Getting Things Done the French Way 3½!

On Tuesday I had my trip with the Toyota to DREAL in Caen.  And it went reasonably well. Although it was lucky that Rosie had bumped into the post lady before I left for Caen, as there was a letter from DREAL saying I had to go for the test at a garage and not at their offices.  This I hadn't been told either on the phone or in the confirmation email.

New Fog Light

I arrived at the garage and to very nice gentlemen proceed to crawl under the car and rubbing mud off the chassis.  After a couple of minutes of watching them getting steadily grimier I asked what it was they were looking for.  'The vehicle identification number' was the reply.  I said there was one under the bonnet, which they looked at but they also wanted to check the one on the chassis.  They seemed rather surprised when I got the manual out of the car and looked at the location of the number - simple.  That done they measured the distance between the centre of the front and rear wheels (which is also in the manual).

Then the bit I had assumed I had had to go all the way to Caen for - the headlight directions.  One of the men looked at the lights and then asked if they had been changed.  'Yes' I said. 'C'est bonne' was the reply and that was that regarding the headlights. Not even a test to check.

They then went around the back of the vehicle and told me all was okay.  And then one of the men looked at the rear lights and asked me to turn on the fog lights.  Mine was on the right and he wanted one on the left (although it is not obligatory).  And then he wanted the weight of the vehicle. 'That's in the manual' I said.  'No, no' he replied 'you need to get it weighed'.  After I gave him a look of disbelief he added that it must be full of diesel and no people in it.

When I asked if I had to come back he said there was no need and I could email him the copy of the weight from the weighbridge and a photo of the fog light.  Those have both been dealt with so now I wait until I hear from them.   

Getting Things Done The French Way 3

I have now finished the process of signing up for the Auto-Entrepreneurs scheme for becoming self-employed in France.  As I was starting work for somebody else at the the time I had to set this up to get paid by them. Having put down on the form what work I was going to be doing, I received the paperwork back saying my principle activities are 9609Z Autres Services.  Non the wiser I thought fine - that is basically what I'm doing.  So whilst taking to a friend later I was a little surprised that 9609Z Autres Services is the code for these services;



- Activities of astrologers and spiritualists
- Activities related to social life, such activities hostesses, dating services and dating agencies
- Activities psychologists from individuals outside counsel for therapeutic use
- Activities sophrologists with individuals outside counsel for therapeutic use
- Services for pets: accommodation, care and training
- Services for genealogical research
- Activities of tattooing and body piercing
- Services of shiners, porters, parking attendants vehicles, etc..
- Operation of machines personal services that work with coins (photo booths, scales, measuring blood pressure, instructions for parts, etc.).

So an interesting career path I can take now!

As it happens I'm going to have to change from the Auto-Entrepreneur set up of self employment, to a different method, as I want to set up in Landscaping, conservation and fencing etc. (as I did in the UK).  So this will now involve another session of form filling, going round in circles and getting nowhere fast.

And whilst I'm on this subject, I am off to DREAL this afternoon (Getting Things Done The French Way 2) to get the Toyota headlights checked to see that they conform - even though they have been passed twice now. I'll let you know how I get on!

Maybe I'm Oversdosing on MasterChef?

Home Made Ravioli

On my list of foods I've always wanted to make is home made ravioli and having seen a few contestants cook it on MasterChef I thought it was well overdue that I gave it a go.  The boys have only had school ravioli and were a bit hesitant to try the real stuff.

So this afternoon I set out to make Ravioli Con Ripieno di Ricotta (Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese). Out came the pasta making machine and off I went.  I made the pasta and stuffing and then made it into Ravioli - size consistency was rather lacking but other than that not too bad for first attempt.  Left it to dry for a while (especially as I had to take Tom to Athletics) before cooking it in a home made duck stock with a home made tomato pasta sauce.  And even better not one split open.

And the verdict - yummy.  Pasta needed a little more cooking, but the main complaint was there was not enough - need I say more?

A Sunday Spring Walk/Cycle

Posted by Rosie

Five Dogs and Tom

"It's getting warm"

Green Lane Cycling

Violets

Lake Dathée

Willow Catkins

What's the Difference.....

.....between a night car rally and a day car rally?

Now before I get emails saying the obvious like 'well in the day it's light and at night it's dark',  'cars have there lights on at night and the stars are out' plus other similar statements , I have to say not a
lot really.

Great for taking night photos of the car lights but otherwise, apart from the usual loud roaring noise every few minutes and a few back fires from the cars, it was even more boring than watching them in the day.  At least in daylight you can see the colour of the cars!

And I suppose I could use the photos for a new competition - like spot the ball - such as 'where's the car?'  Well as the photographer even I'm not sure exactly where they are.

So these are photos I took of this years Suisse Normandie Car Rally which passed our house this afternoon and evening.  Normally it has been held here on a Sunday in the day, but this year we were treated to a different day and time.  So at least I can post some alternative photos this time. 

Getting Things Done The French Way 2

A few weeks ago I posted about getting my Toyota Hilux registered in French - Getting Things Done The French Way.  The document required is called a 'Carte Gris'.  And on and off the saga has continued.

Having heard nothing back from Toyota I decided that it would be easier to go to the Prefecture to find what I needed to do.  Here I was told I only had a partial certificate to conformity and because of this I had to take the vehicle to a place called DREAL in Caen.  This is a government department that inspects the vehicle to see that it conforms.  So on asking why I had to take it there considering I had all the relevant paperwork I was told 'because it says on this letter'! Not an extremely helpful reply.

Rosie rang DREAL up to ask what the situation is and reads the letter out to the man there. He says it is do with the headlights having to be changed.  Rosie explained that we had a CT (MOT) so the lights must conform.  This seemed to confuse the man and you could feel the shrug down the phone.  But he said we would have to fill out a form, which he duly emailed us, and send all the documents to him (with a cheque for 90 euros).

For us, when dealing with these things, it is sometimes easier to go in, in person, with the documents. So off I go to DREAL in Caen, with all the paperwork.  The man was very helpful but now said I needed to go to a Toyota dealer to have the lights checked and an 'astestation' to confirm they are correct. Even though I have a CT confirming they are correct this still wasn't good enough.

We rung the local Toyota dealer and explained the situation , only to be told that only a full dealership could deal with this matter and that they were only a concession.  The nearest dealer is in  Alençon, about 1½ hours away - which incidentally led to me last post 'I Have Succumbed!!'.

Here I explained the situation and I'm glad to say they were bemused by the whole thing.  You have a CT so the vehicle must comply.  They also didn't understand why they had the check the lights again.  They were extremely helpful and did have the headlights checked.  They rung to check that the actual unit was the same for right or left hand drive cars.  Finally one of the mechanics phoned DREAL up - told them the lights comply and so they were told to get me to send in all the documents, all with a shrug and 'no, we don't know why you had to come here either'.

Now all the paperwork has gone of in the post to DREAL (with the cheque) and we are left with a feeling of 'what will be next?'

I Have Succumbed!!

It had to happen.  Sooner or later.  I succumbed, I yielded, I gave up looking for the Toyota Dealership in Alençon (which is another story in itself) and finally relented and headed into the nearest seller of SatNavs.  The first place only had expensive ones and none of the maps included Britain (if I buying one I may as well have one to include the UK).  So I drove around Alençon and found a supermarket, which had a suitable SatNav and bought it.

This time I was lost on my own account - well nearly.  The Alençon Toyota dealership is, according to their website, on the Route du Paris, Alençon, but in real life it is not in Alençon itself but an adjacent suburb and there is no Route du Paris.  I couldn't even find a signpost to Paris and have now discovered that in fact the garage is on the Avenue Francis Cagnard! 

A phone call to Rosie helped solve the location problem of the garage whereabouts.  They did have a map attached to there website and she eventually found some clues which I could enter into the SatNav and upon entering these clues I hopefully had found the place. Fortunately the thing took me straight to where I wanted to go - yes 100 metres from the first shop I looked in for a SatNav!

Now I said 'this time I was lost on my own account' but in the main, over here in France, I have found the giving of directions seems to be a forgotten art.  And I not talking about the French, I talking about us Brits! Take the third turning on the right has led me up a farm track only to have to ask the farmer the whereabouts of the place I want to go.  Then I'm told I need to go back to the main road and take the 2nd on the right. Now making the turning the 5th on the right. When I ask 'why did you say 3rd on the right' I get a reply of 'well the other two are no through roads'! Well how am I suppose to know that?

The other day the directions I received was to pass the station as you leave the town of yyyy, go into the village of xxxx, pass the church and take the first right and we are the first house on the left.  I actually found the correct village, went past the church and straight past the right turn which was hidden by a wall (as I found out later).  As I hadn't passed a station I decided I must be in the wrong place.  So I eventually went back to the town, drove passed the station, drove on a while, asked a farmer and was told to turn first left and there was the place I needed.  So if I had been told correctly go into the village of 'xxxx' pass the church and turn right, be careful as the turning is not easy to see and although we are in the first house on the right please do bear in mind that there are in fact two other farm houses before ours on the right, I might of actually found the place.  And where the station came into I really don't know.

Anyway enough was enough and I succumbed.  Now I have assigned another part of my brain out to pasture (no comments please) with the part of my brain that used to store all the telephone numbers I required - the map reading part is now closely following.  So I'll now be driving along totally oblivious to where I am and reach where I want to go by a voice saying 'you have reached your destination'.

Or have I?

I decided to test the SatNav all the way home from Alençon and sure enough it got it wrong.  I came up the lane to our house and it told me to turn left up to our place.  Well even though I was in a 4x4 I did not want to go up a narrow dirt track, take a sharp right into the back entrance of our place, but that's where it told me to go. I didn't - but beware!

And have I told you about Rosie's friend who came to visit.  Their ferry took them into Le Harve and on the route to us they decided the SatNav was wrong.  So instead of going right they turned left back towards Calais. Over two hours late, they arrived here.  I thought it was a great title for a book 'Three Women and a SatNav'! - sort of based on 'Three men in a boat'!

Good News for Ben

A Happy Ben

Ben had a scan on his back Tuesday, followed by a visit to the doctors on Wednesday.  And all went very well.  The two fractures have repaired although there is still a slight compression.  The doctors are very pleased with the recovery, but restrictions still apply.

He is now allowed to sit down and to start gentle sports - swimming, on road cycling.  Jarring activates are out for quite a while, so no jumping and diving into the swimming pool, no off roading on his bike and no trampolining.  Rugby and other contact type sports are off the menu until the autumn.

Overall Ben has done really well but there are times when he thinks he knows better and just wants to be his normal active self (and can you blame him?), but reminders that he still has a little way to go are not always received well.  Most times a gentle reminder is greeted with a nod of quiet understanding.

Other times he (understandably) heads of in a strop and stomp.  These are now known as 'stromps' in our household.  And unfortunately the stomp side of these stromps are not good for his back and believe you me he doesn't like being told to stop.

But stromps apart he has done very well - and sorry Ben, we know it was tough but wasn't it worth it having your mum and dad being strict with you? And he does want to go skiing next year.

And the best news for Ben is that he has been allowed to go on the school trip on Monday and Tuesday which had been very doubtful until now.

Fencing with Boris

I really did not want to start my day having a wet nose 'smozzled' in my ear with sweet oinks being whispered to me. But that is how it was when Boris decided that he should help replace the fencing that divides up his pen.

Works Inspection

A couple of years ago we split the pen in two so we could grow sugar beet for extra feed for the pigs in the autumn months.   Plus surplus seed potatoes and marrow/courgette plants were put in there, which gave us the option of more potatoes and squashes for us or more for the pigs.

Each year, after the veg has been harvested, we swap Boris and the veg growing area around. This means Boris and, sometimes a sow, gets to weed the area.  Boris was never impressed with his area being made into two and is always grumpy, for a few days, after he is moved.

For us this arrangement has worked reasonably well, but as it was initially an experiment the fencing I put in was therefore temporary.  It lasted for two years but this year Boris managed to get through a section and it didn't take long for him to push down a repair. So proper fencing was needed.

So yesterday I set out to replace it and Boris helped!  The digger made a good bottom scratching place and directing the post hole borer was great fun.  He checked all the posts with a gentle shove and pulling the (guide) line around was a favourite pastime.  Every tool had to be checked out and made slobbery and the tub of staples needed to be tipped out and counted.   

Not Near Me, Please

Drooling down my back and pushing me over with, what I took to be, piggy laughter, was taken as playful fun, but I now see was a tactic to stop me re-doing the fencing   I managed to tape this sound and then played it back to him.  Big mistake.  He thought there was another boar in his pen.  He stood absolutely still for a few seconds and then charged at me.  A hasty retreat was made!  Especially with those tusk heading towards my leg.

New Fence

Once the posts were tamped in they needed to be tested for firmness - all pasted but one, which had a nice knotty bit to itch one's rump on.  When it was time to put the netting on it was deemed necessary that I needed a hand to unroll it - into a tangle! Ducking under the netting when it was being attached was a hobby too far.  To the shouts of 'Boris, go away' (or similar), and when he realised that this fence was going to happen whatever, he eventually gave up helping and headed for an afternoon snooze.

We Are Not Impressed

Things then progressed much quicker and the fencing was soon completed.  Boris snoozed and grunted throughout the final works keeping one occasional eye on things whilst he sulked.  And on completion I asked him what he thought?  Without a second thought he raised his tail, wiggled it and let out a massive fart!  You're obviously not impressed then Boris!

Ben Update

Snowy Morning

Got up this morning to find we have another covering of snow.  Not very much - around a centimetre - and it is still snowing lightly. I mention this because it will not go down well with Ben.  Snow usually means Ben disappears for hours on end playing and sledging in the adjacent fields.  Only returning when he is wet or tired or hungry. So with his current confinement he will not be allowed out today.

Otherwise Ben is doing very well.  It took him awhile to fully understand the implications of his accident and why it is important not to run around, etcetera, and why he must mainly either lie down or stand. He is allowed to sit for short periods, e.g, meal times. Occasionally he has to have a reminder but in the main appreciates what he needs to do to get better.

Pulpit Ben

School has been the major issue though. Fortunately his teacher has been very understanding and due to the snow a couple of weeks ago the school was closed for the week.  One of the problems was having to stand so I built him a pulpit to go on top of his desk, which seems to be working well.  Also his desk is next to a wall section and he can lean here when he is not at his desk and they have also provided him with a place to lie down - with a mattress!

He started going back just for half days and then Tom would bring the other work back for him and he did that in the evening.  The first week he found extremely tiring. In fact the Thursday he came home after an hour and then missed the Friday.  With the weekend he had a good rest and was back on the Monday.

This week he went back expecting to do half days but felt much better and on the Tuesday he returned to school after lunch.  Now he is doing full days but we collect him at lunch time and he comes home for his lunch and a rest. Plus the staff were concerned that the lunch time rush maybe a bit too much for him (and them).  One half day a week the children have PE or swimming so he stays home then.

Apart from lying down on the sofa, watching TV, he has been helping his mum do some baking, so we have a good supply of buns and biscuits.  He has also invented a little board game, which between us we have developed, into quite a good little game. Otherwise he lies down playing with toys or reading.

He has another scan on the 9th April and after that we are hoping he will be able to start swimming, then cycling - depending on the scan results and doctor.  Rugby is out until September, and similar activities.  The only thing he is a little upset about is that the doctor has says he may have to miss the school trip (although the teachers are happy for him to go).  We'll have to wait and see on the results for that one.

So he is half way through the six weeks the doctors said he must lie or stand and we are very pleased at how he is coping with it.  There again this injury doesn't seem to stop him winding his brother up!!