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Betise, I have just read your posts, thank you. That does look an excellent site and I like the fact that they specialise in these types of electronic products. I don't want to spend a bundle of money on a phone because I am unsure whether I'd like it!!

Firstly renewed thanks for all the added advice and suggestions. crabtree, I have PM'd you and I am already with Sosh but I only get about 2GO at the moment and I pay the same amount as some of the other sites you provided. Lehaut, that is new info to me....thanks! Didn't realise that if you used "autre vendeurs" on Amazon, provided it is sent by Amazon, you got the same benefits for returns. So is it free returns as well as returns with virtually no conditions attached?

Thank you, both. I'd no idea it could be so economical. Cajal, I don't think I'd go really, really basic with the phone. But I do have my eye on a second hand Samsung on Amazon. Crabtree, that site has been a real eye-opener. I like the idea of no contract PLUS being able to keep your existing number! I'd never have known or been able to find out those things for myself. Just too many things to do everyday that takes far too long. Doesn't sound fair does it, the older you get the longer you take to do things and the shorter the time you have left to do them?😕

DL, no, it's not the same. But, if you looked at the selection of wines on the website you gave me, you'd see it clearly listed, at just under 7€. Wouldn't give 7 centimes for it. I don't have enough experience of Calvados (more's the pity) but whisky was my preferred drink in winter. No need for the single malt stuff, any old blend would do me just fine😁

Yes, Judith. I have come to the same conclusion and have also decided that I will buy from Amazon even though they might not be the cheapest. It's being able to return it if I don't like or can't get on with it that features most in my decision. Now please tell me which service provider you use and which is the most efficient and, hopefully, is not the most costly?

What somebody actually paid TWO euros for that😂 Well yes, it did say Gers on the bottle but it was a "normal" looking white wine bottle, green with the long neck. I THINK it was 11° though I didn't look too closely because I wouldn't have accepted even a free bottle. Perhaps they are producing it under a different guise!

But it IS still produced! I revisited a pig farm near Banka (nearly always go to see the pigs) and this stuff was given to us to taste. So, together with the paté and chacuterie, we got a thimbleful of apple wine. When I used to drink, I enjoyed Calvados and cider, both Brittany and Normandy cider. But apple WINE is an entirely different thing altogether, don't you think?

Thanks, Harnser and Ken. I appreciate greatly your comments and I even agree wholeheartedly with them🙂 I have an ancient Samsung, not a "smart" at all. Can ring out and receive messages, both vocal and written. So does most things I need. Confirm doctor's appointments (those on doctolib) and even accept codes for this new-style "double verification" demanded by banks, etc. Like Ken, I am known for my phonephobia and all my close friends and family know it. However, with all the recent trend for more and more organisations, both public and private, to "flash the QR code" plus the need to identify yourself on your phone, I believe it's time to bow to the inevitable. I was for going for "top of the range" but now am considering earlier models.

Hey, DL, I tasted that apple wine you talked about and, yes, I agree, it is not nectar for the gods, is it? Thank goodness, it was only a thimbleful for tasting. Plus I didn't find a convenient pot plant to tip it into!

Crabtree, thanks for the further explanations. Yes, I can definitely see the attractions of a Nokia that you speak about. I think I still have a Nokia mobile from the early years of this century. Haven't looked at it for a while but I daresay it still works and might even have some credit left in it from Tesco😂 And then I was delighted when the ring tone became famous and people were humming it, playing it on their violins, etc. What a nice innocent age that was! Now they have to have the latest model of everything and they even cue up overnight to buy whatever is the latest. Actually, crabtree, I am not sure that being able to afford the very best and latest is good for your "mental health"...isn't that the latest buzz term and trendy medical condition to suffer from? OK, will go phone hunting in a more targetted way. Thanks again🙂

Crabtree, cajal and Lehaut, many thanks. You have given me lots of food for thought. Does it matter which version of android or is it bigger the number the better it is? Eg is 14 better than 13 etc. Also how much storage do you think would be "enough" for average use? I'm not one for selfies. Lastly, Lehaut, you do take the most stunning photos.

Harnser, I WAS looking at a "samsung galaxy something or other" if only because it's a name I recognise! Hmmm I'll wait a bit for other comments🙂 Lori, I looked up the One Plus Nord and it is apparently Chinese made. Not that I think Chinese spies are looking at all my textos but maybe I'll keep looking a bit more! Thanks both for your input.

Yes, the time has come to buy one. After resisting for years (no reason, just being "different"!) I have decided to get one of these. Will prefer android as I do not have anything Apple. What phone do you have, are you pleased with it, do I need to have minimum foundation in rocket science to make friends with it? Probably buy a reconditioné to see if I actually like using it. All suggestions and explanations extremely welcome as I know rather less than your average 4-year old about these gadgets.

Thanks for asking, Lori. Yes, head seems a lot clearer though still have frequent headaches, something that I hardly ever suffer from. Proving identity.....guess nobody's going to recognise me at the moment! But, seriously, everything is getting better but I am being ultra careful such as not carrying things downstairs that require both hands ...... as for tight-ropes, yeah, given them up for the moment. Thank you, Lori, for being so gentille🙂

Good heavens! Thanks for posting, guys, I would have been totally rattled if I hadn't seen your posts. I am thinking of taking one of my pensions this year, whilst I am still alive to enjoy it. And, yes, it is from a bank so now I will be prepared......thanks again. I never cease to be amazed at what I learn on here😄

But, forgive my ignorance, why would you need a customs form to send a greetings card? Don't you just stick on the correct denomination stamp for a foreign country and send it as per usual? Over a year ago, I did have a parcel from the UK (item ordered on Amazon.fr) and the facteur asked for 9€. As I understood that the amount I paid covered duties and taxes, I refused the parcel and chased the sender (via Amazon) for the money back. I have since, occasionally, inadvertently, ordered UK stuff from Amazon but without any extra payment at delivery. In fact, I seek to avoid British goods on Amazon but sometimes, it's not always clear where the goods come from. I ordered some special energy bars from what I thought was a UK firm but the bars had in fact come from Belgium. I agree that there does seem to be a random procedure whereby some parcels arrive with a note to say the contents had been searched and others without.

Thanks, everybody.

Well, Lori, I did ask! And, having asked and thinking I might as well go fully-armed with info, I googled. Here's a list: What can brain MRI show? Some of the conditions a brain MRI can help diagnose or monitor include: A blood clot in your brain. Brain aneurysm. Brain hemorrhage. Brain infections (encephalitis). Brain damage associated with epilepsy. Brain tumors and cysts. Certain chronic neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Dementia. For my money, NOTHING can be worse than breast metastasis in the brain! Yes, I know, but there is an "avant" and an "après" to life after an agressive cancer that needed "kick-a**" treatment. So a French and an American friend have said to me. OK, I'm STILL laughing.....why not? Can't go crossing bridges before you come to them, can you?😏

Yes, Riggers. Cardiologue to eliminate cardiac insufficiency and IRM to eliminate (I suppose) cranial and/or brain damage? Don't know what exactly IRM can or cannot show.

I suppose Lori and Riggers, I was perfectly lucid and able to describe to him how the falls came about and what they felt like. Mind you, the last fall was on Friday 30th and my appointment was on Tues 3rd. I must say this last was the worst as I hit my head so badly and added new bruises to the ones already received and that hadn't been completely reabsorbed. Must say that I do feel more "in charge" of myself though nervous about walking outside. Still, it was displacing all my teeth that I was worried about as I couldn't feel other than pain and couldn't masticate properly for a week. Now I still have a massive bump on my forehead but no longer have headaches. The bump feels tender to the touch but I am reluctant to have a hair cut though I need one badly. Can't bear the thought of anyone touching my head. The doctor is an older experienced one and I trusted that he would be able to tell if it was really serious. Thank you both for your concern.

crabtree, that indeed could possibly explain a lot of it. OTOH those were often the same people who voted FOR Brexit! Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas.... There is a woman from my village and her husband who, despite having lived in France for over 2 decades (thankfully not in "my" village, only been here a very few years) who were ardent Brexiters. Her husband died the first year of the pandemic (some sort of heart disease or cancer or both) and she has now ended up a guest of the French state, no, not in prison but permanently in a psychiatric unit with none of the children coming forward to claim the family connection. As they say, there's nowt so queer as folk.

Lori, I promise it's not where you think it is ..... that is, I am not wearing it on any part of my body😂 Loiseau, Riggers and Lehaut, thank you but don't worry. Certainly the doctor didn't seem too concerned, rather he regarded my face with interest. My face, that's a picture in itself.....yes, maybe by Picasso or some other "imaginative" artist who can be too free with the blues and violets and yellow and reds; not to mention the distortion of the features. I am scared but not frightened enough to be immobilised. Having said that, I have not been out of the house other than the one trip to the toubib's. By tomorrow, if the heat eases, I expect to venture out in the car but only with OH at the wheel. Killing myself is one thing but the thought of killing anyone else is too horrifying to contemplate.

Thank you, Lori and yes it WAS very painful and very scary. Why am I passing out like this? Me who pride myself on my exercise routine and had just returned from mountain walking (that's what I shall call it regardless of what snide remarks I get) in freezing cold and mist and winds to literally push you over. I even fell in the car park of a resto when I was away. Came to lying on hard gravel cutting into my arms and legs but a yummy young French man was holding my legs to my chest to get me to wake up. Yes, very undignified, but at least I didn't hurt other than arms and legs and hips and elbows that time. Now, face is totally ravaged, nose like a boxer's, eyes swollen and bruised all round and lips like they have been botoxed. Oh well, just hope the old brain is undamaged! Appreciate greatly the sympathy, Lori.

No, not expats. In fact, they have headed back in their droves. No more "English" shelves in the supermarket, no more French lessons for les anglais, no more English services in the churches. More like young people relocating from les grandes villes and now teleworking. Ridiculous how the locals are now complaining that "les parisiens" are demanding their specialist shops and no one wanting to eat in local restos and prefer to go to Bordeaux for all their shopping and entertainment....you simply can't please everyone, can you?

Same here. Have been thinking about it for a while. Difficult lately to find a SMALL house in the locations I like and have friends. Here in the Dordogne, anything halfway decent is sold like the proverbial hot cakes and immos are nosing around our village. Also, not sure how my OH will cope with a move. He is in excellent health, body and mind, but getting more frail and I am concerned about moving him away from his table-tennis club, his friends, the neighbours etc. PLUS, I think I'd feel overwhelmed by all the stuff that will fall on my shoulders. But, Laurier, if you could do it, I do think it best to do it sooner rather than later, that is, do it whilst you WANT to and not when you NEED to.