Is there such a thing as a romantic suicide?

The striking double suicide of an 86-year-old couple in Paris's luxury Lutetia Hotel may suddenly reignite the debate over euthanasia in France.
Georgette and Bernard Cazes took their own lives on Thursday evening, shortly after checking into the four-star hotel in the upscale Saint-Germain district, Le Parisien newspaper revealed.
They were found on Friday morning lying peacefully on the room’s bed, holding hands. They were wearing plastic bags over their heads, and none of the contents of the room had been disturbed.
The startling discovery was made by an employee who brought them room service breakfast, as per the couple’s request the previous day. The order was made so that “their bodies would be discovered quickly,” the French daily surmised.
Two documents were left behind by the ageing couple: one letter for family and one addressed to French legal authorities “demanding the right to die in a dignified manner”, according to sources cited by Le Parisien.
Val says News 24 headlines this as a "romantic suicide" an odd choice of words. I just think it sad that a couple who wanted to go together had to resort to putting plastic bags over their heads.
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Un drame pour l’instant incompréhensible.

I think the heading says it all, incomprehensible. A man possibly under the influence of drugs yesterday in Toulouse threw his four year old boy out of a window of their third floor flat onto the car park below. The child was killed instantly with a broken skull.
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Warning to house sellers

Hi Val,
we were contacted by criminals (under the name of a big firm) who wanted to buy our house. After a little while we found out that they are criminals. Maybe they are contacting more house-sellers.  So a little warning at tag-on line would be a good thing. I found this info later on on the internet:
in dutch: http://blog.immogo.com/2011/01/27/oplichters-onroerend-goed-huis-kopen/
in english:http://blog.immogo.com/2011/01/27/watch-out-for-scams/

we were contaced by a mr Koldan. In reality it is a big israelien diamonds firm, which name they used.
Specially when you really want so much selling your house, one is less critical.... But lucky we found out before any harm!
Greetings Riet
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Zumba and Hip -Hop for Sethi and other poorly children

Dear Val
Thank you for putting information of our event on TAG. Here is a poster advertising the charity fundraiser which we are holding next month. Funds are being raised in support of Sethi, to assist with medical bills,  and also other other ill children in the area (funds to be distributed by the mairie).

Could you please put on Kim's new phone number 0563242172 as the one I sent you previously is her old one.  She can also be contacted by email on kailsley@hotmail.com

This Thursday morning, 28th November, 10.30, we are having a meeting at La Salle to discuss progress with organising the event. If anyone would like to come along to take part,  or to donate items for the raffle or tombola,  please contactKim:kailsley@hotmail.com 0563242172
Thank you!
Love Debbie

More of those dinky treasures to choose from

Hello everyone

I have started on this years Christmas cakes and attach pictures of the designs I have made so far.

Some of these have already been reserved although I can make additional.

The prices of those shown here range between 8€ to 15€

I also have 2 Christmas puddings which I have yet to price

Email or call if you want to place an order

Glynis

www.cakesinfrance.com

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Who has Butagaz?

Dear Val

Greetings from London where it is pretty much the same weatherwise as for you.   I have seen that very cold weather is forecast for the next while in our 'coin' and Anthony wants to ring Butagaz to see if they have delivered a top up to us.   Small problem, we don't have their number here, it is in our French kitchen....   and the number Ant tried from the internet was the wrong one!   Does anyone else have a contract with Butagaz, and if so please could they email the correct contact number to us?

Thanks so much

Diana
dianajackson5791@hotmail.com

Le jardin de femmes

After yet another meeting this afternoon with Winnie Nosal I ascertained that it would be possible to
claim back your impots/ tax credit. What you need to do is when you send a cheque make a note of the cheque number, the date and amount and send a list at the end of the year  to Via Sahel. They in their turn keep a photocopy of every cheque. For those wanting a poster for their face book pages, copy the poster above.
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Good reports of Linda

Linda of Pebble Therapies who now lives at Le Riols offered in the TAG raffle one of her treatments or therapies.
 The lady who won has just phoned me to say how pleased she was with the prize and that she had decided to go for a reflexology treatment. She enjoyed it so much and came out with feet set for dancing.
Linda  of Pebble Therapies who lives at Le Riols, near Varen can be contacted at  tel 0581400039 or 0652029968 or pebbletherapies@hotmail.com
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Breaking news about Laguepie

Hi, Val.

 

Hold the front page..... a shop in Laguépie will be open on Mondays from 2nd December onwards! The flyer we received today says that the Utile is changing hands and we will have the "Laguépicerie" which will be open every day other than on Sunday afternoons.

 

Selling roast chicken on Wednesdays and Sundays and general foodstuffs including cheese and charcuterie, wine, fruit and vegetables and local produce throughout the week, this sounds like good news to me.

 Love

 Sarah 

Val says  Good news for us all in this area
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Steve, Carpetman keeps at it.

Dear Val,
Just wanted to let all of the TAG readers know that we still have the possibility to order and fit floor and wall coverings before Christmas.
This being said we also have numerous stock items such as Carpet, Laminate, Vinyl, Paint, LVT  which could be fitted last minute before the holidays.
Take care
Steve
CARPETMAN FRANCE
Lot 5b, Voltaire 2
2 Rue Voltaire
82000 Montauban

Tel : 05 63 20 51 59
Mail : carpetmanfrance@orange.fr
Facebook : Carpetmanfrance
www.carpetman-france.com
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Greg Honey, new Cookery Editor

Greg  Honey  A food Biography.

I become interested in food & cooking in my early 20’s, living a singleton life in a small flat in central London.

Due to my work-related travel and the area where I lived, I started experimenting with such exotic recipes as Spag Bol, Chilli Con Carne & Beef Tokany. I still have my original tattered cook-book “Encyclopedia of World Cookery” by Elizabeth Campbell, bought at a W.H. Smith bookstall.

Over the years Deirdre & I collected recipes from a wide variety of sources and with the advent of the PC, these recipes were converted to digital format & any interesting recipes that came my way found their way into my PC-based library.

Partly due to a local grower & herdsman where we lived in Sussex, we became firm converts to seasonal cooking, so I’ll try to keep this up with recipes that I submit to TAG-online, taking my cue from our local St Antonin market.

The digital format allows us to make our own annotations within the recipes, which I highlight in RED, to distinguish our comments, adjustments etc. from those of the original author.

Enjoy reading and cooking

Greg Honey

Val says  A very  warm welcome to TAG, Greg and I look forward to trying some of your recipes. I see you are starting with soups and I must admit to being the " soup maker" in our house. It may surprise you, readers but I do cook sometimes.

Look in the Cooks label in a few minutes for  the start of Greg's recipes

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The radiators are like central heating

Hello Val,
Thank you so much for putting my for sale items on so promptly.
The child bike seat has already sold!
I had a few enquiries about the radiators but a bit of confusion as they are not the plug in kind.
Perhaps you could add the attached photos or state that:
They are similar to central heating and should be wall mounted and wired in.

Thank you!
Just by the by, I have been busy feeding my neighbours, hens, rabbits and goats these past few frosty days whist they are away.
Although not the same as donkeys, the goats are a very loveable bunch and I often think of you whilst I'm distributing the hay!
Hope you're enjoying the sunshine today,
Best wishes, Leila.
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Bonnets rouges for the Revolution

A French mood of mutiny that has rippled through Brittany and infected teachers, farmers and shopkeepers, skipped species on Sunday when horses took to the streets of Paris to complain about tax rises.

Thousands of disgruntled horse and pony riders rode through the French capital to complain about tax increases they say will put many of them out of business and send 80,000 animals to the abattoir.

The "cavaliers" blocked roads from the symbolic Paris squares, Place d'Italie, Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation, in protest at government plans to almost treble VAT on equestrian centres.

It was the latest manifestation of the growing revolt over PresidentFrançois Hollande's tax reforms, many of them aimed at reducing the country's public deficit to meet European Union demands.

Tens of thousands of protesters wearing revolutionary-era "bonnets rouges" have clashed with police, promising to make the region Hollande's "cemetery".

The caps are reminiscent of a 17th-century revolt against Louis XIV's stamp tax in Brittany and became one of the official emblems of the 1789 revolution.

Val says  I can think of nothing worse than being a politician in the Corridors of Power, which ever party was in power would struggle with the present deficit. Back to the corridors of pooh which I am still cleaning up in the fields and I know which job I would prefer. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and I cannot wait to get back out after lunch.

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Restos du Coeur will feed 1 million people

Over the winter period the " Restos  du Coeur " estimates that it will need to feed one million people.
Follow the link to find out more about this charity. Founded 29 years ago by Coluche the comedian the food distribution centres open their doors today.

http://www.restosducoeur.org

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Last chance to see this expo at Parisot, Le Bouton Rouge

This time we are also showing examples of beautiful embroidered saris and fabrics made by the women who have received training funded by our donations and sent to us from India.

www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/content/search.html?q=*&fq=themeName:Women%20and%20Girls

We would like to raise even more money to support these amazing women and so we are holding one last exhibition of a selection of the 12x12 pieces hosted by the Mediatheque de Parisot from the 23rd November until the 29th November. We will be selling the remaining cards and original pieces and we would like to invite everyone to come along and see the work. The exhibition will be open during the Mediatheque hours which are as follows:

Saturday:    10h00 - 12h00
Monday:       14h00 - 17h00
Tuesday;      9h00 - 12h and 13h30 - 16h30
Wednesday: 14h00 - 17h00
Thursday;    9h00 - 12h00 and 13h00 - 16h30
Friday;         9h30 - 12h00

It would be great to see any of you who are able to come along.

Kath and Ankie
Le Bouton Rouge

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Our tronçonneuses never works when you need it.

Le gang des tronçonneuses est passé par Montaigu-de-Quercy. Seeing this article in the Depeche, where 20,000 euros worth of petrol chain saws were stolen from Pole Vert, reminded Malc to grumble our chain saw was playing up again. Not only that but our strimmer and kercher / power washer were also playing up. Chatting to our young brewer neighbour  he reminded us that Johan the donkey owner is a bucheron / woodcutter and that he can always get  equipment going. So crossed fingers for help from the bucheron.

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Christmas starts with a bang at Caussade

The newly strung lights at Caussade on boulevard Léonce-Granié came tumbling down on Friday.

 Les guirlandes mal fixées tombent sur la chaussée. It could have been a dangerous scenerio but happily they were refixed without anyone getting hurt.

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Ice on the donkey buckets

As long as there is no wind,  out feeding the donkeys,chickens and barn cats first job on a morning is such a pleasure. The donkey buckets of water had a thin layer of ice which needed breaking,  but that apart the grey skies were starting to change with swathes of blue appearing. The donkeys wait patiently for their buckets, all except Rosie who is a little sweetheart unless you are a donkey who tries to approach the first food bucket, then she flings her ears back and snorts and kicks turning like a spinning wheel. She has always been a naughty little number even as a foal, she is the one who sets up escapes, she would have been a great inmate of Colditz but would not have stayed long. I can see her RAF scarf around her neck giving the others the escape plans and then being the first to lead the way.
The two amorous donkeys Filou and Rosie have tired themselves out and the group are now happily sleeping together in the stable.

Filou looks on

The stable and surrounding area of field needs the pooh piles cleaning today  and  I keep a rotation of well rotted manure piles, down to the most recent pile, great for the garden and  the rotted pile is a great attraction to the hens who scrat through for worms till I chase them off. Worms being good for the rotting process and then the soil.
Not a life for everyone but it suits me and Malc down to the ground. ( well manured)

Waiting patiently, I cannot think of anyone who would not be pleased to greet this bunch every morning!

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Wine, women and song

Wine, Women and Song

How could you resist?

Once again, the FiFi singing group would like to invite you to our Christmas Soirée. This will be held on Saturday, 7 December at the Salle des Fêtes in Verfeil from 17h00 to 19h00.

Come and brighten up the dark days, join in the singing and enjoy the mince pies and mulled wine. Bring your friends, a convivial atmosphere is guaranteed. Free entry.

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St Nicholas Cantata

Hi English friends!

I was hoping you might be able to help me with a little publicity for our concert on 6th December:

We are doing the Britten Saint Nicolas Cantata to celebrate the Britten centenary, with the Maîtrise,and the  choir and orchestra of the Toulouse conservatoire.   As you may know the piece has two well known hymns in it ('All people that on earth do dwell', and 'God moves in a mysterious way') and the audience joins in for those.  I'm not sure how well that will work in France and am hoping to get as many English people in the audience as possible! 

We will also be launching our new Maîtrise CD at this concert.  So, I was hoping you might be able to let as many of your friends as possible know about this concert. Attached is the poster which has ticket information on.

Many thanks!

Mark

Mark Opstad

www.markopstad.com

www.maitrise.toulouse.fr