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 .

Here is the answer.......Band D council tax paid for 10 Downing Street .... £1363 .36 compared with Band D council tax for a house in Blandford Dorset.....£1481.89.   but of course they are both terraced houses  only difference one has a big extension out the back !

Oh I see ....when you get the bucket full of fluff out of the mouse ...you can scrool  down without the page sticking .....thats how it works is it ?  thought I was cracking up for a second .....

Ben ...........Have we got some sort of physic powers thing going here ? ........spookey ..   we must have been typing the same post  together !!!

There is a BB Hotels "Motel " just outside Alencon as you will  approach the town it has the "Buffalow  Grill "  next to it so you cant miss it  ! They do  family rooms  which  are  on the top level   . Its a  "mezanine " layout in the room with two more beds above the main bedroom layout .....a narrow staircase up to it ......you get a choice of continental or cooked breakfast its self service  ....just Google BB Hotels France   and you can book on line and see the location map etc   I think from memory a family room is about 54 euros plus about 5 for breakfast.   I advise you book  they get filled up fast  about 7pm by van drivers looking for stop overs as well as tourists . BB Hotels like Campernile Hotels and Premier 1 and Formula I all have web sites .....but I  can recommend the BB Alencon and the Buffalow Grill next door  for a low cost stop over and meal ....Web site is in English .

A guy I know who has suffered with his joints for years has for his lunch EVERY day .....mackerel fillets between two slices of bread....the ones that come in the flat tins in various sauces that you see in Super U and  also in Lidl . He states he finds this in his diet a big help ....

Strange ?.....its supposed to be a water repellant....  so I expect where you rub it in will be water proofed  if thats what you want  .......I would be a bit scared of rubbing into my joints any product of the petrochemical industry.!"....its supposed to be good for removing chewing gum though ! 

It would appear that after the 30th of November....  discounted fares on P&O ferries will no longer apply to bookings  where Tesco Clubcard vouchers are used .....I read that Tesco are seeking another carrier to accept their Clubcard vouchers and BF and LD Lines  may be approached re the Tesco Clubcard  scheme  ....It would appear Tesco vouchers can be exchanged for airmiles and these can still  be used for ferry crossing discounts ?...I know nothing about this.... as I do not get airmiles... and my Tesco Vounchers usually amount to one legs worth of the Xmas turkey .....I am sure sombody who swaps them for ferry tickets can  enlighten us ?

Paul........living in the countryside as I do in Dorset  I agree  with you......it was just  my  bit of a jokey way I put the info on the forum  and  I can certainly live without bacon  this time .... I do wish the French could produce some good bacon to buy in 85 though  then I would not have to take a wholesalers vacuum packed load out with me as I usually do ...

Now illegal to take out any Meat ..Meat Products ...Milk ...Milk and Dairy products  including sandwiches  packed lunches and food for self catering holidays even if frozen or tinned ......Thank you defra for putting me on a bacon free diet for the next few weeks ...I need to lose a pound ot two ....www.defra.gov.uk  for more information.

Before the 2001 inauguration of George Bush...George was invited to a get  aquanted  tour of the White House. After drinking  several glasses of iced tea he asked Bill Clinton if he could use his personal bathroom .. When he entered Clintons private toilet he was astonished to see that President Clinton had a solid gold urinal .. That afternoon, George told his wife Laura about the urinal "Just think" he said "When I am President , I could have a gold urinal too. but .. I wouldnt  do somthing that self indulgent " Later when Laura had lunch with Hillary at her tour of the White House she told Hillary how impressed George had been at his discovery of the fact that in the Presidents private bathroom  the President had a gold urinal   That evening when Bill and Hillary were getting ready for bed , Hillary smiled and said to bill "I found out who pissed in your saxophone "