Hello from France

[MisterH]

magooagain said:

Welcome Herve. I would really like to see your lotus. Let us know if you will be at the Sunday meet in March.

I should have my Fiat coupe track prepaired by then but still street legal. It will be a nice drive from the Charente.

Thanks Mr Magoo. I intend to be at the March meeting. But by then... I hope you have a whole bucket of ear plugs to drive from the Charente with your Fiat

[Vladimir]

MisterH said:

Vladimir, thank you for your compliment about my English. I love that . You did the SW of France but not the Dordogne???? Tsssss... Well, the fact is that you have many things to see when you come in Périgord. Châteaux everywhere in the river Dordogne valley between Bergerac and Sarlat. And many many other sites.

We surf a lot and so wanted to be generally near the coast - our dash to Provence was slightly unplanned; the weather got very bad in the SW of France (you may remember?!) so we found sunshine and drove to it. At the time there was a huge hailstorm in the Dorgogne that dented a fellow VW California owners bonnet very badly! We will probably go on our trip this August. Luckily our friends have a (almost) Chateaux near Pau too.

I we ever need to emigrate (which is a possibility), we'd go to SW France without hesitation.

C'est très beau ici, en Cornouaille, mais le climat français et le mode de vie est très attrayante. Nous pouvons également travailler à partir de n'importe où en Europe.

J'avais l'habitude d'importer des pommes de terre à salade français de Bretagne avait donc de parler aux agriculteurs français très souvent!

Apologies if that was very clunky...

[MisterH]

Vladimir said:

We surf a lot and so wanted to be generally near the coast - our dash to Provence was slightly unplanned; the weather got very bad in the SW of France (you may remember?!) so we found sunshine and drove to it. At the time there was a huge hailstorm in the Dorgogne that dented a fellow VW California owners bonnet very badly! We will probably go on our trip this August. Luckily our friends have a (almost) Chateaux near Pau too.

I we ever need to emigrate (which is a possibility), we'd go to SW France without hesitation.

C'est très beau ici, en Cornouaille, mais le climat français et le mode de vie est très attrayante. Nous pouvons également travailler à partir de n'importe où en Europe.

Apologies if that was very clunky...

August is the busiest month, as you can imagine, but you are (almost) sure to have a nice weather.
Your sentence in French is extremely good. Just to be fussy, I would have written: "...mais le climat français et le mode de vie SONT très attrayANTS."

[Crafty_]

For the Lotus gearbos oil, it might be worth contacting a member here who goes by the name "NotNormal", he's quite knowledgeable about these cars, his site (featuring his own car) is http://www.lc890g.co.uk/index.htm

Also maybe worth checking with these guys: http://www.autobahnstormers.org.uk/

[Vladimir]

MisterH said:

August is the busiest month, as you can imagine, but you are (almost) sure to have a nice weather.
Your sentence in French is extremely good. Just to be fussy, I would have written: "...mais le climat français et le mode de vie SONT très attrayANTS."

I did slightly dither on that. Oh well, more practise needed!

[Alucidnation]

All i can add is ... Welcome nice Mr. French man.

Not many of you about, that's for sure!

[MisterH]

Crafty_ said:

For the Lotus gearbos oil, it might be worth contacting a member here who goes by the name "NotNormal", he's quite knowledgeable about these cars, his site (featuring his own car) is http://www.lc890g.co.uk/index.htm

Also maybe worth checking with these guys: http://www.autobahnstormers.org.uk/

Thanks, Crafty. I know the website. Quite exhaustive, I would say...

[crossy67]

Alucidnation said:

All i can add is ... Welcome nice Mr. French man.

Not many of you about, that's for sure!

I wouldn't agree with that, I have met some of the nicest people in my life here. A French man who's van I tinted gave me the use of his car trailer to drive to northern France to collect a friends car the other week. Until I did his windows I's never met him before. Most of the people here a astoundingly nice and trust worthy.

[Pvapour]

he's probably formed an opinion based on a lack of: please, thank you, sorry. very english traits.

French are far more genuine & helpful than the English in my experience.

and i'm not talking about people who inhabit: cote d'azur, paris or any other city as I dont think they are representative of a countries real nation.

Edited by Pvapour on Sunday 5th January 21:00

[mybrainhurts]

Pvapour said:

French are far more genuine & helpful than the English in my experience.

....BURN HIM

[Alucidnation]

Pvapour said:

he's probably formed an opinion based on a lack of: please, thank you, sorry. very english traits.

French are far more genuine & helpful than the English in my experience.

Get over yourself.

I was being 'stereotypical'

I lived and worked in Southern France for nearly 30 years, and found it the best experience of my life.

I still visit most years for holiday and to visit some of the many friends i still have there.

[Pvapour]

Alucidnation said:

Get over yourself.

I was being 'stereotypical'

I lived and worked in Southern France for nearly 30 years, and found it the best experience of my life.

I still visit most years for holiday and to visit some of the many friends i still have there.

well done sir

[magooagain]

Alucidnation said:

Pvapour said:

he's probably formed an opinion based on a lack of: please, thank you, sorry. very english traits.

French are far more genuine & helpful than the English in my experience.

Get over yourself.

I was being 'stereotypical'

I lived and worked in Southern France for nearly 30 years, and found it the best experience of my life.

I still visit most years for holiday and to visit some of the many friends i still have there.

It's the way you put your first post over i reckon.

To be honest i would react to the post the same as PVA.

But hey! we are all enjoying the French way of life. Me! I am just back from our usual Sunday night meal with about 15 French pals. Long may it continue. Bon soiree tout le monde!

[MisterH]

Dear Brits,

Thanks a lot for all the nice things you say about my country. But how come that we do not enjoy it as much as yo do? We are just a bunch of grumpy frog eaters. Have you ever herad about the say: "Frenchies are Italians in bad mood". Or "Italians are happy Frenchies". That works both ways...

Edited by MisterH on Sunday 5th January 21:59

[Alucidnation]

magooagain said:

Alucidnation said:

Pvapour said:

he's probably formed an opinion based on a lack of: please, thank you, sorry. very english traits.

French are far more genuine & helpful than the English in my experience.

Get over yourself.

I was being 'stereotypical'

I lived and worked in Southern France for nearly 30 years, and found it the best experience of my life.

I still visit most years for holiday and to visit some of the many friends i still have there.

It's the way you put your first post over i reckon.

To be honest i would react to the post the same as PVA.

But hey! we are all enjoying the French way of life. Me! I am just back from our usual Sunday night meal with about 15 French pals. Long may it continue. Bon soiree tout le monde!

Yes, now i have read back that first post, it does sound a bit...'off'.

Apologies all.

[crossy67]

MisterH said:

Dear Brits,

Thanks a lot for all the nice things you say about my country. But how come that we do not enjoy it as much as yo do? We are just a bunch of grumpy frog eaters. Have you ever herad about the say: "Frenchies are Italians in bad mood". Or "Italians are happy Frenchies". That works both ways...

Edited by MisterH on Sunday 5th January 21:59

Oaky, the French are grumpy, the Italians are in a bad mood. Stereotypically what you the French think of the English?

[MisterH]

crossy67 said:

Oaky, the French are grumpy, the Italians are in a bad mood. Stereotypically what you the French think of the English?

Crossy, what I meant was that Italians seem to be quite happy, quite the opposite of the Frenchies.
What do the French think of the English? That's a bloody good question. Why don't I have any idea?
Let's see:
- the hooligans;
- on the other side, the very snobish high society;
- you are "oh so awfully nice, my dear";
- a little old fashioned;
- but with so nice traditions (the 5 o'clock tea, "yes with a twist of lemon and just a drop of milk, dear, thank you. Oh, your scones are absolutely divine, dear");
- your homes are "so nice, my dear, so nice";
- your grass is absolutely wonderful. And so green!;
- you love your queen and that's charming, but could you share with us, please? Thank you in advance;
- apart for yours picnics and brunches, your food is... how could I put that without being rude?, well, not good;
- your stores are great (especially in London);
- your little villages are "so pretty and so neat, dear, so neat";
- your cars are so elegant. Or, I should unfortunately write, were so elegant: Jag XJ (one of the most elegant car of the 70's), XJ-C, E-Type, Mk2, XK, Bristols, old Rolls and Bentleys, Jensen Interceptor, Aston Martins, etc.;
- despite your clumsy weather (oh, yes, I forgot this one), you are THE country for convertibles.

Anything else? Oh yes. Your fellow Brits I meet here are absolutely charming, polite and with this particular sense of humor I like so much...

[mybrainhurts]

MisterH said:

brunches

That, sir, is Americanese. Kindly remove it before I steal your garlic...

[MisterH]

mybrainhurts said:

That, sir, is Americanese. Kindly remove it before I steal your garlic...

Oh my! Oh dear! I am terribly sorry! But I plead not guilty, having learned english in Ontario. Canada being one of your colonies, is it an acceptable excuse?

[mybrainhurts]

Ah, there will probably be other problems here, then...