Noisette

Speaking as someone totally sane and well-balanced, no really ?, I can see why Zemmour has garnered so much support so quickly. He's come up with some very populist ideas, designed to appeal to French people who regret 'the old days'. From what I've seen so far, I'd probably take a punt on him carrying them through. BUT....5 years ago there was a bunch of self-interested politicians in a little island not far from here who promised the electorate much the same thing. They appealed to the middle-aged and elderly voters, promising them a return to a golden age and look what happened there! Sadly, I don't think there's a politician on earth that can turn the clock back and undo everything that's wrong with western civilisation. All we can do, as voters, is try to put the brakes on the more obviously rapacious and hypocritical ones.

Arggghhh no! Anything but Bing!

Don't you believe it! They lash themselves to the stems! :-))

B.T. can be used as a preventative, as well as a cure ;-)

Um...what you're calling racism, ALBF, well it's rife all over the place. Sooo many times I've heard offensive, nationalist Scots, Welsh and Irish decrying and insulting England and the English. Usually when French people have mistakenly referred to them as English. I wonder if it ever occurs to them that there are English people who resent intensely having to define themselves as 'British' rather than English? Still, there'll always be morons who cling to the past, can't let go and can't move forward. Closed minds......

To a better place with sane, intelligent and agreeable admin, I'm sure :-)

Just a long shot, on the offchance that M. Aardvark glances at CF. Try tapping in 'paiement en xx fois sans frais' on any French site. They'll soon tell you if it's possible ;-) Good luck!

Silly me...I thought this thread was about gardening, not yet another 'my region is better than your region' playground competition. I'd have said, gardening-wise, that each region has it's strengths, weaknesses and challenges. What is surprising is how few Brits come here primarily to garden, despite often buying huge swathes of land. The classic case I remember is someone in Dordogne who was the proud owner of 4 acres, which were promptly turned over to the neighbouring farmer to deal with. Then proud owner had the brass nerve to complain about the crops said farmer grew 'because he didn't like the colour of the flowers'.. Classic! The most recent amusing trend (religion?) is that of the no-dig' zealots. I'd love to know where they get the vast quantities of cardboard and compost that seem to be required!

Ah...green with envy over the soft fruit! I grew blackcurrants and raspberries fairly successfully 15 years ago, but it's definitely become hotter and drier here in 47 over the years. They hate it! The current bugbear of new arrivals round here is the failure of sweet-peas. Best solution is to grow them like the edible variety, as overwintered spring-flowering plants! Won't you need permission to take water from the stream? I've got 9000lts-worth of water recuperation tanks buried in strategic points, but they're not enough, either :-) I'm sure your Heucheras will pull through. They're pretty tough. Of course, I haven't heard you sing! ;-) You could cut out a lot of hard work by chucking a thick mulch over the dahlias, non? It used to work in the UK, even on clay soil....

So, anyway, back to the garden, WB. (God knows it's not a subject that's done to death on here, is it?) ;-) What do you grow up there? Ornamentals? Potager? Fruit? The biggest feature of the nasty winter here has been the excessive rainfall. Like last winter. A soggy disaster for agriculteurs and particulièrs alike. I can understand the anger of the former when by law they're no longer allowed to construct reservoirs. Then, in 4 months time, we'll be into water restrictions. Crazy!

Fruit and veg from other countries, especially Spain and Morocco, might be less trouble than home produced, but what a difference! Often grown hydroponically under plastic, it has no flavour whatsoever. Add in the fact that it's often harvested before maturity, to aid transport, and you might as well chew a plastic bag! Home-grown presents it's challenges and the result is rarely 'perfect', but a ripe peach or tomato picked warm off the plant is incomparable :-)

You could be describing our house, chessie. The back wall of the original barn was well on it's way to dissolving, as the local 'stone' is soluble in water :-) In our case, there's not even a partial ditch on our side of the chemin, so we created a 'V' shaped, shallow gutter that runs the length of the chemin but still allows access to the drive. It was a compromise, as the heavy-duty solution is to dig a trench (ditch) and bury 'buses', big concrete drainage pipes wherever vehicular access is required. The gutter is sufficient to direct the excess water past the house and into the big land drain we put in, that takes all the excess water from storm drains constructed around the house. That drain crosses the grassed chemin to join up with the main ditch on the other side, and on down to the reservoir at the bottom of the slope. I very much doubt that the commune will carry the expense of such works on behalf of an individual house-owner, but you could ask! If not, best get a quote from your local BTP (Batiment et Travaux Publiques) chap.

+1 for ANO and AZ's posts. But for anyone who regrets the loss of their limited rights to vote in France, and who is determined to continue to live here, I'd ask...'why didn't /don't you apply for French nationality? Unlike in some other european countries, France offers dual nationality for those who wish to retain a vestige of their original one. It isn't a complete solution, as we are branded with coded Social Security numbers, making clear that we're not natives, but it does show a level of committment to the country we live in.

Chapeau! Make sure you plant it somewhere where it will have space to romp without swamping other plants. It's a bit of a thug ;-)

+1 for preserving it in vinegar. The only time limit on it's keeping qualities is the strength of the lid on the jar. A combination of vinegar and the fumes from the horseradish corrodes them, eventually. One tip...if you have a robot/food processor, use it to grate the roots, and be very careful not to be too close to the bowl when you remove the lid!

To paraphrase...."Let them eat McDo" ;-) Seriously, though, I thought LD Lines or DFDS or whatever they're called are the major freight operator?

Just so it doesn't come as a nasty surprise, be aware that an interim tax is payable called Taxe d'Aménagement. This can be quite an important figure, usually paid in two installments 12 and 24 months after the deliverance of the permis de construire. https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F23263 Notaires and Estate agents don't tend to mention it ;-)

A subject very close to my heart at the moment. Last year, four of my closest friends were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Two now dead, two dying. All in their early sixties. There's something extremely dodgy going on here in France. I've tried to correlate facts, statistics, habits etc. but obviously four does not make for a comprehensive study. Perhaps instead of spending billions on foreign aid and ****** speed traps, the French government could look into research, prevention and cure of this particular scourge!

Errrm, not wishing to be rude, but the words 'drinking wine' and 'British government' shouldn't appear together in one post :-) One is a pleasure, the other, well, you get my drift? ;-) Turning out meaningless slogans seems to be just about all they're capable of... But back to chillies... :-)

Figs are OK but a glass of wine is better ;-) The alcohol neutralises the capsaicin. Chillies nd wine to be consumed with moderation and preferably not for breakfast :-)

+1....also in fairness to ALBF, the derogatory, even insulting, remarks posted elsewhere would have a lesser person leaping for their legal eagle's number! Difficult to repeatedly turn the other cheek, I imagine.

Hello mint, another good way of using them is to make Nigella's sweet chilli jelly. Recipe available on Google :-)

You're such a big softie, nomoss lol Why not wired to the mains while we're at it?

It works both ways...when I'm speaking French I occasionally have to revert to an English word to keep the flow going, and find more and more that the French comes more easily and naturally when having to speak English. The worst nightmare is being in mixed company and trying to keep track of what to speak to who! I can't and don't swear in English, but no problem in French. Somehow it doesn't seem so bad :-)

So I see :-) A bit sad that it was the most interesting topic on here ;‐) Ah well....back to l'arrosage......