DZ

All in all, I am satisfied with the passport service. I mentioned earlier that I and two other members of my family got the passports back within 12 days of applying, but our son's passport was still missing yesterday, 5 weeks after sending it off for renewal. I was sitting there, worrying what to do, when a most helpful chap from the British consulate rang me out of the blue to ask if I got the passport for my son!  He was going through a long list of passports issued but not delivered by DHL and ringing people around France.  He gave me the DHL office number and the passport tracking reference.  I rang them et voilà - the passport arrived earlier today!

We sent three passports for renewal from France on 2 January and got them back today, on the 12th - a very quick service.  But my son's one, sent separately on 16 December is still not back! I found it useful filling out the electronic form rather than a printed one because if you try to print the former and if you have not ticked a box that was supposed to be ticked, it alerts you to it and does not let you print. I agree with others that the website is confusing and you have to go to far too many links to get the information you need!

Hi I wonder if you had a reaction to the rue plant?  This happened to my daughter a few years ago and I found what it was thanks to this Forum (the local doctor did not know what it could be).  Ever since, she avoids this common plant like the devil.  If touched during the day, the plant can cause phytophotodermatitis in some people. If you are allergic, the skin goes red, then blisters, and then becomes deeply pigmented as if scarred or burned.  This goes away after some time, luckily. 

This is mainly to say that I love your art!  I hope you will be very happy in France if and when you move (you are right - it's either now or never). All the best

Thanks a lot for your reply!  I have sent you a pm.

Hi, would anyone be able to recommend a good, cheap hostel in Paris?  My son (who lives in the UK) is going to visit us at Christmas time and is meeting up with his Canadian girlfriend in Paris first - that is, if they can find any accommodation.  There are loads of hostel websites around but I am after something tried and tested that I could recommend to them.  Thanks a lot in advance!

This is quite heartening, so many people with ear problems - I don't feel alone any more!  Had my ears syringed yesterday, having used the "paint thinner", and now can hear better than I ever did in 10 years.  Maybe I will learn to speak better French now?!

Thanks a lot for this - much appreciated.

Thanks a lot for this link, a useful site.  But I am still confused.  The site states: "You indeed have until the end of your second quarter in business to make your first declaration. So, if you registered after the 31st March, your first compulsory declaration will take place by 31st October." It's probably a very silly question, but can anyone advise me which months of work I need to declare in my first declaration in October, having registered mid-April?  Would it be half April/May/June/ or all the months from mid-April till September?  Many thanks in advance!

A brilliant tip, thank you!

Thanks a lot, Parsnips and Ron.  This is even more complicated than I imagined... A trip to the local tax office looks like a necessity now.   

I am gearing up to filling in my first French tax form and I am not too clear about the "quotient familial".  Does it cover only the people who live under the same roof or does it also extend to people who live outside of France but for whom financial responsibility is assumed  (I am wondering if we can count in our son, who is studying in the UK and does not intend to live in France but who still relies on us financially)?  

Thanks a million, Kathie! Anna

Hi Our wonderful neighbours from London would love to do a house swap with someone in Paris for a few days, as their soon-to-be 80-year-old mother has expressed a wish to celebrate her big birthday in style.  Would anyone in Paris be interested in such a deal? Dates: ideally 28 - 29 July, but fairly flexible (no weekends, though) People wishing to swap: 5 (grandmother, parents, 2 children - 11 and 9, plus possibly - but not necessarily - a dog) Place offered in London: a 3-double bedroom house in a leafy and popular suburb of South East London, a garden, easy connection to the centre by several buses Thanks a lot!

I don't know if the checkout assistant got confused with the price or what but we only paid 6.90 euros for a lovely, old-fashioned (ie needle-dropping, but not yet!) 2m tree in our local Carrefour - is this a record price?!

Thank you, Sunday Driver, as much as I feared then... They have come back to me asking for the "integral" version, even though the one I supplied was pretty good.  Off to search for a certified translator then.  I am learning to be very patient indeed. [:)]

Today I received a letter from CPAM asking me for "un acte de naissance integral" - I took it to mean that they required an unabridged version rather than certified translation.  Can someone help shed some light on that?  Getting the certificate translated from Polish is one matter, but getting the unabridged version is quite another thing.  The certificate I have submitted has my name, the names of my parents, date and place of birth.  Do CPAM need any more information than that? I would be very grateful for any help!

I am currently reading a book entitled "Words in a French life", written by an American author (Kristin Espinasse) who lives in Provence with her French husband and their children. The book offers short glimpses into the couple's family life and is organized around certain French words.  It has some nice observations, is easy to read, and is not in the least patronising.  It also gives a number of quite useful French expressions at the end of each chapter. 

Amazing!  I would never have guessed these words.  Big thanks from my daughter too![:D]  

My daughter is doing heroically well at school (having been placed into la quatrième, ie her age level) but there are bits of her French homework which surpass my linguistic ability to help her.  I would be eternally grateful if some kind soul out there could help with the following question, which I understand but cannot find the relevant noun: Retrouvez les noms auxquels se rattachent ces différentes définitions: 2. Pénétration d'air dans les poumons - idée soudaine - enthousiasme créateur - conseil ou suggestion; 4. Attaque brusque d'une troupe - exagération de forme caricaturale - fardeau porté par un animal ou un véhicule - présomption défavorable à un accusé. Thanks a million in advance!

I find this list very useful. http://french.about.com/library/vocab/bl-dualgender.htm

[quote user="Polremy"]Whereabouts are you DZ? We are close to Perpignan - might be neighbours.[/quote] Hi Polremy We are over an hour's drive from Perpignan, closer to Beziers.  The weather is stunning here this week.  All our neighbours complain about la chaleur but I simply can't get enough of it! Judith and Keni - all the best with your move and be ruthless with that decluttering.  I wasn't!  The stuff we have so carefully stored in our friends' garage here is now growing a nice moldy layer.  We might yet chuck the whole lot away as we don't have enough space in our little house here anyway.  Somehow, I no longer care - I am just so happy to be here!

Thank you, all, for your welcoming words! The funny thing about decluttering is that I sort of did it quite conscientiously over the past 6 months, had a man with a van take a full load of rubbish, distributed various bits to charities etc but still ended up with so much stuff that I do not know what I am going to do with!  Half of the things I thought we would need is stored in a friend's garage here but as I haven't missed a single thing for a long time now, I can only presume that we really don't need it and could have saved ourselves lots of hussle and money by just chucking the lot away.  Why do we accumulate so much stuff in our lives?!  I am determined to be very careful before buying anything new here!  

Well, dear Friends At last, here we are in France.  We arrived exactly a week ago but it has taken me all that time to recover from our DIY move (ie. no removal company involved and cramming everything plus 5 people and 2 mice into one car).  I have learnt the following from this experience: 1. Start packing what you consider you meagre few belongings a long, long time before you move! We transported most of our stuff to France in June by a self-drive van and camped in our house for 6 weeks.  A day would be surely enough to pack all that?  No.  Big mistake.  I packed all day and the entire night and we still managed to miss our train by 3 hours... 2. A car is only as big as it is and will not take any more. We tried and we tried but had to leave loads of good and useful stuff behind (some lucky bits with the neighbours but the rest by the bin).  We travelled for 2 days with an average of 4 heavy bags per every knee.  3. Tiredness is not conducive to clear thinking. Very obvious, but not when you are in the middle of it.  So, on the journey from hell we managed to: leave our new road atlas on the boot, only to see it fly away on a motorway; lost the first peage ticket, dropped all the money under the car at the next one; got on the wrong side of the road, got lost... BUT we are here at last and love it! So, lesson number 4: don't worry if the journey is hell - it is all worth it![:D]

Thank you, Lilly.  Our local vets referred us to DEFRA and their Helpline clearly explained that tranfer of mice between EU states was free and we only needed to check whether it was ok with the transport carrier, so I think I will leave it at that and hope for the best!