Thibault

We have a fully operational bread oven which was used frequently by the previous owners, mainly to cook pizza.  We have never tried to use it, mainly because we have no idea how to judge the temperature or how long the temperature can be maintained.  Does anyone know how to do this?

Exactly the same for us, Coppi.  Excellent service for the price [:D]

We have been using this system for over a year and it works very well.  We have one fixed UK line and a Maison Secondaire Tarif line in France.  You can suspend the line for "whole calendar months" for a small fee which is outweighed by the rental saving per month.

Interestingly, the Volvic adverts on UK TV showed a "typical" French village, with lovely little golden stone houses.  It was a big shock to the system to find that Volvic and much of the surrounding area is built of black, volcanic stone [:)]  I suppose that is not photogenic enough for TV. The Parc Naturel de Vulcans is full of spectacular scenery - there is a very good tourist route along the crests.

Catherine de Medici Josephine Eugenie

I actually like to read the credits - mainly because I am trying frantically to remember the name of the actor who played......whoever.....and it really annoys me that people start to stand and obscure the screen almost as soon as the final notes of the soundtrack start.  [:@] I also find it annoying that the credits on films on television are either non-existent or scroll so fast they are impossible to read.  There was a letter in one of the broadsheets a few months ago from Equity or similar union complaining on this issue as they felt their members weren't getting the recognition they deserved.

Thanks, Will - on the ball as usual!  Neither web site was clear about which ships were running and we had heard rumours that one of the old ships had been retained. 

We have been using LD Lines since they took over the route and have always found them to offer a reasonable service for the price paid.  The cabins are small but clean and we only want to sleep, not hold a party [:D]  The breakfast is good and the ship always arrives in Le Havre on time.  Sometimes they are a little late into Portsmouth as they seem to have to wait and let BF berth first [:@]  The crew are helpful and friendly.    

We have just received an email from LD Lines giving the new schedule for low/high season crossings between Newhaven and Dieppe. One new ship (Seven Sisters) has been put on the Newhaven-Le Havre run.  Does anyone know if the remaining new ship will be doing all the crossings between Newhaven and Dieppe or will they keep one of the old ships? We are interested in going out overnight from Portsmouth to Le Havre, but would like to return via Dieppe, as the journey times are much quicker than the Le Havre route.  However, bearing in mind the considerable problems in the past with the old ships/crew, we would much prefer to travel on the new ship.

I do not recognise that picture of customer service in England either.  Going back to an earlier post, when I have picked a "special offer" in Tesco which the till does not recognise because the offer is now over, but the staff forgot to change the "offer tags" on the shelf, I have always been refunded the cost and given the goods free as well as an apology.  This has happened to me three times in recent years. 

Thanks for all the comments and advice.  We're off  to check the spare wheel container size [I] It sounds as if it is merely a manufacturers' cost cutting exercise.  In a world where children can't play conkers without safety glasses and local authorities can't put up hanging baskets in case one falls on someone's head and trees have to be felled in case children climb them and fall, it does seem strange that cars can have an oddly performing "safety tyre" [8-)]

We are in the process of buying another car and have discovered that most manufacturers no longer supply a "proper" spare wheel, but instead include a skinny wheel which has a limited life and cannot be driven at more that 50 mph. Given that French law seems to state that a car should have the same type of tyres on all its wheels, what is the position if one has to drive with 3 normal tyres and one skinny? Has anyone any experience of using a skinny?  We would be interested in comments/views etc.  

Not being a gite owner but a second home owner, I would be interested in hints and tips for that particular circumstance. Our equivalent to the Carrefour Tin Trunk is to use large plastic, flexible, zipped containers from Ikea for storing pillows, duvets and other bed linen.  These also are moth, mould and damp proof and can be folded up and put away when we are in occupation.  The inclusion of home-made lavender sachets also leave a faint, but pleasant smell in the containers.  We also use the same type of container to store the "cushions" from our easy chairs. 

Australia granted universal sufferage years before the UK.  In the UK, women over 30 obtained the vote just after the First World War but it was not until 1928 that women gained the vote at 21. Nowadays, it seems that few people can be bothered to vote at all!

My first real car was a Ford Anglia (the first one was an old banger).  I wanted one because I learned to drive in one!  It was a brill car[:D]

Why should the desire to see reasonably written and punctuated standard English be regarded as elitist?  I have never understood this accusation which is quite commonly used if any comments about the use of English are made.

...and "With regards to...." - always makes me think of fond wishes.  The confusion between number and quantity also makes me wince - "less people"  instead of fewer people or, even more horrible "amount of people"

And don't get me started on you're and your.............

I think the term "soap opera"  came from the fact that US soap manufacturers sponsored some types of US radio  programmes a few decades ago.  Like most phrases, it soon got shortened to "soaps"

We have done likewise with a Panasonic VHS-DVD Recorder - it even improves the quality of the VHS when producing the DVD.  With eht Panasonic, you simply toggle for 2hrs, 3hrs or 4 hrs recording capability on the DVD.

What a fascinating thread and points well put by all "sides" with no personal attacks or other "nasties". 

We have recently started a compost corner, along the lines detailed above.  However, in all the times I have been working in our garden, I have never seen a worm, let alone the little red worms we get in our UK compost heap.  The soil is fine, with lots of stones.  The local area is full of sandstone outcrops and when we had a new water connection which involved work with a mini-digger, very, very large rocks were brought to the surface.  In fact, the local name for our area means stoney ground in local patois. Should I expect to see worms?  Do we have especially deep earthworms who never come to the top layers of earth? [:)]    

Keep 'em coming chaps and chapesses - It's nice to put a face to a nom-de-plume  [:D]

Great news - it will really suit us to go out overnight from Portsmouth and come back during the day via Dieppe.  The afternoon/evening crossing from Le Havre is a killer - we came back on it last Tuesday - 15 minutes late leaving Le Havre and over an hour late arriving at Portsmouth.  Because they kindly let us board the ferry at 3.15 (for a 5pm sailing), we were on it for over 8 hours [6].  There is only so many times one can look round the shop....

The fact that no-one but no-one replies to letters or emails......... The fact that artisans appear and disappear when least expected..... The fact that organisations/utilities assume that you know how everything works so nothing needs explanation......   Not a big list but a very frustrating set of issues, especially when one is visiting at set periods and needing to set up appointments etc!