Frederick

Tell me jam experts ..............My neighbour has given us a load of figs as she has a tree loaded with them ...I know what the figs are likely to do to us.............  she has also given us some fig jam .. I have never had this before ! ... ...is it  likely to have the same effect ?

Does  Nantes airport have a tow away policy and how long do they give you first......anybody know  ? At 0830 this morning every car park was full .........so I was forced to drop off family who had come over Saturday for the rugby and leave the car  at the roadside for only a couple of minutes  ...The place is a nightmare !. no time for coffee as I was expecting a tow truck to turn up..  How can EVERY car park be full at 0830 ? its expensive to park  so they all cant  all be long term parkers surely ?

Many .years ago a wise man called Wilson ...gave us advice on monetry matters ......"The pound in your pocket will not be devalued "... he said .....I think there could be a lot of empty pockets soon ! 

As a starter ....what about on a bed of lettuce ....accompanied by thin slices of smoked breast of duck ?

I dont know of other areas of France but in the Vendee there seems to be under way a big project to get the mess of cables that are strung out over  villages under ground...I have noticed the  changes to a village the removal of the tapered concrete poles and all the wires has made.. together with the introduction of globe street lights . and the result looks great....It must be at huge  expense.....but I think worth it as you can see the efforts people have made to smarted up their houses afterwards ....There seems to be a sudden interest in painting houses and front walls .... in flower boxes ..It seems to have introduced a will to show  pride in villages . Being  towards the edge of our village I still have concrete poles in my street ...with 12 cables and street lamps on them..... The one outside by gates provides wires as perch for the birds to cr*p on them and the mail box  .. so ...I will be pleased to see the poles and wires  go ......or does someone think this is what makes France look different and wants to see them stay ?

I remember steaks being served to me when with a coach party in Belgium at a stop over where a set meal was laid on.... Most of us had no idea what we were eating at the time  ..... I have had it served to me since  again as steaks and it seemed fine ...    I cant say I did not enjoy it ...  its not a meat we tend to stop and look at in the Super U .. but ....given a choice of hungry or the horse ....dobbin would have to go into the pot  !

In the UK  before we go away we leave our hanging baskets and patio tubs  near our water butt  on the ground and use a dripper  water kit connected to the water butt tap... The water butt is up on a stand  higher than the baskets  so you get a head of water and you can by turning the tap half on  control the rate of the drips ....we go away for a month at a time knowing we start off with a full butt of water and hope with any rain we get it will top up the water butt faster than it all drips away ...Its worked so far....the kits you can get from garden centers .and some of the DIY stores ....its thin black tube you cut to length and push the drippers in where you want them ....they come with a tap connection and plastic spikes that are designed to grip the tube  then you push them into the tub or basket compost  .....its a bit fiddly laying it all out and getting them  all dripping .... highest near the butt lowest further away ...it works ...You can use the system on a garden tap with the pressure turned down very low I should think.... so if it came apart  you would not lose a lot of water under high pressure ....

What I mean Chris is ....they want to see the area developed and tourists cash in their acccounts and  local unemployment reduced ...but ....they dont want outsiders live among them ...and ....are prepered  to drive them out   .......Who is going want to even go on holiday to such a place  ? What tourists they have had and enjoyed the income from in their hotels  I should expect will not return when they read of their antics .. I would not want  stop and park up even for lunch in such an area if they are going to target for damage your car to make their point.... if they want the place to themselves they can have it

I should think they have already shot themselves in the foot ....after reading the newspaper article those who were about to buy in the area I should think are now considering pulling out and looking elsewhere ..and ..once again I see  Ryan Air gets the blame for making an area popular....

Sorry Moderators ...I may have breached the forum code  "Advertising "  a website on this occasion ?... but I think its a place where specialist advice may be given .

Janusian.......May I suggest that you take the oportunity to visit ....and research  " disabled living  " in France  and see 1st hand what is available  for you... and for  your  group  if three of you are planning living together and there are health and  mobility issues .You can Google "Disabled Holiday Directory " and contact them and talk to the lady who runs the site  You will find she has travelled a lot herself .... most of it driving a horse box ! ...and .she walks with the aid of two sticks so knows what it is like to need facilities outside the UK....She will also help you with good advice on a place to stay . You may also get some feed back from her on what the users of her site have experienced on their holidays ... the bad ...as well as the good points of managing in  France with a disability .  You could then go over  and see what is required in running a Gite that is fitted out  for the  provision of holidays for disabled people.... and get advice from the gite owner on just what it takes to run such a place  ... This is what I would do before I commited myself into parting with any serious money if I was in your position ...It took three years for me to find my house where I wanted to be.... there is so much to consider before you make your move and such a lot of information to absorbe first.....cant be rushed ..lots and lots of reaserch....good luck ...

You should have a good time.....drag yourself to the top of the dune....get sandblasted by the hooligan that always blows up there ... and come back down with pockets full of sand ....the perfect day out !

Sprogster....You are so right ....the French need to get themselves in gear when it comes to provision for disabled people ....but then their attitude I sometimes think is "out of sight out of mind ".  As as far as regulations for ramp access to public buildings are concerned its just another regulation that many seem to think "does not apply to France "  The UK can hold its head up high on this one...the French certainly cant .....

Janusian ......I have been involved with this type of "Holiday Letting " property in the UK where there are lots of places for the disabled available .....I know...that there is a demand for such properties from people who wish to holiday in France and there are web sites connected to  lots of charities that cater for disabled access holidays and are looking for places outside the UK to offer on their sites ...I have even been asked by some I know and have had dealings with if I would consider putting my French "Bungalow " on their sites  so I know they are short of places .... Transport  and money is not a problem.... lots of people as you will know have the type of car they need on Motabillity Allowance to carry wheel chairs....they just want find and  book a place that gives them access and they are easy to find ...I wish you every success with your venture ...if only more Gite owners would consider access  for  wheel chairs ..wet rooms. with seats ... toilets with grab rails etc  then many  people who want to..... but cant .....may have the pleasure of visiting France . .. May I suggest that if you have the funds available you find where you want to be living  ..... and then consider having  built to your specification the "bungalow " you want to fulfill your requirements  and those of your disable guests....In  France you may  find this easier to do than you think...You could build a great disabled access facility.....you would not be short of guests !....Just Google  "Holidays for the disabled  "   you will see the sites that the huge number of people who require such access only look at when planning their holiday ...  good luck ....

Like United we also chose the Vendee it has a micro climate that is supposed to give you temperatures similar to the med by a couple of degrees but this year perhaps not !...We took three years and many visits to find what we wanted . We had decided on the area we wanted to be in ..slightly inland from the coast but within 10 minutes drive . and we wanted a "Bungalow " type house easy to paint etc ....We discovered that agents do not always put every house for sale on their web pages ....and ..to know what is available you cant beat going in and asking them  ....That was how we found our house ..by choosing an area  and concentrating the search through the few agents that served the villages we were interested buying in .....We found what we wanted in the end ... but it was not in the agents  front window...they told us it was a "rare " find ....not surprised if few outside the village knew they were selling it .......Internet search  is good.... but I think you have to be "on the ground " to get the feel of an area and whats for sale without rushing into it ...Vendee has new road links ...its opened the region up and its getting very popular for second homes ..certainly with Parisians who can be home in about three hours .....lots of new build  houses to choose from along the coast ...prices going  up by 13.5 % a year I am told .