It’s important that I provide useful, up to date information to visitors to the site. So I forget why I was happily browsing the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica.
It is sometimes quite an interesting read, albeit a bit dry. Someone told me that in many subjects it is still a leading reference guide, but I can’t quite [...]
Well, aren’t you all the lucky ones…Gordon Brown sitting on the throne (or is it ‘in the high-chair’?) after all these years. Perhaps he’s changed during the last few years, I’m a bit out of touch with things, but my failing memory doesn’t have him down as a very suitable prime minister.
Still, if Tony made [...]
I came across a good idea the other day and I’ve been wondering how successful it could be. Someone told me that a good way to add new excitement and interest to a blog is to have ‘guest bloggers’ - i.e. other people who write a one-off or occasional entry for the blog.
The idea sounds [...]
The following entry is a sponsored review.
As you know I don’t do many ’site reviews’ here - usually less than one a month. Before accepting a site for review I check out the site, to make sure that it is suitable and is one I’m happy to recommend. Some are more so than others and [...]
Because it’s not always easy to get away as a family in the summer - what with gite handovers, pool cleaning, grass cutting and so on - Mrs B and the girls have had the bright idea that each year they will go away for a week and leave me at home to look after [...]
Good to see that this year’s Tour de France will be following with the traditions of the past - that is to say, with the drug and doping scandals of the past - it has just been announced that Ivan Basso, one of the favourites for this years race, has been banned from competing for [...]
If you are concerned that a slightly drunk president will accidentally fall on the nuclear button and spoil your summer holiday in Saint Tropez, I am pleased to tell you that the immediate danger has passed.
You might get sunburned, turn lobster red, and regret your holiday 20 years later when you have a terrible skin [...]
Seems there’s a bit of a scandal when the new President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy gets a bit drunk before a press conference, can’t imagine why.
In his defence he had just emerged from a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and I’m sure the ‘entente cordiale’ demanded that he have a couple of drinks.
What do you [...]
Technique No 1: use other people’s stuff
Hope you enjoyed that last post. No it wasn’t paid for (if you’re interested) but I have been feeling guilty, because posting a free article only takes about 2 seconds. I’m only happy if I’ve sweated blood over each entry, and carefully crafted every word and phrase myself.
I don’t [...]
The following is a guest article about how to avoid trying to see too much on holiday. I thought I’d post it here because it is full of useful suggestions and common sense. Hopefully it is also better written than my usual scribblings. Normal service will be resumed shortly!
The Important Often Forgotten Art of [...]
We can’t claim to be rushed off our feet most of the time - if truth be told running gites in Lot et Garonne is probably about as close to an easy life as you can get.
But there are a few days each year when panic sets in, and we spend the day rushing around [...]
The sun has troubled itself to make another of its rare appearances today - not quite sun-tanning weather but at least I can leave my bobble hat in the house when I go outside now. Meanwhile Mrs B has been hinting about holidays again, which always causes a bit of friction in the house, and [...]
A bit of a problem today - the old PC (the one the children seem to spend all day downloading viruses onto) - has given up the ghost. That must be the third of our bits of bad luck, after the swimming pool liner and the tractor.
Still I suppose I should be pleased that this [...]
In a comment on this blog yesterday somebody mentioned that they didn’t book gites where the owner lived on site, because of a bad experience where the owner had been forever hanging around in their garden, snipping hedges and cutting grass, while they were trying to relax.
To say the least, I can see this can [...]
Please see our article GET MARRIED IN FRANCE if you want practical information about marriages for expats and holidaymakers in France. This blog entry drifts off subject a bit…
For a lot of people, getting married is a one-off special occasion. For many people nowadays it is a two-off special occasion, and for some it is [...]
