la bezarderie

Just so you know, heterosexuals are people too.  Can you only travel in whatever the collective noun for lesbians is?

An update to planned purchase of new chainsaw.  Husband went to Mr. Bricolage. "Non monsieur, sold out."  Ok, could he have the demo model?  "Yes, monsieur, but no 2 year guarantee, just a year and no extra chain as advertised."  And the price? "139 euros monsieur, the same as promo price." So, we're still looking for a new chainsaw.

It's not necessarily the most stupid idea in the world. Acres of free newsprint, the underdogs fighting back, English entrepreneurial spirit versus French intransigence etc etc.  Wasn't the Speedferries bloke backed by his friends and neighbours when he started?

Sorry Ty, my apologies, just re-read your original post and realised it isn't you that's suggesting shopping the competition.

I personally believe that "shopping" other people is no way to live your life. You've set your stall out to work legitimately and all credit to you, I hope you succeed.  To start getting paranoid about the competition, registered or not and shopping them, looks a bit desperate in my view.  You ought to be able to rise above it.  Your skills and the confidence that you are running a proper business should be enough to get you all the work you want.

[quote]And not all of us are in the fortunate position of being able to charge it to someone else. In fact probably very few are. I am afraid I don't subscribe to the philosophy that someone else is paying ...[/quote] Couldn't agree more.  I can charge my fares against tax although I unfortunately lack clients gullible enough to cough up for BFs over-expensive fares. The question is as always "Is it value for money? and with BF that answer is too often "No. I want to sail on the boat not bl......y buy it.  Their present 3 day offer from Cherbourg to Portsmouth is excellent value at 140 euros for car and two passengers return but for anyone who wants to stay longer than 3 days the fare is just plain silly. Had a very nice e-mail from LD ferries this morning and have replied to say I look forward to travelling with them.  We will see what their prices are like, competition on the Western Channel is vital.

If the Barfleur is going to be freight only during the winter, what ship is going to carry passengers on the Cherbourg-Portsmouth route.  Will it be the Val de Loire again? And do you have any idea of the frequency of sailings please?

According to a posting on the Anglo-Normande forum, there will be no service from Cherbourg to Portsmouth/Poole between the beginning of November to end of January.  It's beginning to look like a death wish on BFs part.

Just had a leaflet from Mr. Bricolage.  They have a good deal on a petrol driven McCulloch at the moment.  139 euros, husband is off to buy one tomorrow.  I love McCulloch stuff especially the sit-on lawnmowers.  Look just like Tonka Toys, very attractive.

Sazinsburys may or may not be sexist but equal opportunities don't seem to exist in France.  I'm always surprised by the sits vac in our local paper specifying which gender they want for the job.

I've found La Peyre to be fine and they have a very good website that you can order from but BAO are my current bete noire and I will never patronise them again.  Rude and inept are terms that spring to mind in respect of the staff at the Cherbourg branch.

Surely a refund in respect of faulty goods that can't be immediately replaced, must be an obligation?  If it isn't I'll be reluctant to purchase anything without trying to source it from the UK first.

I find Leclerc specialise in making foreign customers feel like criminals. They want to see your passport for quite low-level transactions even when you've got a loyalty card and chip & pin on the debit card. Bizarre. And when are supermarkets going to be able to offer more than large old-style unwieldy trolleys?  My sister has French students to stay each year whilst they're at local UK Uni.  They love Asda.

My local Champion has been re-building for about three months and still not finished.  Same things; wires and workmens tools lying all over the place.  A pile of heavy mirrors started to collapse onto me on Saturday afternoon from their new position on a head height shelf. Health & Safety Regs don't seem to exist in France, along with consumer rights (see Legal topic). And don't get me started on their habit of trying to flog the display models, however badly marked, with no reduction in price. Or the scant regard for sell-by dates.  Or the lack of availability of fresh milk in what has to be the biggest dairy region in the world. Not a happy shopper at the moment. Lin Norton

Remaining calm is the key, even when the staff have reached the hysterical stage. Having been sold one faulty shower valve at BAO in Cherbourg, I was less than impressed that the replacement was no good either.  Told it would take two weeks to get a replacement, I told them on the phone that I would be returning on Monday or Tuesday and would want a reimboursement. On arrival yestereday afternoon, they told me they had no money in the till and I should have phoned in the morning so that one of them could go to the bank.  They were, unfortunately, the two rudest women I have ever encountered but as my French wasn't up to a really good row I stood my ground and eventually with a lot of huffing, puffing and flouncing one of them paid me from her own purse. According to them it is impossible to refund money on to a carte bancaire in France.  I really enjoyed telling them that I didn't want another valve because I had ordered one over the internet with an English company and it had arrived in 48 hours. Will I ever shop at BAO again?  Maybe but not until hell freezes over.      

Interesting news.  What does LD stand for? Not heard of them before.

Has anyone managed to update their AOL connection from France. I'm still subscribing to AOL in the UK and connecting in France through Offre Tout Compris.  AOL are telling me I must update because I'm using AOL 6 but how?  I've picked up current installation discs in UK and they all say I must connect through a BT or NTL phone line.  Modem is not working on my laptop so a bit stuck on how I'm going to do it on this weeks trip to UK.  Any suggestion gratefully received.

I thought they were solitary too, except in the mating season of course.  We've found three at a time subathing on the patio by the back door so perhaps French hares are more cordiale.

Is it true you get nearly 3,000 euros per pylon?  If it is we'd like two and how much do they pay for sub-stations?

We stopped the locals hunting across our land last year on the basis that they were very likely to shoot my husband as he trekked to and fro from the pommiers on a Sunday afternoon with ever increasing loads of apples. The hunters desisted and this year we and all our neighbours have been over run by hares.  I think I'll be telling the chasse they can come back but we need to agree dates and times.

Cook and eat, sleep on sofa.  Wake up, go bed, sleep some more.  5 a.m. Ready to start the day again. All this would change if we knew how to work the VCR.