JohnM

I'm tempted to ask Savoie and Denmark what their paperwork says, but due to language problems, I don't want them to think I am Mr "Get orf my land". They can do what they like. So, once I've got back to the UK and checked the paperwork, the next stop is the notaire and not the town hall?

I'm not sure if I can describe this very well. My drive is at 90 degrees to the road, a 200 year old terrace of 4 dwellings face onto the drive. The first bit of the terrace is actually 2 dwellings (Paris below and Denmark above). On the other side of the drive is a modern house. Then comes me in the middle. Directly opposite is the Paris field, they have a garage facing onto the drive. Then it's Savoie, opposite them is their field). The drive continues for another 100 meters and there is another house. If you go back to the road and walk passed the modern house, the plan shows a path from the road into the paris field. (Edited coz I forgot a bit) They would have to use the drive, but me thinks they "ought" to go to the road, along the road in and in along the path - or knock a door in their garage.

My property is two parcels of land. One is the house, the other is a driveway that the neighbours need to use to access their houses and land. Only one house is a permanent residence (Savoie folk born and bred), the other 4 (mine included) are second homes. Most of us are great people (me included :-) ), but one is owned by paris folk! They are a pain. They are very possesive of their land, which would be fine..... BUT the flat and land are separated by my drive. So he removed some of his fence and put concrete blocks into my flower bed so that he could get in. He hung a "Private Property" sign on his fence right in front of full timers window (which upset them). He insisted that the bit of my drive opposite his front door is his parking slot and insisted that the Danish folk that share his front door, park elsewhere. I once asked if some frends with young children could play in his land and he refused, citing the fact that a tree had been damaged by people going in. I know for a fact that the weight of the fruit broke the branch, but he thinks it was vandalism. At this moment, they are playing badminton on "my" drive. I don't really want to cause a fuss, but I do want a weapon in my armoury should the need arise. So.. Is access and a "right to park" the same thing? When I look at the plan the notaire gave me, there are not any "gaps" in the line which might indicate where the access should be, (but there is a gap in the far corner of his field, 50 metres up the road). who would know, the notaire or the marie - will it be expensive to find out? Is access and badminton the same thing? I'm quite happy for nice people to park on the drive, play on the drive, etc etc etc.... but if ownership gives me some power, then I want to know! If their access is officially up the road, I might just plant a Berberis or Pyrocantha in my flower bed. I have had a search for access and border disputes but I can't find anything similar. Cheers John

One heck of a thunderstorm over the Savoie this evening. Most impressive I've ever seen. A joy to behold. (What over "over the top" comments can I make?)

Why should you think that you would have an idea who taught me? I gather it is not a common thought, a fact that pleases me, but I do wonder why so mnay "other " motorcyclists think it is their duty to accelerate as fast as they can. It may have made me unsafe, but it didn't. I have a very good record on the roads. The WWII comment is proof if proof were needed that this is a wind up. That is gratifying. I'd be worried if I thought you really meant some of that stuff.

Oh ... oh ... don't get me started on Volvo drivers.........

Quite agree, there is nothing wrong with speed, in the right place and at the right time. The trouble is with the stopping. A bike and a car colliding at 5mph is no big deal, the same at 50mph is a big deal. So.... if we take the speed out of the equation, we reduce the chance of death.

Oh, and when I was taught to ride a motorbike, I was told to get up to speed as fast as possible. I thought "What a stupid idea, the car drivers will probably underestimate my acceleration, far more sensible to get up to speed at something resembling the acceleration of a car". As a result I am a boring rider.... but a safe one!

Boy oh boy do these excuses for speed sound lamer everytime I hear them. Still, as wind up merchants go you aren't bad. I'm waiting for you to tell me never to assume, don't keep me too long, I need some sleep and I don't like starting the car too late at night.

[quote user="Dog"]How on earth am I supposed to know what you deem sensible? Perhaps rolling road blocks (cars) should all have a sign on the back showing the IQ of the driver, the drivers reaction times, and what the driver deems reasonable. It is no wonder motorcyclists have such a low opinion of car drivers when you views are so callous.   [/quote] When I was taught to drive, I was told to assume that every other person on the road was an idiot and to drive accordingly.

Perhaps you shouldn't be any where near the road if you can not assume what I deem sensible. As a starting point, somebody somewhere has set a speed limit for the road, it would be a fair assumption to assume that sensible is somewhere close to that. I know this is a wind up, but I'll play along.

When one looks in ones mirror, one assumes that the traffic coming up behind will be going at a sensible speed. Perhaps faster than it should be... but still sensible. That assumption is usually a fair one.

There is an Ibis in Annecy, but of course, you really ought to be taking her to Talloires, staying in the Hotel L'Abbay, after wining and dining her at the Restaurant Pere Bise..... followed by a lifetime of soup kitchens and begging..... Tres Cher (well by my standards, but then even Flunch is stretching my current budget!)

I think there are people doing it, I once had a visit from some guys who tried to convince me that I had a beetle in my beams that they wantd to exterminate for me (at great expense). (They never responded when I emailed asking for more details and I had forgotten all about it until now)

I love Annecy. I wish I was there for the Fete du lac this year but I don't arrive in time (and sadly I leave before the Talloires concerts as well - I've timed it badly)

10 days and I will be there again. Sadly, only a week this time. Not getting over as often as I did last year when I had a few jobs at the Royal Evian which allowed me to visit La Chambre on expenses!

So it's agreed then. Everybody, worldwide, changes to UTC and then does things at the hours that suit them (make life much easier understanding airline timetables). After all, as long as Australian children go school an hour or so after day break it doesn't matter if it is called 9am or 11pm. So... when can we expect to see this implemented?

Arghhhhh.... must put brain in gear before posting. I now bet the apostophe combined with the quote marks caused problems with the posting and is noting to do with grammar. Feel free to ignore or lambast me.

[quote user="Nick Trollope"][quote user="J.Rs gone native"] The swear filter is getting worse, I cannot even spell c 0 c k with a zero! [/quote] In future, I propose that we refer to stoptaps and male chickens. And, JR, get rid of that c o cking apostrophe from your user name! Bloody quote marks...   [/quote] Time to show my lack of english grammar, but what is wrong with the apostrophe? I had always thought it had two uses, one "belonging" and two, "missing letters", so if the name is a shortened form of "JR has gone native" then surely it is valid? However if there are multiple JRs (Lord 'elp us), then it would be wrong. (This is a genuine query, the lack of grammar teaching at my old school still annoys me).

[quote user="nectarine"]yes a UK laptop will work just fine and if you don't want to pay the broadband costs then you can pick up a Wanadoo/Orange disk for internet access on a pay-as-you-go basis, for occasional use. We did that for years until we moved over fulltime and got an FT broadband connection.[/quote] If you can, it's better not to use the installation CD, it will make changes / put stuff on your PC that you don't really need.

[quote user="Cathy"] Can someone remind me - were people so deeply angry with the Conservatives during John Major's last year (1996/97) as people are currently angry about Labour under Gordon Brown?  I just can't remember.  Everywhere, everyone, seems completely whazzed off with Gordon Brown - even Labour supporters.  Was it like this in 1996? [/quote] Is it perhaps that the perception of the Tory's is that they believe in the everyman for himself, wheras the perception of Labour is that they fight for the weaker folk. So, when the Tory's screw up we say "Humph.... just what I expected" and vote differently, but when Labour do the same, we say "I expected better from Labour" and get really upset. I.e Labour don't manage our expectations as well as the Torys?

I really don't understand why we still do this. We don't actually get any more hours of light by doing it and it isn't necessary that people do things at exactly the same time all over a country - the last remaining bastion of simultaneous activity, TV is now flexible with the +1, PVR and On demand services. So why don't we just leave the clocks on UCT (GMT) so that we know what the actual time is and adjust the start times of our activities to make the best use of the light? It would get rid of all this springing forward and falling back rubbish, instead we have "You need to be here at 8am next week instead of 9am, so go to bed earlier!" 

I hope he's still alive... he's got a tour on! http://www.jimmycricket.co.uk/JCNew/default.htm

I had a few months away from the forum and have only just remembered this thread, so, apologies if there is an update in different thread that I haven't read but.... Has the sorry tale come to a successful (or at least acceptable) outcome for Mr O?

They both came in to do a bank holiday radio show in the station that I used to work, I avoided them as much as poss coz I don't like what the stand for, but the one thing I did like... Christine was asked who wore the trousers in the household. Her reply was emphatic "Neil definitely does...... but I tell him which ones to wear".