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I agree, DB. It's always disbelief at the caisse when I look at the amount I have spent and then cast a glance at a barely quarter-full trolley. The price of butter has been creeping up for months and now I buy a 250G pack every time I go to the supermarket so that I have a stock in the freezer and not look at the bill for 2 or 3 packs all at once. Anyone who has shopped regularly at Amazon will also have noted price rises across the board.

What d'ya mean l'herrison? You may call me Mrs Tiggywinkle. OTOH, perhaps not. She always seems to be wiping the noses of those sniffy children of hers....

Been breathalysed once in the UK and once in France, so as the French say, it's kif kif? I don't drink and drive, reckon I'm enough of a danger on the roads without the help of alcohol.

Well, Wools, that's the price I pay for smelling fresh and tasting sweet. I often wish I had spikes or barbs like nettles or thistles. Maybe I'll change my name to Ortie. Anyway, considerably cooler and even a damp mist first thing this morning.

Yes, ssomon, I can see that is really a neat bit of kit. OK, need to reconsider options maybe but that climatiseur does sound a bit pricey. They are both small rooms, well one very small room and I suppose quite a roomy bedroom. Already have a radiator on the one outside wall and not a lot of room either side. But I must admit I do like the pictures you have enclosed. A bit of reflection time as the weather is forecast to break tonight....yay!!!!

Been chewing this problem over while chewing my lunch. Harnser, we now think that, instead of doing those plywood inserts, we might just as well have a hole drilled into the outside wall. It is a modern house, so only one-brick thick and I can do the making good and bit of redecorating afterwards. ALBF, also thinking of your suggestion. What if we install a good extractor (to remove the hot air) and an effective fan? The costs will probably work out the same for 2 rooms and 2 climatiseurs. But running costs might be a bit lower and the environmental impact less pronounced. Any further comments or suggestions, anyone?

Hmm......food for thought indeed! Thank you to everyone who has replied and special thanks to Harnser for the detailed information. Next week is going to be cooler so I still have time to research. So, the "feurte" thingies for windows do not work; that doesn't surprise me as I looked at the pictures and had my doubts. It's not because OH is unwilling to do DIY but he is 91 years old and, frankly, I'd worry about letting him start doing DIY now as he wasn't too keen on that even when he was years younger! Will have to see if I can find someone to do this and I do have friends who know a man "that does". ALBF, I don't think a ceiling fan will cut it because, last night for example, the bedroom temp was 31.5. And no, we didn't sleep in it! If I had, I don't think I'd still be here asking for advice.....

Harnser, I have succumbed. Went to Leclerc to source a climatiseur mobile. Couldn't see any, so asked at Customer Services. Answer was y'a n'as pas plus. Tried online with Darty being the first port of call. Yes, in stock but no delivery, you'll have to come and get it. Alas, the nearest shop stocking the model I have chosen is hundreds of miles away in another département. Good old Amazon to the rescue? Maybe.... So, what I want to ask you, Harnser, is whether yours has a large tube to put outside your window? We do have a window in the bedroom but in the sitting room, the only window is a French type that opens onto an enclosed verandah. Not sure how we could get the tube through the door and then seal the rest of the door that would be ajar and thus letting the hot air back in? I HAVE seen air conditioners that do not need an extractor tube but not sure if these are just glorified fans and would do a proper job? Harnser or anyone else, PLEASE help.....I have 2 lung conditions and I had to get up at 3.00 am this morning to go out into the garden and stay there till I no longer felt as though I was suffocating.

Well, if you are determined.....but be careful with marinating meats or anything else. Keep everything in the frigo with the fast chill setting on and only bring out at the last minute when you are ready to cook. Admittedly, I am biased against bbq's and, whenever I see people in their kitchens marinating raw foodstuffs and then taking them out to bbq after varying intervals of time, I think food-poisoning!! Sorry to be such a killjoy. Raw food standing around in this heat is potentially a disaster area? And that's before I mention flies🤐

Très bien, Riggers 😁

Come, Wools, set a good example......no bbq's and no feu artifice, OK?

My poor Judith....yes, not only a groan icon maybe an icon showing imminent collapse. I think I'd have curled up and died about 3 weeks ago if we didn't have the bedroom in the sous-sol where sleeping is possible. I do lie on the tiled floor for several minutes before getting into bed. As for that joke, it was irresistible, once ALBF mentioned "Charolais"!

Lehaut, surely that is the problem, that it ain't going to RUN?😀

Riggers, I'm glad you liked that. OTOH, perhaps we shouldn't be laughing too much because clearly, by moving, he does have a lot at STEAK?

Too risky......how do you secure your incontinence pads?😜

Might be of more help if they made a self-propelling trolley to help us feeble oldies get around their stores?😄 Or I'll settle for a trolley that can be steered straight ahead without engaging in a wrestling match with it.

If you do go to live there, ALBF, you'd only find lots to ....er.....BEEF about? Sorry, feeble joke; too damned hot to think as brains are now well and truly fried.

Lori, did you read the bit specially for you that I posted? It's now on a previous page. It was to say that, should you move again, it's a good idea to choose a house with a room in a sous-sol that you can sleep in. Our sous-sol is about 5 ° lower than the main living quarters "upstairs" Still very hot today but at least there is a breeze and so it's bearable

Harnser, that is my maximum for sleeping 25°. The previous few summers, we have had to resort to sleeping in the sous-sol bedroom for perhaps a few nights. This year, we have slept there every night for nearly a month. So I have evidence to think that this summer is indeed different. We also have a sitting-room in the sous-sol but the TV there is ancient and we do not get all the channels. I can do just fine with no TV but that is not the case for OH. Perhaps I should buy a new TV and solve that particular problem. My daily walks have now been reduced to a quick turn round the village in the morning and I can feel myself getting increasingly sluggish and dispirited. I notice that the farmers around us are cutting the grass in their fields in order, I think, to gather what they could. In other years, they'd use their "water canons" but I don't think even watering is sufficient to save their crops this year.

Last night, I thought I was going to die from the heat.....I am serious. Went out into the garden, not a breath of air, heat beating up off the terrace, the grass too dry and scratchy underfoot to walk on. The one thing that has saved us from expiration is the guest bedroom in the sous-sol. There it is several degrees cooler than our bedroom. Just a thought, Lori...if you buy again, look into the possibility of sleeping in the sous-sol. Last night, however, is something else. Even in the sous-sol, I nearly had a screaming fit and OH had to open the window wide and put up the insect screen. After many weeks' of disturbed nights, I did get to sleep eventually and woke up this morning, deciding that perhaps I could survive after all. The high temperatures, however, is forecast to go on and on with no respite in sight. In the day time, I soak a large cotton shawl in cold water, wring it out and put it round my neck and chest. That does make it more bearable, that and sitting in the car with the air-con on at 15°

Catalpa, thank you so much for your link to the Lichfield article. That has clarified for me the underlying problems that nobody else seems to be talking about. Perhaps Lichfield or some other trusted person would write an article listing ALL the Brexit dividends that no UK politician has actually been able to describe? Brexit DIVIDENDS? Do they exist? Can pigs fly?

Cajal, this has nothing to do with your post except the bit about "the inability of members to create new topics/posts" I hadn't realised that this was a problem until now. I tried to post something about cooking with fennel in the Sport, Pastimes, etc topic as there was no good fit for the topic. As you have said, page comes up to say "no". Then another page saying the page/whatever I wanted was no longer available/had been removed. I'm out of here for now.....total waste of time👾

Might be a bit difficult to do in my case, NickP😂

Er.....who is the "little man in the badly fitting suit" stp?

Haven't been on the forum for yonks and have just found this thread which is full of interest😄 Nothing wrong with a bit of argument. I myself like and enjoy the contentious topics. What I dislike is when it all becomes predictable and aggresive. I used to get quite stewed up by some of the posts but then along will come a reasonable person like Catalpa or ET and the waters calm again. The MOST ridiculous thing that has ever been posted in my opinion is when ALBF keeps banging on about people who do not live in the "real France". So I live in a quiet village in the Dordogne and I actually LIKE it here. I don't think mine is an "unreal" life. When I was working, I enjoyed a very varied career, in my leisure times I have done lots of crazy physical and mental challenges, I have travelled a bit, met lots of people and while I have, for the moment, come to rest in one place without wishing to be elsewhere, I find my life real enough. I think I am echoing ET in what she says about all experiences being valid. Of course they are! ET, read any good policiers lately? I don't seem to have read any French books for a while. Recommendations, anyone?😀