Sunday Driver

I've spent the last few weeks chasing up Bernard my friendly local menuisier for a devis for the replacement of my roof facia chevrons (which I reckoned would set me back a couple of thousand euros) and I eventually managed to pin him down this afternoon.  He was very apologetic about the delay and asked his office manager to sort it out for me whilst we sat down for a coffee and a general chat.  When the office manager came back in and handed me the envelope containing the devis, Bernard said "Don't worry, it's not dix mille euros".  I joked "I hope you mean it's only deux mille euros" to which he replied "We've done better than that - have a look".  Ripped open the envelope - 1,200€.  He even gave me a very expensive looking hi-tech company pen to sign it and keep as a souvenir.... Having got that lot nicely sorted out, it was off to my Mercedes garage to ask them to investigate a noisy squeek which has developed on the front suspension.  Turns out it's a ball joint which (as you might guess) is an integral part of the complete steering arm - which is going to cost me 480€ to replace. At that point, Ivan the service manager wandered in to say hello, glanced over the receptionist's shoulder at the quote and said "Hang on, I think we can get that down a bit for you, give me five minutes".  True enough, five minutes later, the reception printer churned out a fresh devis - with 100€ knocked off the price.... I love French customer service......[:D]    

We're all familiar with the typical telesales call where they instantly launch into a sales script in high speed French jabber leaving you little opportunity to interject with a 'No thanks, I'm not interested in double glazing/solar panels/taking part in a survey to win a free kitchen'.  Well, this morning, I had a call from one of the sales girls at my bank and as soon as we'd got the introductions out of the way, she mentioned that she knew a 'leetle beet of eengleesh' and would I mind if she had a go at continuing the call in English. As I wasn't busy and she sounded keen, I said OK. Now, I rarely come across French people who want to speak to me in English and when I do, I find myself having to consciously adjust from automatically thinking and speaking in French.  In the case of my brave bank girl, she did struggle a bit, so I was also having to formulate my replies into simple English so as to help her understand what I was saying.  After a while, I found myself lapsing into French which, on reflection, might have seemed a bit impolite.  Is it just me or has anyone else experienced this?    

[quote user="madds"] .......since found out that entries in the service record and indications under the bonnet concerning maintenance work done are not true. I have contacted the previous owners who have confirmed my suspicions. [/quote] Falsifying a vehicle's service record to dishonestly induce a buyer to believe that maintenance work has been carried out is fraud. If you have evidence that your seller is responsible for the falsification, then confront him with it and demand that he takes the car back and refunds your money otherwise you will report the matter to the gendarmerie.  On the other hand, if you'd prefer to keep the car, then you could invite him to pay for the fictitous maintenance work to be 're-done' thereby removing the need to involve the law......    

True, but a bit moot given that Big Mac's 'rotting' bike is likely to be reduced to its constituent parts whilst undergoing the restoration. In the UK, they enforce continuous insurance by issuing warning letters and fines for vehicles which show up on the motor insurance database as uninsured.  In France, they don't....[;-)]  

Export it so there's no more UK annual road tax, MOT or continuous insurance to pay. Restore it to its former glory in your nice workshop. Register it here. If it's over ten years old, then 200€ should cover the Yamaha type approval attestation and the carte grise fee. No annual fees/taxes to pay after that. Ride it. When you're sick of it, flog it on Leboncoin for twice what it'd be worth back in the UK.  

We were too young for The Ship so we had to make do with the crappy little amusement arcade. Three darts in a playing card.....[:)] Years later, we bought an old static caravan on a site situated at the unused end of the runway at the old Boulmer airfield further up the coast.  The RAF air sea rescue were based at the other end of the runway and when the Sea Kings took off for their training flight, they would fly over the caravan site with the winchman hanging out the door waving at the kids playing below.  

My mother-in-law is not coming over this year for her annual holiday....  [:-))][:D][:D] Does that count as a drop in booking?  

I come from Newcastle and as a kid, we used to spend the summer holidays in a caravan at Newbiggin. So that's three of us so far - any more.....?    

PV = procès-verbal = fixed penalty ticket In general usage, a procès-verbal is a statement, report, minutes of a meeting, etc  

Google 'location costume de mariage'  

Mrs Sunday's recipe for pancakes: Usual Yorkshire pudding batter Small knob of butter in the pan (just enought to coat the base) Pour in sufficient batter just to cover the base of the pan (swirl it around). Thin is good. When one side is done, toss. Pick up pancake off the floor (oops, sorry, that's for when I try doing them) When the remaining side is done, serve up onto a plate, sprinkle with sugar and lots of lemon juice then roll then into a tube. Eat.  

http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/01/03/516429-le-pv-electronique-l-amende-du-futur.html  

[quote user="Bob T"] After a couple of BMWs...... [/quote]   [:-))][:-))][:-))] [IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w4/r850r/condor_r.gif[/IMG][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w4/r850r/s-clan-tartan-600-1.jpg[/IMG]   Oops......[:$]  

Your friend's friend can register the bike under a carte grise collection.  Instead of a certificate of conformity, he needs an attestation from the Fédération Française des Véhicules d'Epoque (FFVE). Immatriculation en série "Véhicule de collection"  

Go to the top of the screen where it says Welcome back CherryB and click on your name to bring up your user profile settings. Scroll down to Enable Post Mouse-Over Popup and select Yes. Save changes.