just john

[quote user="sweet 17"] When and where exactly is this marvellous programme on? Have pity on me, somebody, and tell me, will you? Nevermind whether I speak French or not, the question is, can I possibly survive in France without watching Little England? And why "little"?  It's not that small?  England, that is..... [/quote] http://www.radiotimes.com/programme/mvxpz/little-england http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=327636 Enjoy [:D]  

[quote user="woolybanana"]Who the eck wants to speak to the natives? They should speak English![/quote] [:D] exactly! [:D] Was it not Alexander Dumas who said "English is just French badly pronounced." [:D]  

What kind of culture patronises these moronic hoax calls? worse yet when these dysfunctional people portray themselves as victims with cringeworthy scripted rehearsed 'interviews' Littlejohn has it.  Australian-prank-DJs-interview-Do-spare-us-the-self-pity-Sheila-says-Littlejohn.html  

[quote user="sweet 17"] I recently bought the biggest and most impressive soupière with its own louche (only 5 euros on leboncoin) and its own plate to sit on and I think using that as a vessel for the vin chaud would save my table linen (also bought on leboncoin)  ![:P] [/quote] You and leboncoin Sweet [I] ! [:D]  

In amongst the others, congratulations to Margaret Hodge for Inquisitor of the Year – Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP (Lab) http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2012/11/the-spectator-parliamentarian-of-the-year-awards/

[quote user="Chancer"] The French really would not have a clue how to prosecute something like this to send out a message to others, he will just do an attestation sur honneur, as honorable as he may be!!! [/quote] Still is Vandalism though -  Perhaps he'll find the planning department a little difficult, not to mention the fee's [:D]  

We enjoy an excellent sparkling Saumur, white or rose, I think it may have Gratien & Meyer . . .  

[quote user="Russethouse"] The trouble with Ed Balls iIMHO is that he seems to think we forget he was on the old team, who didn't exactly shine As for the gum, my sister commented that she wondered if was a little tipsy, he seemed to be floundering about.....[/quote] Absolutely, and floundering he certainly was http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243711/Mr-Balls-took-floor-His-31-seconds-good-Then-disaster.html    

Boring though it is, I've found the cost of fuel to be the best speed control device, I've almost got over having to rush to be somewhere on time and have amazed myself that at about 10ml an hour below speed limits my mpg has improved by about 10%, my arrival times have hardly suffered and amusing sometimes to find that the flying machine that had to get past is stuck behind a truck a few miles further on [:D]  

[quote user="woolybanana"] to tear his kids off a strip. He has my sympathy, I must say. And the snide comments about private education and stiff upper lip just show what a nasty little reporter wrote the article. However, the phrase "copulation driven self-indulgence" is definitely one to remember: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2234231/The-despairing-father-For-years-Naval-Commander-Nick-Crews-bottled-frustration--snapped-sent-excoriating-email-tearing-family-apart.html [/quote] I have to say I think the only one who is wrong here is Nick Crews, and has shown his most inadequate controlling little Hitler side; if they haven't turned out as he expected he has either himself to blame for the selfish little fornicators or that Kids are not his to clone, (fortunately). Mine have demonstrated that they were able to deal with life in a way to satisfy their ambitions because of or in spite of my influence, I like to think I showed them the way to be capable but they are adults in their own right free to choose their path. And so were Nick Crews children, any disatisfaction he has are his own failings, clearly he didn't do enough, and to think he can achieve anything to rectify that with that e-mail shows just how far from the mark he was and remains. After that e-mail I suspect it will be a very long time before they are on (his) side. [:P]  

''The external current-account deficit has swung from a small surplus in 1999 into one of the euro zone’s biggest deficits. In short, too many of France’s firms are uncompetitive and the country’s bloated government is living beyond its means. France rather than Italy or Spain could be where the euro’s fate is decided. Mr Hollande does not have long to defuse the time-bomb at the heart of Europe.''   http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21566640-why-france-could-become-biggest-danger-europes-single-currency-time-bomb-heart  

Bon Appetite Normy, hope you didn't eat the green bits[:)] [quote user="sweet 17"] http://classsystem.blogspot.fr/2010/12/phone-for-fish-knives-norman.html JJ, if you are reading this, can you remember laughing about this with me? [/quote] Indeed I do, great afternoon . . . bientot  

I believe he demonstrated a good knowledge of European Vehicle registration regulation, and imported his own vehicles to France, surely worth an ask perhaps . . .    

They look like an easy shot, shooting fish in barrel, we're also on an emigration route and am surprised by the volume and continuity of it [:)]

Maybe Georgina you have some hardening of the arteries, I'm not sure if I'm becoming more tolerant or CBA about others bad habits, I do tend to focus on the positives of an evening, saving the moans unitl after I've left, these days it's more likely to be 'not sure I'd pay to go there again'; There is one incident, if only I could loose from my mental vision, which was a young gay waiter skipping towards us, taking our order in 12yr old girlie way and then skipping away to kitchen, what is the world coming to, I just wish the memory would go away. The barmaid rolled her eyes sarcastically which was the redeeming feature and perhaps I might steel myself to go back one day [blink]

Sunday Driver may have sold up and moved on, but perhaps he still receives his e-mails? worth a shot perhaps.  

[quote user="Russethouse"] I do look at Honest John but I couldn't find a 2010 Picasso on there...   [/quote] http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/citroen/c4-picasso-2007/ This means that from 2007 on,  it is the same model with upgrades, watch out for :- Waterpumps of 2.0 litre petrol engines  can fail early, flinging off the timing belt and wrecking the engine. 16-8-2011: Citroen will not cover the Dual Mass Flywheel under the 3 year warranty 5-2-2012: More reports of turbo oil starvation on 1.6HDI DV6TED4 leading to expensive catastrophes at around 100,000 miles due to carbon build up in the oil feed to the bearing. The cure is not just a new turbo, but new oil pipe, pump, pick-up, etc., etc. Failure to replace these paerts will usually result in another failed turbo within 10,000 miles. There was a Ford TSB45/2008 about this. Newer engines (2008+) have modified parts. Apparently you can get a new turbo for £350 plus £120 for a "kit" of modified pipes/pick-up unions etc. from Transitpartsuk (International Parts Ltd) to fit next week. eBay supplier TransitpartsUK 11-8-2012: Report of high pressure fuel pump failing on 1.6THP 150 petrol engined C4 Picasso 3 months out of 3 year warranty.

Most people / mechanics do not have the range of vehicle experience of the reviewers and I tend to take Honest John's reviews s a good benchmark, 3 stars  citroen/c4-picasso- 4 stars peugeot/3008 4 stars vauxhall/meriva- 4 stars renault/scenic- 5 Stars /kia/ceed- 5 Stars    /hyundai/i30- ? But don't forget that when in France there is quite a lot of existing French manufacturers dealerships ready to serve and this does make me swerve towards a French Car, I had an expensive service done on my renault by the local main dealer garage and was pleased to get a bill 75% of that quoted in the UK, plus the owners wife arranged to drop me back to the house and collected me when the car was ready! Finally of course it is at a cost and the biggest one is depreciation, an acquaintenance in the Trade says that Kia/Hyundai are not valued as trade-ins http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2112143/Depreciation-league-table-Ten-cars-lose-value-years.html  

End of an era SD, many thanks for all your advice to one and all , bon chance !

[quote user="emilezola"] Couldn't agree more. Any work is good work. Recently I put the word out to the local tradesmen that I wanted a wall rendered, I had a quote the previous year of 950Euro. Low and behold, this year I stated I would pay 300 Euro and trust me, I could have chosen from 4 different macons. I chose one in the end up, got a fully guranteed job with insurance etc, a devis and then a facture, siret numbers, the whole nine yards for my 300. So NuBeginnings deal sound a good one to me, only pity not my region (South West) or I could have given you some contact details. Happy hunting. [/quote] Contacts welcome I'll be looking early next year . . . pm me if you'd rather[:)]  

Terribly sad, and her whole life story indeed; I was a great fan, wasn't she hot at the time?!, little did I realise that she was banned in France for 6 months or that the film was heavily cut, censored, and the final version was not released until 2007, haven't seen that, anyone know if it is available? I might buy it as a celebration of her life![Www]  

[quote user="gardengirl "]  JJ - did you find a good company at cheap rates that would cover you for 180 days? [/quote] [quote user="just john "] [quote user="Salty Sam"]Try http://www.lv.com/ for your insurance. They offer breakdown cover as an optional extra. http://www.nfumutual.co.uk/ offer basic RAC cover as part of their insurance cover, which may be upgraded to full European cover as an extra. [/quote] Thanks for your reply Sam, but Wow, I've just had a surprising conversation with nfu who declined to offer a quotation since I had requested european cover! Only after I requested to speak to a manager did they explain that they only offer European cover as a 2-3 week holiday option for principally UK clients, and not for any extended period for any reason. I queried this on the basis that there were people they insured who did use their insurance for extended periods and was told that if they declared it on proposal they would decline to offer them insurance; (I do know people insured with nfu who believe they are covered for extended periods, what would happen if . . . ![:-))]) LV were able to offer a more complete package (including £100,000 personal cover in the event of injury; standard policy only covers max of £10k); LV were very close to my current costs so still looking if anyone has any suggestions. European cover does seem to be the next thorn in insurance cover. [/quote] In the end I went with LV - other quotes were similar with lesser companies, and I got the 180 days european cover. If I shop around again, I would not express my need for an extended period, just ask what the european cover provided is.  

Having spoken to Le Creuset, apparently I am the only one and wouldn't you know it, it's all my fault!  Le Creuset say that all their products are designed to only be used at low to medium heat, their properties mean that they continue to cook for some time after the heat is turned off. I thought that I needed to follow the recipe and get the pan smoking just to start brown the meat, but Le Creuset advice is to add a spoonful of oil and just get it hot, then drop a few drops of water in, which should sizzle quickly away, if the drops  instantly turn to steam then the pan is too hot. So I've been told. Next experiment is to try a tagine in the frypan with the ceramic top off my ceramic tagine [:D]  

[quote user="Chancer"][quote user="Georgina"]Oh heck what is the obsession with this ageing rock star, he is old and out of date and quite seriously past it. Hasn't there been anyone better since him in france,....... NO. it is like the UK still being obsessed with Cliff Richard yawn (: [/quote] And what exactly is the problem with a singer ageing? They mature and improve with experience. Old means better not, out of date or past it unless you are talking about the whole fabricated modern reality/celebrity/ £1.50 per minute to vote music machine. Long may musicians and performers at the top of their game continue whatever their age. [/quote] Quite, swop the j for an I and I'd rather have http://ianhunter.com/main/

Thanks for this gem wool, but I believe rabbi's are better at lopping things off rather than growing them ...