Noisette

Thank you NormanH . Every little helps :-)

Condoléances, Blodwyn. Can only echo Betty's sentiments. x

I could cope with that....it's the aarggghhzel that pees me off lol. Still, had the chance to change it to something French, glamourous, even sexy, during the nationality application and bottled out. I'd never have remembered to answer to it :-) Like calling a Rottweiler 'Woofles' heehee.

[quote user="mint"]Noisette, I am still in bed, looking at the méteo and trying to decide whether I can be bothered to get up and go walking. Asthma playing up in these days of endless rain and .......ugh! But you have made me laugh.... And it's true that laughter is the best medicine[:D] [/quote] Tsssss! The sun's out here, at last! I occasionally think back to my mother's UK GP telling her how good the SW French climate would be for her arthritis! Ha! Poor old biddy died of terminal rust! Nowhere's perfect, is it? At least nowhere that we can afford :-))

ALBF, I'll have a look at the link in a minute. Hope it's more interesting than Rouen's, though. Pass on the McDo's thanks all the same :-) Happily, I don't live in the Dordogne. The Lot et Garonne is a bijou little département without anything particularly spectacular but quietly lovable, well-tended, great fun in summer but not overrun with tourists, or toursists :-) It's a shame that Mrs ALBF's (presumably) french love of her country hasn't rubbed off over the years. Most French I know still think that most of it is worth exploring fully, as well as the newly discovered joys of long-haul travel :-) Isn't it wonderful to have the choice?

Good morning, richard51 :-) Apologies for having put you on the defensive! It was just a poor attempt at humour :-) My name really is Noisette. The French can't cope with 'H'. https://youtu.be/1JlRyK3Q6gc Aren't we lucky that there are so many different methods for learning nowadays! It's just a matter of finding the ones best adapted. Bonne journée :-)

You can't argue with that...the Peruvian jungle is singularly short on cinemas. Just as Tours is a bit lacking in rare plant and insect life. I understand that there are some bizarre and endangered species of mammal, though :-)

Nuts to you, sweetie :-) As for that codswallop about age, I'll be 105 this year and I've still got all my own teeth. They're in a box in a cupboard somewhere ;-) Thank you for the example, though! Very concise. Don't worry about it, Pat. I doubt it will crop up much in NE England :-) Hope all is going well for you both!

Not even! Round here, it's 'bon, allez!' At least 4 times before actually departing lol. But then, we're not 'elegant' ;-)

How come they missed off Tours? Shameful! ;-)

Not sure if this will work.....https://youtu.be/ribZ06BmFf4 but if it does, it's one of a series worth a look on a wet, miserable day :-) @EuroTrash lol...

At the risk of appearing a know-it-all (far from..) I know, I know, I know and I know lol. I just lurrrve hearing them say that I speak 'better' French than their children/friends/neighbours.... whatever. Pure vanity :-) And I will sort out this subjunctive thing, if it takes me the rest of my life. Oh and that's another one....no rule for à or 'de' in front of a verb. Isn't it about time the Académie got off their backsides and defined one? All you get is a Gallic shrug and 'you learn it as you go along'. Oh no you don't!

And very kind too! Thank you :-)

Is that a question or an answer, NormanH? No sitting on the fence :-)

[quote user="EuroTrash"]I would have jumped the other way and said No, That was my first reaction, I'm not saying it's right![/quote] So..let's see....is this a 52% / 48% split? ;-) Thank you so much, ET! Double negatives I can also do without! I'm going for a lie down in a darkened cellar. I may be some time....:-)

[quote user=" YCCMB"]Oh that's a good one and very nasty, and quite honestly I've no idea. That's given me a headache.[/quote] Eeek! My world's just crumbled lol. That's like finding out that the big, bearded, whooshy one in a dress is having a rethink about the Ten Commandments, and perhaps murder isn't so bad after all :-) You've got a headache?? ROFLMAO

If I may...The everlasting battle with the subjonctif continues. Which would be more correct, stp? 'Ne me dites jamais qu'il pleut davantage en angleterre qu'en Aquitaine' or ' ne me dites jamais qu'il pleuve davantage etc etc.' Merci! Yours damply...:-)

Excellent tip! :-) Might cause a few psychological problems in later life, though! To add to an already heavy probability...;-)

Hello Blodwyn, Those were the exact circumstances in which my mother passed away two years ago. We'd discussed the 'aftermath' and she wanted a simple cremation, no fuss. We made absolutely clear to our local undertakers what was required and what wasn't! Even so, it was obligatory that she was taken to the funeral parlour for the coffin to be sealed officially. Bottom line, €3000. If I was you, by all means get a devis from these people, but also approach a couple of local undertakers. If anyone tries a 'hard sell', give them the push. Courage!

Heehee. Excellent! Will have a look for some tomorrow :-)

Perhaps when they've mastered the phone, some kind soul could explain the basics of putting a hat on the right way round? :-)

Mint, I remember sitting in the March sunshine at Le Bec Hellouin, many years ago, drinking Normandy zider out of pottery cups :-) Thanks for the tip about pink cider. Is it brut or doux though? Can't abide the sweet stuff, whatever colour it is! One of my briochée galettes was drier than the other, despite using the same recipe for both. The dry one is going to be transformed into baba au rhum ...yum !

There's no getting away from them here, but in desperation, I made both versions myself this year. I'd only ever done the frangipani one before. They're both infinitely better home-made! One big plus was not being able to find the 'fêves' anywhere in the house, in time to include them. What a shame.... Just need to work on getting hold of some decent cider for next January ;-)

You're going to love this, Théière, but round here there are loads of hedges alternating Photinia with.....Eleagnus ebbingeii ;-) They look really good! Time to put your foot down with a firm hand? Ah and it's common name in France is 'chalef'

[quote user="Kong"]"I am good" instead of "I am well". Who is the best judge of whether I am good?[/quote] Grrrrr..my pet hate!