idun

I cannot read it either, BUT saying that they were not 'up to date' with the latest info about french regions is a little 'silly'. People will always instinctively call places by the name they are used to. AND I would imagine that most of my french friends will still be doing so. I doubt that most will be that interested in saying for example.... GrandEst, rather than Champagne or Alsace/Lorraine, which are actually more precise if one is talking about places.  What this person's tastes are, is quite another thing, and recommendations are just that, they like somewhere or don't, and 'I' for example may not be of the same avis.[Www] That is places, if say I read a hotel is dirty, then I would take someone's word for it, I think that it would also be silly not to.

I am absolutely sure that if we have moved to the south of France where they say 'sank' for 'cinq' etc etc, I am pretty sure I would have got to grips with that accent, but did not with  the rather generic french where I lived.

Ah accents in England. Path............Pathposher folk 'parrr th! Same with bath and we do have them in the North[Www] Even castle, cassle, but we have southern friends who say 'carr ssle'. When did an 'a' get an 'r' stuck onto it?? Scone ......... skon What is skoan (like moan) about? and being rather fond of baking multiple flavours of scones,when I take them to a friends monthly get together. And I say,'When it's Scone it's scone'.If I said, 'skoan' my little play on words wouldn't work, it would be silly! Plenty of examples of which 'I' as a northerner do not get at all.

Surely it would depend on the person to and not just the voice. Let's face it some folk have the voice and face for radio!!!!?

Cajal posted:  l’atterrissage d’un avion de tourisme non loin du sommet pour que deux alpinistes suisses n’aient plus qu’à gravir les derniers mètres, un Britannique qui avait monté un rameur sans réussir à le redescendre, des Lettons qui avaient tenté de monter un mât de 10 mètres pour y faire flotter leur drapeau… Les autorités ont également décidé de rendre obligatoire la réservation en refuge, pour lutter contre les bivouacs sauvages." confused Cajal as I can open the last link, but it doesn't seem to be about the above. I remember the first time I drove to Chamonix in summer and passed the glacier next to the main road and wonder what on earth would happen if that avalanched, suddenly fell down or whatever the term would be if millions of tons of ice gave way. The vallee de Mont Blanc is one of the worst places to live in France for pollution. And it is so beautiful there, when there is no smog.

There always were idiots who went up Mont Blanc when we lived there and simply into the mountains in general. Nothing changes. We could see Mont Blanc from our village, and our friends bought us a spectacular big framed photo of it, which is now in my kitchen. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18230374.mountain-rescue-team-grateful-support-ben-nevis-rescue/ Should these people just be in the Darwin Awards, although I suppose that some poor soul would have to get their bodies down at some point....... The thing that angers me most is that the rescuers risk their lives unnecessarily. Anyone even well equipped can have an accident, that would be understandable. edit, I couldn't open the link either, I took it they needed rescuing?

I do wonder what you would make of my accent mint[Www] Either in english or in french[blink]

 I agree, I think it is 'orrible, I hate my accent as do my kids. BUT, when one has to live a life AND make friends, then in spite of making a real effort and still never quite getting my tongue around some of those sounds. So I know it sounds awful and mistakes are made, I just had to say, as was said, 'sxd' it. And the french usually seem to like it. And I have  also been  told that I have a voix doux, although if I needed to scream like a fish wife, I daresay I could, well, yes, it has been known.....[Www] but very rarely[:-))]

Storms are magnificent to watch. I know my grandmother, who was quite a woman was terrified of storms and would hide under the stairs, but I love watching them.

Pity, I'd have watched it....... I like stuff like that[:D]

Didn't you video it? if you didn't that was a pity, not a sight you usually see is it!

I have sent e cards a couple of times, as very very good friends have been away. If they are not alone I normally give a card to their OH for them, but if they are off alone, then an ecard suffices. And one friend is often flexible with return dates, so if they aren't going to be home, I send an ecard then too. I am not keen, but they have their place. I would never say never.

Yes, that is the bestest tip ever......... LEARN THE LANGUAGE! Tips is something different, and I often gave and give tips and help....... and as I never had many english speaking friends in France, more often than not, such things were for  french friends. Please remember that when I moved to France when young for a bit of an adventure, not knowing France, and not knowing other than five words, I had to get on with it. And these words were not that helpful really:Oui, non, merci, oeuf and pleut. Did not know that if you wanted more than one egg, you had to say errrrr and not erfs, or that pleut was the conjugaison of pleuvoir, because I did not even know what a conjugaison was either. If someone like me with no 'ear' for language can do it, anyone can, and should.  I have little time for those who move permanently to France or say to England and do not learn the local language, very very very disrespectful.

Yes I am 'fluent' in so much as I can do absolutely anything I need to do in France. I happily chat to anyone and everyone. I sound like a vache espagnole with an english accent. AND I make mistakes that are sometimes hilarious. I have no illusions about the way I speak french, and apparently it is mignon etc, which is a bit weird to me, but there you go.

So many  words sound the same, so many mean something quite different.

For me it was worth it when in France to keep in touch with those I care about, because I didn't just send cards to old friends and family  in  the UK but to new ones we had made and to new friends we had made from other countries. I know that there is that awful expression 'round robin' letters, but in fact, I would send an individual letter to everyone with the card, if we were not in regular contact. And I would get them back too. I don't really send them any more, well a handful to friends in France, and always a calender to one special friend........ sent her a Beryl Cook Calender last year, thought it would amuse her, usually I send one just of NE Country and Coast, the calenders cost a fortune to send. ps I love Beryl Cook's work.[:D][:D][:D]

 Sadly they have apparently changed the rules, that  happens, the rules were not always like that. AND there is something radically, I mean radically wrong with these new rules. As was said, this information was hard to find, and I had looked and could not find, and asked and was told contrary to that. I don't make things up. Are you a happy chappy, you appear to be enraptured by trying to find fault in others. And that mon grand is rather disturbing.

I won't be disappointed....I imagine that there will be much confusion though and here is an example of a current debacle I am encountering. I use currency fair regularly to transfer money back to England. Initially i was transferring to Ireland, then they changed to Barclays London, and since the back end of last year to Frankfurt. And these internal euro zone transfers between France and Germany do not go through properly, somewhere in the system they can't be hassled (other adjectives can be used!l) to put all my details through. Yes, this is a SIMPLE zone transfer. I have to do all sorts of ridiculous things that I should not be doing so that my details can be recognized, otherwise there are big delays in processing my transfer. Confusion reigns already, more will just be par for the course. I expect nothing less and it won't be me who'ĺl be confused. PS My banque insists that they are not to blame, as does the German bank.

 CT years ago when people would ask the best way to learn french, then one of the cheeky answers would be, to take a french lover. Mind you, if the relationship didn't go any further than the bedroom, I imagine that  the vocabularly may become somewhat unusual and perhaps some expressions best not to be used in every life[Www] So as ALBF is married to a french lady and has kids, I would rather say that his french should be pretty good..... and those I know with mixed marriages, ie living in France and one of the spouses is french, then french is usually the language at home. Frankly french is often the language at home for many brit couples with kids who live in France and have proper jobs, ie going out to work and working with  french colleagues.

https://www.agoravox.fr/actualites/economie/article/l-acquisition-par-des-100321 Should be a live link. My dentist in France is chinese, the best dentist I have EVER had, he was wonderful. And another Doctor I used, who was also  brilliant, was also chinese. That is one thing usually, about the chinese people I know, they would say that they are chinese as well as where else they were from, ie I'm from Lyon and I'm chinese. We have known some koreans, vietnamians and even someone japanese in France, but to these european eyes, I would have trouble distinguishing where people were from and appreciated knowing when told without asking.

I realise that those pop up things on here are very annoying and distracting. However, yesterday I was looking some things up on french google. Every single page yesterday, as per usual had a pop up asking me to subscribe. Now this can happen in the UK too, but I have noticed that it is something that happens all the time when looking at french sites, with a couple of exceptions,  is it something the rest of you  have noticed ?

Look CT, if you want to be a german, go for it, if you act like a good german it will not make you any more european, other than geographically, than other germans. And will not be some magic thing that will make you romanian, or portuguese or french, all quite different culturally and ofcourse have their own languages. Yes, geographically european, but that is geography for you. And not just those afternoons or evenings of nonsense heavy chats..... a(accent grave) table (just of you wooly). When out with my female friends sometimes they have felt the need to tell me that they are just taquine'ing and not to take any of it seriously. I never ever did. Where as, the cutting remarks from the last Maire's wife, well, all she said to me was always full of venom, as was all from her dear husband, a well matched malicious couple. Boy did we have some horrible, appalling Maires, but we had one good one, what a lovely man he was.

Would that I could put an accent grave on the 'a'. Lots of things that I cannot do on this tablet :(

That is interesting, this week I had to send a condolence card to Canada and a birthday card to France, £1.55 and £1.35. And it is a big thing mint and worthy of french finance, I used to send at least 60 christmas cards and letters every xmas when I lived in France, plus pre internet and cheap calls, letters in abundance. I thought that they were dear enough way back then, but for xmas at least, would cost me a fortune now.

LOL mint, it's OK. I am pleased that you are sorted, I hate it when these things happen.