Polremy

Fabulous! Couldn't help noticing the baked beans. Nice touch.

If I were in your father's position I think I would give a quarter share to each of my children. Either the house would be sold or one of the children could buy the others out. However, knowing that my 52-year old daughter was not good with money, I might take some precautions to provide her with some sort of security but not with cash which she would (presumably) squander.

I'm pretty sure that parking charges won't be reimbursed. I tried to claim them when we went to Nimes for our "well man and woman" checks. They cheerfully paid for a whole tank of petrol (I photocopied the garage receipt) but refused the 10euro carpark charge.

I too have been overcharged at Carrefour in the past. The girl on the till sent me to the "Customer Services". I had to queue and it did take ages and I wasn't made to feel very welcome but, in the end, they refunded me TWICE the overcharge. And, they gave me cash even though I had originally paid by credit card.

We have an online account with Santander. I would expect them to use the messaging system if they wanted to contact me - not to just write to my email address. They do seem to be very security conscious. The other day I mistyped my password and had to have a second try before logging on to my account. The next time I tried to log it I was asked for additional personal information before I got access.

If you don't have family in New Zealand, Tenerife (or any of the Canary Islands presumably) might make a viable alternative for "overwintering". A much easier and cheaper flight (4 hours or so). We've been escaping the British winter for the past 6 years and are very happy with this arrangement.

Totally off topic but, every time I see that heading, I think it says White Heroin!!!! Is it just me?

What is the point of paying megaeuros for weather forecasting if nobody pays any attention to it?

Mr. Polremy didn't have to stick to a special diet at all before his procedure - just had to drink all that stuff! How strange.

Hope you don't have the trouble we had! Our UK insurers insisted on a letter from our French insurers in French AND in English. In addition to this, they insisted that the no claims bonus be expressed in years (insured without claim) and not in percentage. Eventually our lovely French lady just asked me to write down what we needed and she copied it verbatim (even though she didn't understand the English version!) Further problem encountered when Madame sent us the letter as an attachment to her email and the UK insurers refused to accept this, demanding an original letter. The whole business was a nightmare and we seemed to go round in vicious circles when trying to establish our French car on UK roads: Couldn't have insurance until we had new registration. Couldn't have registration until we had MOT Couldn't have MOT until we had new registration. And so on. By the way, UK insurers were Churchill who also seem to be Direct Line, depending on who answers the phone. That didn't help either. Good luck.

Mods - please can we have a "like" button!! Often - as in this case - I would just like to show my appreciation of a post.

Only just seen this thread. OH was told he couldn't do his test by post (in France) due to his father having had bowel cancer twenty years previously. He had a colonoscopy which was a real doddle!! Yes, he had to drink 2 litres of stuff on two consecutive days but no, he didn't seem to have to run to the loo all the time. He didn't complain anyway (not like him), except at having to drink all that liquid. On the day I drove him to the clinic. He was taken to a side room and they inserted a thingy (into his arm) so that they could give him anaesthetic when the time came. Then they wheeled him away. He was back NO MORE THAN 20 MINUTES LATER fully conscious and compos mentis. They sure must have judged the dosage accurately. He knew nothing of what had happened except that the surgeon/doctor/anaesthetist told him to count up to ten (he got to about 6) Back in the side room/cubicle he was served with coffee and croissants which he devoured happily. Straight after that the doctor said we were free to go. Only comment was that he expected OH to have improved on his French by the next visit in 5 years time. I drove him home. He was as normal as he ever will be. ps There was a previous appointment at a separate consulting room, just to check that OH was healthy and fit enough for the anaesthetic. pps The results were clear! pps. There was ABSOLUTELY NO CHARGE FOR ANYTHING - MEDICINE, CONSULTATION, PROCEDURE. Money was just not mentioned even though we had been dreading a big bill. We didn't have any Mutuelle at all!!!! Good luck to you Chance.

I'm so glad someone is still studying Latin. If she is enjoying Latin more than French (as I did) and likes the grammar, then she will probably take well to German. Spanish wouldl be a doddle at a later date if necessary.

Excellent match. Now they can all go to bed. They were playing when I woke up. They were playing when I finished my breakfast. They were playing when I went to the gym. They were still playing when I got back. And then I got to see them STILL playing while I ate my lunch. And, as I write this, Nadal is making his speech in his second language. Stamina or what???

We were invited to one of these treasure hunts years ago. First of all we picked names out of a hat to decide who went in whose car! Brilliant for me - I got a Merc (i think - big and posh anyway) and a very dishy young man. Some poor girl got my husband in our 2CV. Had to find clues on the way, each with hints on how to get to the next place. We visited a couple of interesting spots along the way so it was educational as well as fun. The clues eventually took us to a pub where the landlord had already prepared a snack and drinks for us (non-alcoholic for the drivers). It was a good day out with a bottle of whisky for the first ones to reach the final destination. The booby prize was to perform karaoke-style in front of the rest of the crowd back at the host's house that evening. We then partied and partied and partied. Thank you for reminding me. That was a very enjoyable day that I had forgotten all about until today. Sorry can't answer the original question but I really don't see why one would need permission from the police. Now I come to think of it, I think a few of the participants actually were policeman.

It's threads like this one that make me wish there was a "like" button. Norman's post was a great example.

I love it!! Merci

Just out of interest - how old was that child from hell? Quite an achievement to destroy both a bidet and a handbasin.

Maybe you could get one from a secondhand place. It seems that most people do get rid of them when they do up their bathrooms. All those bidets must go somewhere. I too prefer my feet squeaky clean.

Did you make it, SW17? How did you get on?

What sort of property were you thinking of, John? We sold our property there a year ago and might be able to give you some advice.

You're right, Renaud. Just checked out the bookcase - Wolf Hall is enormous. I probably couldn't face starting such a great tome and left it till last - then didn't get round to it at all. Will put it next on my list to read this time. We brought it over with the other 5 in 2009. That year the 6 shortlisters took up quite a lot of our 10kg hand baggage allowance I seem to remember.

Must admit I hate that too. You have to keep going back and saying to yourself: "that was John, so that next bit was Mary, so now it must be John again. Annoying. All the family going home in the morning so I'll have time to investigate Wolf Hall and find out whether I read it or not.

I actually enjoyed The Finkler Question. Can't remember if I read Wolf Hall. Will check it out.

We always buy the shortlist and bring all 6 of them with us when we fly south for the winter. Just wondered what other people thought of this year's selection. I loved Half Blood Blues and The Sisters Brothers. I finished Sense of an Ending yesterday and think it needs a second reading - very interesting. Today I started Pigeon English which is not really grabbing me at the moment but I'll reserve judgement until I get further into it. Just wondered what everyone else thought.