Had my first experience of french kiné earlier. Ladies, get your bunions done and you too might have a lovely young man sitting on your sofa massaging both your feet on his lap, never even gave a thought at being tickled and some people pay a fortune for this 
8 Likes
Oh Shiba, do you know how lucky you are in being a female and writing the following?
If I was to write that, and editing slightly to make a point
Chaps, get your bunions done and you too might have a lovely young woman sitting on your sofa massaging both your feet on her lap, never even gave a thought at being tickled and some people pay a fortune for this
I would be called a dirty old man. 
Perhaps not, I have not been called that yet, despite more than once exclaiming the joys of having myriad beautiful young women in my house 7 days a week. 
7 Likes
Shiba, as long as you donât go the whole Fergie route youâll be fine 
8 Likes
Just embrace it and move on.
edit I suspect the reality would be more like Hattie Jaques do the massage. 
3 Likes
Ooh Matron!
1 Like
This morning the commune has started resurfacing the chemin that comes down to our property! 
As mentioned elsewhere, Help please with the nuances we have been talking to the mayors (previous and current) since 2019 about the state of the road - not ours, but only used by us except for the top bit.
The gullies down which storm water pours have got deeper every year - in places now 10cm below the middle and sides of the road. Not great for our gite guests and hard to explain to those returning the following year that itâs still not fixed. So this morning is a small joy.
And this morningâŠ
12 Likes
Great hike yesterday with the hiking club in the Larzac around Millau. Some tremendous views of the bridge, and what an engineering feat that was. Then onto the remains of the Oppidum which was a fortified village originally created around the 8th or 9th Century BC. A fascinating bit of history and that certainly gave some perspective to time! Some strong winds and pretty fresh as most of the hike was up high in the open, but stayed dry and great to see another lovely area. From the aerial view of Millau itâs certainly alot larger than I thought it was, with having just visited the old centre previously.
10 Likes
Very good news @SuePJ , but another solution might have been to create a narrow channel in the centre allowing the water to drain that way and removing the danger of exhausts and sumps being damaged.
I do agree though that that would not prevent the wearing away of the wheeltracks.
1 Like
I love the viaduct, but mainly from a distance, normally always used the route through the town to save money (for dog adopters) except if there was some urgency and they preferred to pay.
However, it can be a bit of a trial for a light vehicle if there is a strong crosswind. One time as I approached it I allowed a solid and fully loaded tipper lorry to overtake me and then, by means of hand signals for explanation, matched his speed to keep in the lee of his bulk. He understood completely and, once safely amongst the hills again, we bad each other a cheery wave in goodbye and thanks.
Another time, another place I was driving my loaded lorry down the M1 in similarly dangerous conditions. Ahead of me was a Transit box van, very light and very exposed, as evidenced by the fact that it was almost up on 2 wheels with every gust. So I overtook until I sheltered him completely by slowing down to his pace and was pleased to see that he was now stable.
Imagine my surprise when the dopey sod, on seeing me slow down, then accelerated to get ahead of me again and back into the full force of the gale.
I tried once more with the same result and then continued on my way leaving him to his lurching progress. Never knew if he made it or not. 
I felt more like âMandyâ from the Dick Emery show - âooh you are awful but I like youâ. Imagine putting an ad on LBC for a foot massage in the most innocent of senses and finding what might come crawling out of the fetish woodwork!
4 months after taking the French language exam (and hearing weâd passed it, much to our great surprise) we each received one of these this morning -
Câest avec une immense joie que nous vous accueillerons Ă lâ occasion de la CĂ©rĂ©monie RĂ©publicaine de remise des DiplĂŽmes DELF - DALF, accompagnĂ©(e) de la personne de votre choix.
Cette cérémonie se tiendra :
le samedi 11 novembre 2023
etc etc with time and place added.
This was something of a surprise, I must say, but any excuse for a celebration 
13 Likes
Wonderful itâll be just after the monument aux morts, very fitting 
1 Like
Must admit I thought the date wasâŠer⊠unusual 
I suspect that Officials will already be in the locality for 11 Novembre parade/flags/speeches, which makes it an ideal day for your Ceremony⊠2 events on the same day, very good planning.
2 Likes
What surprised me was that there was any sort of ceremony associated with passing an exam at B1 level, even if it did call itself a diploma!!!
And me! I just got it handed over at a reception desk, and so did OH for his C2 DALF diploma.
Enjoy it!
1 Like
My three year old grandson is currently outside giving his dad orders on putting up my rear fence panels and wielding a small spirit level. Talk about a bossyboots but its lovely to see father and son, reminds me of my husband and same son when he was that age working outside together. He will probably be shouting thé nanny at any moment.
5 Likes
I was expecting it to arrive through the post! I think this might be because of where we took the DELF/DALF thing - at a branch of Alliance FrançaiseâŠ
1 Like
We did ours at the Institut Français in London, which is 2 seconds from the French consulate and in the heart of South Ken, ie French-London. Not so much as a handshake!
Hope you get a canapé
That would be nice - as would a small glass of something
I wonder if the cultural difference between France itself and France-in-the-UK is significant
Not belittling your achievement but I would have thought your OHâs C2 would most definitely have merited something good!