Lehaut

Indeed menthe, mad hatters and all that. Roman ladies used lead mixture to whiten their faces (knowing it was poison), lead was used to sweeten wine. Mercury was used to tread syphilis and many other ailments for over 3000 years. Most heavy metal poisoning with mercury is by inhaling the vapour. Inhalation of lead tetraethyl in leaded petrol has killed tens of millions of people, far more then mercury. Dental amalgam is a mixture of metals, consisting of liquid (elemental) mercury and a powdered alloy composed of silver, tin, and copper. Approximately half (50%) of dental amalgam is elemental mercury by weight. The chemical properties of elemental mercury allow it to react with and bind together the silver/copper/tin alloy particles to form an amalgam, which the dentist pushed into the clean cavities - you might remember hearing the slight squeaking noise as he worked it in (I do). it then sets hard. No lead is used. In teeth it is quite stable, though some people are convinced it is not so. Some are also concerned when bodies are burned in crematoriums as it turns the mercury back to vapour, 1.2 grams per body on average. Mercury is more poisonous then lead, you are correct.

Mercury amalgam I hope!

If that is a measure of crazy, then I am too! We rarely eat our and are both revolted by the sight of kitchen staff hanging around restaurants of all levels smoking at the entrances. Even saw it at a Graham Ramsay place when we were in London last week. Yuk.

I aften read these articles for the UK figures. They include such things as a new car every 10 years, one or two foreign holidays a year etc. From a 2020 article Research suggests that a couple in the UK need an annual combined income of £47,500 to have a retirement with few or no money worries, while a single person would need £33,000. This estimate assumes a lifestyle that includes: three weeks’ holiday in Europe (per year) food shops costing £56 per person per week £1,500 worth of clothes per person annually These assumptions aren’t extravagant, but they aren’t penny-pinching either. If the French article is for working people, then there is quite a difference in expectations! A third of income in France is usually attributed to rent/mortgage. Our income in France is well below that suggested by the UK article, but we have a very comfortable life style - probably as we own our own home, have no debt and reasonable expectations!

They shut ours down quite some time ago, no choice nor explanation. The RBS has allowed us to keep our UK account and, for the moment, show no inclination to shut it down.

I have nothing but contempt for SFR for several reasons, (including debiting eldest sons account without him signing a contract!). It would appear that they are in a bit of financial difficultly with a rather large debt, according to some sources. Free pourrait sauver (Altice) SFR de la faillite, des millions d’abonnés concernés Avec une dette abyssale atteignant les 60 milliards d'euros, la santé du groupe Altice de Patrik Drahi a pris un sérieux coup dans l'aile. Pour faire rentrer de l'argent dans les caisses, l'hommes d'affaires envisage de vendre certains actifs, notamment Meo, l'opérateur numéro 1 au Portugal. Et visiblement, Free pourrait être intéressé par cette acquisition. elle a perdu pas moins de 100 000 abonnés au cours du premier trimestre 2023. https://www.phonandroid.com/free-pourrait-sauver-sfr-de-la-faillite-des-millions-dabonnes-concernes.html

In the local papers they are marking the 80th anniversary of the bombing attacks on Nantes, appealing for "eye witnesses'" before they disappear. Our neighbours father was killed during one of the attacks. It is understood that Clark Gable took part in the attack. Having tea the other week with another neighbour who is 83 (but does not look it). She suddenly launched into her memories of seeing the invaders in her Breton village and how her parents kept her in the house when they were on patrol. A whole flood of very exact stories then followed. Something she had never mentions in the several years we have known her.

Did you wash out well before you used it for the first time? The stuff they spray on new things may not be conducive to yeast growth.

Same here. Most of the special offers don't affect us as we buy so little processed food. The margins are pretty slim already on "raw" products, be they meat or veg.

As insidious, but difficult to prove for the consumer is underfilling. TF1 had a section where they weighed containers with, allegedly,500gm, 1kilo etc of flour, sugar etc. Several were a few grams under. Not much for the individual, but over several thousand for the manufacturer, a good saving. Proving it as a consumer is another thing.

Menthe sorry to disappoint, but I have no interest in sports what so ever! The stade is to the North of Nantes as shown on this map - will be cycling past it today on our "Tour de Nantes". We cycle east alongside the Loire, then north west along the N644 cycle track past the Stade de la Beaujoire (as near to it as I have ever been) the back south along the Erdre river. That is enough sport for me 🙂

My wife refused to use this shower in an accommodation we stayed in in Croatia. I used it but turned the power off first!

From the window of the flat we hired in Gran Canaria in 2021. Wondered why the water from the tap tasted funny till I realised it came from these containers stored on the roofs of the buildings - ours building was the same. Bottled water after that. .

Just come back from few days in Tours. Wanted to try out our new bike rack and do some cycling alongside another part of the Loire and the Cher. Hired an apartment in the old part of town. Dickensian would be a good description of the view from the bedroom window! Was a little surprised by the number of SDFs in the streets. And at night, sleeping with the windows open as it was warm, the noise in the streets went on until the early hours of the morning - well after the cafes etc had shut. The streets were water cleaned during the early morning. On one afternoon a screaming match of epic proportions started in the building below. A young woman and man were going at it hammer and tongs. Went on for about 20 mins, ending in hysterical sobbing. Not something we are used to and caused us to debate when one should call the police! Oh and it rained on the cycle rides 🙂

We had a couple in our village in Normandy. She was French and he was British. The came across from the UK to live in France. The neighbours lined the road in the old place in the UK waving when they moved as they were so glad to see them go. The were almost as popular in Normandy! They made the same mistakes in our village and got the same reaction.

Sarko perhaps?

We are getting it warm here in LA, not as much as those who live down south. The heat has a bad effect on the roads, as it tends to melt the tarmac. (I assume you can add something to raise the temperature when laying roads in "tropical" regions?) It also makes pedestrian crossings near invisible. Anyway, here they are painting some roads white here (lait de chaux) in an attempt to reduce the effect, a bit like painting the inside of railway lines to stop them expanding too much. Have not driven on one yet.

According to the Washington Post: Donald Trump promised to give away his $400,000 presidential salary. And he kept that promise, publicly announcing each gift — at least, for his first 3½ years in office. Then, in the middle of the last year, the announcements stopped. Trump’s White House never said where — or even if — he donated the last $220,000 of his salary, covering the final six months of 2020 and the first 20 days of 2021. Now, six months after he left office, it’s not clear where Trump donated that remaining salary — or if he donated it at all. He also claimed he was the first US president to give away the salary, another lie alongside the other 30, 273 know false or misleading claims he made in the 4 years he occupied the presidency.

Tim Miller, a Republican operative turned “Never Trumper”, said: “So the guy who was supposedly gonna blow the whistle on Biden taking payments from foreigners was actually paying off Trump admin officials himself on behalf of China!! Could this be more on the nose?” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/11/gal-luft-biden-china-agent-charged

I don't know if they rule the world or just think they do. We try to avoid watching US TV series as they (police, armed forces, politicians) portray themselves, and often call themselves, "the best of the best" whereas in real life they appear to anything but. That said, the UK seem to have their fair share of halfwits in positions of responsibility who have no problem in proving their idiocy.

I have no problem with the main supermarkets as we have their loyalty cards and see the receipts just as we leave the till on the phone. The only problem is with the smaller stores where we have no such card.

I wonder if they have thought the no automatic issue of receipts through? Not my original thought but, if the security guard stops you coming out of a shop and confronts you with "I think you have stolen that item" and you reply "no" and show them the receipt all is well. Under the new rules, no receipt so no easy proof you have, or have not, paid for the goods. I don't see them taking you back to a till and have the cashier scroll through all the electronic receipts to find yours (if you can even remember which till you used). Certainly in the self scans in Ikea we have been challenged by the security staff who have looked at the paper receipt (in the old days) and then looked at the chariot.

I got caught in a mountain storm on the Route. Its the only time I have had to stop whilst on a motorbike because of the rain. The roads turned into rivers. I arrived at the camp site to find it half flooded and no electricity for most of the night - still charged me the full amount though. Very like Scotland 🙂

I have no idea. Dozens of fires are started deliberately, occasionally by volunteer fire fighters themselves: https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20220729-who-is-setting-fire-to-france-s-forests-and-why-arson-pyromania This punishment quoted in the article seems, regrettably to have fallen out of favour "Making the distinction was important, he says, since arsonists were often sentenced to death." And then you have those who throw their fag ends out of car windows, or just by the side of the road without a thought of the potential risks (if they cannot figure out the danger to themselves, then other effects will not enter their heads) Those who put out their BBQs by throwing the embers on the ground, or throw glass bottles away which can start fires. Before we moved to our house in Normandy the orchard grass grew long and dry in the summer. My aunt (an ex head teacher in Manchester) on a holiday there thought the most expeditious way to "cut it" was to set fire to it! Luckily the other people with her got it under control. My faith in humanity decreases day after day.

Indeed Menthe. We did a 26km cycle ride from the flat last week, Mostly on cycle paths, past the lock and fish ladder at Vertou, along the Sévre under the trees, up a steep hill and into the vines. Coasted down tracks and through a forest, dived down some tiny lanes, through a disused quarry to the locks. Back along a different stretch of the Sévre and home. You can do a different route alongside a river 6 days a week here. Have done the Route Napoléon on a motor bike - one of the best in France, if you ignore the wreckage of motor bikes along the way and stories of them coming off and ending up in a tree etc. Did not like "Die" being one of the points on the route though, sounded like bad omen. France really does have it all, if you are one of the ones fortunate to make the most of it. And you do not have to be rich.