BJSLIV

Which lot is this then?

From their website Membership Rates Registration fee - £70  (payable on application) Annual membership fee - £55 Partners annual supplement - £25 (second membership card)

On a visit to our french bank a confused old gentleman wanted to withdraw some money from his account. He was told he would have to use the machine outside as they didn't pay out cash over the counter. He asked for assistance with the machine, but was given a firm Non!. They said they had already shown him how to use the machine on numerous occasions. Looking helpless  he asked what he should do, and was told to ask a passer by for help! Fortunately he had his PIN number written on a piece of paper in inch high characters................  On using the machine myself I was pleased to note the bank's concern for security as they have a warning notice pointing out the need for discretion when entering the code.....  

I trust that everyone will boycott this offer, as I thought everybody wanted a unique fare irrespective of the duration of stay......

But it does show the benefits of the thrusting go ahead style of economy that exists in the UK, as opposed to all that Socialist rigmarole in France. Why wouldn't they ditch UK employees, when its so much cheaper to do so? They are owned by the French state after all............... Shades of the Peugeot closure in Coventry. I do sometimes wonder whether the old argument that it doesn't really matter that so many UK firms are foreign owned is really true after all. Naive old me!

More likely to be put off by driving what seems like miles off the motorway to get to the place, and then finding that there isn't a newspaper shop. Long live Sarthe Sargent!

I suspect that though it doesn't say so on the website the English charges are only indicative and it always bills at a fixed French price and then converts at the current rate. I took the example of a single for two at £40 plus one breakfast at £4 but this converts to 66 Euros. IE They used a rate of £1.5 to show the English prices, but you get charged the floating rate which is a bit lower at the moment. I don't think their website could ever claim to be the height of sophistication. Minor quibble apart its still good value for a real ferry comparing quite favourably with the vomit comet. Its such a shame that their sailing times never suit us. I wish they could reintroduce the old early afternoon sailing from Newhaven.

As Microsoft will be including IE7 in the auto update in the very near future, there will soon be a lot more people affected. Edit As I note Deimos said earlier

Just after the last series there were articles in the UK press where the owners were complaining about how they had been misrepresented in the series. Now they are back for more...... Presumably they believe that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Q how long since the last outbreak in France - 20 years? A 2004 . A dog smuggled in from Morocco or Algeria.

The Chronopost site gives all the details for the various guaranteed services. Seems it will cost you 24 euros. http://www.fr.chronopost.com/ Chronopost international includes deliveries within France.

I suppose its still a bit early for next year. You can book until March  which the time of year when Speed One normally goes off on its annual holiday/overhual. I guess it makes sense to avoid a massive reallocation and/or cancelation exercise if they will have a bit more clarity in the near future.

Choose your shape. a choice of six by post. http://www.natarianni.fr/bouilloire-en-emaille-de-couleurs If you visit the UK they are often cheaper in the Le Creuset factory outlets around the country.;

Yes its the tax bill. Virtually all French tax/benefits etc  are based on household income, hence the need for the other half's paperwork.

Don't get upset too soon. The Tours branch has been about to arrive for at least five years, and is still only a possibility for 2007.

I suppose Speedferries could always put Euroferries out of their misery and pinch the high speed craft from Rochester NJ  that they supposedly bought last May. They already seem to be angling for their planned terminal!  

Victor Manuelle?  Latino / Spanish  type of music

As many studies have shown Eurotunnel would be bankrupt whatever ticketing model it had adopted. It was doomed from day one being conceived as a construction project pure and simple. The share and bondholders paid through the nose to build the tunnel and the construction companies made a very nice profit and promptly left the building. What was left was a hopelessly endebted structure with no chance of meeting its obligations.  Richard Stelios O'Leary himself couldn't dig himself out of that mess. All they can do is try to maximise the difference between income and costs, hence the recent scaling back of both shuttles and staff numbers.

Designing a revenue maximising policy for Eurotunnel is probably beyond my capabilities. The only point I was making in my original post was that Eurotunnel are entitled to enforce the rules in their conditions of sale. The registered Frequent Traveller will be given an Account Number and password, which is personal to the Frequent Traveller and must not be disclosed to any other party. The registered Frequent Traveller must travel on all bookings made using the Account. (Their emphasis) We have all played games with tickets especially rail fares with their before 9:30, not on a Friday...............just like your Vienna dodge. But the difference is that they were all games within the rules as published. Now if someone was to set up a business chaperoning people backwards and forwards through the tunnel, that would be within the rules! Anyone live near to Folkestone?

[:)]Eurotunnel have experts who decide the best way to maximise their revenues, and they apparently believe that the Speedferries/Ryanair model is not for them. Whatever the rights or wrongs of this pricing policy, they have decided , in their commercial wisdom, to sell tickets at a discount to individuals who travels frequently blocks of tickets exclusively for their own use . From Eurotunnels position anyone who lets other people use the tickets is by definition abusing the rules of the scheme. They presumably don't want the illicit retailing of the these tickets to occasional travellers undermining full price sales.  I don't really see the relevance of the National Trust or the RHS arguement , unless you are suggesting that theft from a charity is wrong whereas similar actions against a profit seeking company have some kind of Robin Hood overtones. [:)] Whether Eurotunnels pricing policy is totally misguided now thats another matter altogether.................

http://www.alis-sa.com/gal_img/bec18aout2004-3.jpg viaduc de la Risle http://www.alis-sa.com/gal_img/tablier%20sur%20appuis%20risle.jpg http://www.alis-sa.com/gal_img/brionne_17mai2004.jpg My IE is OK [:)]

Type your number into the box and it will tell you the current situation. http://www.dslvalley.com/ Do let us know what you find out.

I came back Hull Zeebrugge and P&O has a entirerly different ethic Which I suppose underlines what has been said before that running a "proper"ferry service costs money. As in all things you get what you pay for. Speedferries and LD lines will always have to keep staff costs down which will maen restricted food service, shops, and cleaning. A regular complaint about LD seems to be rowdy passenger behaviour and I guess that also comes down to lack of staff presence.

For those with broadband this clip gives an insight into how they get the meat for school dinners. http://www.lelombrik.net/videos/3201/fabrication-du-steak.html  

There have been a number of mini-scandals concerning French school meals. In the smaller towns and villages things may be OK, but in the larger places the cooking is in the hands of the mass caterers. I seem to recall that at the time of mad cow disease there were real concerns about the low grade meat being imported specifically for use in school dinners. It came down to exactly the same issues identified by JO , school  authorities glady falling upon whichever caterer tenderd the meals at the lowest price.