odile

well we wanted unspoilt - so if there are no other Brits out in the Jura, we must have made the right choice!!! But honestly, it would be nice to share a cream tea or a nice rosbiff from time to time...

cut out sideshoots and old wood after harvest

BRILLIANT - but God am I pleased I don't teach anymore! I can remember a few proper little madams who would have had a ball with this during lessons.Phewww

anybody out there in the beautiful and so unspoilt Jura?

Gadsby made the decision - so tunnel it is! (she is the dog - really doesn't like the ferry) + ferry companies will come and go - but surely we could never lose the Tunnel and Concorde!

he clearly has left a great town planning/architecture legacy. My main interest is his obsession with the war agains the Prussians- which he obsessively wanted to pursue to avenge his uncle Nap. Bonaparte (rings a bell Bush/Bush!) - I'm trying to understand how the Eastern Army under General Bourbaki was allowed to continue to fight through the 1870-71 winter (one of the worst on record) - despite the fact Napoleon lost the war very early in Sept. 1870 and fled to the UK. Theis army finally gave itself up in Feb. 71, when 80000 dying/starving/half frozen men + 40000 dying/starving/half frozen horses arrived at the Swiss border in the Jura - in a hamlet of about 20 houses! (we have just bought one of them, dating 1587). It seems nobody bothered to tell that army the war was lost! I'm trying to understand what happened. Apparently this led to the first major action by the Red Cross after Crimea. We are looking forward to visit Luzern where the whole event is recorded on a huge circular panorama painted in the 1880s.

perfect Ysatis-

sorry Frenchie ' c'etait cense se passer'??????????? not it was meant to be about, but c'etait cense se passer a Prague, mais en fait c'etait a Barcelone Ma dissertation etait censee etre sur les banlieues, mais en fait j'ai parle du racisme en general. or  : il aurait du s'agir des banlieues mais ... Agree it's really not easy!

what do you think about the saga re the frogs wanting him back?

Any experts on Napoleon III out there?

Hi Katie - most Fench people use the subjunctive in specific expressions, but wouldn't be able to use it correctly otherwise. So just learn to recognise it when it comes up... but certainly don;t let it beat you! Well done to all of you who are really making an effort, rather than shout louder and louder in English. Bravo et bon courage.

any funny stories about French friends who got it seriously wrong 'tother way round'? When I visited my future parents in law in the UK, there was a downhill ski race on the telly - future father in law said he could not understand the sport and the skills needed to win! So I dutifully explained that as well as skill it was about who farts the best! As he seemd bemused, I went on to explain that they had to take account of the type of snow, temperatureetc, and then fart accordingly. He seemed really confused, so my explanation got even more technical- until he called future husband to explain we had a bit of a language problem - THEY all thought it was very funny ahahaha!   (farter = to wax skis)

by the way   'je suis plein/e'  usually means that your are drunk!

Tony you seem to be a real expert. Do you have any info on the name Gogniat? I was recently told it come from Huguenot- my forebears emigrated to the Swiss Jura. the confusing bit is that they are now staunch catholics- a fact which created so much unrest when my parents got married, as mum was a divorced protestant!!! If the Gogniat were Huguenots, perhaps they decided to become catholics at a later stage to 'fit in and get on', as the Jura is a catholic Canton. ??? Would be very interested to hear what you think. Merci

my husband Hedley could never pronounce 'u' - which always turned out as a 'ou' - until we arrived for dinner at some posh friends of my parents. When asked how he was, he replied ' pas mal mais j'ai un peu mal au cul' - perfect pronunciation for first time - he actually had a sort throat!

when I first came to thw UK in 1970, I made some VERY embarrassing 'faux-pas' with my use of English- Tell us about your French versions...

doesn't matter which method you use - the only thing to do is to have a go and try.... so BRAVO and Bonne chance

Merci - je reviens de ma suisse natale, pas encore eu le temps d'essayer. Meilleures salutations

well done Norman for trying hard to speak French. I can not understand how anybody, from anywhere going to live anywhere (especially by choice - it may be not so easy if people have to escape quickly due to persecution, or for elderly relatives joining the family) doesn't make the effort to learn some of the language first, then make a BIG effort to continue to learn and to improve - and then expect to become 'integrated'. Doesn't matter about the accent, grammar, getting it all wrong - but one must be seen to TRY. And in fact the more mistakes you make... the more they will love you! Like my friend who said that 'j'adore la France parce que les francais baisent (kiss!!!) 3 fois partout, meme dans la rue. Any funny linguistic big booboos you made- share them with us.

Little grandson Fearghas coming to stay soon - he is allergic to eggs but I would like to bake a cake for his birthday? Can you help SVP

my little girl could never understand why we kept being invited for 'a pair of teeth'! -

St George was actually Syrian - ahahaha would be an illegal immigrant if he came to UK now. Irony-

Thanks for that - I shall talk to a lot of locals and will try and find a local gardener before doing any major planting. We are quite exposed but I don;t really want to plant a hedge as we love the open view. So we'll have to plant accordingly. there are quite a few peonies in the garden already. We are in limestone country, so will keep rhodos and pieris in pots. There is a Delbard rose shop nearby so will get advice from them. Best wishes

we live in Leicestershire, next to a pub - been gathering loads from the lawn at the side of the car park over last few years. I used to find them near our home in the Jura mountains in Switzerland when I was a child. A few years ago I found a huge ring in the Swiss alps, 3rd week in June, at about 1200m- the 3 of us filled our backpacks but had to live most behind - we cooked for everybody back at the B+B- feast had by all, except one english lady who just wouldn't trust us!

Bonjour Hoddy - The Leicester Badger Group and the Badger Trust (previously Federation of Badger Groups) has NEVER been involved in intimidation or any violent action - I am pleased to say. the Group was formed to fight against badger digging and baiting with dogs - we are now involved in trying to find mitigation in favour of badgers when development or road building takes place, making sure hunts don;t block setts anymore, now it has been made illegal, that farmers don;t destroy setts or fill them with slurry. And yes, to continue the fight against baiting with dogs- a most horrendous, barbaric 'sport' - sadly English baiters now go to Ireland, France or eastern countries to continue their activities, but it IS STILL happening in the UK. Diggers/baiters are a very powerful lobby, and VERY difficult to take them to court as they need to be caught (yes) red handed. Millions of pounds have been spent by the government over past 10 years to research the TB issue, and the scientists have come to the conclusion that of wholesale cull of badgers would not lead to a significant drop in TB - in fact areas where badgers were all killed for the research actually showed a signifcant increase if TB. In Northern Ireland the incidence of TB has dropped by 50% without culling - by limiting movement of cattle, better and enforced testing and simple improvements in husbandry (like covering feeding troughs at night) - whereas in southern Ireland the TB has double recently, despite heavy culling. Now farmers are requesting a wholesale killing of badgers- despite all the scientific evidence gathered by the independent scientists employed by the Government- so it's going to be a huge battle. Wish us luck -