GUEPE

hi all the gardening experts . i used to do a fair bit of gardening having plenty of topsoil to use ,but my maisson don le peregord has very little useable topsoil .so the answear must be raised beds.is this the solution? the french guy down the road has raised beds but with no retaining structure .and i wonder how much topsoil is any help would be appreciated cordialement john

hi ive just ploughed through reams of technical stuff on this section of the forum and it looks like the place for my  ,my question is simply this ;moving to france soon ,can i take my english phone with an adapter ,and how do i set up a phone link ? socket allready installed by previous owner.is it just contact france telecom ?:and what is the most popular i n t provider ? my house is north west dordogne .and are the tarrifs similer to the uk ? many thanks for any info john

many thanks clair et leo [:D] next time i will take a big sign avec moi saying bordeaux peripherique this way !guepe

hi i know this is a pretty mundane question can anybody enlighten me on the correct pronounciation of the place name NANTES .i have heard "nantays,nont,nants,nonts .the main reason im asking is because me and it seems o load of other people allways ,but allways manage to get lost in nantes.so i think in defference to the french lady at the TOTAL GARAGE  who puts me right ,i think i must get the place name correct .thanks guepe

hi ian what i meant about the string section of the berlin phil is,especially the first violins ,there intonation is spot on including very difficult section peices like  strauss' don juan,some stravinsky,of course any, believe it or not slowish precision music like handal bach .nigel kennedy said when recording the vivaldi seasons " that hear we have 71 of the worlds finest muscians at the top of there profession in one place and its an honour to play with them " im a fan of course .with listening to classicical music me personally ,i like what ihear ,and hear what i like so its anything really that i consider tuneful .i was listening to wagners der meistersingers today and the tempo of the coda was allmost a dirge ,and was supprised to learn that it was the chicago symph with sir george solti ,but then he gets a bit profound sometimes ! all the best guepe

hi ian no pun intended but i posted an item on another forum about french horns being an endangered instrument .i have played one, hellish difficult to pitch as i noticed the other day concert by the chicago symphony orchestra!anyway on your point about orchestras i am a playing musician i used to play violin but the main strength in my opinion of the berlin phil is its magnificent string section ,the whole orchestra was g reat under claudio abbado but simon rattle too progressive for most people ive spoken to .and thats a shame because the berlin phil vote on ,and pick ,there conductor.i think it was because rattle looks a bit like a young beethoven!!on orchestras of the world there is a thing called a diffinitive performance and the chicago symphony is there,also amsterdam ,phily ,vienna phil ,by diffinitive i mean the audience loved the tempi,marks of expression,soloist on top form etc ,and if these performances are recorded they will stand forever and become a benchmark for others.huge subject this but love it .KEEP MUSIC LIVE !GUEPE

hi im new to this forum .as far as speaking french is concerned for me ,my wife had a stroke and cannot cope with the learning process,we have just completed the trek from roscoff to vieux mareuil dordogne for the second time ,getting lost in nantes again .but ive found using the basics of french very useful in this sort of situation .i just have a go !whatever the situation .and weather its food ,directions ,wood ,bits from the brico,the utitilities,etc .just have a go .everybody french person ive spoken to  however bad the french was ,were exceptionaly tolerent .but like somebody else said,being surrounded by french signs,conversation etc makes all the difference anyway good luck the guepe[:)][:D]