The English Armchair Abroad

Guests and boilers

It doesn't matter how well you think you have planned things, something always crops up to upset the organisation of a family gathering.

So far it's only two things, but of course the old expression "Things always happen in threes" applies just as much in France "Jamais deux sans trois".

My sister in law is coming out by ferry with a friend and four teenagers.  Her husband is taking the train to Le Mans and arrives at 10.30pm and it all tied in neatly - she could drive off the ferry and straight to Le Mans with approximately 30 minutes time difference.  She booked the ferry ages ago.  She arrived back from a very wet and windy camping holiday in Cornwall a week ago and was met by a message from the ferry company.  Her original ferry was cancelled so they'd put her on the earlier one so all was well.  Well actually no, all was not well.  The friend lives in Gloucestershire and will have to change her plans in order to get to Lulu's house early enough and they will, in theory at least, arrive at Le Mans with six hours to wait for her husband's train to arrive.  Well, it's not the end of the world, worse things happen at sea, blah blah blah!

The second thing is simply inconvenient and might even be sorted out in time.  Yesterday evening we discovered the boiler had gone on strike and there was no hot water.  Putting the potential expense of repair or replacement to one side, not having hot water is no fun but not too bad if you are used to it.  We lived on a boat for three years and considered ourselves lucky to have fresh water for cooking - all washing up was done in salt water (cold) and of course we kept clean by washing in the sea.  However, our visitors are expecting better things and despite holidaying in a house built 700 years ago they will almost certainly consider hot water to be a minimum requirement!  Like I said, it might even be sorted out in time - the plumber very kindly came round this morning and is "hopeful".  We'll see.

No, the real worry for me is what will the third thing be?

A tale of two lotteries

This week in France a lady has received the good news she has been hoping for.  About 18 months ago she won 250,000 euros in the French loto.  She took her winning ticket to the local Tabac to collect her winnings but when the man put the ticket into the loto machine and saw how much she had won he told her she would have to send it, registered post of course, to the address printed on the back.  He was only authorised to organise payments up to 10,000 euros - this was too much.

She went home and that night her house was robbed and her handbag was amongst the things stolen - and of course in her handbag was the winning loto ticket.  The police gave the information to the loto organisers and they put a check against the number so that if it was presented the person would be stopped etc.

Clearly the thief was either intelligent enough not to present the ticket or just ignorant of what was in the bag because the ticket was never presented.  The time limit for claiming the winnings is now up and normally that would be the end of it with one very unhappy and unfortunate lady losing out on her winnings.  However, she had presented the ticket to the Tabac and it had been registered in the Loto machine;  there was a record of it.  With the help of the owner of the Tabac who was more than willing to give testimony to this the Loto has decided that, exceptionally, the winnings should be paid to the lady in question.  A happy ending.

Meanwhile in England it was reported this morning that a 61 year old woman had dropped her winning lottery ticket on the supermarket floor and it was found by a couple who picked it up and presented it - presumably "on the offchance".  They found "they" had won 30,000GBP - quite a sizeable sum.  What would you have done in this case?  Perhaps go to the police or contact the lottery and explain what had happened in the hope that the original owner of the ticket could be traced?  Or kept quiet and spent it quick?

They were later arrested by the police but only after they had spent half of it.  A court now has to decide if they should pay any of the money back.

I remember (crikey, nearly 40 years ago!) years ago my brother found 10GBP beside the river.  He took it to the police station and after six weeks he went back - it was unclaimed and he was able to keep it.  One might expect that if the lottery couple had handed in this ticket the lady would have been grateful and shown her gratitude with some sort of reward.  That way they would have had the satisfaction of knowing they'd done the right thing as well as receiving a bonus. 

Does the "Right Thing" not exist anymore?

My Tennis Prize

When I won the tournament in June the prize included a very nice cheque.  I treated myself to some wool and this is the result.

I made the buttons which just make it look crazier but actually with a white shirt and a pair of jeans it's really fun.

The pattern is Sideways Curly Fries Vest by Marie Stroughter and I found it, of course, on Ravelry.  The buttons I made myself from Fimo and although I had my doubts when I first made them, a coat of varnish has made them look great.

Venting the spleen

Just occasionally one's spleen becomes so full of pent up ugh that it needs a good vent.  You've been warned!

There is an organisation, based in the UK, called AngloInfo.  I think it probably is very helpful to expats living in the various countries it operates in - where to go for different administration forms, health issues, etc.  It is incredibly active in France and most Brits find their way on to it at some time or other and exchange endless chit chat/problems/jokes/irrelevancies/books & DVD's for sale on the forum.

Unlike most other forums (fora?) though, this one is heavily patrolled by "Admin".  Admin have the power (for want of a better word) to delete absolutely anything they want, for any reason.  Top of the list is any advertising - I've been deleted a couple of times for responding to upholstery requests:  "Does anyone know an English upholsterer?"  "Yes, me."  That is not allowed.  Easy solution, although petty, is for my husband, with another username, to reply "Yes, there's this lady in Morannes who's good."

The curious thing though is that there are a huge number of Anglophones in northern France involved with dog breeding, pigs and gites.  All of these activities bring them an income and yet advertising puppies for sale, weaners for sale or available gites is apparently not in breach of the AI rules.

Another perfectly reasonable rule is the one about publishing obscene or abusive posts.  Most forums (fora - would someone PLEASE tell me the correct spelling!) have some sort of control over this, thank goodness. 

Recently it seems, an increasing number of posts have been removed and now there is no email notification from Admin to the postee giving the reason. 

For some time I have been irritated by the amount of bad spelling on the forum.  It's one of those things I am reasonably good at and for eight years I worked for a boss who didn't allow an extra comma on the page, never mind a spelling mistake.  You could say attention to (spelling) detail has been drummed into me.  Yesterday I put up a post titled "Spelling" and listed three or four recent mistakes:

Bye instead of buy
Their or there instead of They are
Your instead of You are
Expensives instead of Expenses

I won't bore you with more!

None of these are life threatening but it seems to me that spelling is one of those things that should stay important to people.  In French you can change the meaning of a word dramatically if you just leave off an accent (repeter is a case in point - look it up).  The examples above are probably the result of people relying on an automatic checker instead of actually reading what they've written.

Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore.  The post was deleted this morning with, as usual, no explanation.  I suppose I must have broken a rule but I actually took the trouble to look them up.  See if you can work out what I have done wrong because I can't.

"In your use of AngloINFO, you agree that you will not post any information which is:

• vulgar

• harassing, hateful or threatening
• invading of others privacy
• sexually-oriented, sexist, racist, xenophobic or homophobic
• defamatory
• discourteous or in any way impolite
• or in violation of any law

AngloINFO Loire reserves the right to delete postings and/or terminate user accounts if these terms are broken"

Clearly they've been bothered by people accusing them of undue censorship because they've published the following on their FAQ's page:

"Is there any censorship?

The term "censorship" is inappropriate in the context of AngloINFO's Classifieds & Discussions. A censor is a government official who examines books, papers, films and the like with the power to delete material or forbid their publication or dissemination. The AngloINFO Classifieds & Discussions are not a state; its Administration does not have the power to censor. It is an independently-owned electronic publishing tool to which the public is granted limited access for a specific purpose subject to certain clearly-defined and actively-enforced rules. Anyone who does not agree with those rules is free to use alternate tools or methods to publish or disseminate their views, subject to applicable legislation. 

There is extremely active editing on AngloINFO's Classifieds & Discussions. All material posted must conform to the Classifieds & Discussions Terms and Conditions and AngloINFO's general Terms of Use. Material that doesn't conform to the site's rules, purpose and standards - stated or implied - will be removed. This process may involve the deletion of an entire posting, or the editing of it to remove unacceptable material. It is important to note that material does not have to be blatantly offensive to be removed (although such material clearly will be removed); it is sufficient for it not to add value to the Classifieds & Discussions."

The obvious answer is to avoid AngloInfo from now on and I will but I wish there was a place to register my complaint and make it clear they have lost a customer.

PS:  Please feel free to point out any spelling mistakes!

More cars

Click on the Flickr badge on the right if you want to see more photos of the cars.  It will take you, in theory and if I've set it up right, to the Flickr page.

Alpacas

Back at the beginning of the year I spent a day spinning up in Normandy.  To be honest it was not a good experience but one happy thing did come of it.  I met Alex who is a gregarious English lady living in Normandy with her Alpacas - and various other animals.  Last week Max and I were on our own for a few days and decided to go and visit her.  Purely pleasure but of course with Alpaca Fibre being the ultimate aim!

We chose a lovely sunny day, by chance, and arrived late morning.  We'd never seen alpacas before and what beautiful animals they are.  She has about 16, most of which she has bred herself.  She sells the cria (the young) and also the fibre.  We met Ron, the alpaca who was born a month early and first trodden on and then abandonned by his mother.  Alex bottle fed him in her kitchen for the first few months of his life and as a result he is like no other alpaca.  He clearly considers Alex to be his mother and like all young children wants her to play with him whenever he sees her.  He's very sweet but it was quite a surprise to suddenly see an alpaca wrapping his legs around Max's neck!

No, we were not tempted to come back with an Alpaca despite most of the family imagining that that was the reason for going up there.  I have come back instead with two kilos of alpaca fibre and a Jacob fleece which Alex kindly gave me.  The Alpaca is currently on the wheel and I am deciding whether to combine it with silk to make a shawl;  I am quite sure the decision will be made for me when I get sick of spinning such thin yarn!

There is an advantage though with spinning alpaca.  The fibre requires a lot less preparation - it isn't greasy for one thing, filthy with dust but not greasy.  In the end and after a few experiments I decided to pass it through the drum carder and then comb it.  The result is similar to a young girl who didn't want to brush her hair but did sort of to keep her mother happy - ie. no longer tangled but not over neat.

Cars, cars, cars

How many cars, dating from before 1915 have you seen in your life?

About three weeks ago I was sitting in the garden when two men suddenly appeared.  As they were holding some papers my immediate reaction was "Oh no, I could really do with Jehovah's Witnesses just now."  I put on my definitely-less-friendly-than-usual-and-very-busy-as-well-face (quick, hide the knitting)and went to say hallo.  I was wrong and within 30 seconds my demeanour had changed to very-welcoming-and-all-the-time-in-the-world.  They were looking for venues for a vintage car rally to pass by on their way from St Denis d'Anjou (5kms away) to Sable-sur-Sarthe (16kms the other way).  They had seen a sign to the house from the road and dropped by on the off chance.  They had very kindly left their car outside the gate because they didn't want to disturb us - I s uspect too, it meant they could do a quick getaway if the house didn't turn out to be what they were looking for!

The papers turned out to be identification and an advertising poster for the Rallye.  All the cars were pre-1915 and many of them were over 100 years old.  There would be about 28 of them - subject to breakdowns!  They were looking for venues not normally open to the public and which had an interesting history.  Our house was first built in 1320 so we qualified on age.  And of course we said yes. 

Our only concern was that although the courtyard isn't small we often have trouble in the summer when there's the enormous number of five cars to turn around - and they all have a reverse gear.  How on earth were 28 going to fit in and then get out again without mass crunching?  "We are well used to it, Madame, just leave it to me and the drivers.  The courtyard is big enough."

So on Friday a number of our friends were with us at 5pm waiting the grand arrival.  By 6pm they still weren't here and our friends had to leave - all but two plus one other who'd heard a rumour and come by on the off-chance having arrived direct from Brazil an hour earlier!  At 6.30pm the rain cleared and the cars suddenly appeared.  Wow.  What a fabulous sight.  They just kept on coming.

Talk about organisation - they drove over the bridge and were directed into their slot depending on who could manoeuvre in more than one direction, and all facing back out towards the bridge.  It was tight but "no problem Madame."  The detail on these lovingly restored cars is astounding.  My brother has restored a few old cars (not this old though) and I know what a passionate "hobby" it becomes.   From shining bodywork to wicker umbrella stands and suitcases fixed to the back.  Stunning horns - one in the shape of a snake.  And the upholstery work inside - well, I just shook with shame! 

I can't possibly upload all the photos to here so a selection only.  If I ever get them all onto Flickr I'll publish a link.  Believe me, they were incredible!

  

Before they left they thanked us for allowing them to come and see the house and presented us with one of the plaques which is now proudly fixed to the wall above the kitchen door.