Hoddy

"If you can't, then you are stuck with .......... where pupils spend their days insulting the staff,*****ing in the back row, beating up fellow pupils and learning nothing. Encouragement for bright kids? I wish, I wish - all we encourage in the state system here is playing it for the maximum benefits you can get, and all that happens to the bright ones is they are bullied for being 'boffins.' I would love for my bright 12 year old and my bright 6 year old to be encouraged, but they are not, most of the time in their schools being given over to those with so-called 'Special Needs.' " I try not to get into arguments about education and I know this is well away from the origin of the thread, but I really cannot let this go unchallenged. I am aware, of course, that there are some poor schools in the UK, perhaps particularly in London. It really is not fair though to make such sweeping statements as this about the whole of the state system. This year over 80% of the pupils in the school from which I recently retired achieved 5 or more grades A - C at GCSE. The school population includes about 50% of children from ethnic minority backgrounds and others with “special needs”. What we did for those children as with all the others was to try to tailor their education to their needs - I am proud to have former pupils with dyslexia who now have degrees. This does not blind me to the fact that there are many schools with problems - I just ask that you don’t judge the whole of the system from one example. Hoddy

jond - it's so good to read something from someone whose views are so close to mine. On the subject of foie gras I'd advise anyone to buy the best they can and have a small glass of Monbazillac with it - bliss. Hoddy

I buy superb meat from a butcher’s van which calls at my house each week. In between I sometimes visit their shop in town The name and address of the farmer who raised the animal is always shown as is the abbatoir and the date of slaughter. On a rough guestimate I think its about double the price of supermarket meat. I do find though that we eat less of it because the quality is so good - it doesn’t shrivel to nothing like supermarket meat does. In any event it’s only the children’s inheritance that we’re spending ! Hoddy

When a similar thing happened to us we sought advice from another neighbour. He advised us that we ought to attend the funeral even though we barely knew the man. We protested that we had nothing to wear, ours being a holiday home only we simply didn’t have anything that we thought suitable. We were told that what we wore didn’t matter but that we should go. It was a very different affair from an English funeral but our attendance did a good deal to help us to be accepted into the community. This was our experience; it may of course be different where you are. Hoddy

Aah slides rules. Did you collect all yours up and send them to Third World countries when calculators came in ? We did. Hoddy

I "did" logarithyms, but I can't remember what they were (are?) Hoddy

If you get no replies from anyone who lives near you, you could try Yahoo - weather and type in your nearest large town or this site http://www.meteoconsult.fr - and type in your postcode. Good luck ! Hoddy

For several years now I've made sure that I picked up the booklet for the Envergure group - it includes - in descending order of expence - Blue marine, Kyriad, Campanile, and Premiereclasse. I've found it extremely useful when travelling around because you can ring ahead when you know where you want to spend the night which ideal for aimless wanderers like us. Hoddy

A couple of years ago we wanted to install a shower room on an upstairs landing. We went and asked at the mairie and they asked us to submit brief plans - drawn by us and not an architect. We are now the proud posessors of a set of plans with an official stamp and a note from the mayor which says we don't need permission to make the alterations ! As others have said the important thing seemed to be that the changes made no difference to the outside of the house. Hoddy

Dick The lack of choice of fonts and smileys is definitely linked to Mac use. When I use my OH's Microsoft I am offered both. All I have to do now is decide whether I'd rather be a persecuted minority or in the top 10% of the population ! (Insert smiley here if you can Hoddy

"Next time you are in the UK bring back a tub!" Don't try to do this if you are flying - we had a 5 litre tub confiscated at the airport ! We tried and failed to find the equivalent in France. You may have more success. I suppose it depends what you want it for. In the end we used the glue which sticks polystyrene tiles to ceilings (not that we were doing that) and it worked out cheaper. Good luck. Hoddy

Not too sure about the scale, but I think Alec's van was a little smaller than that. He did, however, have a trailer which was almost as big as the van and he had both full because he was delivering to someone else in 24 on the same trip. We had to work out cubic feet to calculate what would fit. Hoddy

I'm not entirely clear how big a "Luton" is. We found Alec Day on 07831 121555 most helpful, reliable and relatively cheap. Hoddy

We drove up to the tunnel and caught the next train. Very fast, clean, quiet, efficient and expensive it was too. We were back in England before we would have been if we'd caught the boat. I particularly liked the drive off arrangements - straight on to the M20 with no delays. Hoddy

I arrrived at Boulogne yesterday to find that Speedferries have withdrawn their boat from service until September 14th. They explained that it had let them down so many times that they had decided to give the engine a major overhaul. They had sent me an email, but it arrived after I had left. They are offering a full refund. Hoddy - feeling dismal - back in the UK for the winter.

I’m in the process of packing up my house for the winter and have just returned from a trip to the laverie at Cenac & St. Julien. I was surprised to find it run by an English family – the Whitbourns. The good news is that Nigel Whitbourn runs a free English book exchange. It’s very informal – you just take in the books you’ve read and select new titles from the shelves. I’m disappointed to have discovered this only three days before I go back to the UK, but others may be interested. I certainly intend to be a regular exchanger next year ! Hoddy

This is just to let you know Dick that someone else occasionally looks in on this forum. I've not been to Corsica either. Hoddy

Barry is innocent. I am glad he has been reprieved pending his appeal. Would anyone care to join my campaign ? Hoddy

I think that this is all your own fault for having called him Barry. It's not a dignified name for a cockerel. Perhaps if you changed his name things would get better. Hoddy

Does this publication have a letters page ? Do you, or anyone else in the area, write good enough French to write and refute this ? Hoddy

You don't say what stage you're at. Once I was past the absolute beginners stage I found 'Le Nouveau Bescherelle" useful. Not something you can systematically study, but nice to have by you to look things up. Hoddy

There will be a Vide Grenier in the Market Place at Cenac (SE 24) on Saturday, 8th May from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Happy hunting ! Hoddy 24

I've occasionally seen them for sale on Ebay. Hoddy

There is an English speaking dentist in St Cyprien. I don't know his name and address, but could probably find out if you're interested. Hoddy

When we're there, we're about 25 kilometers from you and would love to meet up. Does this thread have the beginnings of a "bit of a do" ? Hoddy