Callie

I've been interested reading the messages on this topic as we have talked for ages about eye testing in the UK.  The waiting time in our area to see an ordinary optician is not very long, but for a proper check at an ophthamologist, the wait is about 3 months.  As I only need reading glasses, the optician is fine but OH needs a more thorough examination and new contact lenses.  We rarely go to the UK but it sounds as if it would be worth the trip. Thanks to all for the info !

Are you talking about wall ties?  If so, you could try your local "ferraille" chappie who has the bars and end bits.  Ours were fitted and heated to tighten them and the house hasn't budged in years !  They were known as "tirants" though - but perhaps we aren't talking about the same thing ! !

The best thing for your friend to do is to go to another gendarmerie, or the police nationale and say that it was stolen - that way they will at least give her the paperwork she will need to claim.  It may not be entirely honest, but the end result would be the same.  She should explain to them that she needs the piece of paper to be able to claim on her insurance.  Our car was broken into years ago and the police couldn't have been more helpful and gave us the paperwork we needed for an insurance claim.

Ernie, please......you know the French must keep people employed.....one way or another......particularly les fonctionnaires ! [;-)] Yes, Sid, looking forward to the day we can take our present out for a spin.  We've always used a tent before so this is going to be the height of luxury ! !

We always ask our guests whether they would like tea, coffee or hot chocolate the night before.  You could ask them whether they would prefer the croissants hot or cold, and whether they would like hot milk, at the same time !  We have never served, or been asked for, hot milk, though....

A big thank you to Sunday Driver and Sid for all their helpful advice regarding registering a UK caravan in France.  Between you both, you have answered all my questions ![:D][:D] We have just been very kindly presented with a Conway folding caravan, weighing in at 680kg which we can't wait to register and start using.  The language being no problem, it simply remains (I hope!) to be very methodical about providing the right information and photographs.  In fact we have found in other instances, that bending over backwards to provide as much info as possible, means we get taken much more seriously.

My husband says much the same thing.  [:(]  He hardly ever gets out but managed a good trip to the Eifel region last year - Belgium and Germany and said it was great.  [:D]  Unfortunately he hasn't found anyone in our area to give him a push !

[quote user="dave21478"]Lee&nik, that is one of the least relevant replies I have ever seen on this forum.So, youve been a soldier and picked up body parts - well boo f****** hoo for you. Just because you have done something unpleasant does not give you some kind of superior overview to comment on what you think I find trivial.[/quote]I hardly think Lee&nik was trying to be superior nor intending to put people on the defensive, but just trying to keep things in persepctive.  He/she is as entitled to give his view as anyone else.  Yes, his job was his choice, but it's only when you have done a really unpleasant job that some things do appear trivial by comparison.  However, one person's trivia may be another person's drama.

Mackyfrance - if you have had 4 years of satisfied customers, then more than likely your recent guests are the problem, not you.  For heaven's sake don't offer a refund.  As another poster suggested, write a brief letter back saying that you are sorry that your gite did not find favour with them and that in 4 years your guests have been very happy with what you offered.  You can even wish them luck in the future.  Don't write any long explanations - if they weren't prepared to face you at the time, they couldn't have been as unsatisfied as all that.  A brief polite note is all that is needed !  Those sort of customers are, luckily, few and far between.  So don't let them get you down.  You can receive 100 compliments about your gite but it only takes one negative one to give you doubts.  Keep things in perspective ! ! Best of luck to you ![:D]

We have simplified our life :  we don't take young children (roughly not under 8 yrs !)  Those that we have had up to now have been delightful, like their parents.  We don't have a pool of any description so I guess that helps..... However, what we have learnt is that the more seemingly 'searching' questions that are asked before booking (the type you mention, BAF) the more likely they are to be, er, a bit difficult. [:(]   Sometimes it seems that no matter how clearly you state what is and what isn't included in the price, there will always be someone trying to get something extra. Life was a lot easier when people weren't trying to travel first class with a second class ticket !

BUT then why do not hoteliers/B&B ers offer a discount for 2nd/third night stay (Aside. Changing every night is not just the habit of 4 star hotels. New towels were provided every day in all my recent stays in any hotel.) We do, in fact, offer a cheaper rate for 3 nights or more !  We too have seen towels changed every day in any hotel we have stayed in.  But not necessarily the sheets ! The original concept of B&B was actually staying en famille and sometimes even sharing their bathroom.  (I certainly remember this in Scotland and England MANY moons ago).  But, like everything else, standards/expectations have changed and now everyone wants hotel prestations at B&B prices.  (many people want to travel first class on a second class ticket !)  Are people now charging hotel prices for B&B???  I believe it is now obligatory for B&B rooms to have their own bathrooms????  Perhaps someone can correct me on that?

Excellent news.  According to Dutch news, she is in rreasonably good health.

Seb, you piped me at the post.  We plan to do exactly the same thing.  We planted lavender bushes about 8 or 9 years ago and they have done brilliantly.  We are changing the design of the ground in front of the house, so the lavenders will have to go.  So now I know that this will be an autumn job and will plant new ones then.  Many thanks to you too, Lisleoise ![:)]

Thanks, Mrs P - Woolb's brother.  No pastry - brilliant !

You can make a complaint at your local gendarmerie.

 I forgot to say that the Robinia has wicked thorns.....[:'(]

Mmmmmm.....no.....but the very title made my mouth water.  Trouble is, I'm rubbish at making pastry, even the bought stuff shrinks.[:(]

Now the tree is standing on its feet, I too would say it is a Robinia or False Acacia.  The bark is apparently toxic to horses whilst on the tree.

Interesting.  I would have said the bottom two photographs were Choisya (Mexican Orange Blossom) ! Osie - is your shrub deciduous - in which case it's Philadelphus - or evergreen, in which case it's probably Choisya !

MOH was marking some English exam papers for the French Army and he came across this :  "Ian Paisley is the head of the IRA".[8-)]

It's no longer Deutsche Bundesbahn since the Wall came down ! !  I believe it is just Deutsche Bahn now.[:)]

I remember someone at school (early 60s) who got 100% for maths but they deducted 7 marks for untidyness...... To answer Steve's posting, I don't know why the candidate was given any marks - he failed to answer the question in any grammatical way.  He should have been given a zero.

It's sad when someone has talent but blows it.  Some people can't handle the pressure, the media, being in the spotlight, whatever, and I wonder if those around her who are lapping up the money really give a monkey's what happens to her.  The Glastonbury video shows a pathetic young woman totally out of control - she couldn't even hit the right notes.  It's desperately sad to see someone go down the slippery slope - another Britney Spears.....

Last year's Festival was a great success. Country music, bands and dancing, plus lots of horsey things like team and cattle penning, rodeo, bronc and bull riding. Loads of stands etc. www.country-rodeo-tours.com

We lived in married quarters in Devon where the houses had the same problem.  The MOD used bleach sprayed on with a pressure washer.  It solved the problem, though I can't say whether it was perùanent or not.