Gardian

Just the last few days. Everything is all over the place! It can’t just be me, surely?

I think thar all the replies to this thread mirror our experience. For us, multi-boosters, still caught it, not a problem. What seems clear (and which many of the ‘experts) have been saying, is that it depends which particular strain you happen to get and how you as an individual happen to be affected..

When I surfaced yesterday morning, Mrs G said to me “You need to go out on to the pool terrace - there’s an owl out there.” I went out there, and she not being completely daft, was right ! Somehow, it had got one of it’s feet trapped in a broken slab. Some blood around, but superficial I think, and more a case of fatigue. I gently moved the slab back: loads of wing flapping. I reckon a good 1m wingspan at least. It didn’t seem to want to move, so I left the bird to it’s own devices and quite honestly, I thought that it might die on the spot. Happily wrong. Ten minutes later, it was gone. Really hope that it’s OK, but we’ll never know.

Ladies & Gentlemen .......... The thing to always remember with Ken is that he always has to have ‘the last word’. It’s more than tiresome and as long as he continues to frequent this Forum, we may sadly have to live with it. More than a few have already been driven away by him. I’ve been trying to imagine a worse surprise attendee at dinner with friends.

I had already made my declaration, but when I got to the very end of my tax declaration, it ‘invites’ you to declare your property situation. You simply have to click on the button.

Twenty or more years ago, I had a very ‘spooky’ experience. Went up on a Sunday evening to the Company training centre which was based in S Yorkshire in the middle of knowhere. I was able to stay over, simply because it made the drive up on the Monday less arduous. It was an old ‘country house’ - quite a big place, but I didn't realise until I got there that I was the only person in residence. I also knew that it was said that it was once a vicarage and that the vicar had done some foul deeds to a young lady on whatever occasion decades ago! Anyway ........... the place was very, very spooky that evening. All that I can say is that I was glad to get to bed and go to sleep. Nonsense? Of course. Did I feel spooked? Yes.

Anyway ........... setting aside the asylum processing system. What did everybody think about the the whole Coronation thing? My (very personal) view: The Abbey service was too long (by 20 mins or so) and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon was unmemorable The military turnout was exemplary - nothing to add to that Shame about the weather, particularly for the people & the flypast The Concert was really good in parts - Lionel Ritchie & Take That in particular. BBC coverage excellent

I have to admit that I watched most of it. IMO, the Abbey service did go on for quite a long time, but that’s just my impatience probably. The thing that I really admired about the whole thing was the sheer organisational brilliance of the day. Now, of course they didn’t start with a ‘blank canvas’ on the day of the late Queen’s death - many of the plans would already have been laid down. However, just consider all the details that had to be fine-tuned, from when attendees at the Abbey needed to turn up, to vehicle availability, to ‘what do we do when this or that goes wrong?’. There will have been hiccups today, but none were immediately obvious.

Indeed.

This sort of ‘event’ always generates loads of “I hate it / I love it” opinions, not terribly surprisingly. For me, if it all wasn’t happening at all and Charles had simply acceded to the throne, I’d have been perfectly happy. But Mrs G will be glued to it throughout, and I’ll freely concede that I’ll probably watch more than a bit of it ......... if for no other reason that there won’t be much else on ! Except maybe yet another showing of “Where Eagles Dare” or some other well-worn WWII film. However, what I don’t understand is the people who are already camping out in the Mall. Four nights ? On the other spectrum, there’ll be somebody who tries to glue them-self on to something - a police officer, a horse, even a coach. Anyway ........... happy Coronation everybody ! 😬

Quite right WB. The one that comes to mind for us is Joker Orange Juice. Now I’d hasten to say that this isn’t a ‘big deal’ at all, but they do a pack of 4 x 1 litre cartons which is always a bit more expensive than buying them individually. We’re talking about 30c - 40c, so nothing really and frankly worth it for the convenience of a pack rather than individual cartons. Makes you wonder how many other things there are though.

As regards the ‘pension reforms’, I’m totally with Macron over all this. The sustainability of a retirement age at 62 makes no sense whatsoever. But ........... if I was 61 now, with my birthday coming up next February and the new ‘64 thing’ kicking in from (say) Jan 2024, you can understand how many would feel very unhappy (to say the least !) I would. Some kind of phasing of the ‘hit’ would make this a bit more palatable. What I mean is (say) 50% of your pension for the first two years, then .......... You get my drift? If you’re 45, you have to rather shrug your shoulders. If you’re 60 +, then it’s an understandable problem.

How dare you AB ???!!! Well I had been, but the previous evening. You hear the first ‘graunch’, and you then know that there’ll be a 2nd horrible noise as you try to extricate yourself. Far from being my ‘finest hour’, but a few people today ‘made my day’.

Now, living in France as most of us on here do, we’re accustomed to apparently simple things proving fiendishly difficult to get done. The bigger the organisation, the worse it often is ! Anyway, I’ve just had another excellent experience with my car insurer which I felt worth mentioning on here. Mrs G and I were away over Easter and our car was parked in the underground hotel car park. When I went to get it, I succeeded in giving it a really nasty scrape down the side of the car from the concrete pillar. The spaces were tight, but that’s not an excuse - it was entirely my fault. The damage is essentially cosmetic, but significant - probably €2k I’d guess. On our return home, I logged on to our insurer’s website and declared the ‘prang’. The system asked me when somebody could ring and I said anytime from 10.00 tomorrow. At 10.20 the following day I was called by a very friendly and efficient agent. She asked for some basic details and said that it was all fine, that our ‘all risks’ policy took care of everything and that there’d be no excess to pay. She asked if I had a carrosserie place in mind and I mentioned the one in our local town where our car had been fixed 5 years ago. “That’s fine” she said, “we work with them”. I received an SMS within an hour with all the details logged, including her name and direct number. When I took the car to the carrosserie this morning, they said that they too had received the dossier. Photos duly taken and agreement to call me when they’d be able to undertake the repair. It was all completely painless and accordingly impressive. BTW, I completely understand that I’ll lose a dollop of my no claims bonus, so it won’t be entirely cost free, but better than a €500 (or worse) excess.

I’m sure that there’s more than a few of us who’ve been ‘popping in’ over the last 24hrs, only to find these people inhabiting the space. Painful, but rid of for now. Trouble is whether they’ll return.

Yes, the ‘banana’ is quite right about talking to the Mairie. First off, to carry out the work that needs doing, you’ll need a Permis de Construire (or perhaps more likely, simply a Permis de Renovation). Many French don’t bother with what they regard as such bureaucracy, but these people are daft really, because following the rules can provide certain benefits. I’m out of date on the detail, but I think that you’ll have exoneration from Taxe d’Habitation until such time as you declare that the work has been completed - you won’t be allowed to spend forever doing the work, but 5 yrs would almost certainly be acceptable. You’re going to need to be able to dispose of rubble etc, and they’ll be able to help with how you deal with that. The thing to remember is that it’s in everybody’s interest in your Commune that a wreck gets improved to become liveable accommodation. Someone else may be able to correct or build on what I’ve said, but it’ll be no substitute for talking to your local administration.

Well it was my comment, but nonetheless more than heavily implied by the ferry companies. As most of us can probably agree (well maybe not all, but not too many on here), Brexit has imposed punitive restrictions on ‘free movement’. It’s completely daft - previously, a coachload of 14yo youngsters from wherever in the UK would have been waved through. Now ...... every passport has to be examined & stamped.

See above - the ferry companies

Shambolic situation (again) at Dover. The Port of Dover authorities are blaming the general public - “Too many coaches have been booked unexpectedly.” The ferry companies are blaming the requirement (brought about by Brexit) for every single passport to be examined & stamped. The public are blaming the French for insufficiently manning their border control booths at Dover. The French don’t really care much. I’ve been more than a bit ‘cavalier’ with the above summary, but it does I think illustrate the point that just about everybody is blaming somebody else. The thought of being a teacher / minder on a coachload of schoolchildren held up just trying to get through Dover for 12hrs, is impossible to imagine.

Shambolic situation (again) at Dover. The Port of Dover authorities are blaming the general public - “Too many coaches have been booked unexpectedly.” The ferry companies are blaming the requirement (brought about by Brexit) for every single passport to be examined & stamped. The public are blaming the French for insufficiently manning their border control booths at Dover. The French don’t really care much. I’ve been more than a bit ‘cavalier’ with the above summary, but it does I think illustrate the point that just about everybody is blaming somebody else. The thought of being a teacher / minder on a coachload of schoolchildren held up just trying to get through Dover for 12hrs, is impossible to imagine.

Well, the price has dropped dramatically since last week. €4 / botte (500 gms) today for really nice quality ‘fines vertes’. I thought that I’d posted our preferred method of cooking it, but it went missing ! So, I’ll repeat it. Using the steamer, 9-10 mins, then butter, rock salt and shavings of (good quality) Parmesan. Bread to mop up. Extra bonus today - Gariguette strawberries. Only available for about a month in the Spring. To our taste, 10x better than most other strawberries, which often don’t taste of much. These are both sweet and sharp, if that makes sense. It will do if you try them.

I bought our first asparagus of the season on the local market this morning. Not cheap, but reasonably priced - €6 for 500gms, which will give the two us 3 lunch portions. Lovely it was too!

I’ve obviously led a sheltered life, but what’s ‘mudlarking’?

Well, I’m sorry but I can’t offer any suggestions or advice re your condition or that specific medication. However, perhaps the manufacturer of Glucerna might be able to offer some advice or help re its availability in France? The problem then is whether it is marketed under that name over here and whether you can obtain a supply from the local pharmacy quickly? The other possibility might be a ‘Diabetes Association’ here in France - they might well be able to help. To me, there are too many question marks though for the supply of a medication (or something similar) that’s clearly important or even vital for you. Taking it with you in powder form just seems the safest route .......... but, get hold of something from your doctor which confirms the nature of the powder and your need for it. Declare it ‘up front’ to the security people - better that, than having to make excuses etc.

Rather than talk about the absurdity of ‘the real Ken’ or ‘the fake Ken’ (both fill me with horror), I though that it might be better to return to the original point of the thread. A very high percentage of French citizens when asked if they’re in favour of the pension reforms being forced through by Macron say ......... “No”. Not terribly surprising. If I was asked the same question and I was (for example) a 50yo, I’d say the same thing. Then ask ........ “Do you perhaps accept that the current circumstances are unaffordable on an ongoing basis?” I just think that you’d get a different answer from the majority of people ............ if they replied honestly to the question. I can only speak for what I hear and witness around here in (very) rural France. Many, if not most, feel that the State will provide from taxes gained from ‘the rich’. They don’t feel that it’s for them to contribute in any way, mostly to the point of evading taxation. Deluded, frankly. Don’t get me wrong - lived here for nearly 20 yrs and wouldn’t move back to the UK unless we absolutely had to. But the French are really quite blinkered.