This blog has somehow managed to stagger through 2007, as I lurched from writer’s block to laziness, and is now ready and eager to welcome in 2008. So prepare yourselves for another year of useful information disguised as trivia. Or perhaps it is trivia disguised as useful information, I forget.
This is about the time that [...]
In the over protected business environment of France few things surprise me any more, but even so I was shocked and dismayed to hear of the recent court ruling against Amazon France.
Much as in other countries, Amazon France offers free delivery on orders over a certain value. Seems reasonable, I think you will agree. A [...]
An interesting news item about Miss France has surprised France during the last few days - the recently elected Miss France is now being asked to stand down as the winner.
It seems that three years ago she posed for some ‘inappropriate’ photographs, one involving floating on a crucifix in a swimming pool and the other [...]
If a holiday is truly relaxing it can change an ‘It was fine’ type holiday into a ‘wow that was great’ type holiday. And the great thing is, your relaxing break needn’t cost more than a stressful French holiday!
So for our French holidays section I’ve been trying to think of the things that make the [...]
OK it’s Christmas so I can drift away from serious matters for a moment. I’m trying to employ this chimp to sit my daughter’s maths brevet (exam) for her in a few weeks time. And then perhaps it can my do French tax return afterwards.
The year is gliding to a close on a bit of a poor note, world economy wise, and I’ve been wondering how it might affect us.
I read that property prices in London fell 7% in November. If that continues for another 14 months, houses in the UK will cost about the same as a flat [...]
Our poor old Renault Megane Scenic has now travelled about 170,000 kilometres. Despite Mrs B trying to leap across a ditch with it about four years ago, it is still going strong and looks set to continue for another 170,000.
But the children are starting to complain how embarrassing it is turning up at school in [...]
Last year we had capon for christmas dinner instead of turkey. Capon is extremely common and popular in France, and in fact was also much tastier than most turkey. So we have bought another one this year, as do many French families.
Being unclear what capon is, apart from vague references to ‘male chicken’ I looked [...]
It appears that the rules about health care obligations for expats in France have been finalised (see note at bottom added january 2008). An approximate translation of the bulletin is as follows (please don’t rely on my summary translation if it has an important impact on you, seek professional advice - there are links to [...]
When I started the francethisway site I intended it to be a hobby to keep me entertained during the winter evenings. Unfortunately I am an obsessive workaholic, and it rapidly became a full-time job, and more recently a registered enterprise.
This is good, I’m pleased how popular the site has become, but does have its downsides. [...]
We’ve been living in the barn for almost three years now, and very pleasant it is too. By way of keeping warm we have oil central-heating, installed whan we did the renovation, and a woodburning stove added a little later, in an effort to save the world and spend less money.
The principle is straightforward. We [...]
When we first arrived here in France, the house had no connection to mains water - all the water for the house and farm came from a spring that we have in the ‘garden’ (read ‘field’). We paid up for a connection to the mains water and now only use the spring for watering the [...]
I’m sorry to report that I have discovered a major disadvantage of being an expat in France.
Since no-one ever has a clue what to buy me for birthdays and christmas I quite often get sent amazon gift vouchers, usually for amazon UK. This is always very exciting - the chance to go shopping without leaving [...]
Because of my computer dabblings I am often asked how to make/design a website. Sometimes people even try and cross my palm with silver in the hope I will do it for them. I usually stick the silver in my pocket and then explain that it’s not really my thing…
When I start explaining how the [...]
