YCCMB

So to summarise, you are no better placed than anyone else who is a user of paint to judge the quality of one paint versus another. You've painted things. So have most of us. You would, however, and by your own admission, disagree with anything I say just because it's me that's said it. Indeed, you'd try to make me out to be wrong, even if I haven't tried to say I'm right. I don't think that comes as a surprise to anyone but it's good of you to spell it out.

Richard, I'm curious to know: do you simply dismiss any opinion I offer as a matter of course, or do you consider yourself possessed of great expertise on the basis that you've used paint? Because if that is indeed your level of qualification, I'm equally curious. If you read my original post, I offered no opinion, expert or otherwise, regarding the quality of Action vs Liberon paint, but you seemed intent on "proving" that a product 3 times more expensive must be better. Why does the fact that you've used paint make you more of an authority than me (Or indeed anyone else) who has used paint? How do you know a paint is bad because it's cheap, or good because it's expensive? I'm sure many would value your insight into how this is done.

Boring beyond belief though it must be for every other person reading this.. The Colgate toothpaste I bought for 99 cents for 100ml is actually €1.70 on your link for 75ml. Do you know anything about chalk paint? If you did, then you would be aware that your comments don't really apply.

1. It's directly opposite my nearest supermarket, so no extra distance than I travel for shopping. 2. It's a month till anyone from the UK comes out. I brush my teeth twice daily. Long time to wait unnecessarily if a product is available locally. 3. If you've bought white paint and you find white paint cheaper, you're disappointed.

Chancer wrote: One visit to Action and you can see why they are sweeping through France and even installing in the smallest of towns like mine when only a year before they opened in a big town not even 15km away. I was pleasantly surprised. Got a tube of (Colgate) toothpaste for 99 cents too. Quite refreshing to see a fair few branded products at the sort of prices I'd find them in the UK. My friend who came with me was sick to see they had tins of chalk paint for €4.99 as she'd just paid closer to €20 for the same size tin of Liberon.

And today, 4th August, a 15-year old Dutch girl and her family were carted off to Auschwitz after hiding in a room behind a cupboard for over 2 years.

@ Lindal. That's more or less exactly what I use it for. The stuff you buy outside pharmacies is, entre autres, destined for babies' delicate bits so I'm assuming it's appropriate and fit for purpose. Anyway, I slap on industrial quantities of the stuff, often onto very broken and damaged skin, and, sterile or not, the cheap stuff seems entirely adequate.

Wools: our village pharmacy was moved to spiffy new premises and upgraded within the last five years. It is now twice the size, has its own dedicated car park, a staff of dozens and a special section for medical equipment such as walking frames and commodes. It used to be slap bang next to the doctors' surgery, it's now 50 metres away. The investment by the commune has been colossal. Conversely, the village doctors (the remaining two) are hanging on by a thread, and the wait for an appointment is making the NHS look like the epitome of success. Like most rural cabinets, they can't persuade any new doctors on board: it might help if they priced the cost of buying into the practice at a realistic level, but I think the remaining two GP's are thought to want to wring the last pound of flesh out of the practice before they retire.

@ Teapot: LOL! If I were to attempt jogging, the effect on my nipples would be the least of my worries. I'd probably need to phone the SAMU before even setting off. In the Great British Tradition of "sitting down " sports, I'll stick to my bike?

In the interim, I have discovered that Action have, indeed, opened in my local town, so I've just been down there and obtained a 250ml tub of their finest Vaseline for the princely sum of 99 cents. Vaseline with the Vaseline trademark was about €2 for 200ml. So the lesson is clear. Pharmacies are ripping people off. Clearly there are some things that the Great European Model has not managed to sort out. And this is a good example. It's a shame that everyone is, knowingly or unknowingly, subsidising this sort of thing through their taxes , social charges and insurance premiums though.

Wooly I get through lots...I won't drag you into my personal hell by explaining what for. Yes, Amazon is a good shout, and indeed friends have since told me that Action sell it for 99 cents...only the nearest branch is 50 miles away so not a viable option. Mr Betty is off to the UK soon and will return later so I'll get him to bring a vat of the stuff when he returns.

And if you live here and have healthcare and a mutuelle, I don't suppose you care, but today I was robbed, and you're paying for it, whether you notice or not. After an exhaustive search of local supermarkets, and after not realising that the industrial-sized tub I'd left here was empty, I was forced to conclude that Vaseline is a controlled substance in France. As an aside, the average French baby seems to have a choice of more skincare products than I've used in my lifetime. But I digress. My normal purchases of petroleum jelly take place in Poundland, where I can buy a mega-tub for a price you might be able to guess. But, as I said, I forgot to bring more. So today, in dire need and desperation, I made a trip to the local pharmacie. Where it was not on display. So when a helpful member of staff asked if she could help me, I asked. Yes, they had some. She hurried off into the depths of the dispensary, emerging with two small, boxed tubes of the generic product. I said I'd take the larger one. 100ml. €5.60. That's not an exchange rate issue, that's an issue of grand theft. Clearly, it's kept in the dispensary because it's prescribed. Meaning the government and the insurance companies are reimbursing you and yours for ridiculously overpriced stuff that has no business being hidden in the dispensary and even less business being sold as if it were a class A drug. Someone is paying for the suppliers to receive these grossly inflated prices for generic, over-the-counter products. If your mutuelle keeps going up and up, here's one contributing factor. Poundland can do it...why can't France?

I was going to stay out of it, but...Martin: didn't you leave after having a bit of a spat with Quillan after a "difference of opinion"? Selective memory and criticism has become quite a feature of this forum as well.

My later experiences weren't too special. Still, in fairness, I've experienced worse.

Look on the bright side: at least you didn't have to fly with Air Algérie..?

@EmilyA. If you would like to be compensated for an adverse exchange rate, then the flip side is that there should be a claw back if things go the other way?

?? like a bloke I spoke to last year at the team time trial who had booked a hotel in a town on his journey back from holiday in Spain with his wife. They awoke to find themselves unintended prisoners... Unlike you, they seemed untroubled. I dislike most sports and feel like you do about them, but enjoy the tour. Each to their own.

@Emily A. If the pound strengthens, assume you'd be delighted to pay a supplement?

@Wooly: Froome running up Ventoux, Cav getting the yellow jersey at last.

So I lost this once...try again. Listened yesterday to a podcast started by Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe. In the last episode Wout Pouwels took over as Rowe got Dq'd. He (Pouwels) told of the verbal, physical and online abuse he'd received over the last couple of days for the heinous crime of "dropping" (I.e. cycling faster than) a flagging Alaphilippe. French "fans" stepping out into the road to give him the finger, appalling abuse on his Instagram account... In particular he told of one man who stepped out to give him the finger, small child sitting astride his shoulders. Obviously the French like to start teaching their children about sporting behaviour from an early age. Apparently, having to be driven down the final ascent after the mud slide a couple of days back, the so-called fans were able to hurl abuse and the cyclists didn't have the distraction of being on their bikes competing, so it was a rare "opportunity" for them to hear the abusive taunts in their full glory. The tour is arguably France's premier sporting event. You would think that the powers that be would want to see some of this sort of ugliness stamped out. Another reason for preferring the commentary of a knowledgeable and more importantly unbiased team on ITV, who have to a man and throughout the last 3 weeks, given credit to every jersey winner, stage winner, points winner...irrespective of team or nationality, with enthusiasm and impartiality. They were willing Alaphilippe on, applauding his valiance on the final racing stage....as Geraint Thomas said on his podcast: when all's said and done, it's a bike race. If I could watch the French coverage, I wouldn't. It would ruin my enjoyment.

Acksherly, mint, it IS also broadcast live on ITV4 and has been for the last two or three years. All afternoon...with a highlights show on rest days. AND the evening highlights show every day.

I can't get French TV ..even in France. I watch bits of it on French TV if I'm at friend's houses. Aoart from the possible snob value of saying one watches on French TV, most of the actual visual coverage is identical, as the camera feed is syndicated. It's only the commentary that's different. I happen to enjoy the knowledgeable and largely unbiased team put together by ITV, though missed Chris Boardman this year.

Good result. Sad for Alaphilippe but for someone not really considered a GC rider he had an amazing tour. Delighted for Bernal, Thomas and Ineos.

BTW loving that Bernal could end up with 3 of the 4 jerseys today...that would really, reallý upset the French...

Oh he'll be back when there's something to see. The Zwift adverts on ITV4 are getting his goat..