Nataly

Riding so fast you cannot stop to avoid obstacles: bad. Opening your door without looking? Bad. Opening your door to intentionally block a biker? Criminal. Even if filtering is not legal, should you really try to kill the biker to prove your point?? No. If they are in a country where filtering is neither legal nor common-place, then fair enough - the cage driver has no reason to anticipate a biker wizzing by, and as long as he didn't deliberatly hit the biker, the biker is totally at fault. In any case, it seems to me the biker was filtering too fast, which in my book makes the biker at least partially responsible. But even so, there is simply no excuse for deliberately causing an accident, no matter how much the biker had it coming. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

How exciting!! Congrats

LOVE that movie!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

These owner are the same ones who let their place out to the loud tourists... It's so simple for them to ask tenants to be respectful and explain that the way the houses are built means noise is heard and amplified throughout the entire village... It's also so simple for builders to start at 8 - it's the law and it's also just common sense. They are also the same ones who used to vacuum at 4:00 am every Saturday to get their place ready for the next batch of loud tourists... I spoke to one of the workers (who doesn't speak one word of French) and pointed at my watch... Today is the next day and I haven't heard the hustle and bustle of them arriving yet (at about 5am yesterday). If they have any sense, they will start at a more reasonable hour from now on... The police take noise complaints very seriously around here. They also don't like it when people build without permits and hire illegal workers (which is the case here - if they had permits, there would be signs from the local authorities warning people of noise between such and such dates and naming the building company doing the work - no such signs). Frankly, after having this conversation with the owners last year, I would have thought they would have clued in by now. I'm giving them this last chance, but next time there will be no more polite warning. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I know that in the grand scheme of things, it's not the end of the world that I got woken up at 6am by the builders doing work next door... Legally, one cannot make noise until 8am, but come on... Even the most unintelligent of beings should understand that waking an entire neighbourhood at that hour is not reasonable, right? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

It depends. Smaller shops may refuse to let you pay with *any* card for small purchases (because they pay a fee each time payment is made by a card). Amex still doesn't work in lots of places, but Visa and MasterCard are usually ok pretty much everywhere. Some debit cards won't work in some shops and if it's not chip and pin some ATM machines will not even recognise them. Less than one year ago, I had my old Bank of Montreal debit card eaten by a machine in Swizerland - hardly a sub-devellopped country!!! Had to wait for them to come and open the machine to get me my card back... In fairness, in typical Swiss efficiency, they said they would help me in about 5 minutes, they arrived 4 minutes later and got me my card back in seconds

Well, I got this place in part because the older couple who owned it weren't greedy and were happy it would be going to someone who would cherish it as they had... People around here know me and know I'm looking for something bigger... I've already seen a couple of places before they went on the market, so the longer I stay here, the higher the chance of finding a place this way... Because some people do prefer that it go to someone they know. And others just want €€€... I can't compete with rich folk, but it's true that some people, if given the choice, prefer their home to be loved instead of abandoned save for one week per year. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Nope... The area/view is well sought after so even fixer-uppers are interesting to rich people... And believe me... You *need* to be rich to fix up some of these places... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Here

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

My place is 21 square meters. (226 square feet, according to google conversion) It's certainly not the smallest place in the world, but it's not exactly big either. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I love my little appartment, but it's small. And I mean small. Most of you americans would consider this place just about the right size for a walk-in-closet!! So here I am, squirrling away some money and constantly looking at places for sale and dreaming that one day I will own a little house, with a little garden... Until I spot an ad for a little house with a little garden not 1km from where I currently live. It ticks all the boxes AND it's within my budget - oh miracles of miracles!!

D'oh!! Good thing little ones heal fast

In France, if you have a foreign licence and you are stopped by cops for breaking traffic rules, you will have to pay cash on-the-spot as well. Or, if they haven't put it in their system yet, they will let you go with a warning because they can't be arsed to fill in the extra paper-work!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yep. And it's a very effective way to raise money. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

In fact, it was € 90 for 4 km/h ... Technically, it's even worse, since I believe the ticket is actually € 180 (but is reduced by half if you pay quickly). Plus, it said I would lose one point from my licence, but as I have a UK licence this will not apply. If the speeding were really excessive, they have a right to ask me to trade in my UK licence for a French one so that they can remove points - or they could just confiscate my UK licence altogether. Which doesn't pose such a big problem, since you can get the DVLA to reissue one. The problem is when they take it away on the spot - you have no right to drive away in your vehicle and have to pay for your car/bike to be taken away, and pay to retrieve it, and I think you could even do jail time (although on this last point I am not sure), et cetera. But we are talking radically high speeds, not 4 km/h too fast... I think it's steep as well. I don't know if it's something to do with where it is - perhaps it's in a school zone or something?? When I get a chance, I will google the precise location, since it is stated on the ticket. If I'm not mistaken, it's just coming out of a 70 zone, so I reckon it's an easy way to catch people out. And Shroppy - lots of radars here capture just the front of the vehicle as well, but this was not one of them. Oh well. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Sorry, Nat, but I could totally see this happening to ya. It happened once to my wife. MAN... In France, even the traffic cameras are horny!!! DAMMIT!! Nah... It was an automated camera and an automated ticket. I suspect that at that speed an officer would not have bothered to stop me (even if I were a guy). Whatever. I got the ticket, I paid the ticket. Still a little surprised I was speeding at all, but I'm sure the camera has no reason to lie... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I do ok with a hot plate and a small toaster oven. I can't cook everything I would like, but it's ok. Especially of it's for the short-term. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

So I got flashed the other day and in the post came the bad news: I was going 59 in a 50 zone. And they knock off 5 km/hr to compensate for possible slight variances between captured speed and actual speed. So officially, the ticket is for going 4 km/hr above the speed limit. And what did my boyfriend say when he saw it?? "Awww baby... 59 km/hr?? I bet you thought it was a 70 zone!!!" (I did ) Ah well... €90 for my "cheap thrills"... That'll teach me to ride so recklessly (at 11:50 pm alone on the street on a wednesday night after a long day of crunching numbers). I'm a MANIAC - I should be stopped!! Yeah. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yep - guilty!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

They are shutters

I loved this when I saw it on TK's FB!!! So funny!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Nat is dating a scooter guy??? An appropriate & practical one no less... I think appropriate and practical is sexy and wonderful traits to have in a boyfriend. Appropriate and practical are fine traits in a man. But if your boyfriend rides a scooter, you have a girlfriend. Someone had to say it. All the guys were thinking it. Not that any of us mind that image, of course. By that, you meant you want pictures, right? Picture of my girlfriend

I think French women are very stylish and have a much more natural/subtle approach to beauty... French women do have a beauty regime and do look after themselves but rather than spend hours at the gym or go on yo-yo diets or wear a lot of makeup, they have a simple daily skin-care routine that starts when they are little girls - like brushing your teeth every night before going to bed. If they wear makeup at all, it's minimalistic, just to look a little fresher - you might not even notice they have any on. It's more about long-term care and prevention than quick fixes, covering up and extreme measures (surgery, for example). They also have a very different relationship with food... They pretty much don't diet but rather are simply careful/choosy about what they eat, their portion sizes, and likely still get ingrediants from the market and make home-cooked meals every night. Almost never eat fast-food... It's a nation that appreciates good food, and good debate, and that takes time to enjoy both (usually at the same time)... Meals are not something quick that you grab on your way to work - they are an opportunity to sit down, savour every bite and stirr up a good conversation. They don't tend to exercise, but they also don't use their car to get everywhere... On a daily basis, they use a lot more public transportation and although this hardly can be considered a sport, it gets them out and walking a lot more than your average American. It's wrong to think all that French elegance and grace and beauty is effortless (far from it)... The French life-style is in many ways more conservative than the American life-style - it's simply much more balanced (in my opinion). They work to live, and not the other way around... Et cetera, et cetera. So I think yes, on the whole, French women do age well (and this is true throughout their entire life-span). Plus they have French lovers!!! Which I'm convinced is what really keeps them looking so good "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Except for the ones secure in their masculinity. You can ride bitch seat on my scooter. Just saw all of this now!!!! Lucky: we can take turns "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss