I was confused by the reaction, but the final vote is..

On the road at last, it does seem to take ages to get out of the port. Driving through customs was the worst, everything was so tightly packed into the boot of the car it was like a jigsaw puzzle, and I quivered at the thought of being stopped and asked to take everything out! Not that we had anything to declare, well not anything they would be interested in anyway, but that it would take us the rest of the holiday to get it all back in again! Fortunately we were not stopped, and off we went. "Daddy, you're driving on the wrong side of the road!" no. 2 son said, "no, no, that's how it is in England, that's why they have their steering wheel on the other side of the car". I have to admit, after 10 years it was a bit daunting driving on the left, bit of a bummer when you want to over-take, but there was no chance of that today, the rain poured down and the fog got thicker the more in land we went. By lunchtime it had eased off and we were able to see the rolling English countryside, in fact we had lots of time to look at it as we were stuck for about 2 hours in traffic. The only time you get stuck in traffic in the Vendee is when there's a tractor on the road, so the kids were unfamiliar with this and couldn't understand why we weren't moving. They started to get bored very quickly, which usually leads to them poking one another, and very soon turns into world war 3. I swear if I ever hear the words "are we there yet?" one more time I'll crack!

We got all sorts of inquisitive questions from them as we (finally) got moving again. "Why do the houses look so different, they're all stuck together?", and, "why are phone boxes red?", and even, " why are there so many CCTV cameras on the streets?". Houses in France are mainly detached, mainly villas, and somewhat Mediterranean looking. You don't see many phone boxes in France, either you go to the Post Office, or you have a mobile. CCTV in the street is something I have never seen in France, although I'm sure big cities must have some. I was quite shocked to see them on almost every street corner in England, even in small villages!

Another strange thing they found was that everyone spoke English! Yes, that may sound odd, but when you've lived in France for so long and are used to hearing people speak in French, that's something you do notice. I had to get the "Yellow Card" out a few times, though, when remarks were made about passers by and I had to keep reminding them that in England everyone can understand what they're saying!

After a hectic week, (I say hectic as we had loads of family to visit), we were back at the port, jigsaw puzzle and all, in the rain again, sat in traffic again and once again hoping the customs officer would not want to dismantle the boot. "So, what did you like about England the best?" Unanimously - 1. Family (understandably)

2. The fun fair we visited ( a bit confused)

3. Sweets (very confused)

What about the scenery, the people, the culture, the history?? "Too much traffic, strange houses, rain & fog, freezing cold and too many people understand us".

"So what's the vote then? France or England?"........"FRANCE!!!!"

Jade Goody getting married

THE WAY SHE WAS

I was so pleased to hear that Jade Goody is to marry soon. I think it will be good for her sons, (not sure if he is their father), to have a dad after she has gone. mind you, I was talking to someone yesterday who knew somebody with the same type of cancer, she was given just months to live as well and now, 5 years later, she is still living as normal a life as she can. They put her on the cancer "super drug", (don't know what it's called, if anybody does would be grateful for a hint), and it has kept her going much longer than anticipated, unless they got it wrong in the first place. And thinking about it, I do remember watching Patrick Swaze, (is that how you spell it?), on GMTV as he also has terminal cancer, and they gave him months to live a couple of years ago, but he's still making films now. Let's just hope that things turn out the same, or similar for Jade. On a lighter note, the sun is shining here in the Vendee, France, and they've announced pretty much the same for the rest of the week. This is good news, as it's about time I started to do some gardening, (yuk), as the Gite will be ready for opening in a couple of months. Oh and by the way, I forgot to say on Saturday, I didn't get a truck load of Valentines cards as I expected...not! But I did get one card, from my other half.......Ahhh, so the subtle hints worked for a change!

Am I losing it, or is it blogging the blogger

I'm sitting here not sure what to write about today. You know the feeling when your mind is a complete blank. It doesn't help when the kids have got a million friends round and are running riot left and right! I've just sent them all out into the garden, not sure if that was the right thing to do as they're playing football and it's very muddy. I suppose I'll have a million angry mothers on the phone later. Well let them have them all screaming around theirs, and I'm sure mud will become a trivial matter. But I'm still blank. Seems to be happening alot, lately. I shook my head the other day and I swear I heard a rattling noise! Must be all this blogging, it's making me hear things....or maybe there really is something loose up there, whichever, I'm sure it's not serious. I've got Deal or No Deal on the tv, (sad), and having a giggle at them all dressed as hippies for the special "Love Week" for valentines day. Wonder how many valentines day cards I'll get this year? Last year the postman couldn't fit them all in the post box, and we were out at the time, so he donated them all to charity and I never got to see them. At least that was the tall story I got from my other half. Wonder what story he'll come up with this year?

Credits, loans, mortgages...what a financial state

Just a couple of ads, the sort of thing we are all familiar with these days, unfortunately. But I was wondering just how bad it is where you live. I know that financial crisis, job losses, credit cards, loans and mortgages are quite a serious problem at the moment in the UK. Everywhere you turn there are signs; "Free Quotes", "Interest Free Loans", "Buy now, Pay Later". And now the "Loan Sharks", who cunningly entice you into taking out a loan for that dream whatever it is you want, (or even to pay off another debt), are apparently sending in the "Heavy Mob" to sort you out if you don't pay up on time! I know that if you can't afford it you shouldn't take it, but people do, all the time, and with the current financial situation you'd think there were "less primitive" ways of doing things, after all this IS 2009. I think that they make it too easy to get credit and loans in the UK. Here in France the Credit Card has not long been introduced, and it's not easy to get a hold of one, unless you're rich, famous or related to Sarkozy. In the UK you can phone up a loan company and get an instant loan, when I say instant I mean in the few minutes you are on the phone. In France it's a little more complicated:

1. Meet the financial advisor.

2. Get together a dossier supporting your intentions and repayments.

3. Submit dossier to the bank.

4. Wait for about 2 weeks to be notified that your dossier is incomplete.

5. Re-submit dossier to the bank.

6. Wait for about another 2 weeks to be notified that the bank is going on holiday, and you will have your answer in about 2 weeks.

7. Finally get your answer, and even then depending on the amount you want to borrow, you may need a guarantor.

So, how does it all work in other countries? Any input??

PS. Thanks for checking in Delphine, and you have a good weekend too.