DaveLister

Sorry I've never got the point of National pride. I have never served in the armed forces, never been a member of the civil service, never stood for parliment. Why should I claim credit for things I took no active part in? There are shining lights in Britains history along with dark times. Should I spend my life being ashamed of the dark times because of my place of birth? In my life I have been fortunate enough to have taken part in events that have made me proud to be a human being. That'll do.

I'm with EuroTrash, it is what it is. I hardly had a say in the matter. I do, however, like Ken make the distinction between being British and being English ( I'm the former ). Ironically I was called a 'foreigner' more times when I lived in the UK than I've ever been in France.

That might be your interpretation of the phrase 'being frank' but my definition is that it is a precursor to an honest opinion as opposed to a comment meant to inflame or initiate a response. Everyone on this forum has the right to agree or disagree. I was responding to ALBF's somewhat threatening comment "Choose wisely my friend" which implied there may be consequences if I decided to visit another forum. I repeat, we are talking message boards here not picking sides for WW3 ( although it sometimes feels like it ).

Just to confirm the above. We moved to France the middle of November and still had to complete a tax return for the six weeks we were resident prior to the end of the year.

"Choose wisely my friend" Why? We're talking internet forum's FFS. Sure, there will always be a number of posters on any forum I wouldn't want to invite to a dinner party. Life's rich tapestry as they say. If I may be frank, the problem on this forum is that there are now a small number of posters to whom this is all there is. If I wanted to 'sort out the world's problems' I'll do it with my peers. People I know and respect. People who's friendship or mentorship I've appreciated over years. I'm not going to waste my time shouting into the ether at strangers. Sadly it seems to me there are some posters to whom this forum is their last opportunity to be 'the big man'. I feel sorry for them but it's not going to stop me visiting this or any other forum when I fancy a diversion. Life's too short.

ET - thank you, thank you, thank you. I have found myself getting more and more turned off by the perpetual whinging on here but kept coming back as I hadn't found an alternative and hoped, one day, things might improve. Your pizza hint has lead me to another forum which I have just joined. See you on the other side?

I don't think it's you. When I originally wrote to you the software wouldn't allow me to enter any text, just attachments which I now find even I can't open. I've rewritten much of what I wanted to say into our 'conversation' which you may or may not be able to pick up. With the number of gateway errors and timeouts I'm getting on the forum at the moment it wouldn't surprise me if you couldn't pick that up either.

Chrissie, I have sent you a PM

Chrissie, I have sent you a PM

I've just glanced at the code de la route. Vehicles are required to show hazards when their speed is 'strongly reduced'. When part of a queue only the last vehicle is required to show hazards. There is also an overarching ruling that hazards should be used to alert of an obstruction whether the vehicle itself or something else. Failure to do so can invoke a fine. So I suspect most people are leaning to the side of caution. If you end up rear ended you want to make sure there's no way you can partly be blamed. Code de la route Articles R416-18/19

Happens round my way as well. Normal lights are higher and tend to have good line of site. I tend to judge the situation by how easy it is to see the obstruction from afar and the general speed of the road. I also keep my foot on the brake at normal lights until the car behind has stopped. Haven't been rear ended but did once have a car once overtake the line of traffic thinking we all were parked.

Yep, like I said in the other thread. The French like to hate their President ( that and rioting ). It's a national sport.

In my experience family meals in France have always been "animated". And political. My cousin Pierrot once threw out the table decoration because it included red roses which he said were "Mitterrands flowers". Another refused to speak to me once for months after I let slip I'd met Giscard d'Estaing and thought him charming. The French just love to hate their President. It's what they do. Who can forget all those people with pegs on their noses voting for Chirac in 2002.

sorry for the automated edit for **** read burst.

OK I'll bite and I expect to be fully shot down in flames for this. When I joined the forum it was at the height of the 'place in the sun'ers. A steady stream of bright eyed virgins who thought their ruin of a farmhouse could be renovated for a fiver and the two rooms they'd let in the summer would bring in enough income for them to spend the rest of the year sitting on the terrace drinking the local wine whilst watching the sunset. They would roundly criticize the old hands that would gently **** their bubble for being unduly negative. They didn't want to hear that France wasn't just populated with friendly bakers and onion sellers, that the schools weren't good or that there was high unemployment. For me, the value of this forum has always been the lack of those rose tinted glasses. There has been a change though and I think I would describe it like this. In 'the olden days' there was an unspoken realization that we were the lucky ones. All us residents had made a decision to move here and, if we wished, we could leave. Sure we could moan about the 'functionaires' but the truth was it wasn't our country, we were guests. I think some of the comments now are made here by people who couldn't make them on a French forum as they would be told where to get off. Or as we used to say where I come from " If you don't like it, there's a mail boat in the morning"

All workers are a huge liability when it comes to wages. The easiest way to make a profit is to not have any staff. P&O didn't just carry passengers, as ALBF said it carried freight and freight is DP World's business. I suspect the idea is to ship directly into their own automated London Gateway bypassing the port of Dover. Of course for that they don't need passenger ferries. With the Thames Freeport opening up ( in which they also have a stake ) there'll be less need for landside staff all round. Sure, Britain might suffer some supply shortages in the meantime and popping across to France for the school holidays might end up costing more but eventually the whole thing will be a lot more profitable for DP World. Which, as you agree Ken, is the point.

It's clear that DP world's focus is freight. P&O ferries is, unfortunately, just a tiny part of their business but it's one that's been hemorrhaging money for years. Unless someone can prove to Ahmed Bin Sulayem that it's possible to run a profitable cross channel ferry service don't expect those boats to move anytime soon.

Jarrold, Dipple, Elm Hill, The Lanes, Castle Mall, The Forum, Hovells (R.I.P) Happy Days.

I think you can put that down to the rise of the press ( now media ) barons. It's no coincidence that the most rabid media exists in countries where Mr Murdochs' empire have a hold.

Hesitant to put my head above the parapet but might I suggest ALBF that part of the reason you enjoyed your trip to England was because of just that. It was a trip, a holiday, a bit of R&R. You didn't have to suffer the daily commute, or try to get a doctor's appointment, find a parking space close to the shops, or deal with the planning authorities. All those niggling little things us expats had to start doing once our own 'holiday period' came to an end. I lived in the UK during my thirties and found it a pleasant enough country ( although the casual racism was a little surprising ). Parochial but you can get that in most countries if you look hard enough. I don't remember seeing anyone 'beating the UK down' on here just for the sake of it. Most people still have some skin in the game either as pensioners ( in which case they're concerned with the UK economy ) or because they still have family members there. It's an English language forum populated mostly by Brits. You can't expect the subject not to come up.

Glad you like my moniker Betise. Had to think of something when I couldn't log in to the new software. Seriously I do despair with the constant brexiteer/remainer name calling. It's so boring. Hence my hope that it will eventually become as much a sign of losing an argument as declaring your opponent is a N*A*Z*I* Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

I for one hope that Brexit becomes the next Godwin's Law.

Regarding the Surround receiver can I suggest you obtain a free circulation card from the French customs before taking it out of the country as you wouldn't want to be stung with import duty when you bring it back. https://www.douane.gouv.fr/demarche/vous-souhaitez-obtenir-une-carte-de-libre-circulation-des-marchandises