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If I say "les carbos" to my French friends, they seem to understand exactly. Mind you, most of my friends are into gym, pilates, nordic walking etc and so might be better attuned to talk of carbohydrates in relation to diet and exercise.

I hear from the news that the UK are going to test everybody's mobile phone with a signal on a Sunday (didn't take any notice of which one) at 15.00 hours. Is that just so that they have a means of telling people should Putin unleash a nuclear missile? And please, don't tell me to just stick to French topics. In the event of a nuclear event, ALL of us are going to be affected. Thoughts and comments please. Even if you plan to frighten the daylights out of me....might take me a while to lead-line the sous-sol.

Oh, wow, Lehaut! Not only handsome but very distinguished looking.... Cry your eyes out, Woolybanana😂

On the tv, they did say this applies mainly in big cities. In Paris, for example, the levels are over 4x recommended levels but still not at levels that could cause disease. OTOH, they seem careful NOT to point out levels that will really impact life. Personally, I am more worried about water kept in plastic bottles for possibly months on end; not just for my health but for the health of the environment

Indeed, what a handsome chap! Er....I'm only talking about the squirrel......😁

ssmomon, yes, he has mentioned before how pleased he is with his rented accommodation. I was deliberately making out that that was his house, that we would all descend on him and he did have one of the flats in his block that was used as an AirBnB. It's about as believable as the barrel that Wooly insists Norman lives in😃

Bought some today. Definitely lots of freshly ground pepper, lashings of good quality salted butter and I think I'll have 2 poached eggs with mine😀

Did you get a warm welcome, ssomon? If so, can we all now go and visit Norman and sample his de luxe accommodation? Is it on the AirBnB website?

Whatever happens, Harnser, I very much doubt that Trump will be president again in 2024 for any other year. There is not the same frenzy and adoration from his crowd and I read that his popularity is receding fast.

I'm with you on this one betise. I just do not like the white ones; they look like fat white overgrown slugs to me. The green ones are best but they do need to be fresh and not bundled up in a sad looking parcel with rubber band as they do in supermarkets. I do some of my veg shopping at a little stone building on the grounds of a chateau where everything is "locau" and bio and all the clientele always seem happy to have a chat. Takes ages for the one or two vendeurs to tote up the cost of your purchases on his hand-held calculator, wrap up your cheese in ready-cut squares of paper, ask you whether you wanted something unwrapped to eat straightaway, discuss the weather and so on. But the views from the chateau grounds are wonderful and far-reaching and the earth floor of the "shop" smells nicely of somehow healthy damp and rusticity.

Norman, please do not rise to their baits or taunts😁 They are only jealous. Didn't you post a photo of your bijou pad recently? The one with the impressive stone plague on the front which says "The renowned and sagacious Norman H lives here"?

Yes, as betise has asked, tell us whereabouts you are in France. Also, could you give a description of the dogs? Age, sex, likes, etc. Someone might come forward to offer a home. Have you tried advertising them locally? Have you asked at your vet's? Maybe a card in the window of anywhere frequented by the public (after obtaining permission obviously). Would your mairie let you put a notice in their place?

Well, now that you are bored, perhaps you will find some other topic and/or members to be interested in?😄

ssomon, I promise to watch Jonathan Pie later, got interrupted and then I came back and saw your message.

YES the BBC has scored an own goal (to coin a phrase!) I bend towards what DB and some others have said. GL is a freelancer (NOT employed by the BBC) and does presentations on other channels too. He did not say the government was acting like the Nazis, he objected to the language used by Braverman. He did NOT say any of this on TV or on his programme. He tweeted this on his own account. What Braverman (for Braverman read the government) wants is for us to see the migrants not as individuals with families and problems and fears and worries but as "floods", "hoards", "masses", "thousands"....faceless and "not our problem". I believe that in the past, this was called depersonalisation. Just give them a number, even one tattooed on an arm....reminds you of something? Actually, but for some twist of fate, one of us could very well have ended up as one of the boat migrants.

What is with all the mystery and hints? Why do you so badly need to know? If you told us exactly what you are after, we might go to greater lengths to help😁

Yes indeed, ssomon, loading on floors, roofs, balconies, etc is actually a very interesting subject and structural engineers are often engaged to look at these things. I agree that water is heavy. I know from having to carry water for long hikes that 1 litre weighs 1 kilo! It's not just jacuzzis that could cause problems, water beds can too. Some decades ago water beds became the "must have" item in some UK homes. And guess what, many water beds had to be got rid of when supporting floor beams began to deflect. Another error that owners of older properties might make is that of replacing old slate roofs with terracotta tiles or modern concrete tiles. Both of the latter materials weigh more than slate and, unless additional bracing and supports with the roof carpentry are put in place, you could end up with a collapsing roof.

Correction. Sorry, it's always on 2 fev; I meant to say it's on Thursday. Our gym session is closed, alas, so no hopes of anyone bringing in a pile of crèpes.

This year, it's on Thursday 2 février. I am just wondering if someone can give me a recipe and instructions on how to make pancakes like the French? Have asked lots of people and no one has ever given me quantities or how to make other than to say "I use my crèperie". One women said, just get the batter to the consistency of emulsion paint! I have more or less given up making them. I find American pancakes are the easiest to make as you use some bicarb and the pancakes are smaller rounds and puff up nicely.

No, no cajal, I never lived in 16. I was Sweet 17 because that was my département, Charente Maritime. Sweet was tongue in cheek, I was far from. Betise, the one that always confused me a bit was Ron from the Aveyron. Either he didn't live in Aveyron or he couldn't pronounce Aveyron. Oh well, we were all new then, on the forum, in France. I'd made many many errors in French some of which were hilarious but some were downright embarrassing😂

No need to be overly worried about mistakes Hectorsdad, we all make them? You would know about the different French départements though, wouldn't you? You could then hazard a guess that Gardian might live in the Gard. The early forum had a smattering of people who called themselves using variations on the names of their départements or regions.

This writer has never heard of laïcité then? What good is it praying for the French? The only thing connected with religion that does interest my French friends are the "religious" public holidays! 15 August comes to mind, apart from Easter, Christmas, etc.

Lehaut, if you are already doing your tax forms, why not use your secure messagerie to ask the impôts people? It's a bit early for me to do my déclaration but that's what I intend to do if I still don't know by the time I do get on to do it.

I agree, idun would be the person you need. However, just thought I'd mention that, the last time I was in touch with her, she did not seem overly eager to post on here. Still, if she saw your post, I am sure she'd come on to help🙂

Online service has been available for at least 5 years. I applied for OH in 2018 and, like you, I was amazed at how well it worked. I applied for mine last November, even though my passport was valid until December. With all the talk of postal strikes and so on, I thought I'd do it a bit earlier. In fact, it came back in a fortnight. BTW, if you had a red EU passport, you could use it till the last day of expiry.