Neil

Robbie Williams is from Staffordshire. Like the cheese!

[quote user="Will"] In fact when a ship with kennels is being used, company policy is that use of the kennels is compulsory for all dogs travelling (see http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/pet-friendly-holidays/taking-your-pet ).[/quote] Although this is stated as company policy, and you have to opt for a kennel when booking, in practice we have always been given the choice of leaving the dog in the car, which we prefer, as she is more comfortable in familiar surroundings. It's important to get the dog used to being alone in the car, and to stop at Sutton Scotney services on the way to Portsmouth and at St Malo on the way back.

SANEF did write to me when my credit card was about to expire, but I don't think their mailing department is terribly efficient, because in the envelope addressed to me were two letters for other people. I did send them on, but I imagine a lot might go astray.

Angela's link is a good one, but as the Diocese of Europe website lists only clergy who are appointed to chaplaincies, it might be worth contacting the diocesan office to see if there are any retired clergy in the area who might be able to help.

[quote user="St_Jacques"] Thanks for the blue tac tip - often wondered if I called into one of their bureaus on the autoroutes if they'd give me a new sticky thing? [/quote] If you write and ask SANEF, they'll post you one.

If you don't fall into class one, you can still use télépéage. However, at the tollbooth you must use a manned booth and hand your transponder to the operator. See the pdf link here http://www.sanef.com/fr/ecommerce/pdf/notice_libert.pdf

I enjoy them, but I always avoid those described as 'donor' kebabs. They sound worrying.

[quote user="Iceni"] Doubtless in common with others our local Leclerc etc all have a small section of the counter devoted to meat for animals. Having no need I have never looked closely to see origin, type etc but just wonder whether it is specially bought in or has had to be condemned as unfit for us to eat ? [/quote] Most of the time it seems to be lung and other bits of offal which are unacceptable even to the French palate. I suspect the reason you don't see this in the UK is that it ends up in hamburgers and sausages.

You can find Rob G's verse and many like it in this book. The footnotes alone are worth the price: e.g. Un petit d'un petit - the inevitable result of a child marriage.

I wrote off for a second carrier, which SANEF duly sent. If you want any more (I knew we should have taken it out of my wife's car before we sold it) you have to pay for them; it's only a couple of euros.

SANEF wrote to me shortly before my credit card was due to expire, asking for updated details. However, as someone else's renewal letter was also in the envelope, I don't think their mailing department is terribly efficient. I did send the other letter to the intended recipient, but maybe this isn't something you could rely on. Have to say, though, Télépéage is brilliant.

In Villiers en Plaine (79) there's a little road called Impasse du Bigot, which always raises a smile.

Private Eye has an interesting take on this: http://www.private-eye.co.uk/pages.php?page=cover&

I like it because I can actually see who's posted now!

Sorry, SB, I don't see where you get the choirboy thing from. The article refers to "an unnamed choir singer". I assumed it was a woman.

Erm. . . Try www.autoroutes.fr

Yes. But the dream is shattered if you stop at Norton Canes services! btw you can get an M6 Toll télépéage thingy: https://secure.m6toll.co.uk/account/tags.asp

These sites give the history of summer time: http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/uksumtim.htm http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/summertime_paper.pdf From these it appears that summer time was harmonised across the EU in 1997.

"something so quintessentially English as the Anglican service" First French translation 1553! http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/French1662/index.htm

Pets: £15 per animal, per crossing. It comes up on the second frame of the booking process. Hope this helps. Neil

Coral, Diocese of Europe website: http://www.europe.anglican.org/ List of chaplaincies in France: http://www.europe.anglican.org/directory/webdir1.html#FRANCE If you prefer to worship with the local community, French Roman Catholics are usually very welcoming to members of other churches. Hope this helps Neil

Ah well, back to normal, thank goodness. Neil (relieved to be Barbie Doll no longer)

Vegetarian cassoulet aka . . . baked beans!

[quote]This may seem incredibly naïve but is there really such a thing as the DLP and if so what, where and when ?[/quote] Well, sort of. It did exist after a fashion, but fielded a candidate only in one constituency in the 1979 general election. This is from Wikipedia: "Waugh was a candidate at the 1979 election, indulging another of his pet hates - former Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was about to stand trial for conspiracy to murder arising out of a scandal that Waugh had helped expose. It was alleged that Thorpe had links to an incident in which a man called Norman Scott, who claimed to have had an affair with Thorpe, had seen his dog shot dead. Waugh stood against Thorpe for the Dog Lovers' Party and Thorpe obtained an injunction against Waugh's election literature."  

[quote]Neil, apologies for being nosey, but why do you have AW as your Avatar? Are you by any chance connected to the DLP?[/quote] No, but I support its general aims, having four of the beasts myself (two have just had passports - yippee), and it's a photograph that just happened to be lying around.