Jump to content

Norman

Members
  • Posts

    37
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Norman's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

0

Reputation

  1. hmmmm..... maybe not such a good idea after all. Norman.
  2. Welcome back to normandy Dick, hope you have a good week. The weather has been rather wet for a while now........ not likely to see much change before..... urrrr.... april...... Norman.
  3. Did anybody watch this programme yesterday afternoon.... I`m afraid I had to contend with small person pretending to be a monkey and a dog yapping, but did I hear them say 500,000 northern europeans or 500,000 britons now have a property in France? http://lachaine.tf1.fr/lachaine/programmes/info/0,,1539630,00-reportages-.html (sorry can`t make it clickable in firefox for some reason) I had to laugh at the old lady hoping to sell her house to an english person when she quoted an old proverb.... L'argent n'a ni odeur ni couleur..... French friend I was watching it with had a rye smile on his face. Norman.
  4. Yes I agree coach tours are not everyones cup of coco, our customers are nearly all troisième âge who benefit from everything being well organised and they don`t have to worry about anything..... apart from where the toilets are and when is it time to eat?!! They don`t drive, mostly, and they get to natter to everyone and make friends..... for a lot it`s a social thing rather than what they might visit..... I thought it may appeal to retired british folk who may also be missing a bit of good social company, a chance to do something different and not have to worry about the language problem of booking hotels and restaurants etc. MYB..... I know coach tours can be a bit rapid but even I`d have a job fitting all that into 3 days..... they are just possibilities of things to do......la accompagnatrice is always welcome in my coach ;) but the pretty ones don`t always help the concentration Norman.
  5. I would appriciate your views on the viability of offering a short break holiday to the british community living in the normandy region. I am an international coach driver working for a french company based in normandy, and have done so for many years, but I have never had any british people on my coach. Is it because this type of holiday just does`nt appeal to you, you prefer maybe to keep independant? or is it the thought of it all being in french and you won`t understand what the ekk`s going on? It is the language barrier question that got me thinking that perhaps there are people out there who would enjoy this type of holiday if only it was in english! This post is simply to try and find out if such a holiday was available would you be interested? This is the sort of ideas I have discussed with my boss: An all inclusive 3 day/2 nights short break coach tour of the normandie region. Hotel and all meals and visits included. Possible visits: Caen memorial..... normandy beaches.....Bayeux tapestry.....farm visit, tasting of local produce.....Le mont st michel.....Granville...Honfleur....St mere eglise.... with of course a british driver...... speaking english! All thoughts and ideas welcome. Norman.
  6. Sleeping policemen, chicanes and other types of speed restriction measures are being put in all over the place in villages and towns. A lot of money is being spent trying to reduce vehicle speed in built up areas and make things safer for pedestrians and motorists alike. France changes all the time, maybe at a different pace to the UK, but it does evolve. It also has, and has had for many years, very similar problems to those faced by the UK and other european countries, unemployment for example. I believe, though I maybe wrong, that the rate of change could increase quite substantialy over the next five years but it will depend on who gets the presidency....... I`ve got a funny feeling in me waters about that one...... mais c`est à voir :) Norman.
  7. Dick wrote: Did you know that 'to scout' (v) comes from the old French 'escouter' - to listen? And the noun from the verb of course. I did`nt actually, thanks for that.... Love your autumn look Twinkle by the way...... always have believed in faeries ever since I saw some in my grandmothers garden as a child, they were fireflys of course, but I was convinced, aided by gran who had that wonderful gift of describing the natural world in such a magical way, difficult to describe but much like the difference between maybe an old sepia photograph and a modern day digital one, if you get my drift........ Norman.
  8. ummmm.... yes good point, maybe not, maybe someone with children in the scoots over here could tell us. I do hope health & safety has`nt gone too over the top........ oh my god! what about whittling a tent peg with your trusty penknife!!! I`m afraid I`m rather old school about stuff like that. I believe there are things in life that need to be experienced at a young age to make you a "better" person. Cuts, bruises and knocks are part of that experience...... I know not everyone agrees with me :) Norman.
  9. Yes Rosie scouts and guides exist in France and many other countries all over the globe. I`m sure your children will love it as much as I did many moons ago, I think it`s a great thing for kids to get involved in..... making camps, campfires, getting your badges for this and that, adventures with your mates.... Norman.
  10. Dick Smith: I've got: Pastis (51), Suze, Whisky, Pineau de Charentes. Red wine, white wine, creme de cassis (for Kir). Good selection Dick, but I`d add a bottle of Pommeau to that as your in Normandy, can`t hack it in summer but winter time in front of the fire it goes down a treat. Norman.
  11. .......and thanks very much to Hugh as well who PM`d me, both very helpful.... Norman.
  12. Cheers Albert, that`s just the job! Norman.
  13. Hello Rachel, well the good news is that your chosen area has the lowest unemployment in France! Here are some links that might help you or at least give you some ideas: http://www.centremploi.com/une.asp http://www.limousin-emploi.com http://www.manpower.fr/interim/Region/LIMOUSIN/ (sorry for some reason I can`t make them into live links) I think your right to start thinking about your future work, it`s all very well people saying it`s sunny and the folk are charming, but their probably not charming enough to pay your bills, (or maybe they are in the Limousin!) Could perhaps any of the people who responded saying "what a bunch of negative nellies" actually tell us how they are earning a living, or what they plan to do once the pot of gold has run out? because as far as I can see the "rose tinted people" are just spreading around the same type of unreal expectations as those TV programmes. Norman.
  14. Could anyone please give me some help on my "bright idea" for a staircase. I want to create something a bit different with the rather simple wooden staircase that I have at the moment by putting in a stone half-turn at the bottom, if you see what I mean. It would be about 2m x 1m x 1m high..... couple of questions..... would I basically build a stone wall round and then fill the void with rubble and cement and then finish off level with flat stones? and, where the wooden part of the staircase joins the stone, can I just build round it so actually the lower end of the stairs goes into the stone and cement, or would it be better to attach it to the outside of the stones and if so how? Hope you understand what I`m getting at, got a bit lost there myself! Any advice or other tips most welcome.... Thanks Norman.
  15. Hello Val, having lived in a yurt myself, summer and winter, I personally think your idea is a very good one although I`m a bit weird like that and if your going to stick at it you`re going to have to be a bit weird like that too.... :) Of course I don`t mean that in a nasty way, it`s just that living that close to the elements takes a certain type of person and a completely different set of priorities comes into play. Esthetically they are a wonderful dwelling and feed you spiritually in a way you would never get from a modern caravan. Practically....... well ...... it will test your metal. Temperatures inside are quite a challenge to regulate satisfactorily, I always seemed to spend a lot of my time trying to sort out this problem. Another time consuming task I recall was trying to keep nature out :) ...... principaly MUD! but also gods little creatures who think it`s a great idea to live in your yurt too. People might think it`s all very hippy laid-back and groovy, but actually you have to be quite disciplined in your daily chores otherwise life will quickly descend into a rather messy mess...and then there`s the toilet issue! As I said at the start I think it`s a good idea and I admire the adventurous attitude your taking , but as with most things a little out of the norm in France your likely to come up against some opposition, especially deep in the countryside, so be prepared for a lot of explaining. The success of your ideas will depend a lot on the community that you find yourselves in, and obviously some will be more open to you than others. Unfortunately this is`nt always that obvious at the begining and is likely to fall into place more by luck than judgement. Hope you don`t find this reply too negative, I`m not an expert on yurts but if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help you with don`t hesitate to e-mail me. One last thought, why not get in contact with the people in the article and get some feedback from them, I`m sure they`d be happy to pass on any useful information that they have gathered. Best of luck Norman.
×
×
  • Create New...