VALFR59

thanks, done!

Just to warming neighbourhood to be careful with your cars in SE21, Park hall road especially! My mini convertible (black, cooper, new shape) has been stolen today (probably over the night), inside our off street parking. They moved my hubsband's car which were park behind, one the perpendicular of mine, without breaking it! but they ransacked it also (probably a tool to open the central lock!). Those big J... have stolen my keys through the letter box (I've putted my keys on the console table in our Hallway but it's quite far from the door!!) The dog didn't hear anything...I realised it when I wanted to go for shopping at 12.00pm. if you see a Black mini cooper convertible, "PK59XAC ", please be nice to call the the police or Pm me! I've posted that thread on our local forum (West Dulwich forum) but has a lot of people from West Dulwich use more EDF than WDF, I prefer double post on both forum! Hope they'll find thos bad guys but Police didn't seem really optimistic.... thanks for reading! Val

Hi, French do family bedrooms,as we do also sometimes bring our kids over our holidays trips :) but I am pretty sure not in Formule 1/1er class/hotel Inn...first price range of hotel.(they'll ask you to take 2 rooms, but without connections, just next doors) You'll find family room from the Novotel/Mercure range of hotels (but more expensive, and rate depend on the city you want to spend the night and if it's week or WE ). in Novotel/Mercure,Ibis (same company),Best Western and lot of h?tels, the nights are more expensive over the week than WE, as they take advantage of business trip...They do more affordable rates for tourists from Friday to Sunday evening. I would not recommend Best Western in France, as lot of them are really "old fashions, odd"(would need a complete refurbishment" it depend the owners (so well check the opinions, the pictures etc as they are not at all at the same standard for the same price around) Ibis is a good value for money.Their hotels have a always a far better location that the Formule 1: BE CAREFULL with Formule 1, some of them are located in bad /not safe suburbs/Areas, in the middle of industrials zone, very often out of city center and difficult to find , not great when it's late evening ....especially if you drive with an English plate, more visible and expose to be ransaked! We don't have that many B&B that you can find in the UK. Globally, France is a bit less family friendly, no baby staff available automatically in restaurants/hotels, (but you can eat everywhere with your kids, at any time of the evening!any venue! )...so well check in advance the place you'll stay (if they have travel coat/high chairs etc). Try the range of hotels "LOGIS DE FRANCE" 'double check the opinions over tripadvisors,booking.com). I was used to go their when I had business trips in France, it change a bit of the same decor of Novotels...and often cheaper with some wiht nice good value for money restaurants available with the h?tel. Often a warmer welcoming also. It's between a B&B and an H?tel www.logishotels.com Wish you nice time in France by the way!

yeah!!! cool! will be very helpful! nice idea we miss a nice hotel around.An the village is a great location for it.

thanks again EDF to be helpful , as usual! such a chance to have this ressource :)

Our son will enter there next september in the 3+ section (he will turn 4 in November). As he has changed almost every year of caring solution since we've been arrived in London (2,5 yrs ago), I though it could be nice to meet others boys with whom he'll spend a lot of time over his few years of british scolarship . My son has been first with a nanny, and now he is 4 days a week at the lovely Nelly's nursery . It's a shame as each time he his completely well settled, he has to change due to the crazy waiting list in this area. We have a very nice group of friends locally, but they all go in others locals shools in Dulwich/herne hill, and some have recently moved outside of London. We are an expat french family living in West Dulwich. I love speaking in english even if I am not completely fluent, but my son is bilingual. I keep my Fridays off to stay with him so we are available on that day or over the WE. if you fancy a playtime for the kids and an informal friendly mummy's coffee/tea time , you can Pm me!

Definitely not!! I love the freedom to go where I want when I want! It's a chance to avoid the rush hour on transports when I am not working and I want to go somewhere with my toddler. Also great to go back to my country and able to bring things (I couldn't do that by train). Maybe if one day I live in a country with more thant few weeks of nice/dry/warm weather , It would be more easily for me to walk or to ride a bike :) .... but I do have to agree that I am a bit lazy!

Bonjour, If you have an Ipad, you can download educationnal/funny games for kids. I've done it for my 3yrs old, to makes him practising his french ABC/counting/etc (with excercices books but fun for kids) as we are supposed to get back to France within 2 years, and he loves it. "Hachette" (a french editor) is doing nice things for Iphone/Ipad . (ABC rigolo = funny ABC, etc) You can go to a french/european bookshops : www.europeanbookshop.com (big store in Soho). There is also one store in South kens "librairie ? la page" really close to South Kens tube station. I am used to go there for buying french business speaking methods... but I've saw some kids french learning methods for sale there as "la jolie ronde programm" etc). Go on Amazon and buy some french books about " learning english for kids" . The vocabulary will be basic and you can use them on the opposite way, to learn french from the english words :) Go on You tube , you can find nice ressources, kids songs with picutres of the sung words. If you are good at entertainning kids, you can do it on your own for sure. "Alouette" is great to learn the parts of the body. (but not nice for the poor bird!lol) If you fear to teach them a bad pronounciation, you can buy some french cartoons/movies in french (their ears will catch the accent at such a young age). I have the same concern than you with my strong french accent when I have to speak in english to my son when we are with our english friends/outside the house. But at the end, it's great to speak a foreign language, so no complex with your accent! by the way, speaking french with a small english accent is cute for french ears :) A clever/affordable solution (and usefull for parents in the same time) might be to have a french babysitter (London is the "8th biggest french city of France" according to Boris J and french ambassy...so full of students, looking for extra works). Ask her/him to speak only in french (or almost) with a routine of sentences at each meet. Also, Wix bilingual school in clapham might be nice (not only tailor suited for french/half french kids). They have a class for english children who want to be bilingual (even if none of the parents are english). Good luck!

great idea! what a fun/cool bedroom!! Well done to her!

I would say " pas de panique" :) I completely understand your concern !! ... as I was really stressed this january when my son (3 yrs and 3 months old) had his assesments in 2 local privates. As you, I doubted about his chances to get in one of those schools, as French is his native language (speaks at home) and English his second language, speaking 4 days a week at the nursery (and with his local friends over his playtime and mummys coffees from time to time...) Be reassured for your little girl's case: my son went through both of his assesments! and he is normally clever I think, not a little Einstein :) Also he is not "trained" in English counting/reading/writting etc... as I am not feeling right to stimulate him in a language I am not easy with I think as french people, we are very worried about those assesments as it's not common in our culture for such young kids... and so different to the entrance rules (and prices!lol) of french privates. Be reassured except with one private school where I felt it might be a weakness that my son were a foreigner( I'll sent you the name of the school on PM) the 2 others I visited (Dulwich prep included) were absolutely aware to give a chance to a non english native speaker and seemed used to manage those kids and even were quite enthousiastic to count bilingual kids in their schools. Just let well know the staff that your little one is french when you apply(but most of the time it's asking in the applications form) and remenber it to the "assesment teachers" . And if she can't get through your private wishes, you always have the possibility to apply at WIX bilingual french school on clapham (the application form will take place in April on Lyc?e Fran?ais website for next september entrance). Finally if you really you need to be helped, you can visit West dulwich forum website, a company has adverted few weeks ago to train parents/kids for assesment.. Bonne courage je compatis ? vos inqui?tudes! mais tout se passera bien j'en suis certaine :) Val?rie

It depend if your child is a boy or a girl for the choice of schools as some are not mixted. We are very happy that our son gets in DulwichPrep for next september entrance, after his assesment this january as It was my favourite in term of "values, children/education approach" and equipments/modernity (I found that you know where your money is going there). I've heard only very good feed back from friends and neighbours who have kids in DUCKS/Dulwich College but the waiting list is crazy mad...I've applied when we arrived in the UK in May 2010 and my son is on a reserve list for 2015 (kind of second waiting list I suppose)! for joking I asked the registar if the ladies here were used to apply the first month of their pregnancy (or as soon as they have the project to be pregnant) and surprisingly SHE CONFIRMED it to me with a lot of serious :) In term of secondary schools results , I've read that among the Top 100 secondary privates schools of the UK, you have Alleyns, then JaGS and in third position Dulwich college (I am not from these country and your system is still not perfectly known by me in term of types of exams etc, but I might remember the classification were talking about A+/A rate at the A level exam) You can have a look at : http://www.best-schools.co.uk/league-tables/a-level-passes.aspx Dulwich Prep stops at 13yrs old (boys only after nursery time mixted from 3 to 5 yrs) but the kids don't seem to have any problems to get in Alleyns/Dulwich college or grammar schools thereafter (in our case , we don't really mind as we would probably be away of the UK at that stage of his scolarship). I visited Oakfield and Rosemead (both mixted), but I didn't like at all both of them (I can give you my point of view on Pm if you need).However I've heard good things about rosemead from parents I know who have girls. Less unanimous opinion about Oakfield but through the EDF you can find good fee-back. Depend the age of your child, but there are some very nice nurseries around here. Our son is currently in one of the three Nellys nurseries and we are super happy about the staff/venue/acctivities. I also liked Little jungle nursery as our second choice . You have to visit the schools to have your OWN feeling , and apply ASAP to be in the list of the next assesments sessions. Good luck!

I do understand the reason why they have to sell the toys with a higher price : - They pay an high tenancy - They can't buy in huge amount of units to have big bargains like Argos/toys&rus/Smyths etc, can obtain easily by putting under pressure the suppliers (I know a bit of their business methods). I don't buy all the toys in that shop,especially not the big toys/playmobile etc because as you , I prefer to pay the lower price, and I don't mind to have big stores instead of local shops close to me(but very personnal ). However I like it because it's a nice atmoshpere,good advices and they do have items (like foam swords etc) & gadgets toys you can't find in the big store like Toy's rus, for few quids . My son love to explore the shop and he is very happy with a 2? gadget he discovers among the boxes like treasures. It's ok for me to drive in bigger places if I want items with affordable price.(but I am lucky to have a car). I am not a Lordshiplane addict and I prefer to find good deal at Tk Maxx in Brixton (10min from WD with Bus n?3 if you can't drive), or I like to go in "WHAT" store, in Crystal palace (close to Homebase) where you can find cheap big toys for 3? and stickers books for 1?, art craft for 2/3? max, with a lot of our kids favourite characters.. ok it's not the nicest place to shop but it's efficient when you organise a playtime with your children friends at home for example. I really don't think "Just Williams" shops overpriced their items because it's ED or Herne hill clients....we are not West londoners level...YET :) ! ok for SE londonners, Dulwich/Herne hill are posh but I am always amused when I speak with people at work/ or with my husband professionnal network over business/social dinners (the worst are those with French chamber of commerce or french ambassy with all the South kens unreals expats!lol), how THE OTHERS (from the other side of the river) look at us with pity when we say we live in SE london... some of them know a bit Dulwich village but if you tell them you live WD/ED ....close to Peckham/west norwood/gipsy hill etc..they look so surprise when we told them it's a nice quite safe place to live, with not so bad access in central london (but we are now in WD, much more convenient to connect in central london than north Dulwich where we were previously). it's only 2 yrs and a half we live in London/dulwich and I agree it's more and more expensive, but it's also for the pleasure of owners who can see their properties going up every year and can make easy money for the future (or bigger house in Beckhenam :) as a big part of ED seem to move there, some of my best friends first!lol ) Personnally, I find London very expensive, more than a lot of others Europeans Cities we lived previously .... wherever you stay in London...but it's my favourite so far!! I even don't miss France. Best wishes at Just Williams to stay open then!! perhaps they have to be careful to offer others ranges of toys than all those you have in the big toys stores/unique items/orignals suppliers to stay valuable for their clients...

Definitely Corsica, French island along the South east cost. You have beaches and mountains, lots of walks to do, water sports as moutains sports. Nice weather, beautiful sea, great food. You have direct flight from london by Gatwick with easyjet. The best part for me is "agriates desert with Calvi and St Florent /cap Corse" and Bonifaccio. South of the Island is better for easy access to beaches but more busy . (Porto Vecchio famous for tourist as porticcio). I would not recommend the oriental coast (around Aleria), cheaper but a shame to go that far to be in the less nice part of the island :) Avoid the 2 first weeks of August(rush period of French summer holidays, most of the companies ask their employees to take their summer break that month). You can find houses to rent at Homelidays.fr Club Med in Corsica are not nice.

I've Pm you

Oh dear....If only that could give ideas to the pea brain President I have in my country :) !!

I've heard by a lot of English people , among my collegues, clients and friends,that: " as many you have foxes in your area, as dirtiest is your area"... Others told me also that the council were in part responsible of that excessive number of foxes due to not managing properly the cleaning of the streets or not organizing enough bins piking up/per week. I am not from the UK, so, for me, Foxes were first really " nice,exotic/funny and lovely countryside clich?" as we are animals lovers at home , BUT after 2 years living in London, I find them now more a problem than a chance... Dogs can be dangerous, right, but you have at least the CHOICE to not take the risk to expose your children to them in your house, or to have them walking and making poo in your garden! We had two bad experiences with foxes who were eating my son's garden toys (2 times we had a fox coming in our garden to eat a ball then a plastic car although we were in the kitchen, so quite close and easily visible for that fox, but he seemed not disturbing at all by us, perhaps the results of bad behaviour of local people who feed them, or try to domestic them). Also, our past chilminder, living in ED/Peckham borders had 2 cats killed by foxes, one of the cat were a puppy,4months old, loving to go for a fun session with the kids in the garden, and he has been killed in few seconds ( caught by his neck) in front of the eyes of the kids and the childminder, playing all togethers before the intruder came in the garden( quite narrow but long garden. It happened over the last spring.... NICE!!! my son is now petrified as soon as we see a fox... probably when you don't have kids, you easily don't mind to live among foxes in your garden, what I can understand completely. For the rats, I would prefer more cats to get the job done. Anyway, my opinion, is Foxes in London ok,fine, we have to adapt, and not being cruals against them, but when it's TOO MUCH, let's think about solutions to control them (better beahviour of local people, sterilisazion campaing for foxes, etc), it would be probably in the foxes interest :)

Just SO MANY foxes around here.... So many of them, are senselessly feed by people (a fox IS NOT A PET)and as a consequence they are not scared by human...so less by children! Perhaps a way to make them more useful and control their high-count , would be to introduce them as new source of meat for Tesco and Findus :) :)

Really scary, Hopefully the little girl escape.. I hope the police will investigate seriously and find that guy...Fingers crossed he will not be able to catch a child on his next try (as I think if he is not mentally stable, paedophile, he will not stop to hunt...) I imagine how scared should have been the little girl and brave she has been!

No worry, we had the same experience with our son when he started this september at the nursery.Although he was bigger, 2yrs and half and was previously with a childminder.... We also had free settling time spread over 2 weeks... 1st week of proper start: perfect, he was running directly to the team and toys etc...just a quick "bye mummy". and from the 2nd week to the 2nd month around : crying routine the morning at the nusery as soon as he saw we were leaving the room to go to work...he took us 15 min at least of " a last hug mummy please, don't leave me alone here" also pretending than bigger kids were hurting him, team were leaving him alone, not playing etc..I spoke with his key person several times to have informations , to report his talks, and she's been comprehensive,reasurring , and they try to install a routine with him for the arrival.She said after 5 min of crying he stopped and most of the days, he even didn't ask for us for the rest of day , but after few weeks of difficult settling, I started to doubt about their sincerity or interest on my son settling! Even if it's a nursery with crazy waiting list because very recommanded, I started to doubt about their caring etc. So stressfull for parents (especially for me :) as my husband, found it normal to have a big settling period). After 2 months, a lot of discussions with my son,the help/patience of the team everything stopped from one day to another! And now, even if on Thurdays evening, he is very happy to be in WE (I am not working on Fridays), no more crisis at all. He is very smily when he arrives there, happy to say hello to all the nurses, and tell us he has fun at the nursery , he likes it. So no worry, it's not easy, make us sad sometimes, but I am sure with a bit of time your child will be settle too but I undersdand 100% your conerned! I've supposed sometimes it's a way for them to make us guilty to go back to work, and it's a change for them to have to share attention, when you are comfy with mummy and daddy, probably more dedicated and caring than all others nanny/childminder/nurses! :) good luck

We've finally bought the IKEA one (with the top) one year ago when my son turned 2, and we are really happy with it. I were hesitated with one, brand"kiddicare", white colour and lovely design as I didn't want something red/blue , to stay neutral in my kitchen decor... :) IKEA is far less expensive (I think we had for 70/80? for the whole kitchen, 2 elements ) instead of nearly 200? for the other brand. We've bought a microweave at Sainsbury ans I removed the door to fix the microweave inside the microweave cupboard of the IKEA kitcken . Like that it's wooden and interactive like the plastic kitchens ( often the funniest for kids). Also, the good point with IKEA children kitchen, is that you have the" ceramic plate" the child can switch on/off with some lights appeared!

You can go in those 2 shops where french teachers are used to buy books/methods to teach french language as a foreign language, and also where french or bilingual families are used to go to buy french books/CD/DVD for their kids to keep and practise their children french speaking or to folow the french school programm from home. www.europeanbookshop.com : close to Picadilly circus, my favourite so far because of the choice. I've saw they have a lot of methods to teach french for kids. www.frenchbookshop.com: shop in South Kens Everything depend if there is someone at home who is a native french speaker or if you are an english family, wishing to introduce basic french/french sounds to their children.(where even if you have a good level in French, the best is to find a native french speaker to introduce the language, with for example, la jolie ronde playgroup or Cadet Rousselle maternelle in Herne hill). Wix school in Clapham offers bilingual classes (a part of the shcool is managed by "le lyc?e fran?ais" for french children expats with french programm and french speaking, but the other is a state school of Lambeth and also offer the bilingual class ) Hope it could help! for DVD, depend the age of your children. I've bought on Amazon.com french DVD for toddlers for my son as Oui-Oui, Chugginton, Disney french DVD

don't know when is you party, but I've done a pirate party , 2 years ago , for my son's 2yrs old birthday party I've found all the decoration and candles in www.partypieces.co.uk and www.partydelights.co.uk I might remember that they are doing express delivery... Hope you'll find what you are looking for :)

Best restaurants/pubs: FAR BETTER : Crooked Well, Gyspy&Angels (Tapas restaurant) in Camberwell Dulwich: The Rosendale is my favourite but it's West Dulwich, then Palmerston and Franklins Bishop :ok for burger The actress: really nice pizza but you drink the wine in a glass supposed to receive water...shame! To avoid: The Mag (but it seems to close down soon), The Plough, The Dog (Greyhound in the village) (same owner) but the Dog nice for a drink after a walk in the park. Breakfast/ continental breakfast: Au ciel in the village for a cake/ Le chandelier/ Franklins. Indian: Indian Tandoori or Dulwich Dining Club (Gipsy hill but they deliver in all Dulwich areas) Really good finest french/Modern european food restaurant without going too far : "Upstairs" restaurant in Brixton (first floor flat, not adapted with kids, romantic dinner or with friends only) "The 409 "in Clapham (in front of clapham north station):

For my son's 3yrs birthday party,in Nov,I booked a session of Diddi dance in my house. Anne-Marie did a FANTASTIC job and the kids (they wer 13 toddlers) really enjoyed it. It's a lot of fun, with noisy, so, fun accessories, balloons, bubbles, and the entertainer were full of energy and good with children. Last year, for his 2yrs old party, we had "Bea's baby bop music lesson" also in my house, it was great too and well adapted for babies and toddlers of around 1 or 2 yrs old. When they are older, I find it a bit not enough active. But it's my favourite so far music lesson for babies/young toddlers of the area. Bea is brilliant and kids love her guitare! Good luck and have fun!

Thanks a lot for your informations!! I've called Dulwich stabled but they start only at 6yrs...probably they don't have shetland pony, pony breed to start at the youngest age . I'll explore the others suggestions you've nicely gave to me on that thread. If I find something great, I'll let know! Val