Alcazar

The "Holier than thou" brigade Alcazar

<<<I did read in the business pages earlier in the year that the new board voted in by the shareholders had decided to increase revenues by upping the fares, it seemed such a mad idea that I assumed it was just incorrect reporting>>> Obviously Conservativs then? I remeber the tories doing the same to east coast main Line fares in the 80's when the new IC125 units increased the loadings. Instead of paying for more trains, they put the fares up to dissuade pasengers Alcazar

I can't remember the one I booked two years ago, and he STILL hasn't turned up! Same area though, told me TWICE he'd come. I'd put a stainless Gaine in place and forget the lazy gits! Alcazar

Mars eille? Aha, at last I've found another town that the computer censors. I bet I live in the only one in England though? Sunny Scunny. Alcazar

You could try Epoxy Putty, branded Milliput in the UK, availabale in model shops, or as a  stopgap, chewed chewing gum No, really,.............. I once repaired my dad's leaking petrol tank on a Ford Cortina with "spoggy", and it was still OK 300 miles later when we stopped and got it welded, for a permanent fix!   Alcazar

Not sure if the stop even exists for Eurostar services. Apparently, it was felt that a stop there would be ideal for terrorists Alcazar

Try www.pagesjaunes.fr Alcazar

We got some recently from a pepinerie........I just asked for "quelquechose pour faire des racines". Alcazar

It will depend on the time of day, of course, the 10 minute run across Paris at night takes an hour or more at rush hour. Personally, I'd allow AT LEAST an hour from arrival time of your Eurostar to departure time of train from Montparnasse. It might even be better to say 90 minutes: it's far better to allow for possible late arrival, taxi delays etc, then to miss your allocated service, and have to try and get another seat. I always prefer a leisurely coffee at a station bistro to a panicky dash to try and catch my train Alcazar

You have a private message. Alcazar

Did anyone else travel via P&O over Whit? We got into a queue coming down the Jubilee way, which was only sorted by the intervention of Kent Constabulary, and was caused by immigration control............checking those LEAVING as usual!!! (Still better than Easter, when the queue at midnight was from the WESTERN docks to the Eastern.................only an hour (That time I came via the M20, never again!!!!!) But the real problem was at check-in. Customers of other ferry companies were waved through to the fronts of their queue, as there was NO wait at their check-ins, while P&O customers queued from the bottom of the ramp after immigration, right to the checkouts, taking 30 minutes or so. I met people on the boat who told me that they had missed their ferry due to the enormous queues, and had to travel later. Have P&O created a demand that they, and the port of Dover, can't meet? While on the subject of P&O, has anyone else suffered under the impression that when you are told to rejoin your vehicle, the doors to the stairs to the car deck will actually be OPEN? The last two or three journeys have been a nightmare with people queuing about 10 deep at the entry to the stairs, then trying to get down all at once, some carrying babies, some, beer, but ALL, an accident waiting to happen. Alcazar

And the reason for that would be...............? Surely, millions of French can't be wrong. Get a French one, Renault, Peugeot etc. I'd avoid Citroen as they can be dearer to insure for some daft reason. Alcazar

Can't you just have your "cronies" ruin them? Oh, sorry, not THAT Blair, then? Alcazar

Anyone who tells you the UK is a cheaper place to buy a car is either: a) dreaming.........wake him up, b) on drugs.............avoid him, c) deranged.............see above, d) a UK car dealer...........see b) e) A UK Labour MP............(I'll leave it to your imagination what to do with him) Alcazar

So, are you sure that what you have seen collecting wood is a queen hornet, and not a giant wood wasp? I think it's more likely to be the latter, for two reasons: hornets are not that much bigger than the larger type of wasps, and the queen only a little bigger than that, so not easy to tell apart, and the queen is unlikely to be nest building.........she has workers for that, she will be egg laying. The giant wood wasp, however, is solitary, and does indeed look EXACLY like an ordinary wasp, except for two things: their antennae, and legs, are red (red ant colour), and they are WHOPPING...........they can grow up to 6 or 7 cms long!! On a good note, I've never heard of anyone being stung by one, (but I don't think I'd like to be the first to try it!!) Alcazar

Can they see right through the panes and out of the other side, ie: do they think it's a way through? We used to get this with a through-lounge here in the UK, but it has stopped since I built the conservatory , and the birds can't see straight through any more. If you have a wide window, and a straight through view, the only answer is drapes/curtains/shutters etc, on one side to block the view through. Birds are NOT renowned for their intelligence, you know On a slightly different note, we have just had a new uPVC back door fitted onto a barn development. Now, a blackbird perches on the door handle, and attacks it's image in the door, causing damage to the white painted door handle with its's claws. We've left the handle with some insulation taped round it, and a criss-cross pattern of masking tape on the door to cut down it's image!! "Bird-brained" says it all Alcazar

LAST EDITED ON 04-May-04 AT 04:16 PM (BST) I've seen a colony of Bee-eaters in a sandy bank near to Morestel, east of Lyon, and a Roller or two near to Beziers. The birds that worry me near my French house are the Short-toed eagles..............because they are also known as Snake eagles, and that's what they live on, so if they're there, so are the snakes!! We have Hoopoes too, but two were killed on the road near us within minutes of each other last time we were there.

Depending what time of day you want to go, there are services direct to Marne la Vallee from both Nantes and Poitiers. Both take about three hours, are direct with no changes, and are on TGV, so need a supplement paying. Eg: there used to be a train from Nantes to M-l-V at 0716, the next one being at 0905. The earliest train from Poitiers went at 0823 and takes about 2 hrs 20 mins. I use the past tense, as my info is coming from a Thomas Cook European timetable of July 1999. The services will still exist but the times may have changed. Your best bet is to ask at your local station, and see about possible connections, at the same time. Looking at those times, I'd figure in at least one night stay too. Alcazar

I suppose it'd depend on the make of tyre and it's size. My mate bought 4 for an A*di last year at a bargain price from the same firm you used, M*ch*lins, and got them somewhere in the Ardeche/Rhone valley. Meanwhile, I keep pricing up for my Sub*ru Impr*za, but they are dearer in France than here. And to make it even odder, when I first had the car it was on 205/50 16" tyres, but I got a good deal on a set of 17" wheels from a dealer at "all four tyres change time", and now it runs on 215/40 17" tyres, which, believe it or not, can be had FAR cheaper than the originals!!!! Something to do with popularity of the size, so they tell me. Alcazar

There are gites in St Mathieu, and also down by the Lac de St Mathieu, (about 400m from my house). Try Pages Jaunes for numbers. Alcazar

Does anyone know why bluebells growing in a French garden would be a bit sickly? They have plenty of moisture, but not too much, but their leaves have yellowing and brownish tips, and they look ill. The affected ones are growing on the bank which delineates our fosse drainage field, but others, planted under trees are OK. Are they acid or lime loving plants, or neither? Alcazar

Very similar experience, 07/07/02. We're off back this friday, St Mathieu, 87. Alcazar

Not really a specific time of the year, but there are biting insects in France, certainly. If what you call Horse-flies are coming out of the long grass, they sound more like biting midges or harvest bugs. Horse-flies are about 1.5x as big as a bluebottle, but look similar, with very sharp mouthparts, and they bite to suck blood.....often, when they fly off, a small puncture bleeds for a few seconds You do need to be aware of hornets, but they are only really a nuisance at the end of the season, unless, like my wife last year, you're unlucky enough to disturb a nest. 3 stings, and a visit to a doctor was necessary! Her eye was swollen closed for 5 days Alcazar

Yeah, it must be nice to move ,and then make money out of the move: Alcazar

Try not to be pessimistic. In almost 100% of my dealings with French people, both in, and out of authority, I have found them to be charming, helpful, and polite. There's always one exception who proves the rule, but in my experience, they are a rarity! They LOVE it if you can speak some French to them. On a campsite once, I overheard a lady in a group I was in conversation with, say about me: "I could listen to him talk all night, Isn't his accent lovely?", and only then realised that to some French people, an Englishman speaking French is the same as a Frenchman speaking English to us. Should have known it, and cashed in on it in my youth!! Alcazar