? (best for roasting?) as I haven't seen these here (or maybe I just don't know the name in French) Any other general advice greatly appreciated Ta very much   P.S the locals seem to think we are crazy when they see us working in the garden instead of renovating the near derilict barn they already think we're mad for living in!!!

Nope nothing under that heading but i have found a heading before the propriete-jouissance called RAPPORTS DES ACQUEREURS ENTRE EUX which mentions clause aléatoire quite a long paragraph most of which is gobledegoook to me but hopefully this is it. I'd better get it translated though i suppose! Thanx for your help

Looks like I havn't got it then So back the notaires do you think i'll have to pay (seeing as it was his mistake??)

This is under that section Can anyone translate this for me? L'ACQUEREUR sera propriétaire de l'immeuble au moyen et par le seul fait des présentes à compter de ce jour.  Il en aura la jouissance également à compter de ce jour par la prise de possession réelle, l'immeuble étant libre de toute location et occupation ainsi que le VENDEUR le déclare. Thanx

Hello mike and Brenda!! D said he saw you recently.  Are you living here perminantly now? Would love to see you both again to catch up.  Maybe you'd like to come see where we ended up!! Pm or email D+S

Thanks for all you replies so far In regards to how to tell what sex geese are we only new because we were told but Gertie is noticeably smaller than Bertie and appears to only have 1 bulge on her under body where as Bertie has 2 side by side I have no idea if this is relevant to the gender!! Both are friendly and can be hand fed that was untill mating began now Bert tries to attack us all the time but we have been told this is because he is protecting his girl!!

I can't post in the appropriate topic for some reason so I think this is as good. When we purchase our property we asked for 'Clause tontine' as both myself and my husband have children from previous relationships.  When I went to collect the title deeds there was no mention of this.  How do we know it has been included??

we acquired 2 geese in August last year (1 male 1 female).  This evening we had our first egg!! What do we do now!!! we are novices in this department and primarily are thinking of eggs for eating but possibly raising a couple for Xmas?! How many eggs can we expect Gertie to lay? How long is the laying season? Will the eggs be fertile? Incubation by her or us?? Once hatched how best to raise young?   Do we need any extra nutrients etc? Any recipes for goose eggs? any info greatly appreciated thanx

too true its always the way it goes, better to be safe than sorry ?

We have a large hanger attatched to part of our barn with a tiled roof which was built, it seems to us ,backwards that is to say that the angle of this constuction means that rainwater from the roof and hanger run down to meet at the join.  This has caused the stone wall to begin to blow so it was very important to us to get rid of it as it was serving no purpose.  Our Architect said we would need a permis de demolir as it is shown on the cadastral so we filed one only to have it returned as not required.  What a waste of time!!