Tom

[quote user="Chancer"] Finally what is the validity of the season tickets, do they all have to be used within 12 months or worse still before the year end like Eurotunnel. [/quote] Frequent Traveller  Eurotunnel is 12 months, not calendar year. From their website:  "Tickets are valid for 1 year from the date of your account opening. If you need to cancel a journey your account is simply re-credited"

[quote user="Clair"] Got the DVD with Bob Peck. Looks a bit dated, with long-ish and repetitive shots, but par for the course at the time it was made, I suppose. [/quote] I think that's true of a lot of old tv dramas. They do date a lot,  best not to go back.

Enjoyed that link to "Le gout des autres" .  "Comme une image" by the same director is very good too.  In the UK, I think films like that would probably be  made for TV, rather than cinema. Digression alert - "Edge of Darkness"( tv drama from the eighties) has been remade starring Mel Gibson and Ray Winstone. It's released in UK next week and France on 17 Feb.

[quote user="NormanH"] The article speaks of a 'a soft, almost whispered French accent' in English, but one of the things that struck me from her performance in 'The Cement garden' is how convincing her English is (not surprising given her mother and grandmother!) You can see parts of this on Daily Motion http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xar1u2_the-cement-garden-part-3_shortfilms There are 10 parts, but don't watch if you are offended by bad language or controversial realationships. [/quote] Her half-sister Lou Doillon has a fantastic French accent in English as well.  They have been running an interview with her, I think as a trail for a programme on channel 4. Wow!

There's an article about Audiard and an interview with him in the links below.  Would like to see his earlier films. He says he is  interested in style and likes his charcters to look great. The main character in The Beat That My Heart Skipped was based on  a Small Faces or  Kinks look. Didn't know that Un prophète won best film at the London Film festival last year, or that Beat That My Heart Skipped  was a remake of 1978 American film called Fingers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/dec/06/jacques-audiard-interview-a-prophet http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jan/07/jacques-audiard-david-thomson

[quote user="glacier1"]Hi there, People have told me about selling to the Dutch, but I don't know how to advertise to begin with.  [/quote]   Here's some Dutch sites that have Chambre d'hotes te koop in Frankrijk http://www.vakantiehuis-frankrijk.nl/lettingsellinghousesinfrance.html http://www.chambresdhotes.nl/nl/tekoop.htm  

[quote user="Clair"]Quite a few old classics... Le salaire de la peur is gripping. As for Delon, these are probably his best films. I still remember his Mr Klein. I had to double-check the release date, as I remember watching it on TV when they used to have a programme called "Les Dossiers de l'écran" movie followed by a topical debate lasting all evening. I don't know Alphaville nor Pickpocket and I did not like Brotherhood of the wolf. I strongly recommend La reine Margot and Un cœur en hiver. Anything with Isabelle Adjani or Daniel Auteuil is worth seeing in my book! [/quote] Wouldn't mind seeing Brotherhood of the Wolf because it sounds like a non typical French film. Also Plein Soleil because the Ripley books are so good and  Klein.  Don't think British TV has ever had  film programmes like Les Dossiers. Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross not quite comparable. 

Film 4 have a French season on at the moment. District 13 is on tonight at 10.45 UK time,  and Ils tomorrow night. On their website they have 20 French films to see before you die. Never heard of some of the films and directors. http://www.channel4.com/film/gallery/index.jsp?id=27301#picturepane  

[quote user="NormanH"]I regret not having noticed before that L'été meutrier was on Arte this evening. I watched it, but would have liked to give notice to others, as it is a tense and engrossing thriller with a superb performance from Isabelle Adjani.[/quote] Thanks for the recommendation. I susbscribe to Lovefilm in the UK and have added it to my rental list. I guess there are similar postal DVD services in France? Some I've rented from them and enjoyed  were:  I've loved you so long (Kristin Scott-Thomas is brilliant), Harry he's here to help ( a black comedy thriller), and Couscous.

[quote user="odile"]je vais en tenir compte avant de continuer notre projet (?) [/quote] Thanks odile. I will use that.

On a similar theme, what's the equivalent of "I will take that on board going forward"? Need to impress my posh (he has a "de" in his name and owns a small village)  French boss here in London[:)]

What about La Grande Bouffe - hilariously revolting And Eric Rohmer films. On Movie mail you can browse  by country http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/dvds/b/5|74/French-Film/    

The Hairdresser's Husband. The main character has 2 interests. Getting his haircut by women and dancing to Middle Eastern music. What more do you need?    

I'd recommend I'm off by Jean Echenoz.  The main character is a Paris art dealer. The way artists who display in his gallery are described is very funny. At one stage, because business is bad,  he decides to set off to the Artic to salvage Inuit art from a shipwreck that he's heard about.  Somehow he gets involved with the daughter of an Eskimo family he stays with. You get the feeling things like that naturally happen to him and he just carries on regardless. It's a good read and a  laugh. 

[quote user="Russethouse"] If you are short of inspiration look here :http://www.waitrose.com/recipes/search.aspx?q=Courgettes Happy Cooking [:)] [/quote]   The recipe ingredients for Baked Gnocchi with Gammon and Courgettes include "1 courgette, sliced." It's going to take months to get through the string bag[:D]

[quote user="John Martin BRADLEY"]http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/44d67972-5eab-11de-91ad-00144feabdc0.html[/quote] That's nothing,  the Economist Intelligence Unit is predicting a budget deficit 15% of GDP in 2010 for UK [:(] 

It's the 75th anniversary of French Rugby League today Survived despite dirty tricks  - it was banned outright by  Vichy government under the direct influence of members of the French Rugby Union. http://www.sportingo.com/rugby-league/a11438_year-war-how-french-rugby-league-survived-conquer  

[quote user="mike151"]hi cooperlola ,  i found an old newspaper from 1968 saying 12 francs to the pound, i personaly remember 9\10 francs to the pound in 1980 , i worked it out to be about 7.5 francs to the pound last summer . i guess its more like 6 or less now.  when did you remember it being 7 , & how did you work it out?    [quote user="cooperlola"]Recent events have at least given people still in the planning stages some idea as to how bad it can get.  I remember a time when a pound bought seven francs, but I reckon few people thought Euro parity was even a remote possibility, in spite of evidence to the contrary.  Now we know this is a more realistic "worst case" rate to work to than the 1.20 I budgeted for before making the move four years ago.  I agree with you Derek; if it's happened once, it can happen again.[/quote][/quote] to get franc rate (fairly sure) - Fixed parity rate francs to euro 1/1/99  about 6.56. Current euro to £ rate 1.109 1.109 x 6.56 = 7.275  francs to the £ On 1/1/99 rate was theoretically  9.3.  

36 Quai des Orfèvres was on Film Four recently. It was like a fast paced American thriller(only on a slightly cheaper budget).  Auteuil and Depardieu are in it. No country for Old Men, good and disturbing.

It's not only Gordon who clobbered pensions. About 40% of the money people save and invest for their pensions goes in charges to fund managers, brokers and intermediaries. If these charges were added back, or more realistically if charges were reduced to the levels which rule in countries like Holland, which would allow half to be added back, then the returns to savers would be transformed. The pension that these savers would have available when they do retire would be increased by at least a fifth. Saving for a pension would become significantly less of a burden. It is widely accepted by these professionals that the return to pensions savers comes from the tax relief the savers get on their contributions. All the investment gain is eaten up by professional fees and charges. The above is from an article in tonight's Evenng Standard pensions  

[quote user="chessfou"] Since when we have not bothered looking - we are happy here, don't want to move and the vastly superior French rental system means it is very unlikely that we would ever need to (at least until we lose our mobility ... or Sterling sinks below parity). [/quote] That's a good point. There's no security of tenure in the UK system, you can be booted out at short notice. And that's one of main reasons so many people in the UK feel compelled to buy.

[quote user="TWINKLE"] That's a great idea RH - thanks!  I've found this http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp   [/quote] Elephants make very useful presents. They never forget anniversaries. [:D]

[quote user="Alane"] What I did find is that they still haven't cancelled/refunded the trip I had booked on the 12th of September (the day after the fire). [/quote] After  2 emails to [email protected] I  got a refund about 2 weeks ago. That was for a crossing on 19th September.

[quote user="lazycyclist"]I have used Speedferries every 4 days for the last 3 1/2 years for my commute to and from work in the UK, so to say they would be missed is something of an understatement ! It was their low prices which allowed me to move here when I did, instead of waiting until I retired. I currently have about £800 in advanced bookings which I stand to lose if they fold (bought on a debit card as I wont have a credit card). [/quote] You might be ok. In this  article it explains how Visa debit cardholders were able to get their money back when Zoom and other airlines went bust. Visa debit

[quote user="BJSLIV"] B) Serious competition and discriminatory issues in relation to the Port’s dealings with a French ferry operator preparing to start-up a Dover-Boulogne service. [/quote]   Is that LD Lines? I read that they plan a Dover- Boulogne service next summer.