Renaud

Lacanau - a charming sort of California meets small town France - is an hour away from Bordeaux but the drive there makes one loose the will to live let alone surf.

Daughter with three carloads of belongings now installed. Our dogs are in raptures. My wife wants to know exactly how to use the iron.

Is there no cafe in Bordeaux where they can fester with their mates all day all for the price of one cafe. If it is sunny they can sit inside. We have a daughter who left home triumphantly a few years ago now moving back.

Sleep overs at their friends? Going to stay with their father? Driving lessons or riding lessons? More mobiles for them to text their pals about how exetencialstly awful life is? Ignore them? Maye they just want you to start ironing their pyjamas.

You have to admire his timing in saying to Gordon "look you want the job - you have it" then walzing off. Next president of Europe. (Did he confuse Brussels for Rome)?

I looked at this thread hoping for the French terms for my persistant memory deficiency. PS Which way up are they floating?

Could you PM me as my sister-in-law might be able to help.

Well they got me twice on our recent trip. I booked-up a few weeks ago and at that time I could see no mention of on-line check-ins. I did not opt for the get-on-board-first thing as there is little point if everybody does so. We got to the Stanstead and tried to use the little terminals but were told that we had to pay £20 each to buy a boarding card. When we did we were asked if we wanted to buy them for the return. We did. When we returned from Bergerac there was no on-line check-in option so it was check-in as usual. £40 wasted. Nice one Mr O'Leary.

Also I liked the bit from Mandy saying that 'the Conservative's figures don't add up'. From a member of this government?

Funny how if the Conservatives step out of line it is 'Sleeze'. But if Nulab's Nigel Griffiths uses his office for nooky or Jackie Smith and McNulty fiddle their expenses it becomes "oh, all MPs do that".

Any team that paired Henson and O'Driscoll at centre would be wonderful to watch.

"...if every other six national team had decided not to slow down the ball to the Welsh..."  Well then maybe the other nations might do sneaky things like try to tackle them... (hang on a sec, haven't the boyos tried to slow down a bit of opposition ball too)? The Welsh this year have great backs but sadly the game plan on Saturday was to use most of them as ancillary full backs and try to get penalties from the forwards. Who Dragon would you have in the Lions? (The great JPR etc. sadly unavailable.)

The Welsh gameplan seemed to be (1) use the Wasps' rush defense (2) and/or thump O'Gara then (3) push/niggle for a kickable penalty. Thats it. Forget the rest. (OK, Henson had other ideas but could not find anyone not prepared to deviate from plans 1, 2 & 3). So as a neutral I am glad that the Irish won as they had the idea that scoring trys might win the game. Regarding O'Gara - the thing he does so well is keep his team playing in the opponent's half (no kickable penalties for the opponents there). His drop goal was a fitting end to a match where he had taken battering after battering. A lesser man might have flinched as the charge-down crew came at him. Respect.

On point 18... "18. Poor compensation A report by the UK’s Air Transport Users Council has found that the world’s airlines lost more than one million bags in 2007 and more than 42 million pieces of luggage were mishandled worldwide. Guess who it named as the worst airline for compensation if your bag goes missing or is damaged? " --- Credit where it is due, RyanAir is working hard to loose less bags.

Krusty Shopping French and Restaurant French is one thing but I think it might be hard to live somewhere and not be able to hold a conversation with anybody other than expats. As Albert says what happens if you have to go to hospital, have your car repaired or want a new gas boiler?

Joe If you are moving full time it is your language skills rather than your age that is the determining factor.

Going to Ikea in Bordeaux is a far more pleasant experience than the stores in London. Their delivery lorry turned up before 8.00am. Or you can hire a van from Super U for a day on cheap terms.

Have you looked at www.buggscarhire.com ? a tiny local company as opposed to the usual suspects.

Clarkkent Most mothering results from "the consequences of sexual intercourse".

Has she given up chicken chasing?

I remember John Reid, then Minister of Defence remarking as he sent the first British troops of to Afganistan that he doubted that they would ever have to fire a shot. How can our troops fight a war if nobody knows why they are there? What is the outcome hoped for? Can it be achieved?

Even if I had a tank it would not stop the locals in the Super U carpark from reversing into it.

We are heading for competitive devaluations worldwide. (Quantitive easing = devaluation by another name)? My guess is that the euro will split apart this autumn. The original six EU members going one way the rest ... Question is will Germany want top prop up France?

They have been a good source of bookings for us.

Goog that so many people on this forum still care about typography. (Just John, Dog, Fay, Sweet 17 et al). Having spent the last 30 years earning a living as a typographer / designer I still don't like it when a typeface is referred to as a font. Dog "Why do you want Arial it's horrid." I agree, the 'design' company from which I parted company in October used it as their house face - says everything about them. Verdana is a better typeface for use on the screen, I believe.