Discussions

I have just received a letter from the UK govt about voting. The 15 years is to be abolished, and the referendum is to be 28 days postal. If the piccy will paste I will put it on here.

I'm considering making the move to France and starting to look at the best places to find homes. Found a great french property listing website that cuts out the expensive french estate agents, worth checking out if your considering purchasing a place :) easyfrenchlife (.) com With the Pound strong against the Euro, it seems like a great time to start a new life in France! Any other sites you can recommend, it would be great to hear! 

Is it worth it?  I am in the process of registering for "the big one" just in case DC should actually keep his word and get a vote going. But on the preamble to the form that has to be returned in my case to Worcester City Council, it states "When an election is going to be held, your ballot paper will be sent to you in the post. Remember, your ballot paper may not be sent out until four working days before election day. If your ballot paper does not arrive by this time, contact the Returning Officer at your local council for a replacement.The Returning Officer can only issue replacements up to 5pm on election day. "   Four days?  The Post Office in Worcester are notoriously bad and four days probably isn't enough time for them to get the letter out of the sorting office, let alone to me.  And then I have to get it back to them. Surely allowing this kind of shennanigan is tantamount to deliberately disenfranchising expatriots?  There is no way on earth that four days is enough to get a letter from Worcester to me and then back.  I am happy that La Poste and my friendly facteur will do their bit, but really? Or is the four day bit just a bit of nonsense and actually they are sent out in plenty of time and it really works very well? Has anyone voted succesfully in a UK election?  Does it really work smoothly and like a weel oiled machine?  Or should I kick up big time now in protest at their policy of deliberately not allowing me to vote?

Hello, Does anyone know if Butagaz have an English speaking phone line, I do try in French but it is not easy as my French is not brilliant, my fault I know, also the online system is dodgy to say the least. Any help would be appreciated thanks anncloud    

Never have I seen such a load of dross in all my years, there was, in my opinion, absolutely next to nothing worth watching, the same old regurgitated "Christmas specials", that we have all seen umpteen times before. There seems to be a new trend on "celebrity" programmes now, but most of the time I have to google the participants to find out exactly who they are, normally resulting in some boring soap cast member. Have the planners given up the quest to entertain people, and are just relying on some sort of repeat mode button.

Came home to Yorkshire to witness the tour de France going through the village where I was born. I am so proud of being Yorkshire /English. Everyone had a great time. There were no drunks or drug addicts fighting on the streets. Everyone was so happy.

More like the three moggies yet another pathetic show from what must be the worst England team for many moons. Makes one proud to be anything but English what!!

Ok, lots of times now people have posted questions on here and then been flooded with 'don't do it' messages, to be fair often balanced by 'go for it' responses. So, quick Straw Pole. Simple question:- Living in France Yes or No? followed by the amount of years you've lived here... Me, Yes - 7 years.

Andy is a hero and showed the world Scotland produces winners.

Well, I mean.  The IMF and Warren Buffet have both said that the Austerity as practised by the UK isn't working.  Dave gave a vague speech a couple of weeks back about exiting the EU, didn't promise anything and nobody believed him.  But it hammered the pound.  Which would help exports if the UK exported anything, but actually it just pushes the price of fuel up.  Him and his millionaires row of front benchers are so out of touch with "real people" and "real problems" that he hasn't a hope of ever getting it right. And they don't even know what they are doing about inheritance tax.  One week this is the policy, the next week its all change. Time for him to go! Now no nastyness, but let rip.........

Hi , did anyone see Black Mirror on Channel 4 last night ( Monday 11th) ? I fell asleep and missed the last 10-15mins ! What happened ? I know its repeated one night at 0005 ( Uk time) so that means 0105( here) then wait until the last 10-15 mins so thats almost 0200 before I get to see the bit I missed ! Can anyone help with the ending ? 

I went to the opticians with MOH who needs new specs, having looked at an old posting on here we visited a shop called Alainafflelou something or other which was recommended as cheap. Varifocals with photochromatic lenses, the frames 140 euro, not bad, but ended up at 800 with the lenses, but you can then have another two pairs for a euro each. Why oh why do we want three pairs of glasses, obviously we are paying for the 2nd and 3rd in the price of the first pair, can anyone recommend an optician in Saumur who can supply glasses at a sensible price, as we don't want to buy them over the internet. Many thanks.

Hi,Does anyone know what snakes we have in Mayenne,one has appeared in my attic,it's in the rafters so hard to see it clearly.It seems to be orange/yellow on its belly & silver/grey on the top.I a'm not frightened of. snakes but i don't want to get bitten if it's venomous.Can't tell the length as it's curled up.any info would be appreciated. Thanks,Plymboy.

I was pleased to read that the French in general are as disgusted with the actions of a small minority as are the rest of us, and that Bradley Wiggins has been praised by them for his action: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/tour-de-france/9401525/Tour-de-France-2012-stage-14-Bradley-Wiggins-hailed-as-Le-Gentleman-after-race-is-attacked-by-saboteurs.html

Hi I am posting this for a friend ... his 18yr old daughter would like to spend a few weeks/months in Britain working as an au pair in a family. As well as the domestic work she of course would happily teach French to the family members if requested.If you or anyone you know would be interested please contact me for more information.Thank you

Hi there,a friend of mine teaches English to French lycéens and she's started a blog which shares some of the dreadful mistakes they make when they don't use their dictionaries properly. For example, one student described the bride at a shotgun wedding as being "loudspeaker" - because enceinte means pregnant when it's an adjective and a loud speaker ( haut parleur) when it's a noun.She tries to add a bit of useful language information to her entries too, so you might learn something new - and if any of you are teachers with similar stories to tell she'd love to hear from you.You can find it here:http://pardonmydictionary.blogspot.fr/Regards,Mel

I'm posting for a French friend, Max, who is nearly 22 and studies Engineering in Paris, and who is looking to work in the UK from June through to end of August. He would like primarily to improve his English and will consider any employment. He is also looking for accommodation, therefore I wondered if anyone here has, or knows someone who has anything suitable, perhaps farm work, or bar work.I have given him Job Centre details but he is looking to finalise all details before leaving for the UK. He is intelligent, strong, very willing and a general all round nice young man.If you can help, please email me or leave a suggestion!

Hello Thanks for taking the time to read my message. I have recently returned from England, having lost my dearest and oldest friend Lisa to bowel cancer. She was only 41 and such a brave and funny girl, mum to 2 great kids (17 & 19). I'm running the Cardiff Half marathon in October to raise money for Beating Bowel Cancer and have made a short video to promote my efforts. Regardless of whether or not you are able to sponsor me, please take 4 more minutes to watch my video and, if you can, forward it to everyone you know. I'm hoping to get her story to as many people as possible to continue her efforts to raise awareness as well as raising much needed funds for supporting the thousands of people who are diagnosed every year. www.loopyloobyloo.weebly.com Thankyou HG

I recently bought a car in UK which I intend to keep and use there. I contacted Chaucer Insurance through a compare website and they offered me third party fire and theft for about 240 pounds. They asked me to forward my no claims certificate. I contacted them to be informed that they DO NOT ACCEPT INTERNATIONAL NO CLAIMS CERTIFICATES I could pay another 240 pounds for the insurance without a no claims bonus or cancel I cancelled and was charged 65 pounds because they charged me 45 pounds BECAUSE I HAD TAKEN OUT THE INSURANCE USING A COMPARE INTERNET SITE. Has anyone else come across this way of making returners to UK pay double insurance. I have never had an accident in 40 years of driving. Is there a company in UK who recognises a french no claims certificate?? Be warned, there are many ways for these companies to make money, especially when you pay by credit card, then they control any refunds and how much they can add.

A very skinny, obviously lost, very frightened and half starved, young Braque Allemand arrived at our gate three days ago and was immediately engulfed in a tide of our four lurchers. He is living in one of our stables now and becoming less frightened and better fed.Devoid of a chip, tattoo or collar he is unidentifiable but is a typical GSP, nicely marked, unscarred, clean, flea-free although not house trained, still puppy pees.We don't believe he is a chasse hound. He was found near Serigny 86230 and if anyone knows who might own him ( a complete male) and wishes to claim himplease contact me. During the few days he has been with us he has become hugely loving, less frightened and has started eating properly and has been temporarily named Fatty because we could play a tune on the poor little boy's ribs.Regards,Adeplume