The Riff-Raff Element

To be perfectly honest, I don't know. We had him in to set up the UK free-to-air stuff (BBC1, etc) from the Astra 2 bird. I suppose if you already had a card and box he should be able to set it up, but I cannot claim to be any kind of authority.

For the gites we used Eric Hassenforder who has a company called ADSR85 in Longèves just outside Fontenay (same postcode in fact). Telephone 02 51 51 02 57, portable 06 81 11 63 61. Nice chap, didn't break any roof tiles.

In our neck of the woods it was for "les restos du coeur" who, amongst other things, seek to feed the homeless. They also do a fair bit of social campaigning. If you're looking for a bit of French practice, you could take a wander through their website. http://www.restosducoeur.org/ I notice that they are looking for old computers too, so if anyone is upgrading at Christmas...

Interesting post Mr Gluestick! Especially about the B12 - as far as I know the only truely reliable non-animal source is Marmite (or similar), which if spread on wholemeal toast must rank as a good breakfast. Two rather good books on food production that influenced a lot of my thinking about food were: "So Shall We Reap" by Colin Tudge (who also wrote an excellent tome about trees) and the rather naffly titled but nonetheless highly informative "We Want Real Food" by Graham Harvey. No fad diets (actually very little advice about diet at all) but rather a look at how modern approaches to farming and food processing are not doing us any favours at all. An American book -"Fat Land" by Greg Critser is another one that looks at the effects of processed foodstuffs (hydrogenated fats, etc) on the human organism. and is well worth looking at. Gosh, I wonder what's for lunch. [:P]

[quote user="samdebretagne"][quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"] For the simple reason, of course, that they may have been pretty good when they were 18 but after 20 years where they've had little or no practice they forget it all. Just like France. [/quote] Actually it's not really like in France at all since there aren't even very many young people that can speak passable English. An example from an 18 year old lycée student I had today: "  'ello, my name Philippe. I 'ave dix-neuf ans. I lie-vuh (city name).   I 'ave got one brothers, he name Pierre.  My 'obbies is foot and surf." And that was from a kid who's been learning English for at least the past 8 years... [/quote] Fair point. But some of my nine-year-olds are stormin', so there may still be hope! It's the same in the UK from what I hear - trying to find young people able to speak passable English can be pretty tough there too [;-)] But I stand by what I say: I spent two years in Holland during which time I spoke Dutch pretty much all the time at work and outside. 15 years later I reckon I could just about order coffee in that language. I didn't use it and it evaporated. Whatever help might be given in the UK to incomers is by-the-by: if you move to a different land you have got to expect to have to speak the local language.

[quote user="andyh4"]you are of course right there are many areas of Europe that are less progressive when it comes to speaking a foreign language.  12 years of living in Germany has taught me that many of the people I come across professionally not only can but want to speak English.  12 years of living in Germany has also taught me that once I break out of the "inteligencia", there is a vast raft of German people who speak no English at all - despite it having been taught in school.  And now I find France exactly the same, you can find many professional people who can and want to speak English, but out in the sticks (where we live) it's a struggle for any of them.  [/quote] Seconded! Once you're off the beaten track in Sweden (ie outside of the big towns) the number of people speaking English with any degree of fluency plumets. For the simple reason, of course, that they may have been pretty good when they were 18 but after 20 years where they've had little or no practice they forget it all. Just like France. I was told that the Dutch "all speak English" when I moved there a few years ago. And professionals and those in service industries are pretty good. But try finding a plumber or mechanic who is fluent. They learn it, they don't practice it, they forget it.

Oats are definately the way forward and are an important part of my program to live until I am 94 to annoy my children.I approach this in the same way that you seem to be seeking: using "good" foodstuffs to offset the enjoyable things in life. I therefore seek to make the whole oats business as palatable as possible. I have found that: Porridge is great with molassas and this is also meant to be good for you. So that's two plus points;A seemingly unlikely mixture of uncooked rolled oats, linseed, raisins, sliced banana and Greek yoghurt. I know that sounds a bit Swiss, but trust me;Flapjacks - made with butter though: I have no truck with that hydrogenated vegetable oil malarky. I'm obviously completely unqualified to offer any dietary advice, but I have to say that this seems to work for me!

I organised a taxi from La Rochelle to Fontenay le Comte for someone about six weeks ago, which I think is a comparable distance. TTC it came in at around €120. I'd suggest booking the taxi from the Melle end rather than finding a La Rochelle based firm to do it: anything based in La Rochelle seems pricey.

A lot of this, I think,  has to do with shaking up the ENAques who swan around the higher reaches of the diplomatic corps. It is a way of saying "Look, you're all completely useless. I can achieve in 24 hours what you would fail to do in six months of embassy cocktail parties. Pull your socks up because you are dispensible." Rachida Dati did much then same in the Justice Ministry. Lots of manderins resigned in protest and the judicial system singularly failed to collapse as a result. I think its rather fun. And Sarko seems to be maintaining tacit approval amongst the populace. OK - there are some strikes planned. But so what? There really have not been that many since the election. Not compared to "normal" anyway. Oh and these strikes are planned in the run up to Christmas? So what is their staying power likely to be I wonder? I have some philosophical problems with Sarko's stance on quite a lot of things, but lazy he is not. He probably deserves the pay rise.

Good question! I know I do it. Fosse. Fait the pont. Many others. It could be because: 1. Native speakers of English are very adept at picking up and adopting odd foreign words. We cheerfully took on "pukka", "kosher", "char" for example, and we absorb Americanisms without batting an eyelid, so why not the odd French word? 2. We learned French as adults so we only have one true language centre in our brains and sometimes words just get over written. I notice that my children - who are true bilinguals and so, I believe, have two language centres - don't seem to do this. 3. I am an affected ponce who wants to show off. On balance...I think it's "1". But it could be "2", but not "3". Or it could be "3" and I'm too much of an affected ponce to notice. Is there someone more intelligent who could answer the question?

I doubt it's so much sociology as access to the necessary kit. Oddly enough, exciting life that I lead, I was thinking about this only this very morning. It occured to me that one could almost certainly find an internet café and print off the boarding pass in pretty much any small town in Europe these days if one were suffciently motivated. But, lets's face it, who could really bothered just to save €3? I know I couldn't be. That's what I meant about sociology. Most people will just think "what the hell" and cough up, and RA get paid money for really doing pretty much nothing. Detest him or merely dislike him intensely, no-one could ever deny that O'Leary is anything other than a commercial genius.

These should be fine for nicely acidic foods - chutneys, jams and pretty much anything tomato based. I re-use all the time without problems. I'd be less sanguine about using them for things like peas or beans though. Which is a shame as the standard "Bonne Maman" jars are a good portion size...

Hmmm...well, the extra hour in bed didn't seem to make our baker, Bradley, any less miserable this morning. And there was I, full of the Joys Of Spring. "Wasn't it a beautiful morning? Didn't Mrs Bradley look fetching in that outfit?" "Murgh!" Sour old git.

[quote user="Ron Avery"]Riff raff, its a bit naughty if Ryanair are selling priority bording airside, the criteria for that is that you only take hand luggage and you are right its free if you book on line, but surely that is how 99.99% of people book isn't it? [/quote] It seems that one also needs to check-in online. Which, although, as you say, 99%+ are happy to book online, remarkably few seem to want to check-in online. The flight I was on had an enormous queue, clearly the vast majority of the passengers, even though many people had hand baggage only and therefore could have avoided both the charge for using the desk and the subsequent priority boarding charge. So why didn't they? There's some interesting sociology going on here, and RA are profiting from it. They can genuinely say that all these things are free knowing that, on balance, they can garner additional revenue because a significant number of people will opt to pay anyway. They are in the business of making money, after all, not providing a charity. I don't believe for a moment that they have some evangelical drive to eliminate hold-baggage, but they do want to make sure that they can charge for any service that can in any way be described as optional. Hell, if everyone went along the cheapest route to booking and passing through the airport they'd probably go bankrupt. And frankly I admire their brass-necked opportunism. But I still wouldn't use them out of choice.

[quote user="Ron Avery"]"Got to admire their commercial acumen though. This priority boarding wheeze is a great idea. The last RA flight I was on (the first in ages) more than two thirds of the passengers - over one hundred people - were brandishing those little yellow tickets at £2 a throw."  Priority boarding is actually free and has been for a few weeks now, you now have to pay £5 to book in luggage.  After the holiday season Ryanair made it clear that they were going down this route to discourage people taking cases that have to go in the hold as the less lugage they carry the less fuel they burn and the quicker the turnrounds.  That website is a moaning minnies charter, most paid £20 for a flight and expected business class facilities or a plane laid on when it as not possible to fly.  As I always say if you don't like Ryanair don't use them. [/quote] Not actually last Wednesday at Stansted it wasn't. Like I say, they were wandering up and down selling them at £2 a throw. That was airside. Perhaps if one checks in on line it may be different. I don't think I imagined it or the conversations I had. And moving the luggage load to the cabin may reduce turnaround time but if the same weight is carried the fuel consumption will surely be unaffected? Mind you I agree with you about that website for the most part - what people should expect when they pay peanuts is monkeys.

[quote user="dave21478"] If it were to be genuinely an exclusing priority pass, it should cost at least £20 or so, simply so only a few people will pay it.  [/quote] Or they could set up a whole new tier of service with priority boarding, bigger seats, complimentary peanuts. They could call it "Club Class." Oh, hang on a mo... Remember when Virgin were cutting edge?

I would be happy to continue in the scrum with Ryanair, but my luck never seems to turn up the genuinely cheap flights on the route I need on the days I need. Sods Law I suppose. Got to admire their commercial acumen though. This priority boarding wheeze is a great idea. The last RA flight I was on (the first in ages) more than two thirds of the passengers - over one hundred people - were brandishing those little yellow tickets at £2 a throw. Lets see, £200 pounds extra per flight multiplied by, what, 400 flights a day = £80,000 per day, £2.4 million per month or the best part of £29 million per year. For practically no overhead - just use gate crew who would have to be paid anyway to wander up and down when they are not otherwise occupied waving raffle tickets. BRILLIANT. Of course, once a majority of victims buy them the whole thing descends to an unseemly scrum again. I suggested to the lass who failed to sell me one that they should start issuing £5 super-priority passes to get a three class thing going, perhaps in shocking pink, but apparently that has already been pushed up the line by over-excited lower management who have really got the idea. They're alright. They'll never be my first choice while I can afford twenty quid more to travel in a more civilised manner. But then, Skoda make perfectly good cars and I wouldn't buy one of those, either.

Ryanair have their place in the great travelling jigsaw, but I agree it is important to be able to add up. I had to travel on some specific dates and was delighted to be quoted €5.99 one way and €12.99 the other. But by the time I'd added in some checked baggage (no choice - it had knife-like items in it), autoroute tolls, petrol, parking charges and the Stansted express it became quickly apparent that the train Vendée-Waterloo was cheaper, and by choosing a timing that connected at Lille there was very little hassle. And, overall, it took about 30 minutes longer to get to central London. And I got a seat number.

[quote user="Colonel Mustard"]That will teach them to withdraw our health benefits![/quote] Now there's a wheeze! Get on to relatively poor but sport-talent rich nations (Brazil, perhaps?) and offer to allow their citizens access to no-questions-asked health and social security benefits in return for playing under some kind of handicap. Wear left-footed boots on both feet, that kind of thing. Can you really imagine anyone going up to Phil Vickery and saying "come on, Phil, throw the match so that expats loafing around in the Dordogne drinking cocktails can get their health benefits back!" He'd probably tear their heads off and spit down their neck. I'm not saying the idea doesn't have merit; just that it would take some very special diplomatic skills to carry it off. Last night was definately one of the sweeter evenings I've had this year! [:)]

[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"]If you live in east London the origin of the diminutive 'berk' is east London rhyming slang and it's short for 'Berkshire hunt'. Go figure ............... [/quote] This is true and confirmed by the OED, which I suppose we can take as being an authority of sorts. So why "berk" should be considered generally as an inoffensive term I cannot say. I was just trying to spin off from "Bad Bukrah" in a poor-quality punning kind of way. But it didn't really work.

Silly burk! Anyway, I can't go "home" - I sold it.

[quote user="powerdesal"]What an absolute waste of time, effort and money. "Green" confidence tricks rule OK. [/quote] Oh I don't know. It kept us all amused for a while. And it provides employment.

[quote user="woolybanana"]No Clair, but some of the PC nonsense that crosses the Channel is really pathetic. Sorry if you are annoyed, but I must say that most of the educated French I know just relish this kind of jousting and it doesnt stop us drinking together or making µµµµ ( a word that could get me banned) in the afternoon.[/quote] You bin doing four-mu again? I agree: the mark of a truly civilised culture is that it can stand up to having the wee-wee taken out of it.

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]There was quite a chat about this a year ago http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/819775/ShowPost.aspx I'm still to be convinced that they actually produce anything like a useful amount of electricity for the capital cost and maintenance,  and just watch them turning when there is no wind - what's that all about?   [/quote] Ah - but there might be wind up there where the blades are. When "they" were doing a survey with a view to siting a few in our commune they stuck a manometer 60m up in the air rather than measuring close to the ground to check that it would be a good place to build turbines. They concluded that it was and we are getting seven. I have to say they made a very plausable case at the enquiry and no-one saw fit to object. This placidity might have something to do with the location of the turbines being 4km from the village, however.

I've never been on the receiving end of any anti Brit type abuse myself, but I hear about it increasingly, second hand, mostly from people who have not made perhaps the maxium of their opportunity to learn French and at least try to integrate a bit. There are the usual stock comments about house prices being driven up by Anglo incommers, but more frequently it is about Britons living apart - British grocery stores, bars, etc. I think it possible that the recent hoo-ha over early retirees and healthcare provision, which finally tickled into the awareness of the French media, has given some the impression that there are hundreds of thousands of freeloaders out there and some people see that as an excuse to have a pop.