Scooby

[quote user="NormanH"]Nice attempt to avoid my specific questions by accusing me of rudeness.. Can you now answer my question as you are "ably qualified to comment and compare. " Give definitions and your scale of measurement with references to back it up as valid. If you can't it is clear  that your arguments are invalid [/quote] I would think, NormanH, that having lived in both locations he is more than able to comment...indeed, far more able to comment than you and your googled sources. I'm guessing that some people on here don't like her because her criticisms of France suggest that their choices are not the rosy idyll that they may have described to their friends and family back in Blighty.

I just read the article and agreed with everything HFP said about France.  Nevertheless Abu Dhabi wouldn't be my choice of destination (unless it was for a fixed term, lots of money and next to no tax...[;-)])

Can you not just deduct them from the security deposit? I am assuming you check the gite before you refund their deposit?

I guess it all depends on what the speed limit on the 'main' road is.  If it is a dual carriageway with fast moving traffic but traffic on a small side road (no doubt entering the dual carriageway from a standstill) has right of way then it is an accident waiting to happen.  I recall the A80 from Glasgow some years ago had a terrible safety record for a similar reason.  The road connects the M80 out of Glasgow with the M80 towards Stirling but all the roads entering and leaving the A80 were 'T' junctions rather than slip roads - result in an appalling fatality record.  To suggest using priorité a droite as a 'traffic calming method' is insanity.

Well my sons two school friends (and cricket team mates) have it, my nephew (who has three disabled children - so a little worrying) and then, yesterday, my bro-in-law was diagnosed...  Very glad we are escaping to Canada for a couple of weeks or so!!

I agree Rose, anyone who feels they have sufficient quality of life to fight on should be properly supported and cared for.  It is a disgrace that much of the care for the terminally ill is provided by hospices that rely on charitable donations for their running costs.  However, on the converse side, my sister cares for people with progressive mental disorders (Huntingtons), serious brain injury, those in a PVS.  She sees patients trying to starve themselves to death, refusing medication, eating themselves (literally), pulling their hair out by the handful - often taking part of the scalp etc with it.  Some of her patients desperately want to die and have communicated this wish but they are denied the escape that they crave for.

Topical and interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/01/2009_28_thu.shtml

I disagree John.  There should be a point where everyone has the right to say 'I've had enough - let me go.'  However, I do share your concern that this should be the clear choice of the individual without pressure from those around them.  There are many people that genuinely have no quality of life and who desperately want to die...and should have the right to do so with dignity. It seems that the medical profession sometimes tries to keep a patient alive just because it is possible...I have seen individuals who have been designated 'DNR' - a decision that has been taken with much anguish and thought but who are nevertheless resuscitated by medical staff who are afraid of being sued if the patient dies in their care.  We give more thought to the death of our pets than our relatives and friends - it's not considered acceptable to let a pet suffer if the eventual outcome is death but this is acceptable for humans.

I buy the sugar with pectin - not necessarily for jam making, but because it has lovely large crystals that look great as a decorative topping for eccles cakes, pastries etc.

Japanese anemones cope well with clay soil and flower late summer.  Rudbeckias are also good for late colour.

[quote user="valB"]When I go back to England I am gobsmacked at some of the food prices and also to eat out as well, Eat as much as you like Chinese, which is excellent, for £5. We hardly ever eat out over here now as the prices are too high...[/quote] We have found that valB, we can eat out twice in the UK for the price of one meal out in France...and the food in the UK is as good as anything in France.

Well my best friend (a post doctoral chemist) is happy to use it on her garden...so that's good enough for me! P.s - given the average age of posters on here I'm surprised you're worrying [;-)]

Debenhams offer a full days pay for half a days work...and I agree - a lot of women are happy to work Sundays as they have no childcare issues - my sister-in-law was in this category.

Now if they could spell 'poison' properly I might treat the comments a little more seriously..........  Until then I'll stick with the paint on glyphosate.

If there is going to be a tax it should be on the fuel and not on the 'grade' of passenger.  I am assuming that the purpose of the tax (as well as the obvious raising of revenue) is to offset the carbon effects - so the proceeds of the additional levies should be applied exclusively to 'green' issues (developing alternative energy sources etc).  PS - I think that the same should apply to UK vehicle owners: tax the fuel and abolish the RFL.

The people I know who work for shops / stores actively ask for Sunday shifts because they do a half days work for a full days pay.

As do the staff at all the restaurants the french frequent for their family Sunday lunch...and the gendarmes who wait round the corner to breathalise them when they leave [:)]

We use it all the time.  Having said that I think you have to read some of the things posted there on 'balance' or in the context of the poster's background.  For example you will often see negative comments about European hotels from Americans as they seem to expect the same size rooms in an 18th century italian hotel as they would be offered in down town Vegas....  Then again if the US posters are all happy it's probably an amazing place [:)]. 

Me? :)

[quote user="Benjamin"] Scooby's made it clear on another thread that her hubby earns squillions from his NHS job for an embarrassingly small number of hours each month. [/quote] Now, now Benjamen - jealousy will get you nowhere LOL.  The only shopping OH does is for stuff that has cooking instructions on the back [:)]..or car bits and pieces. From reading some of the above it seems that people's Sunday activities are dictated by whether the shops are open!  If you are genuinely committed to having Sunday as a family day then the status of the shops should be irrelevant to your choice of activity.......  Self control anyone????  As an aside I occasionally have to work Sundays, as does my OH (on call), as does my daughter (works in the leisure industry).  This is life.  We just work around it as a family to make sure we get quality time together...whether it's on a Sunday, Wednesday or a Saturday (or any day in between).  It's not the day of the week that matters it's making the time - whenever that time is.                                                                  

Next time you have guests like that take photos - any threats from them to refuse to pay / post feedback on Tripadvisor and I'd send them the pictures.  As Wooly says you can add your own comments to reviews on Tripadvisor and there is the option to add photos to support your remarks.

We're dog owners but I'm afraid our dog stays in kennels / with relatives when we travel.  We wouldn't be happy staying somewhere that allowed dogs in the rooms.

[quote user="sid"] If you want UK with sunshine, why not try Spain? [/quote] I can't think of a worse place to holiday (or live) than Spain.  Actually I hate hot weather and prefer to visit France in the shoulder seasons - I'm more than happy to let friends and family use the place in July and August and let them battle with the tourists.  (In fact our main summer holiday this year is in Nova Scotia, Canada...which is a very long way from Costa sunshine and lager.)  Oh and FYI, Scooby is a forty something mother with three teenage kids - who works full-time and often long hours.  I happen to think that France is so tangled up with regulation that it stifles business - the barring of Sunday trading is just another example.  In any case if you are going to justify it on religous grounds then why Sunday - why not Saturday (for the multiple other faiths...)?? Sunday family get togethers aren't unique to France...we've always had a family Sunday lunch here in the UK..but then we always eat together as a family regardless of the day of the week. 

No

[quote user="teapot"]8 til 7.30.... Who's fault is that? European maximum hours etc.....[/quote] Sorry but there are many ways employers can get around the EU working directive...