Celine

I am (in the London area) still waiting for post sent nearly two weeks ago. It's probably in the backlog. As I am visiting my house in France mid December, do you think it would be sensible to post all my Christmas cards from outside the UK?

I agree, ValB, where there's a will there's a way! I do get fed up with folk thinking it's their right to have carriers provide a cheap door to door service at a time when the demand just isn't there.

Hi Rose. Our friends from Devon fly from Exeter to Paris CDG with Flybe and then on to their French airport. Very little hassle. Hope this helps.

Thank you , Bernice, that's interesting.

Out of interest how long do M&S allow you to keep the goods before return to get a full refund? In the UK it has gone down to 35 days, but I was wondering about the Christmas presents and clothes I was going to bring to France. Would I get longer ordering on line from my French address?

Megan, that's exactly the attitude the children at school take when learning French. Most of them know they will never be good enough at the subject and therefore mispronounce and jumble up the words almost on purpose. Add to that all the inhibitions and hang ups etc. and we really don't stand a chance. Many reports suggest French is the most difficult and least popular subject in the curriculum, no wonder the uptake rate at GCSE is dropping dramatically. The expectation has often been to get a D in French and be happy with that. I have come round to believing you need to be linguistically gifted in order to learn foreign languages properly. All the practice and effort in the world wont make you a scholar if you don't have the talent, but as you say little and often is better than nothing.

nectarine - whilst I fully agree with your comments about free speech, the reason many people terminate the conversation by as you say "hurling the term "racist" is because they find the content offensive. There's no point both sides making fools of themselves by ranting, so very often that provides the way to shut the discussion up. And chessie, I wouldn't be too fearful for your family's future in the UK, As you say, one adapts when one is living in it, especially if under 40 or so. it's not fair to paint such an awful picture of what are actually young people's lives and aspirations when they are relatively happy with the situation or more to the point, not giving it much thought. Too many other things to enjoy!

Strange how where the pets are makes it home for us too. Having said that, in all our dozen or so moves all the animals have settled in no trouble at all. I take a leaf out of their book, that home is simply where we live at present, nothing to do with sentiment.

Very interesting. I think part of the problem is that UK families these days are so busy and do not have the time to entertain an exchange partner. They would rather send their children off on expensive organised ski holidays or Disneyland trips than have the bother of welcoming a French or German exchange into the home.

As regards the BBC's decision, I think we have to go with the great philosophe, Voltaire .......'Je désapprouve ce que vous dites, mais je me battrai jusqu'a la mort pour que vous ayez le droit de le dire."

Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 is discussing this in today's show.

I've been thinking about this over lunch, (an M & S sandwich, which I would have to change if I lived in France!), and it occurred to me that yes, I would have to be who I wasn't for my own protection. The peer pressure bit would be even worse in a foreign country where I would be ignorant of backgrounds and views. Therefore the only option would be to mimic those around me as I half feel that is what would be expected. If I tried too hard to hang onto my own peculiar identity would I not be more ostracised?

Hi Dog I kind of see where Mel is coming from, but speaking for myself, I love the coffee table rose tinted magazine idea of France in addition to my UK lifestyle. I know I can't divorce the two and how I live in England provides me with the income to be a complete fraud in France. By that I mean I can have my second home, drive my gas guzzler and go out to French restaurants without needing to apologise. I don't think my French friends think any less of me in fact I think they feel quite chuffed that I want to indulge in aspects of their lifestyle albeit admittedly not every-day humdrum occupations. What's the point in my coming over to France if I can't enjoy the pleasures and indulge myself a bit? Roll on Friday! I think you are right that we cannot change who we are and I would have to think very carefully about who I really am if I came to live in France, but for the moment I get what I consider to be the best of both worlds. And back to the original posting, there is often trouble when a group of youths, whether from the valleys or from the town, get together. If "un simple regard" is all it takes to set them off then that proves that violence is not necessarily triggered by language, religion or even race - just a lack of respect and values.

Parents in the UK are now to undergo CRB checks before they can accept a foreign language student in the home. Surely this means that even fewer British pupils than ever will want to learn a modern languages as this rule will only make parents reluctant to enter into exchange visits. I for one am still in touch with my exchange partner in France and found the experience invaluable. What a shame, especially as the GCSE take up rate for French has fallen again by 6% this year.

I am enjoying L'elégance du hérisson" by Muriel Barbery at the moment.

You rightly mention "The twins" Quillan and they have quite a following amongst the youth. I think it's something to do with 'the dark side." I'm glad you didn't see my posting as being ageist, because I admire people like Paul McCartney, Elton, Cliff for their craft, not that they are my cup of tea. I'm talking about the ones who can't cope anymore but who wont let go. They are really harming their reputations. As for the costumes on Strictly, mmmm!!!

For those of you who did watch X factor last night (!) ...... what are all these "past their sell by date" artists doing trying to forge their comebacks? Both Robbie (last week) and Whitney were spaced out and ungainly in their performances. It's time for them to move over for the youngsters who are far more current and fit. Some people keep wanting to go backwards in life, but whether you like progress or not, you've got to allow it to happen and put these "have beens" to bed. I am younger than they are and quite honestly feel embarrassed to watch their antics. Great to reminisce about bygone days, great to transport yourself back to your youth, but please let the world move on. Ironically, and getting close to another discussion here, that's one of the reasons why I am not mentally ready to move to France for good and I certainly don't want to fall into the category of those who aren't prepared to move with the times. Maybe I'll feel different and want to "escape" it all one day, but for now, bring it on!

I received a letter saying my airmiles are about to expire, so to use them up I phoned to make a eurostar booking. They wanted an additional £30 to re activate the account because I hadn't used it in the last year! Cheaper to buy the ticket direct. The good news, however, is that if you have a family member with a current airmiles account you can use just one of their airmiles to get things moving without the penalty fee, but I think it means they have to travel too. It's doing my head in, but at least my daughter may get to do some Christmas shopping in France (at my expense).

I agree with Scooby that travel times and costs must be an important consideration when buying a holiday home in France, otherwise the whole trip becomes a chore and one starts to resent the added expense and hassle. I do feel a bit sorry for those who have lost the flights to the nearest airport especially if they are hoping to do holiday lettings too.

The programme didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, so there was no 'hidden" agenda from my point of view. I love, love Ryanair. It's cheap, quick and convenient. I could afford the ferry or BA if I wanted to, so I don't fall into the penny pinching bracket, but of course I'm going to choose the means which gets me from door to door with the least stress and hassle and Ryanair does that for many of us.

Can red squirrels mate with grays and vice versa?

I"m with Quillan on this one and those of you who say that the X Factor appeals to the lowest common denominator are wrong. Colleagues of mine in the highest professions watch the show, I am sure out of the 12 million viewers recorded there are quite a few doctors, teachers and lawyers. A number of comedians, band members and entertainers have degrees of the old school, the younger products of such shows are just taking a different path on today's age and deserve to be given the chance. Simon Cowell is a very astute man. I have only been a member of this forum a very short time and greatly appreciate some of the contributors' knowledge on France and things French. I am always keen to listen and learn. What I can't understand, however, is the attitude of some members towards things on which they are not qualified to comment. Who do they think they are? They've been living in their own bubble too long and it's only themselves they're fooling. BTW - Danyl or Joe to win!

I think you have to accept that the psychology of the UK viewing public has changed over the years. X factor is always the main talk of the classroom and the young office on Monday mornings, it's what they are all into currently and of course there's plenty of room for another mediocre pop singer or two. I really don't think many people will take much notice of the comment regarding the sexuality of the contestant. The fans wont care and will continue to vote regardless. In a way, Stephen Gateley's increased popularity after he came out ten years ago only serves proves the point.

I think it gives you the option to do it at the same time, you just tick the boxes for both flight dates, so if there's two of you traveling (return) you get four boarding passes with one easy click.

Good point, Will. Thank you. In the good old days you used to be able to call into offices in France and actually write down the English address for them. These days companies like EDF, France Telecom are rapidly closing their branches so face to face contact becomes impossible leaving letters to go astray and messages over the phone to be misinterpreted and e mails never answered. I'm sure it's called progress in the long run, but this personal contact was one of things we used to find comforting about the French way of doing things. Of course it also now relies on the fact that the typist inputs the details correctly which is why our address looked like some alien planet.